What Ore Gives the Most XP in Minecraft?

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Mining is the main aspect of Minecraft! Mining is fun and dangerous but also rewarding at the same time.

Besides getting minerals to improve your quality of life and progress further into the game, ores also give you experience points, which you can use to repair your tools with mending or to enchant other items.

So what ore gives the most XP in Minecraft? Let’s find out!

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Depending on the process and how you mine the ores, you can get different amounts of experience points. But overall, diamond and emerald ore are the ones that give you the most XP in Minecraft! On the other hand, ancient debris gives you the most XP if you smelt the ore instead of normally breaking them.

Let’s dig deeper!


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What Ore Gives the Most XP in Minecraft

Currently, there are 11 different ores in Minecraft, located in 2 dimensions: the Overworld and the Nether. The ores include coal, copper, lapis lazuli, iron, gold, Redstone, diamond, emerald, nether quartz, nether gold, and ancient debris.

Some ores can instantly give you experience points after you break them. Others may need to be smelted in a furnace for you to get the processed minerals and XP.

In this article, we pick the ore that gives the most XP based on only 1 ore block, not their rarity or how easy it’s to get the experience point from them.

  1. Coal Ore

Coal ores drop 0-2 experience points on broken, so on average, you get 1 experience point per coal ore. This amount can’t be increased with a Fortune III enchantment because it will only increase the coal drop, not the XP.

When smelting the coal ore or deepslate coal ore in the furnace gives you 0.1 experience. With this being said, it’s still better to mine coal ores directly since they can give you up to 2 experience points. And coal often spawns in a large vein, so it’s a win-win!

  1. Copper Ore

Copper ore is not so common compared to coal, but it can still spawn a large chunk, especially in the dripstone caves biome.

The copper ore will not drop any experience on broken, but instead, you have to smelt the raw copper in the furnace for 0.7 experience points per ore.

This is way better compared to smelt coal ore in the furnace but less than mining coal ore directly.

  1. Lapis Lazuli Ore

Lapis lazuli ore is a rare ore that you don’t find them often! Therefore, each one gives you 2-5 experience points on broken and 0.2 if you smelt it in the furnace.

So far, this is the best ore for experience purposes!

  1. Iron Ore

The most useful ore in Minecraft with medium rarity. Iron ore doesn’t give any experience points on broken but gives 0.7 XPs when smelted in the furnace.

  1. Gold Ore

Same as iron but a bit rarer! You can get experience points by breaking the gold ores. Instead, smelt them in the furnace to get 1 XP right away!

  1. Redstone Ore

Redstone ore gives 1-5 experience points on broken and 0.7 when smelted.

While the minimum XP you can get from a Redstone ore is less than 1 compared to the Lapis Lazuli ore, Redstone still does better because it’s much easier to find Redstone than Lapis in Minecraft!

  1. Diamond Ore

Here goes the ultimate ore in the game! Diamond ore drops 3-7 experience points on broken and 1 on smelted. Although most Minecrafters prefer breaking the diamond ores, the XP they give is less than Redstone or coal due to their rarity.

However, if we only count 1 ore, diamond ore is in the lead right now!

  1. Emerald Ore

Emerald ores have the same attribute as diamond ores. But mining for emeralds isn’t a thing in Minecraft anymore because you can just trade a lot of emeralds with the villagers.

  1. Nether Quartz Ore

In the early version of Minecraft, mining nether quartz is considered one of the best fast level-up methods in the game!

Each nether quartz ore gives 2-5 experience points on broken and 0.2 on smelted. Which is pretty normal nowadays.

  1. Nether Gold Ore

Nether gold ore is a new type of gold ore that spawns only in the Nether dimension. They spawn on a large vein and give 0-1 experience points on broken and 1 XP on smelted.

  1. Ancient Debris

The final ore in the game, ancient debris! It’s quite disappointing to know that the ultimate mineral in the game only gives you 2 experience points on smelted and doesn’t drop a single XP on broken.


Frequently Asked Questions

What Minecraft ores give XP?

Not all ores in Minecraft give you XP. The ones that give you experience points on mining are coal, lapis lazuli, Redstone, diamond, emerald, nether quartz, and nether gold.

What gives the most XP in Minecraft?

Killing the Ender Dragon gives you the most XP in Minecraft! It gives 12,000 experience points on the first spawn and 500 for every time you respawn it with the end crystals.

What is the best thing to smelt for XP in Minecraft?

We’d go ahead and say gold ores! You can find a ton of normal gold ore in the badlands biome or nether gold ores in the Nether dimension. Then set up a super smelting system and smelt them all for 1 XP per ore.


That answered what ore gives the most XP in Minecraft!

Hopefully, in the future, Mojang will add a new ore containing more XP. Or we can have a proper way to increase the experience points received. Still, happy mining!

Binh Tran

As a game writer, my goal is to craft engaging, informative, and concise articles. Whether it's diving into the latest gaming trends or writing game guides, I'm always excited to share my insights with others.

This Post Has One Comment

  1. ryguy

    thank you for the answers i needed thease for my hardcore world

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