How to find pottery shards in Minecraft

Pottery shards are the first blocks introduced in Minecraft's long-awaited archeology feature and have been added to the Java 23w07a snapshot and its Bedrock preview equivalent. These ancient pieces of pottery can be combined to create decorated pots.

Though the archeology feature is still in development, players in the current snapshot and preview can still find the aforementioned shards and assemble decorated pots before more content is included. Doing so requires a keen eye and specific locations, as well as a new tool introduced in the betas.

However, with the right knowledge in mind and an eye for small details, players can find plenty of pottery shards and assemble decorated pots as they see fit.

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How to find pottery shards in Minecraft's latest 1.20 previews

Desert pyramids are one location where pottery shards can be found in Minecraft's current previews (Image via Mojang)

At the moment, pottery shards are found exclusively in desert biomes, hidden within a new block known as suspicious sand. However, you won't be able to find these blocks and break them to get what you're looking for. Instead, you will need to dust them lightly using the new Minecraft brush tool to excavate the pottery shards without shattering them. Fortunately, the brush can be created from very simple and easy-to-find materials.

Finding and unearthing pottery shards in Minecraft

1. Craft a brush. This can be accomplished by combining two sticks and three pieces of string in the crafting table menu.
2. Head to a desert biome and search for a desert pyramid or desert well. If you're having trouble finding a pyramid in particular, you can use the Minecraft command "/locate structure desert_pyramid" without quotations to receive the coordinates to the nearest one, though this requires cheats to be enabled and can't be done in desert wells as they're considered generic structures.
3. When you've reached a pyramid or desert well, start hunting for suspicious sand. This block has a distinct texture showing small indentations on its surface. It can be difficult to distinguish among ordinary sand blocks and can be found around or inside of a well or pyramid, so you'll need to use your discernment skills to the best of your ability here. Java Edition's F3 menu can also assist you by informing you what you're currently looking at.
4. Once you've found suspicious sand, right-click or press the use item button to brush the block. Hold the button and keep brushing until the pottery shards pop from the suspicious sand, which will revert the suspicious sand back into ordinary sand.

Depending on the location of the suspicious sand that players find in Minecraft, it'll be possible to collect shards with different patterns on their faces. Items found near pyramids can have the Skull, Prize, and Archer patterns, while those found around wells can have the Arms Up pattern.

Four shards of the same type are required to assemble a decorated pot, though players can also use bricks as a substitute if they don't have enough shards. However, any side of the pot substituted with a brick won't have a pattern.

It's also important to note that suspicious sand blocks are incredibly fragile and are affected by gravity. Minecraft players should exercise caution to ensure that they don't fall and break, as this will remove the opportunity to brush them for pottery shards.