5 best ways to find gold in Minecraft's 1.18 update

Although not quite as crucial as iron, gold has many uses in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Gold ore and ingots have long been a part of Minecraft, and access to the material has fluctuated throughout the years, but Minecraft 1.18 leaves plenty around for players to obtain.

Although there are many ways to obtain raw gold or gold ingots in Minecraft, some methods are more effective than others. A player collecting ingots from different locations and loot chests will likely have less to show for than a player who mines with the Fortune enchantment on their pickaxe.

Regardless, how a Minecraft player gets their gold is up to them, so they should be encouraged to use any and all methods in order to get what they need. Some of the best options can be found below.

Minecraft: Top 5 ways to get gold in Minecraft 1.18

5) Defeating zombie piglins

Zombie piglins have a small chance to drop gold ingots or golden weapons ((Image via Mojang)

Piglins in the Nether dimension are well-known for their love of gold in Minecraft, and this applies even when they've been zombified. When defeated by a player or a tamed wolf, zombified piglins have a 2.5% chance to drop gold ingots. They can also drop items such as gold nuggets or gold weapons, though these drop rates vary somewhat, especially weapons, which have disparate drop chances based on whether players are playing Minecraft: Java Edition or Bedrock Edition.

This isn't a super productive method, but the Looting enchantment applied to a weapon can make it somewhat less disappointing.

4) "Borrowing" from villagers

Villagers aren't likely to notice a few golden ingots going missing (Image via Mojang)

Villages are great structures to be near, especially if Minecraft players are starting out and need early resources and shelter. This is the same for those trying to find gold, as both the weaponsmith and temple chests in Minecraft villages have an approximately 25% chance to contain gold ingots. Toolsmith chests also have a 9.9% chance to contain the ingots as well. If players snag a few from the villagers, they're not likely to even notice they're gone.

3) Structure loot chests

Nether Fortress chests can be a great source of finding gold ingots, possessing a higher chance to find them in loot chests (Image via Mojang)

If players aren't near a village, it doesn't hurt to take a peek in one of Minecraft's various other generated structures. Structures such as Nether Fortresses, the End City, and Bastion Remnants retain high chances of dropping gold ingots compared to killing zombie piglins. Finding buried treasure chests in the Overworld also possesses a huge chance to obtain gold ingots.

At the moment, the best Minecraft structures for gold ingots from loot drops are:

Java Edition

Buried Treasure (88%)
End City chests (55%)
Jungle Temple chests (51%)
Nether Fortress chests (49%)
Bastion Remnant treasure chests (33.7%)

Bedrock Edition

End City chests (52.3%)
Jungle Temple chests (50.9%)
Nether Fortress chests (49%)
Buried Treasure chests (34.3%)
Shipwreck treasure chests (26.5%)

2) Mining Nether Gold ore

Nether Gold ore is a great alternative to standard gold ore (Image via Mojang)

If players are already in the Nether, it doesn't hurt to keep a look out for Nether Gold ore blocks either. Spawning from height levels 10 to 117 in Minecraft, Nether Gold ore can be smelted directly into gold ingots much like the way gold ore used to work in Minecraft prior to the Caves & Cliffs update, where raw gold ore was introduced.

Just be careful mining this particular ore, as piglins aren't big fans of players taking their gold reserves.

1) Overworld mining

Mining gold in the Overworld still provides the best return on investment if players know where to look (Image via Mojang)

It may not be exciting, but mining the underground depths of the Overworld will still provide the most bang for a player's buck when it comes to collecting gold. These ore blocks spawn between layer 0 and 32 in all biomes of the Overworld. Thanks to Minecraft's 1.17 and 1.18 updates, players can even find gold ore in deepslate as well as stone.

Using enchantments such as Efficiency and Fortune will also make the collection of raw gold substantially easier and much more helpful when it comes to returns.

Note: The list is subjective and reflects the views of the writer.