Overview
Buried treasure is the only structure in Minecraft you cannot find by exploring, which is exactly why players miss it for whole worlds. There is no surface marker, no shape, nothing to spot from a boat — just a single chest under a beach or a shallow sea bed, and the only way to know it is there is a buried treasure map from a shipwreck or an ocean ruin. Hold the map and walk until the white marker and your position marker overlap, then dig straight down. The chest always sits at the centre of the marked chunk, so if the cross looks slightly off-centre from where you are standing, trust the cross and not your instinct to search outward. Every buried treasure chest without exception holds one Heart of the Sea, and the Heart of the Sea exists nowhere else. Combine it with eight nautilus shells and you have a conduit, which grants water breathing, night vision underwater and mining speed in a radius — the single item that makes ocean monuments and underwater building comfortable. The rest of the chest is respectable rather than remarkable: diamonds, emeralds, iron and gold ingots, TNT and cooked fish.
One guaranteed Heart of the Sea per chest, which is the only route to a conduit and therefore to comfortable underwater work. The rest of the chest — diamonds, emeralds, iron, gold, TNT and cooked cod — is a useful early-game windfall on top.
A single chest buried beneath a beach or shallow sea bed, findable only with a buried treasure map from a shipwreck or ocean ruin. The map marks the chunk, and the chest is always at the centre of the marked chunk, so dig straight down at the white cross rather than searching around it. Every buried treasure chest contains exactly one Heart of the Sea, the core of a conduit, which makes this the only structure you must visit before you can build one.
It is common in the Overworld, restricted to Beach, Snowy Beach, Stony Shore, and Ocean, and it generates buried under beach sand or shallow sea floor, usually within a few blocks of the surface.
How to get it
You need a buried treasure map, which comes from a shipwreck map chest or an ocean ruin chest, and then a shovel: the chest lies buried under beach, snowy beach, stony shore or shallow ocean floor, usually within 3 to 10 blocks of the surface at the centre of the chunk the map marks.
Tips
- Dig at the exact centre of the marked chunk. Wandering around the cross wastes far more time than trusting it does.
- Carry a water bucket while you dig: treasure often sits above a flooded cave, and a bucket placement stops a long fall.
- Collect eight nautilus shells from drowned or a fisherman villager before you open the chest, so the conduit goes together the same day.
- One shipwreck map leads to one chest. Keep visiting wrecks if you want a second conduit for a different base.
Version notes
Added in 1.13 together with shipwrecks, ocean ruins and the conduit. The Heart of the Sea guarantee has been in place since the structure shipped and has never been diluted.
Properties
It generates in the Overworld, which is the only dimension with a day-night cycle and weather, and the one every distance in the game is measured against. In a world with cheats on, /locate structure minecraft:buried_treasure gives the coordinates of the nearest one. Without cheats, an explorer map from a cartographer villager is the reliable route for the structures that have one; everything else is exploration.
- Biomes it generates in
- 4
- Notable loot items
- 9
Where it generates
Buried Treasure generates in 4 biomes: Beach, Snowy Beach, Stony Shore, and Ocean. Outside those it will not generate at all, however far you travel.
Notable loot
Its loot includes Heart of the Sea, Iron Ingot, Gold Ingot, Diamond, Emerald, TNT, Prismarine Crystals, Cooked Cod, and Cooked Salmon. These are the notable entries rather than the full loot table — the common filler (bread, coal, iron nuggets) is omitted, and in some structures the best of it comes from a vault or a spawner rather than a chest.
What to watch out for
2 things to prepare for before you go in:
- Digging straight down into water pockets or a ravine
- Drowned on the shoreline while you dig
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
Does every buried treasure chest contain a Heart of the Sea?
Yes, exactly one, every time. It is the only structure in the game with a guaranteed unique item, which is why the shipwreck-to-treasure chain matters so much early on.
How deep is buried treasure?
Usually only a few blocks down, directly beneath beach sand or shallow sea floor. If you have dug ten blocks and found nothing, you are in the wrong chunk rather than too shallow.
Can you find buried treasure without a map?
Not practically. There is no visible marker of any kind on the surface, so the map from a shipwreck or ocean ruin is the only sensible way to locate one.
How do I find Buried Treasure?
Buried Treasure generates in the Overworld, only in Beach, Snowy Beach, Stony Shore, and Ocean, and is common. /locate structure minecraft:buried_treasure finds the nearest one instantly with cheats on.
What loot is in Buried Treasure?
The notable entries are Heart of the Sea, Iron Ingot, Gold Ingot, Diamond, Emerald, TNT and 3 more.
When was Buried Treasure added?
Buried Treasure was added in Java Edition 1.13.
Related pages
Structures that share Buried Treasure's loot, its mobs or its biomes — not simply the next few in the list.
