Minecraft’s 1.16 Nether update introduced quite a bit of new content, some of which hasn’t even received the attention it rightfully deserves. For the longest time, one of the major struggles players had was trying to get around other dimensions like the Nether and the End without using the F3 screen or having to build tall cobblestone towers.
Mojang brought a solution to the table in the form of the lodestone, a special stone that can act as a handy waypoint marker. However, not all players are fully familiar with the specifics of how the lodestone functions, where to get it, or how to craft it. If you’re struggling with using a compass and finding your way, here’s a quick guide on the lodestone, your biggest savior.
8 Can Be Used To Bind Compasses
Although lodestones look pretty and can be used as expensive decorative blocks, their primary function is to bind compasses. With an unbound, regular compass in your right hand, simply right-click on a lodestone to bind the compass to it. In case you’re unsure of how to make a compass, check our guide on them here.
Now, no matter where you go within that dimension, your compass will always point to the location of the lodestone. This is fantastic when you want to quickly mark a location without having to go into the F3 debug screen and writing down your coordinates. It’s simply more immersive.
7 Requires A Pickaxe
The lodestone has Netherite in it, but it doesn’t actually require a diamond-tier pickaxe to be broken. Any pickaxe of any tier, from wooden to Netherite, will function just fine when you want to break your lodestone and pick it back up.
Be warned that if you try to break your lodestone with something that’s not a pickaxe, it will not only take a long time but also not actually drop the lodestone. Always have a pickaxe with you when placing or picking up lodestones, since they are expensive to craft and rare to find.
6 Breaking It Unbinds It
Another detail to know about breaking a lodestone is that once it’s broken, any compasses bound to it will be unbound. This means that you need to replace the lodestone again and then bind the compasses once more to have your waypoint marker functional.
Compasses that aren’t in your inventory and are bound will unbind themselves from a broken lodestone once you pick them up from a chest or other container where they might still be.
5 Tied To An Advancement
A bunch of new advancements were introduced with the 1.16 update, and one of those was the lodestone advancement. When you first bind a compass to a lodestone, this advancement will be unlocked.
Country Lode, Take Me Home is actually a pretty obvious reference to the famous Take Me Home, Country Road song by John Denver. Given how expensive and rare lodestones are, it’s likely that this advancement will take some time for you to unlock.
4 Works In All Dimensions
As already mentioned, the main strength of the lodestone comes from its ability to function in any of the three dimensions: the overworld, the Nether, and the End. Whereas previously compasses would be completely useless in the latter two dimensions, lodestones allow compasses to actually function in both of them.
This makes exploration in a convoluted dimension like the Nether or the End ten times easier. Lodestones can be used as markers for Nether portals so you’ll always find your way back, or you can even mark structures you find such as far away End Cities or Nether fortresses.
3 Always Found In Bridge Chests In Bastions
There’s only one place in the game where lodestones can be found, and it’s a Bastion Remnant. These structures spawn within the Nether randomly and are known for having a myriad of Piglins and a handful of Piglin Brutes as their inhabitants. Some other valuable loot can also be found inside, including gold, Netherite, and the Pigstep music disc.
Lodestones have a 100% chance of spawning in Bastion Remnants if there’s a so-called Bridge chest inside. These chests will always contain a lodestone inside, so look for a specific Bastion type as you explore.
2 Bound Compasses Look Unique
Regular compasses and bound compasses will look distinctively different, making it easy to manage your inventory. In the Java Edition, a bound compass will have a classic enchanted, iridescent sheen to it, and as you hover over to it in your inventory, the compass is named “Lodestone Compass”.
In the Bedrock Edition, bound compasses have a turquoise or cyan glow to them that sets them apart from regular compasses.
1 Can Be Crafted, But Is Expensive
If finding a lodestone is proving to be a difficult task, it can also be crafted. The catch is, the recipe is quite expensive since it requires one Netherite ingot. If you’re not sure where to find Netherite, we have a full guide on it here.
Combine one Netherite ingot with eight Chiseled Stone Bricks to produce a lodestone. The Chiseled Stone Bricks are easy to make if you have a Stonecutter at hand, otherwise some ocean ruins will have them occasionally.
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