Overview
Treat a desert pyramid as a demolition job rather than a dungeon. The sandstone shell holds nothing; everything of value is in one chamber nine blocks below the blue-and-orange terracotta square in the middle of the floor, and the standard way in is also the standard way to die. Break that centre tile and you fall onto a stone pressure plate sitting over nine blocks of TNT, which detonates for far more than an unarmoured player has health. The safe route is to mine down a column two or three blocks to the side of the marked tile, break through the chamber wall at floor level, and take the pressure plate out before you touch a chest. Better still, drop a bucket of water down the shaft first — the plate cannot fire under flowing water, and the swim breaks your fall. Once inside, the four chests are worth opening for enchanted books, saddles and Diamond Horse Armor, though the diamond reputation is overstated: only about 6% of chests hold any. Since 1.20 the chamber floor also carries suspicious sand, so bring a Brush and excavate before you start swinging a shovel, because mining suspicious sand with anything else destroys what is inside it.
Four chests of enchanted books, gold, emeralds, saddles and horse armour early enough to matter, plus pottery sherds from the suspicious sand and, at roughly 6% per chest, the occasional diamond. The sandstone shell itself is a free quarry for building material.
A sandstone temple with an orange-and-blue terracotta motif on its floor, always with a hidden shaft under the centre tile. Break through it and you land in a small chamber with four chests around a stone pressure plate wired to nine blocks of TNT, which will kill an unarmoured player instantly. Disarm it by breaking the plate or by mining down beside the shaft instead of through it. Since 1.20 the chamber floor also contains suspicious sand holding pottery sherds, so bring a brush and excavate before you dig anything up carelessly.
It is uncommon in the Overworld, restricted to Desert, and it generates on the surface.
How to get it
Desert pyramids generate only in desert biomes, always on the surface, and stand out because nothing else in a desert is 20 blocks tall and made of chiselled sandstone. A desert village in view usually means a pyramid within a few hundred blocks as well.
Tips
- Never break the centre tile and drop in. Tunnel down beside the shaft and enter through the chamber wall instead.
- If you do use the shaft, pour water down it first: flowing water cushions the fall and stops the pressure plate firing.
- Break the nine TNT blocks with any tool to collect them — a pyramid is the cheapest stack of TNT in the early game.
- Across four chests the odds of a pyramid yielding at least one diamond are about one in five, so do not plan your gear around it — see how to find diamonds.
Version notes
Added in 1.3.1 alongside jungle pyramids and villager trading. The 1.20 archaeology update put suspicious sand into the treasure chamber, which is the only change of substance since.
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:desert_pyramid 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
- 1
- Notable loot items
- 7
Where it generates
Desert Pyramid generates in one biome: Desert. Outside those it will not generate at all, however far you travel.
Notable loot
Its loot includes Diamond, Gold Ingot, Iron Ingot, Emerald, Enchanted Book, Golden Apple, and Saddle. 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.
Mobs found here
Husk generate here. Several of them spawn nowhere else, which is usually the reason to make the trip.
What to watch out for
3 things to prepare for before you go in:
- Nine blocks of TNT under a pressure plate
- Long fall into the treasure chamber
- Husks spawning on the surface in daylight
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you disarm the desert pyramid trap?
Break the stone pressure plate on the chamber floor before stepping off the shaft, or avoid the shaft entirely by tunnelling in from the side. Removing the plate makes the TNT inert.
How often do desert pyramids contain diamonds?
About 5.9% of chests contain one to three diamonds. With four chests per pyramid that works out to roughly one pyramid in five having any diamonds at all.
Is it worth bringing a brush to a desert pyramid?
Yes. Since 1.20 the treasure chamber floor contains suspicious sand holding pottery sherds, and only a brush recovers them — any other tool destroys the item.
How do I find Desert Pyramid?
Desert Pyramid generates in the Overworld, only in Desert, and is uncommon. /locate structure minecraft:desert_pyramid finds the nearest one instantly with cheats on.
What loot is in Desert Pyramid?
The notable entries are Diamond, Gold Ingot, Iron Ingot, Emerald, Enchanted Book, Golden Apple and 1 more.
When was Desert Pyramid added?
Desert Pyramid was added in Java Edition 1.3.1.
Related pages
Structures that share Desert Pyramid's loot, its mobs or its biomes — not simply the next few in the list.
