Amethyst Shards are a brand new item in Minecraft, and players can use them for a few new crafting recipes. Naturally, before reaping the benefits of this new item, players are going to need to find them out in the wild first. Thankfully, this task isn't too difficult, but there are a few important things that players should know about the item and that sets it apart from most other things in the game. Now that the first part of the Caves and Cliffs update is officially available, all players can find Amethyst Shards without needing to use Snapshots or any other kind of beta features.
Amethysts are one of many new items in Minecraft that came with the release of the Caves and Cliffs update part 1. In addition to these, players can also get Copper Ore, Glow Ink Sacs, Glow Berries, and much more. Naturally, each of these new items also comes with various uses and crafting recipes to make even more stuff, so there's a lot to explore right now.
For those wondering how to find Amethyst, they must first seek out an Amethyst Geode. These are compact rooms that contain the Budding Amethyst block as walls. Over time, these Budding Amethyst blocks will grow Amethyst Buds. Players need to wait until the Amethyst Bud has fully grown into an Amethyst Cluster and then use any kind of Pickaxe to mine it. Using any other tool will result in half the yield (only dropping two Amethyst Shards rather than four).
After mining the Amethyst Clusters, players can use the Amethyst Shards in a few new crafting recipes. Combining four Amethyst Shards together will create an Amethyst Block, useful for players that want to show off when building structures. Next, stacking two Copper Ingots with an Amethysts on the top will create a Spyglass, allowing players to zoom in and see things from further away. Finally, players can surround a block of Glass with four Amethyst Shards in order to create Tinted Glass. This new item blocks all light but is still translucent enough that players can see through it.
Unfortunately, players can't really create an Amethyst farm, as Budding Amethyst blocks break even when mined with a Silk Touch pickaxe. This means that once players find an Amethyst Geode area underground, they will need to remember where it is if they want to come back and gather up more Amethyst Shards.
Minecraft is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
