In Minecraft, looting rare resources is an important part of the gaming experience. While many miners dig away relying on luck, one player conducted a test to see where to prospect for resources profitably in the Nether.
How did the test go? The user Mahtog42 took on a test in Minecraft to find out how ore distribution is structured in the Nether. To set this up, he used 32 bots and had them mine materials at different heights for up to 24 hours.
At the end of his test, he counted the mined materials and created a graph based on his results to see which mining height in the Nether is the most lucrative. He shared the results on Reddit. The results might be surprising for some miners.
The higher, the better, but with exceptions
What did the player discover? The graph clearly indicates a trend: the higher, the better the yield, especially concerning gold and quartz. In summary, the following can be said:
- Heights 8 to 22 and 33 to 116 are optimal for mining gold and quartz
- Heights 110 to 114 are the most profitable regarding gold and quartz
- Anyone looking for ancient debris should stay between heights 10 to 22
- Anything above or below will yield hardly any ancient debris and would thus be a waste of time
- The total yield of his test amounted to the following sums:
- Gold blocks: 178,350
- Quartz blocks: 636,047
- Ancient debris: 3,945
It is important to note that the specified heights refer to the height at which the head of the bot was located.
What do fans say about the results? They are grateful and surprised by the results of the test, but they also question whether the bots could mine on solid ground throughout. User kabob95 notes that the heights from 30 to 33 showed notably low yields, which could mainly be due to the Nether often being surrounded by lava lakes – a fact confirmed by the tester.
Other users like Yoitman have wondered if any of the bots were burned while mining. The Nether is one of the most dangerous places overall. So it would not be surprising if one of the bots fell into a lava lake.
However, Mahtog42 denies this statement and explains that all bots survived the 24-hour test unscathed. He does admit, however, that he had to disable the opponents, or otherwise, Ghasts would have catapulted his diligent workers into the lava lakes – something he wanted to avoid.
With up to 2,704 upvotes on Reddit (as of May 16, 2025), many fans are grateful for the results, as they can better plan their farming routes and thus travel more effectively through the Nether to obtain their desired materials. Do you prefer to get diamonds? Then we have the right guide for you: Minecraft Guide: Finding Diamonds – How to Farm Them the Fastest
