You do not craft Netherite armor directly in a crafting grid. Starting with diamond armor, you smelt ancient debris into Netherite scrap, combine scrap with gold to make Netherite ingots, then use a smithing table to upgrade each diamond armor piece with a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template. A complete set requires four diamond pieces, four ingots and, if you use one template for each upgrade, four templates. This is the current template-based process used in modern Minecraft; older 1.16-era guides describe a different method.
The upgrade is worthwhile when you can safely obtain Nether resources and reach a Bastion Remnant. Mojang describes Netherite as “A new high-level material found in the Nether. Use it to upgrade your diamond gear!” Its armor offers greater toughness and durability than diamond, adds knockback resistance, and Netherite items float in lava.
Can you craft Netherite armor directly?
No. Netherite armor is an upgrade of existing diamond armor, not a standalone recipe. The crafting table makes the Netherite ingot and can duplicate the required template, but the armor conversion itself happens only in a smithing table.
The complete chain is:
- Mine ancient debris in the Nether.
- Smelt the debris in a furnace or blast furnace to make Netherite scrap.
- Combine Netherite scrap and gold ingots to make Netherite ingots.
- Obtain a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template from a Bastion Remnant chest.
- Place each diamond armor piece, a template and an ingot in a smithing table.
The diamond helmet, chestplate, leggings and boots remain the base equipment. You are improving those pieces rather than replacing them with a recipe made from only Netherite materials.
What do you need for a full Netherite armor set?
Gather the following before you begin. The quantities below cover one helmet, chestplate, pair of leggings and pair of boots.
| Material or station | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond helmet | 1 | Base piece for the Netherite helmet |
| Diamond chestplate | 1 | Base piece for the Netherite chestplate |
| Diamond leggings | 1 | Base piece for the Netherite leggings |
| Diamond boots | 1 | Base piece for the Netherite boots |
| Netherite ingot | 4 | One ingot is used for each armor upgrade |
| Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template | 4 if using one per upgrade | Required in the template slot for modern upgrades |
| Smithing table | 1 | Performs the diamond-to-Netherite upgrade |
Making the ingots consumes 16 Netherite scrap and 16 gold ingots in total. Each ingot uses four scrap and four gold. If you have fewer templates, duplicate the one you find before starting the upgrades instead of assuming a single copy will complete the set.
How do you get Netherite scrap from ancient debris?
Find ancient debris in the Nether
Enter the Nether and mine ancient debris in the lower depths. The material is the ore you need; Netherite scrap is not mined directly. Plan this trip as a resource expedition: you need enough debris for the entire set, and the Nether introduces a higher exploration risk than collecting materials in the Overworld.
Keep the debris separate from ordinary Nether ores while sorting your haul. The next step is smelting, so return with the ancient debris intact rather than expecting it to turn into scrap in your inventory.
Smelt the debris
Put ancient debris into either a furnace or a blast furnace. The output is Netherite scrap. Repeat until you have the amount needed for the ingot total in your plan. A blast furnace is an eligible smelting station, but the recipe does not require that particular block; a regular furnace also works.
Craft the ingots
Use a crafting table to combine four Netherite scrap with four gold ingots for one Netherite ingot. For a complete four-piece set, that recipe is performed with the full scrap and gold totals listed above. Do not put scrap directly into the smithing table: the smithing material is the finished ingot.
Where do you find the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template?
Search chests in Bastion Remnants in the Nether. Mojang states that all Bastion Remnant chests can contain the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template, while a Treasure Room bastion guarantees two templates. The template is a separate requirement from the ingot, so finding ancient debris does not remove the need to explore a bastion.
Bring your template back before opening the smithing table. If you are planning all four upgrades and have only one copy, duplicate it first; otherwise you may have enough ingots and diamond armor but still lack the template copies required by the modern interface.
How do you duplicate a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template?
A crafting-table duplication recipe turns one template into two. Place the original Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template with seven diamonds and one netherrack block, which is the template’s base material. The output is two templates.
- Open a crafting table.
- Add the original Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template.
- Add seven diamonds.
- Add one netherrack block.
- Collect the two-template output.
Repeat the duplication process as needed until you have enough copies for your planned upgrades. This consumes diamonds, so decide whether to duplicate before spending your available diamonds elsewhere. The recipe is for the template itself; it does not create armor or Netherite ingots.
How do you upgrade diamond armor in a smithing table?
Use the smithing table one piece at a time. The interface has separate positions for the template, equipment and material.
- Open the smithing table.
- Put the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template in the template slot.
- Put one diamond armor piece—helmet, chestplate, leggings or boots—in the equipment slot.
- Put one Netherite ingot in the material slot.
- Take the displayed Netherite armor result from the output slot.
- Repeat the same arrangement for each remaining diamond armor piece.
| Equipment slot input | Material slot input | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond helmet | Netherite ingot | Netherite helmet |
| Diamond chestplate | Netherite ingot | Netherite chestplate |
| Diamond leggings | Netherite ingot | Netherite leggings |
| Diamond boots | Netherite ingot | Netherite boots |
If the result slot is empty, check the three inputs first: the equipment must be diamond armor, the template must be the Netherite Upgrade variant, and the material must be a Netherite ingot. A regular crafting table cannot substitute for the smithing table.
What does Netherite armor improve over diamond armor?
Mojang lists three relevant advantages for Netherite armor and related items: higher toughness and durability than diamond, plus knockback resistance. Netherite items also float in lava instead of sinking, which can make dropped equipment recoverable in a lava-filled area.
| Comparison point | Diamond armor | Netherite armor |
|---|---|---|
| Role in the modern recipe | Required base armor | Upgraded result |
| Toughness | Lower than Netherite according to Mojang’s description | Higher than diamond |
| Durability | Lower than Netherite according to Mojang’s description | Higher than diamond |
| Knockback resistance | No Netherite-specific advantage stated | Has knockback resistance |
| Lava behavior of the item | Not the Netherite property described by Mojang | Netherite items float in lava |
| Extra preparation | Does not require a bastion template | Requires Nether resources, a smithing table and the upgrade template |
“Floats in lava” describes the item entity when equipment is dropped; it should not be read as a guarantee that the player wearing it is immune to lava damage. Netherite also does not eliminate the danger of reaching ancient debris or Bastion Remnants.
What is the difference between making Netherite armor in 1.16 and in current Minecraft?
The smithing-template requirement is a version-sensitive detail. Mojang’s Nether Update article for the original 1.16 system describes an earlier ingot-plus-diamond smithing flow. Mojang’s Java Edition 1.19.4 documentation introduced the smithing-template system, which is used in current 1.20-era and later gameplay.
For a modern world, use the template-based instructions in this guide. A historical guide that tells you to place only a diamond item and a Netherite ingot in the smithing table may match the older 1.16-era rules and fail in a current version because the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template is now required.
Check the edition and version shown on the title screen or world settings before troubleshooting. The same broad progression—diamond equipment, Netherite resources and a smithing table—remains, but the template step determines whether the recipe is accepted.
What are the most common Netherite armor mistakes?
- Trying to use a crafting grid for the armor: the grid makes ingots and duplicates templates; the smithing table performs the armor upgrade.
- Using Netherite scrap as the smithing material: scrap must first be combined with gold to produce an ingot.
- Arriving with only diamond ore: the upgrade needs finished diamond armor pieces, not uncrafted ore.
- Finding ancient debris but no template: debris supplies the metal, while a Bastion Remnant supplies the upgrade pattern.
- Assuming one template is enough for a full set: plan for one copy per upgrade, or duplicate the original with diamonds and netherrack before smithing.
- Following a 1.16 guide in a newer world: current template-based versions reject the old two-item arrangement.
- Confusing lava-floating items with lava protection: the item behavior helps recovery, but it is not a statement that the wearer can safely stand in lava.
How should you plan the resource and exploration risk?
There are two separate Nether objectives: obtaining ancient debris and obtaining the template. Treat them as different checkpoints. You can have enough metal but no template, or find a template before collecting enough scrap and gold.
- Prepare the diamond base: set aside the four finished diamond armor pieces you intend to upgrade.
- Set a material target: reserve the scrap and gold needed for the ingot count rather than spending them as soon as they are produced.
- Secure a template: search Bastion Remnant chests, remembering that Treasure Room bastions guarantee two.
- Duplicate before upgrading: if your template count is short, use the crafting-table recipe while the original is safe in your inventory or storage.
- Smelt and craft: convert ancient debris to scrap, then make the ingots.
- Upgrade deliberately: use the smithing table only after checking that every input is in the correct slot.
This order prevents a common dead end: spending the available gold and scrap, then discovering that the modern recipe still needs a template you have not obtained or duplicated.
Is Netherite armor worth the extra work?
It is a practical upgrade when you value the higher toughness and durability, knockback resistance and the lava-floating behavior of Netherite items enough to justify another Nether expedition. Diamond armor is not replaced as an intermediate step; it is the required foundation, so a player who already has a diamond set can evaluate the upgrade without rebuilding the armor from nothing.
The trade-off is preparation and exposure to danger. Netherite requires ancient debris, smelting, gold, a smithing table and a Bastion Remnant template, while diamond armor avoids the template search. Choose Netherite when those benefits matter for your play and you are prepared to manage the additional Nether exploration risk; keep diamond armor as a perfectly valid stopping point when the extra expedition is not yet worthwhile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I upgrade only one armor piece instead of making a complete set?
Yes. Each diamond helmet, chestplate, leggings or boots can be upgraded independently in the smithing table. You can therefore spend an ingot and a template on the piece that matters most to you and postpone the other slots.
Does a Netherite item become safe to wear in lava?
No such protection follows from the lava-floating property. Mojang’s statement concerns dropped Netherite items floating in lava, not immunity for a player wearing Netherite armor.
Why does an older tutorial show no smithing template?
The original Nether Update documentation for Minecraft 1.16 described an earlier ingot-and-diamond smithing flow. The template requirement arrived with Mojang’s Java Edition 1.19.4 smithing-template system and applies to current 1.20-era and later gameplay.
What should I do if the smithing table shows no result?
Verify that the equipment slot contains a finished diamond armor piece, the template slot contains a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template, and the material slot contains a Netherite ingot. Scrap, gold, a crafting table or a different template cannot produce the Netherite armor result.