Shahrukh Sial is a gaming content writer at Sparked Host. He covers game guides, tips, and updates to help players improve their skills and enjoy a better gaming experience.

Have you ever wanted to find a hidden treasure in Minecraft? Well, you can, by exploring shipwrecks. These are old, broken ships found underwater or on beaches. They are full of cool loot and can lead you to even more treasures. Let's learn how to find them and what to look for.

Locating A Shipwreck

To find a shipwreck in Minecraft, you need to know where to look.

You can find a shipwreck in ocean areas, on beaches, or even on snowy beaches. Sometimes, you might see masts sticking out of the water, showing where a sunken sailing ship is. If you're using cheats, you can type /locate structure shipwreck to find the exact spot. For better sight underwater, try a night vision potion.

Method 1: Exploring Ocean Biomes

A good way to find a shipwreck in Minecraft is to look around in different ocean types. Shipwrecks can appear in warm, cold, or even frozen oceans.

Here are the steps:

  1. Find an Ocean: Use your map or just explore until you find any kind of ocean.

  2. Use a Boat: Make a boat and start sailing across the ocean.

  3. Drink Night Vision: If you drink a night vision potion, you can see much better underwater. This helps you spot shipwrecks from the top of the water.

  4. Look Down: Carefully look at the ocean floor. You're looking for the shape of a ship, maybe one partly in the water or stuck on a beach (beached shipwreck).

  5. Find Treasure: Once you spot a shipwreck, look for shipwreck chests. They can have good items and even treasure maps that lead to buried treasure.

Method 2: Buried Treasure Maps

Buried treasure maps are often found in shipwrecks. These maps are extremely important for finding hidden loot, such as the valuable Heart of the Sea. The map will display a red "X" indicating the location of the treasure and a white dot marking your current position.

How to use Buried Treasure Maps:

  • Find a Shipwreck: Shipwrecks are usually in oceans and often have treasure maps inside their shipwreck chests. They can also be in ocean ruins.

  • Get the Map: Open a shipwreck chest to find the map. You can also find these maps in ocean ruins.

  • Read the Map: The map features a white dot (representing you) and a red "X" (marking the treasure).

  • Go to the X: Follow the coast, moving towards the red "X" on the map. North is usually at the top of the map.

  • Dig at the X: When you get close to the red "X", start digging to find the buried treasure chest.

  • Take the Loot: Open the treasure chest to get awesome items like the Heart of the Sea.

Tips for using Treasure Maps:

  • Compass: A compass can help you find your way.

  • Coordinates: If you press F3 (on Java Edition), you can see numbers (coordinates) that help you find the exact spot.

  • Shovels: Use a good shovel to dig faster.

  • More Maps: You might find more than one shipwreck map in your world, leading to different treasures.

Exploring A Shipwreck

When you find a shipwreck in Minecraft, it's a special building that a shipwreck generates in ocean areas, on beaches, and sometimes even near big ice blocks or ocean ruins. They give you good loot, including maps to buried treasure. To find them, you can sail a boat in the ocean, look for wooden parts sticking out of the water, or even get a dolphin to show you the way.

Finding Shipwrecks:

  • Ocean Areas: Sail around in the ocean and look for wooden materials like ship parts on the seabed or partly above water.

  • Beaches: Shipwrecks can also be found stuck on beaches, so check the sand along the sea level.

  • Explorer Maps: Some villagers (called Cartographers) can sell you special maps that lead to a shipwreck. This is like getting an unknown map that becomes a treasure map.

  • Dolphins: Feed a dolphin raw cod or salmon, and it might swim to the closest shipwreck or ocean ruins.

  • Commands: If you can use cheats (like on Java Edition), type /locate structure shipwreck to find the closest one right away.

Where Are The Chests?

A shipwreck can have up to three shipwreck chests. What you find inside depends on where the chest is in the ship. If some parts of the shipwreck are missing, the chests in those parts might be gone too.

  • Supply Chest: This shipwreck supply chest is usually at the front of the ship (the bow). It often has helpful things like food, tools, and basic materials. Supply chests generate here.

  • Treasure Chest: This shipwreck treasure chest is usually at the back of the ship (the stern), in the upper part. It has more valuable items like iron ingots, gems, or enchanted books. Treasure chests generate here.

  • Map Chest: This shipwreck map chest is also at the back of the ship (shipwreck sterns), but in the lower part. This chest almost always has a map that leads to buried treasure. This is also called a map room chests.

How Many Chests Are There In A Shipwreck?

In Minecraft, a shipwreck can have up to three shipwreck chests. These are the shipwreck supply chest, the shipwreck treasure chest, and the shipwreck map chest. Sometimes, you might find an empty chest if the ship is very broken.

Shipwreck Loot

Shipwrecks in Minecraft can contain up to three different types of loot chests depending on the structure's condition. These are:

  • Supply Chests – Found in the bow of the ship.

  • Treasure Chests – Found in the upper stern section.

  • Map Chests – Found in the lower stern section.

If a specific part of the ship is missing or intersected by another structure, its corresponding chest may not generate. However, in rare cases like an upside-down bow, the map chest may still spawn even if the stern is missing. Also, any shipwreck with at least two chests will always include a map chest.

Supply Chests

These chests usually contain basic survival items and are most common in the ship's bow. Items are pulled from two loot pools. Here’s what you can find:

Item Chance Notes
Suspicious Stew 54.3% Heals and can apply effects
Paper 46.4% Used for maps and books
Wheat 42.1% Food or trade with villagers
Carrot 42.1% Useful for breeding pigs or trading
Poisonous Potato 42.1% Not useful, can be thrown away
Potato 42.1% Can be cooked
Moss Block 42.1% Decorative and renewable
Coal 37.3% Fuel source
Rotten Flesh 32.2% Zombie drop, rarely useful
Gunpowder 20.8% Used to craft TNT or fireworks
Enchanted Leather Armor (Cap, Tunic, Pants, Boots) 20.8% each Early-game protection
Coast Armor Trim Smithing Template 16.7% Rare crafting material
Bamboo 14.4% Renewable building resource
Pumpkin 14.4% Farming or crafting
TNT 7.5% Explosives! Handle with care

Treasure Chests

These are found in the upper stern and contain more valuable loot. Treasure chests pull from three different loot pools:

Item Chance Notes
Iron Ingot 97.4% Very common, useful for tools/armor
Iron Nugget 94.5% Can be crafted into ingots
Emerald 73.7% Villager trading currency
Lapis Lazuli 61.5% Enchanting material
Gold Nugget 36.6% Used in crafting
Gold Ingot 26.5% Valuable, for tools or trading
Coast Armor Trim Smithing Template 16.7% Rare trim for customizing armor
Bottle o' Enchanting 14.1% Gives XP
Diamond 14.1% Best material in the game

Map Chests

Map chests spawn in the lower stern of the ship and usually include items related to exploration. Both Java and Bedrock Editions have similar loot tables:

Item Chance Notes
Buried Treasure Map 100% Always present, leads to buried treasure
Paper 89.4% For maps and crafting
Feather 60.0% Used for arrows
Book 34.5% Enchanting or crafting
Coast Armor Trim Smithing Template 16.7% Rare decorative item
Clock 7.7% Tells time in-game
Compass 7.7% Points to world spawn
Empty Map (Bedrock only) 7.7% Used for creating player maps

Conclusion

Finding and exploring shipwrecks in Minecraft is a super fun adventure! You can get great random loot from shipwreck chests, like enchanted books and iron ingots. Always remember to look in oceans, on beaches, and especially near ocean ruins.

If you're lucky, you might find an undamaged shipwreck or even a complete shipwreck structure! Even a half shipwreck or a partial shipwreck can have amazing finds. Keep your eyes open for signs, such as masts sticking out of the water. With a bit of exploring, you'll find lots of cool resources from these awesome added shipwrecks.