The best way to get large amounts of gold is a zombified piglin farm in the Nether, which produces gold nuggets far faster than mining once it’s built. For a no-build option, mine gold ore or loot Bastion Remnants instead.
Quick Answer
- A zombified piglin farm wins for volume. It’s renewable and, once built, produces gold nuggets far faster than mining ever will.
- Mining is the best zero-build option, especially early game, since gold ore generates in the Overworld and as Nether gold ore throughout the Nether.
- Bastion Remnants are a strong secondary source. Gilded blackstone drops gold nuggets when mined, and bastion chests often hold gold ingots and blocks outright.
- Piglin bartering is NOT a way to get gold. It’s the opposite: you spend gold ingots to get loot back, so don’t treat it as a source.
- Only kills you land yourself drop gold from zombified piglins. Passive or environmental kills won’t produce nuggets, which shapes how any farm needs to be built.
Ranked: Best Ways to Get Gold in Minecraft
- Zombified piglin farm. Best for large, renewable quantities, though it requires some build effort.
- Mining gold ore or nether gold ore. Best for no-build, early-game gold with zero setup.
- Bastion Remnant loot and gilded blackstone. Best if you’re already geared up and exploring the Nether.
- Killing gold-holding piglins. Situational and opportunistic, not something to plan around.
Zombified Piglin Gold Farm (Why It’s the Best Method)
Zombified piglins are the only renewable, buildable source of gold that scales past what mining can give you. The mechanic that makes a farm worthwhile comes down to their gold nugget drop rate, which is tied directly to the Looting enchantment on your weapon:
| Looting Level | Chance to Drop Nuggets | Nugget Range | Average per Kill |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 50% | 0–1 | 0.5 |
| Looting I | 75% | 0–2 | 1.0 |
| Looting II | 87.5% | 0–3 | 1.5 |
| Looting III | ~92% | 0–4 | 2.0 |
That’s roughly four times the average yield with a Looting III sword compared to no enchantment at all, which is why serious farms are built around funneling piglins to a single kill point where you (or an automated hit) can finish them off with a heavily enchanted weapon.
There’s one mechanic that trips a lot of players up: only kills the player is credited for actually drop gold. Zombified piglins that die to fall damage, lava, or another mob won’t produce nuggets.
The kill has to be attributed to you, whether that’s direct combat, a weakness/harming potion, or another player-triggered effect. That’s why gold farms funnel piglins into a narrow spot and finish them by hand (or with a mechanism the player is still considered to have triggered) rather than just dropping them into a pit of lava or fall damage like you would for XP-only mobs.
Zombified piglins spawn naturally anywhere in the Nether under normal mob-spawning conditions, so a basic farm is just a spawning platform built in a spot with few competing spawns, funneling piglins with water streams down into a narrow kill chamber. It’s a build-once investment: once the platform and funnel are in place, it runs passively and can produce gold (and rotten flesh, and XP) far faster than swinging a pickaxe.
Mining for Gold (Quick Version)
Mining is still the simplest way to get a small amount of gold with zero setup, especially if you haven’t reached the Nether yet. Gold ore generates in the Overworld with the richest concentration around Y=-16, plus a badlands-only exception where it also appears much higher up. In the Nether, nether gold ore is common across a wide vertical range.
That’s the short version. We cover exact Y-levels, ore density, and mining strategy in full in our dedicated guide, Best Y Level for Gold in Minecraft, so head there if mining is your main plan.
Gilded Blackstone and Bastion Loot
Bastion Remnants are the other major gold source, and they give you two different ways to walk away with some.
Gilded blackstone is a special block that only generates inside Bastion Remnants. Mine it with any pickaxe and there’s a 10% chance it drops 2–5 gold nuggets instead of the block itself; otherwise it just drops itself. A Silk Touch pickaxe always drops the block instead of nuggets.
Fortune doesn’t add more nuggets per break, but it does raise the *chance* of getting nuggets at all: Fortune I bumps it to about 14%, Fortune II to 25%, and Fortune III guarantees a nugget drop every time you break one. If you’re already carrying a Fortune III pickaxe for other Nether resources, swinging it at every gilded blackstone block you pass is close to free gold.
Bastion chest loot is the other angle. Bastions generate as one of four structure variants (bridge, housing unit, stables, or treasure room), all equally likely to appear, and Bastions are actually more common than Nether fortresses at any given qualifying structure location.
Chests scattered through these variants, especially treasure rooms and stables, frequently hold gold ingots and gold blocks directly, on top of whatever else you’re raiding the bastion for.
What to Do With Gold Once You Have It
Once you’ve built up a gold stockpile, here’s where it actually goes, and notably, this is where piglin bartering belongs, not in the “how to get gold” list:
- Piglin bartering. Throw a gold ingot at a piglin and it’ll barter back a random item from its loot table (ender pearls, obsidian, fire resistance potions, and more). This spends gold, it doesn’t produce it.
- Golden apples. A regular golden apple is crafted from an apple surrounded by gold ingots.
- Golden carrots. Crafted from a carrot and gold nuggets, and one of the best food/regeneration items in the game.
- Powered rails. Need gold ingots and are essential for any real minecart system.
- Gold tools, armor, and horse armor. Gold armor and tools aren’t durable, but gold armor still gives you good piglin-neutral status while wearing at least one piece in the Nether.
- Beacons. The beacon pyramid can be built from gold blocks (or iron, diamond, or netherite) at any of its tiers.
Which Method Should You Use?
If you’re still early game and haven’t reached the Nether, just mine. A normal mining trip will turn up enough gold for golden apples, a beacon base, or your first set of powered rails without any extra setup.
Once you’re regularly in the Nether and want a steady supply for bartering, golden carrots, or stockpiling, building a zombified piglin farm pays for itself quickly. And if you’re already clearing Bastion Remnants for other loot, swing your pickaxe at every piece of gilded blackstone you see on the way past. It’s free gold you’d otherwise walk right over.
Frequently Asked Questions
A zombified piglin farm is the fastest renewable method once it’s built, since it produces gold nuggets far faster than mining. For a quick one-time boost without any building, mining gold ore or raiding a Bastion Remnant works too.
No. Bartering requires giving piglins gold ingots in exchange for other loot like ender pearls and obsidian. It spends gold, it does not produce it.
You have to land the killing blow yourself, whether through direct combat or a player-attributed effect like a potion. Kills from fall damage, lava, or other mobs will not drop gold nuggets. A Looting III weapon roughly quadruples the average nuggets per kill compared to no enchantment.
It’s a special block found only in Bastion Remnants. Mining it with a pickaxe gives a 10 percent chance to get 2 to 5 gold nuggets instead of the block itself, and Fortune III guarantees the nugget drop every time.
Gold ore is richest in the Overworld around Y=-16, with a badlands-only exception at much higher elevations, and nether gold ore is common across a wide range of Nether Y-levels. See our full Y-level guide for the exact breakdown.
Golden apples, golden carrots, powered rails, gold tools and armor, and beacon pyramids all require gold, on top of spending it on piglin bartering.
Gold in Minecraft comes down to a simple trade-off: mine it when you need a small amount fast, farm zombified piglins when you want a steady renewable supply, and grab gilded blackstone and bastion chest loot as a bonus whenever you’re already in the Nether. Just don’t confuse bartering for a source. That’s where the gold goes, not where it comes from.
