Ore Deposits
Finding ore in Vintage Story can be challenging, so to help you out here is how the game spawns ore. Throughout this page, the numbers shown will all be in absolute terms. In the world when you press "V" it shows you the relative coordinates. To find the absolute dig down to the mantle and take that number, subtract 3, and add it to 256. That number will be the absolute value for y=0 in your world. For a typical world subtract -115 from the absolute numbers and that'll get you close.
To the right, there is a picture of a typical ore distribution in Vintage Story. The main thing to notice is the ores are distributed at random heights in disks at various angles. Some ores have wider disks than others. Quartz by far as the widest disks but most disks are around an average of 5.5 blocks wide. These disks typically are shaped similarly to the surface above. Meaning in regions where the ground is flat the disks will be flat and where the surface is jagged the disks will be tilted and distorted. That means in flat areas horizontal mining has less of a chance to hit the disk then vert mine shafts. This continues to be true until the surface is jagged enough that its slope is greater than the disk is wide.
Ore stats
All ores are uniformly distributed through the ground.
Shallow ores
Shallow ores stop at a certain depth.
| ore | Y min | Y max | Avg radius | follows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lignite | 123 | 236 | 5 | surface |
| Surface Copper | 236 | 251 | 4.5 | surface |
Deep ores
Deep ores go from the mantle up to a Y max.
| ore | Y max | Avg radius | follows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bituminous Coal | 179 | 8 | sea level |
| Saltpeter | 205 | 10 | sea level |
| Gold | 256 | 2 | straight |
| Silver | 256 | 2 | straight |
| Deep Copper | 154 | 6 | surface |
| Sphalerite | 256 | 4 | surface |
| Cassiterite | 154 | 4 | surface |
| Bismuthinite | 218 | 4 | surface |
| Limonite | 243 | 3 | sea level |
| Lapis | 205 | 2 | surface |
| Diamond | 51 | 2 | sea level |
| Emerald | 59 | 1 | sea level |
| Galena | 256 | 4 | surface |
| Sulfer | 256 | 8 | sea level |
Ore Specifics
Gold and Silver
Gold and silver only spawn in layers of quartz. Following a quartz layer is a good way to find them. Ore bombs can be utilized to great effect to clear out quartz.
Cassiterite
There's a rare chance to come across a massive cassiterite deposit. If you do consider yourself extremely lucky, since the smallest of these deposits are larger than the largest of the normal sized deposits.
Lapis
Lapis only spawns in claystone.
