Why gold in Minecraft isn't as useless as some fans think
In Minecraft, gold is a rare earth resource that can be acquired and used in a variety of ways. While Iron or diamonds are typically used to build equipment, tools, and weapons, people generally avoid gold since it's not as durable as other earth minerals. Hence, even though some might believe gold isn't a crucial resource in the game, there are still several practical uses for it.
Here are some of the reasons why gold in Minecraft is a great resource to obtain and use.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.
Reasons why gold is not as useless in Minecraft as players think
Golden apples and carrots are great food items
Players eat regular food items like bread, baked potatoes, steak, pork chops, and more throughout their journey in Minecraft. Alternatively, they can use gold to produce special foods like golden apples and carrots. These have unique health properties that help players survive even the most challenging of scenarios. Gold ingots and nuggets can be used to craft golden apples and golden carrots, respectively.
While these foods might not provide players with more hunger points, they can give them several positive status effects. Golden carrot has the highest saturation effect and can keep one's hunger bar full for longer. Meanwhile, the golden apple adds two extra hearts of health along with absorption, and regeneration effects.
Gold can be used to barter with piglins
Piglins have a special connection with gold items and armor in Minecraft. If players are not wearing any gold armor, they will be attacked by piglins upon entering the Nether. These mobs will also pick up any gold object that is dropped on the ground since they adore the shiny rare resource.
Players can use this mechanic to barter gold ingots with Piglins and receive random items in exchange. They can obtain items like ender pearls, obsidian blocks, enchanted books, and other items through bartering.
Many speedrunners, who try to finish the game within a few hours, depend on bartering gold ingots to get useful items from piglins.
Gold is required to create netherite
The strongest material for making armor, weapons, and tools in Minecraft is netherite. This resource can be found as ancient debris blocks, buried deep in the Nether at around Y level 15.
Once a player obtains ancient debris, they need to smelt it to get netherite scraps. These netherite scraps must then be combined with with gold ingots to get netherite ingots. Finally, these ingots are applied to diamond tools and gear to turn them into netherite.
This makes gold ingots a crucial resource since you cannot make netherite armor and tools without them.
Check out other latest Minecraft articles:
- How do crops in Minecraft grow? Explained
- Minecraft’s enchantment system is due for a major upgrade
- How to go to Nether without diamond pickaxe in Minecraft