Why is amethyst important in Minecraft?

Minecraft Amethyst is one of the newest materials added to the game. As in real life, Amethyst is a crystal, and as such, you’ll want to be looking for geodes that house this gorgeous mineral.

Here’s where you can find Amethyst in Minecraft, and how to use it once you’ve successfully acquired it.

Amethyst Geodes randomly generate in the world and can appear anywhere below the surface. That means that there isn’t an easy guaranteed spot to find geodes - they can be anywhere from sea level all the way down to bedrock.

You’ll want to look out for Tuff and Calcite, as they form two protective layers surrounding the geodes. If whilst mining you run into Tuff or Calcite, mine out the area around you and you will often find a geode. Once inside the geode, you’ll notice a few different Amethyst-related blocks.

These purple blocks generate in Geodes and can be mined, but can also be crafted by placing 4 Amethyst Shards in a 2x2 pattern in your crafting menus. Whilst not particularly useful, Amethyst blocks make lovely sparkly musical notes when placed down/walked on, so can be used creatively if you’re wanting to make an aspect of a build seem particularly magical.

A block that bears a striking resemblance to the regular block of Amethyst, Budding Amethyst has a crack down the middle of the block's textures. These also generate in Amethyst Geodes, but cannot be moved or mined regardless of pickaxe enchantment or Redstone contraption. They can of course be used in Creative, but in Survival, you can either destroy them or leave them where they are.

It’s recommended you leave them where they are though, and be sure to pay attention to their location as you leave, as the Budding Amethyst blocks serve a special purpose: generating Amethyst Clusters, and therefore a theoretically infinite source of Amethyst.

Amethyst Clusters are violet-colored jagged crystals that occasionally generate on any side of a Budding Amethyst block; top, bottom, or sides.

They have various stages of growth, four to be exact, and each is visually unique. The first three stages are called the Small, Medium, and Large Amethyst Buds respectively, and cannot be harvested. The fourth and final stage is where the Bud becomes the Amethyst Cluster, which can be harvested with an Iron Pickaxe or better.

This will always get you 4 Amethyst Shards. These numbers can of course be increased with a Fortune enchantment, so it may be worthwhile investing in an Enchanting Table before you mine out any Geodes you find. If you mine an Amethyst Bud or Cluster with a Silk Touch pickaxe, you can pick them up and place them down wherever, which can be beneficial as each stage of the Clusters’ growth has a different level of light generation, meaning you can create some lovely mood lighting.

Now, what can you craft with Amethyst Shards? We’ve already mentioned that 4 Shards in a 2x2 pattern create a Block of Amethyst, but you can also create Tinted Glass by placing an unstained Glass block in the center of a crafting table menu, and then an Amethyst Shard directly above, below, and to the left and right of the Glass block.

Finally, place 1 Amethyst Shard and 2 Copper Ingots straight down the middle of your crafting table menu, in a similar fashion to crafting a Shovel, and you’ll get a Spyglass. This can be used as a magnifying glass to help you spot things far off in the distance.