how to find buried treasure in minecraft

If you're into exploring in Minecraft, buried treasure can be a great incentive to go on an adventure. Buried treasure will invariably contain valuable loot (often the sought-after diamonds) and is an excellent find for any player.

How to Find Buried Treasure in Minecraft

But how exactly do you locate buried treasure? This article will provide you with all the tips and tricks to obtain buried treasure in no time at all.

Step Zero: Finding Oceans

Buried treasure usually spawns on the beach or directly in the ocean, so the first step to getting the treasure is locating your nearest ocean. However, the ocean is vast, and you can't just go digging around until you get lucky. Well, you can, but that will take an extraordinary amount of time.

To navigate the oceans, you'll usually need to craft a boat. To make a boat, you need five matching planks (in the Bedrock and Education Editions, you also need a wooden shovel). A plank is made by merely crafting a piece of wood down to make four planks.

Find Buried Treasure in Minecraft

Once you have a boat, you need to explore the ocean.

Step One: Shipwrecks and Ruins

While exploring the ocean, you'll notice unusual features on the ocean floor or near the shores.

Shipwrecks appear as parts of a ship underwater, either upright or on its side. Most shipwrecks will have three chests, one of which contains a buried treasure map. Additional loot inside these chests can be just as valuable, so there's much more to maps than just exploring them.

Buried Treasure in Minecraft

Alternatively, underwater ruins look like structures made of sandstone or stone bricks. They can often appear in close-knit clusters. Exploring the ruins will yield a chest that usually has a buried treasure map inside. As you explore more ruins, you increase your odds of finding a buried treasure map.

You'll usually need to dive to explore these ocean floor features, so make sure you don't stay underwater too long, or you'll drown. You can also look for some enchantments and potions to make the diving part easier to manage.

Step Two: Follow the Map

Once you've found a map, follow it. Each map will clearly mark the treasure spot with a red X. All you need to do is navigate to it. An unexplored map will have rough outlines of the treasure's terrain, but it is usually fairly near the shipwreck you found it in.

Buried Treasure in Minecraft

The white marker on the map shows your current location, and each map is presented with its north side up. If your marker is on the bottom left corner, for example, you need to move north (or northeast) until you see yourself on the map. It will require a bit of trial and error, but we're sure you'll get the hang of it quickly.

Step Three: Dig

Once you've found the X on the map, you'll need to dig around. The buried treasure chest is usually buried in the sand. We recommend a higher-quality shovel to go through all the sand quickly. The treasure is usually not directly on the X, so make sure you go a few blocks around it as well.

While all the digging and searching might be tedious, it's well worth the time and effort, as buried treasure is extremely valuable.

Like we said, if you're digging underwater, make sure you don't drown, or all your effort will be for nothing.

Step Four: Enjoy the Loot

Buried treasure chests contain very valuable loot, and are among the most consistent sources of diamonds and emeralds in the game, as over half of them will contain both. You can also get some TNT this way. Another valuable item is a Heart of the Sea, which is guaranteed in every treasure chest and is a powerful crafting item.

Practice Round

If you want to have some practice locating maps, this seed is a great start. You'll start near a coastal shipwreck and get a treasure map quickly. All you need to do is follow it to get your first buried treasure.

Treasure in the Ocean

Buried treasure is one of the best aspects of adventuring in Minecraft. Exploring the ocean can be time-consuming, but you will quickly become proficient in locating ruins and shipwrecks with some practice. Make sure you're prepared properly for the long journey, and your efforts will be greatly rewarded.

What loot did you receive from your buried treasure? Let us know in the comments section below.