What Are Iron Nuggets?
Iron nuggets are small crafting items you get when you break down an iron ingot. You don’t find them lying around in the world, but they’re useful for recipes like chains and lanterns. The main thing to know: one iron ingot turns into nine iron nuggets.
How to Craft Iron Nuggets
What You Need
Just one thing:
- 1 Iron Ingot
Crafting Steps
Step 1: Open your crafting table to get the 3×3 grid.
Step 2: Place one iron ingot in any slot of the grid. It doesn’t matter which one you pick.
Step 3: Nine iron nuggets pop up in the output slot. Move them to your inventory.
That’s it. You’re done.
Finding Iron Nuggets in Creative Mode
If you’re in creative mode, you can grab iron nuggets directly from the inventory menu.
| Minecraft Version | Menu Location |
| Java Edition 1.12 to 1.19 | Miscellaneous |
| Java Edition 1.19.3 to 1.19.4 | Ingredients |
Technical Info
Command
If you want to give yourself iron nuggets in Java Edition 1.13 or newer:
/give @p iron_nugget 1
For Java Edition 1.12:
/give @p iron_nugget 1 0
Item ID and Details
| Item ID | minecraft:iron_nugget |
| Stack Size | 64 |
| Java Edition | 1.11.1 to 1.19.4 |
What to Make with Iron Nuggets
Iron nuggets aren’t just for breaking down extra ingots. You can use them to craft:
- Chains (3 nuggets + 1 iron ingot = 1 chain)
- Lanterns (1 iron nugget + 8 torches = 1 lantern)
- Soul Lanterns (1 iron nugget + 8 soul torches = 1 soul lantern)
- Iron Ingots (9 nuggets = 1 ingot, same as other crafting materials)