Ores

Ores

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Statistics

Type	Crafting material
Placeable
Use time	15 Very Fast

Ores are primary crafting materials necessary for game progress. They generally must be crafted into bars at a Furnace, after which they can craft several essential tools, weapons, armor, and other items. Some items require raw ores themselves, most commonly bricks and potions. Raw ores can also be used as plain blocks for construction.

Ores are generally found as veins of placed blocks in the Underground layer and below, and are mined with a pickaxe or drill. Lower-tier ores can be found among Dirt near the surface, or within Floating Islands. Some ores are also dropped by bosses, namely Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds, Brain of Cthulhu, Ocram , and Moon Lord  .

An Extractinator and Wooden Crates (from Fishing) also provide ores as random rewards.

A world will generally only contain one ore type from each tier, which is chosen at random (see tables below). The alternate ore types that do not generate naturally in a world can be obtained from crates, as bonus drops from Slimes (   ), from an Extractinator, or other worlds. Hardmode ore types are chosen at random when players destroy Altars.

List of ores

Ore		Rarity	Sell
	Copper Ore Internal Item ID: 12		50*50
	Tin Ore Internal Item ID: 699		75*75
	Iron Ore Internal Item ID: 11		100*1
	Lead Ore Internal Item ID: 700		150*1  50
	Silver Ore Internal Item ID: 14		200*2
	Tungsten Ore Internal Item ID: 701		300*3
	Gold Ore Internal Item ID: 13		400*4
	Platinum Ore Internal Item ID: 702		600*6
	Meteorite Internal Item ID: 116		200*2
	Demonite Ore Internal Item ID: 56		800*8
	Crimtane Ore Internal Item ID: 880		900*9
	Obsidian Internal Item ID: 173		-
	Hellstone Internal Item ID: 174		-
	Cobalt Ore Internal Item ID: 364		700*7
	Palladium Ore Internal Item ID: 1104		900*9
	Mythril Ore Internal Item ID: 365		1100*11
	Orichalcum Ore Internal Item ID: 1105		1300*13
	Adamantite Ore Internal Item ID: 366		1500*15
	Titanium Ore Internal Item ID: 1106		1700*17
	Chlorophyte Ore Internal Item ID: 947		600*6
	Luminite   Internal Item ID: 3460		3000*30

Pre-Hardmode

Tier	Possible Ore Types		Minimum Tool(s) Required	Ores Per Bar	Source
1	Copper Ore	Tin Ore		3	Surface, Underground, Cavern
2	Iron Ore	Lead Ore		3	Surface, Underground, Cavern
3	Silver Ore	Tungsten Ore		4	Underground, Cavern, Floating Islands, Surface (rarely)
4	Gold Ore	Platinum Ore		4	Underground, Cavern, Floating Islands, Surface (very rarely)
5	Meteorite			3	Meteorite biome
6	Demonite Ore	Crimtane Ore		3	Eye of Cthulhu, Underground, Cavern, Eater of Worlds (Demonite), Brain of Cthulhu (Crimtane)
7	Obsidian			n/a	Contact between water & lava
8	Hellstone			1 + 3	Underworld

Note that there is also "Tier 0" equipment: Armor, tools, and weapons made of wood, cactus, or pumpkin.

Hardmode

Tier	Possible Ore Types		Minimum Tool(s) Required	Ores Per Bar	Source
9	Cobalt Ore	Palladium Ore		3	Underground, Cavern
10	Mythril Ore	Orichalcum Ore		4	Cavern
11	Adamantite Ore	Titanium Ore	(works on  DS version only)	5	Cavern (roughly at lava depth), Ocram  (Adamantite only)
12	Chlorophyte Ore			6	Underground Jungle
13	Luminite			4	Moon Lord

Spawning the first three tiers of Hardmode Ore requires the destruction of Demon/Crimson Altars. This requires a Hammer with 80% hammer power or higher, e.g. the Pwnhammer. Each destroyed Altar will spawn a Wraith and causes one type of Hardmode ore to appear in the world, with the appropriate message displaying in the player's chat: "Your world has been blessed with (ore)!"

1. First Altar: Cobalt Ore or Palladium Ore, chosen randomly.
2. Second Altar: Mythril Ore or Orichalcum Ore, chosen randomly.
3. Third Altar: Adamantite Ore or Titanium Ore, chosen randomly.

Players will be able to find these new ores scattered across the Underground layer to near-Underworld levels, with them replacing most blocks created during world generation. They will spawn at random locations in varying quantity, in places explored and unexplored alike.

• Destroying more Altars will never spawn Hardmode ore types beyond the three that were randomly assigned to your world during the initial round of destroyed Altars. A world with Palladium Ore deposits will never spawn Cobalt Ore deposits, or vice versa.

• Which ores are generated is not determined until the first, second or third Altar is smashed. For example, it is not determined if the world has Cobalt or Palladium until the first Altar has been smashed. The same goes for Mythril/Orichalcum with the second Altar, and Adamantite/Titanium for the third.
• Subsequent Altars destroyed will begin the cycle again, though the fourth to sixth Altars will drop half as much ore as the first ones, the seventh to ninth will drop only one third of the ore of the first ones, and so forth. This "multiplier" can be calculated with the formula 1/(ceiling(n/3)) where n is the number of Altars destroyed. So, destroying the 19th Altar would yield one-seventh of Cobalt/Palladium Ore compared to the first Altar. Destroying 12 altars will roughly double the ore provided by the first three; tripling that original allotment would require destroying 33 altars (if you can find that many).
• Altars are needed for crafting certain items; destroying every Altar in a world is not recommended.
• No matter how many Altars are destroyed, ore rarity remains set with Cobalt/Palladium being the most common, followed by Mythril/Orichalcum, then Adamantite/Titanium as the rarest.
• Each time an Altar is destroyed, one or two Wraiths spawn, regardless of the time of day. When destroying multiple Altars in rapid succession, the resulting Wraith swarm may become difficult to deal with.
• Each time an Altar is destroyed, there is a 66% chance that a single random stone block in the Caverns layer will be converted to Ebonstone/Crimstone or Pearlstone, facilitating the spread of underground Hallow or Corruption/Crimson. No block other than stone can be converted. If the game misses a stone block on its first try, it can try up to 999 more times before giving up.
• Additionally, smashing an Altar will start spawning mechanical bosses (until it's defeated, each has a 10% chance of spawning each night), and random Pirate Invasions (if all the criteria are met).

Ore Generation

The amount of ore veins generated is determined by the formula

 (world size * 310 - (85 * ore tier)) * 0.85 / (amount of altars destroyed / 3 + 1)

where world size is the width of the world divided by 4200 (1 for small worlds, 1.5 for medium, 2 for large), and ore tier is 0 for cobalt/palladium, 1 for mythril/orichalcum, and 2 for adamantite/titanium. The alternate ores added in 1.2 have their vein amount decreased by 10%.

The table below shows how many ore veins will be spawned for each altar destroyed. If 264 altars were to be destroyed in one world, all following altars would only spawn one ore vein.

Ore Type	1 Altar	2 Altars	3 Altars	4 Altars	5 Altars	6 Altars	7 Altars	8 Altars	9 Altars
	264 veins	-	-	132 veins	-	-	88 veins	-	-
	238 veins	-	-	119 veins	-	-	80 veins	-	-
	-	192 veins	-	-	96 veins	-	-	64 veins	-
	-	172 veins	-	-	86 veins	-	-	58 veins	-
	-	-	119 veins	-	-	60 veins	-	-	40 veins
	-	-	108 veins	-	-	54 veins	-	-	36 veins

• These values are for a small world. Multiply by 1.5 and 2 for medium and large worlds, respectively.

All hardmode ores will avoid spawning in the outer 100 tiles of the world. Cobalt and Palladium spawn from the Underground layer to 150 tiles above the world border. Mythril and Orichalcum spawn from the Cavern Layer to 150 tiles above the world border. Adamantite and Titanium start to spawn slightly lower than Mythril/Orichalcum. The heights they spawn at largely depend on the location of the underground boundaries in your world. See this section for specifics.

The amount of demon altars smashed does not affect the size of ore veins, only the amount. As the generation of each vein is heavily randomized, it is difficult to give exact high and low values from "optimal" veins. Instead, a table of "good luck" vein amounts and "bad luck" vein amounts is shown below. Average yeild is likely between 30-40% due to occasional lost ore.

Ore Type	Good Luck	Bad Luck
	103 (34 + 1 )	11 (3 + 2 )
	103 (34 + 1 )	11 (3 + 2 )
	89 (22 + 1 )	11 (2 + 3 )
	89 (22 + 1 )	11 (2 + 3 )
	58 (11 + 3 )	11 (2 + 1 )
	58 (11 + 3 )	11 (2 + 1 )

Note however, that the above table assumes that all the ore actually replaces blocks. Should ore attempt to generate over any block not listed below, it will fail to generate, resulting in a smaller vein.

• Dirt Block
• Stone Block
• Corrupt grass
• Ebonstone Block
• Clay Block
• Sand Block
• Ash Block
• Mud Block
• Jungle grass
• Mushroom grass
• Hallowed grass
• Ebonsand Block
• Pearlsand Block
• Pearlstone Block
• Snow Block
• Ice Block
• Purple Ice Block
• Pink Ice Block
• Mossy Stone
• Crimson grass
• Red Ice Block
• Crimstone Block
• Crimsand Block

Hardmode ores won't generate over Granite Blocks, Marble Blocks, or any hardened sands, and as such cannot be found in the Granite Cave, Marble Cave, and Underground Desert biomes.

Crafting

Used to craft

Demon Altar or Crimson Altar

Result	Ingredients
Abeemination ()	Honey Block (5) Stinger Hive (5) Bottled Honey Crispy Honey Block (3) Obsidian (2)
Bloody Spine (  )	Vicious Powder   (30) Vertebrae (15)
Bloody Spine ( )	Vertebrae (15)
Night's Edge	Light's Bane Muramasa Blade of Grass Fiery Greatsword
	Blood Butcherer Muramasa Blade of Grass Fiery Greatsword
Slime Crown (  )	Gel (20) Gold Crown
	Gel (20) Platinum Crown
Slime Crown ( )	Gel (99) Gold Crown
	Gel (99) Platinum Crown
Suspicious Looking Eye	Lens (6)
Worm Food	Vile Powder (30) Rotten Chunk (15)

total: 11 row(s)

Hardmode Ore locations

• Small maps:
  • Cobalt Ore and Palladium Ore spawn below a depth of 760 feet (380 tiles)
  • Mythril Ore and Orichalcum Ore spawn below a depth of 1,000 feet (500 tiles)
  • Adamantite Ore and Titanium Ore spawn below a depth of 1,400 feet (700 tiles), 100 feet (50 tiles) above the depth at which Lava begins appearing
• Medium maps:
  • Cobalt Ore and Palladium Ore spawn below a depth of 1,100 feet (550 tiles)
  • Mythril Ore and Orichalcum Ore spawn below a depth of 1,400 feet (700 tiles)
  • Adamantite Ore and Titanium Ore spawn below a depth of 2,130 feet (1,065 tiles), 170 feet (85 tiles) above the depth at which Lava begins appearing.
• Large maps:
  • Cobalt Ore and Palladium Ore spawn below a depth of 1,270 feet (635 tiles)
  • Mythril Ore and Orichalcum Ore spawn below a depth of 2,000 feet (1,000 tiles)
  • Adamantite Ore and Titanium Ore spawn below a depth of 2,930 feet (1,465 tiles), 420 feet (210 tiles) above the depth at which Lava begins appearing.

Achievement

Begone, Evil! • "Smash a demon or crimson altar with a powerful, holy hammer."

Smash a demon or crimson altar, using the Pwnhammer.  

Notes

• Altars cannot be collected as items.
• Cobalt/Palladium is roughly twice as common as Adamantite/Titanium, with Mythril/Orichalcum halfway between.
• Altars can be destroyed through other phenomena, such as being spawned on top of Sand, or being struck by a meteorite landing. An altar destroyed by natural causes will spawn ores normally, assuming hardmode has begun. Prior to hardmode however, an altar being destroyed in this way will have no effect.
• Altars encountered outside of the Corruption/Crimson on a given map will always be found at a depth of around 8 feet above. This can be seen at the Ocean floor, where altars can sometimes be found.
• Altars emit a faint glow, making them somewhat easier to find in unlit areas.

Tips

• It is not uncommon to find an Altar relatively close to the world spawn point. Wherever the player has set up their base, it is recommended to begin searching near 0 depth, and upon finding an Altar, build a room around it so the player can craft in relative peace.
• Players about to enter Hardmode may benefit by mining paths to several known Altars beforehand, as navigating Hardmode Corruption/Crimson is dangerous at first.
• Stacked Altars will bless the world with two ores when destroyed.
• It is not strictly necessary to smash an altar; all ores obtained by doing so can also be obtained by fishing up crates, allowing access to all ores and their counterparts in one world.

Trivia

• The difficulty that new players often face in identifying and determining the nature of Demon Altars, often resulting in forum posts asking about "purple spiky things", has become a notable social phenomenon in the Terraria community. A title message references this with the text Terraria: What's that purple spiked thing?
• In some rare cases an altar can spawn atop another altar. Hammering it in Pre Hardmode will deal damage and cause both altars to break.
• Altars can spawn on sand. Breaking the sand beneath it will break it, but ores will spawn only in Hardmode.
• In some rare cases an altar can spawn on top of a Crystal Heart. Both lower quarters of the heart can be collected as two separate items, but the top half stays unbroken under the altar. The remaining half still exhibits its normal animation after the bottom half is broken.
• A wraith is defined as a spirit seen shortly before or after one's death; their appearances when an altar is broken may imply that altars are indeed living creatures.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.3.1: Sprites updated.

• Desktop 1.2.3.1: Fixed the problem with altars/pots/chests spawning in bugged conditions.

• Desktop 1.2.3:
  • Fixed Demon Altar mining death having no message.
  • Crimson Altar hover text now appears on the map.

• Desktop 1.2: Worlds which have the Crimson instead of the Corruption will have Demon Altars replaced with Crimson Altars.

• Desktop 1.1:
  • When smashed with a Pwnhammer during Hardmode, a vein of Hardmode Ore will generate in the world.
  • Now has a chance to summon a few Wraiths and create an additional Underground Corruption or Hallow spreading point somewhere in the world when smashed.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.0.933.1: Sprites updated to match Desktop 1.3.1. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: Sprites updated to match Desktop 1.3.1. ()

• Console 1.02: Worlds which have the Crimson instead of the Corruption will have Demon Altars replaced with Crimson Altars.

• Console-Release: Introduced with mechanics of Desktop 1.1.

 Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.2.12773: Fixed a bug where Demon Altars would generate in the Dungeon.

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Worlds which have the Crimson instead of the Corruption will have Demon Altars replaced with Crimson Altars.

• Mobile 1.1.5536:
  • When smashed with a Pwnhammer during Hardmode, a vein of Hardmode Ore will be generated in the world.
  • Now has a chance to summon a few Wraiths and create an additional Underground Corruption or Hallow spreading point somewhere in the world when smashed.

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

 DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced with mechanics of Desktop 1.2.

Chlorophyte Ore spawns on its own once Hardmode is triggered, and Luminite does not occur naturally. Neither are affected by destroyed Altars.

Achievements

Ooo! Shiny! • "Mine your first nugget of ore with a pickaxe."

Mine your first ore.   

Extra Shiny! • "Mine a powerful ore that has been newly blessed upon your world."

Mine your first Hardmode ore.   

Photosynthesis • "Mine chlorophyte, an organic ore found deep among the thickest of flora."

Mine your first Chlorophyte Ore.   

Tips

• Each Hardmode ore is chosen at the moment the first three Altars in the world are broken. Ores can be "chosen" by quitting the world without saving (by ending the task or killing the process) after smashing the first Altars. It is more easily done with a server, using the exit-nosave command.
• All ores except Hellstone and Obsidian are highlighted by the Spelunker buff, making it easy to find veins of ore. Hellstone is not lit up by the buff, but it is by a Dangersense Potion. Obsidian is easily found and made around lava.
• Using a Crate Potion will improve the chances of obtaining Crates and as such the ore-bearing Wooden Crates.
• Filling in caves with spare natural blocks such as dirt before destroying Altars can cause Hardmode ores to spawn in them. They can then also be seen on the minimap, presenting an easy way to convert extra blocks into ores with knowing their exact location.
• In the  DS version, the Palladium Pickaxe and Drill can mine Adamantite and Titanium.
• Most ores sell for the same as or more than the bars made from them. The exceptions are the late pre-Hardmode ores (Meteorite, Demonite/Crimtane, Hellstone), and Chlorophyte, all of which are far more profitable as bars. (Hellstone and Obsidian are unsaleable as ores, and there is no Obsidian Bar).

Trivia

•   Hellstone's item sprite is a recolor of that of Silver Ore.
• Hellstone and Chlorophyte are the only ores that cannot be infinitely generated within a single world. Others can be obtained from sources such as Crates, an Extractinator, bosses, duplicable liquids, and Meteorite crashes. Furthermore, Chlorophyte can be grown using mud, which, while not truly infinite, is unlimited for all practical purposes.
• Iron and Lead are the only ores not to have bricks.
• Despite being a late-game ore, Chlorophyte Ore only sells for 600*6  per ore. This could be because it can be farmed indefinitely, but its bar (and derivative bars) fall right into sequence pricewise. Luminite sells for the most, netting 3000*30  per ore.
• Palladium, Cobalt, and Titanium are the only Hardmode ores named after real metals.
• As of version 1.3.5.3, there are a total of 21 types of ores in Terraria.
• Luminite is the only ore that does not require a Furnace to craft bars.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • Updated some Ore graphics.
  • Introduced Luminite.

• Desktop 1.2.3:
  • Ore now stacks to 999.
  • Chlorophyte is slightly rarer and grows slower.
  • Hardmode Ores generate slightly less.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • Added 8 new Ores as possible alternatives to the original 8: Tin, Lead, Tungsten, Platinum, Crimtane, Palladium, Orichalcum, and Titanium Ore, ordered by tier.
  • Added Chlorophyte Ore.

• Desktop 1.1: Introduced Hardmode Ores: Cobalt, Mythril, and Adamantite Ore.

• Desktop 1.0.2: Mining stone and other hard ores make a noise now.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite.

 Console version

• Console 1.0.933.1: Made changes from PS4’s 1.0.750.0 update. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: ()
  • Updated some Ore graphics.
  • Introduced Luminite.

• Console 1.06:
  • Ore now stacks to 999.
  • Chlorophyte is slightly rarer and grows slower.
  • Hardmode Ores generate slightly less.

• Console 1.02: Introduced Ores from Desktop 1.2.

• Console-Release: Introduced with mining noises.
  • Pre-Hardmode Ores: Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite.
  • Hardmode Ores: Cobalt, Mythril, and Adamantite Ores.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.2.11212:
  • Ore now stacks to 999.
  • Chlorophyte is slightly rarer and grows slower.
  • Hardmode Ores generate slightly less.

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Introduced Ores from Desktop 1.2.

• Mobile 1.1.5536: Introduced Hardmode Ores: Cobalt, Mythril and Adamantite Ore.

• Mobile-Release: Introduced Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite. These make noises when mined.

 DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced with mining noises and generation mechanics from Desktop 1.2.3.
  • Pre-Hardmode Ores: Copper, Tin, Iron, Lead, Silver, Tungsten, Gold, and Platinum Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite.
  • Hardmode Ores: Cobalt, Palladium, Mythril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, Titanium, and Chlorophyte Ores.