Shipwreck Guide — Treasure Maps, Loot & How to Find Them

Shipwrecks are one of Minecraft's most rewarding early-game structures. Found in oceans and occasionally on beaches, they contain up to 3 loot chests and are the primary source of Buried Treasure Maps — leading you to Heart of the Sea and diamonds.

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How to Find Shipwrecks

• Swim along coastlines — shipwrecks generate in all ocean biomes and sometimes on beaches
• Look for wood underwater — shipwreck planks stand out against the ocean floor
• Use Night Vision potions — dramatically improves underwater visibility
• Dolphins can help — feed a dolphin raw cod and it swims toward the nearest shipwreck or buried treasure
• Use MC Seed View — shipwreck locations are shown on the seed map

Shipwreck Types & Layout

Shipwrecks come in 20 different variants — full ships, bows only, sterns only, and various rotations. Not all shipwrecks have all 3 chests:

Variant	Supply Chest	Treasure Chest	Map Chest
Full Ship	✅	✅	✅
Bow Only	✅	❌	✅
Stern Only	❌	✅	❌
Bow + Mast	✅	❌	✅

All 3 Chest Loot Tables

Supply Chest (Bow, Lower Deck)

Item	Quantity	Chance
Suspicious Stew	1	54.3%
Paper	1-12	49.4%
Wheat	8-21	42.1%
Carrot	4-8	42.1%
Potato	2-6	42.1%
Coal	2-8	40.0%
TNT	1-2	7.5%

Treasure Chest (Stern, Upper Deck)

Item	Quantity	Chance
Iron Ingot	1-5	97.4%
Iron Nugget	1-10	94.5%
Emerald	1-5	73.7%
Lapis Lazuli	1-10	61.5%
Gold Nugget	1-10	36.6%
Gold Ingot	1-5	26.5%
Diamond	1	14.1%
Bottle o' Enchanting	1	14.1%

Map Chest (Bow, Upper Deck)

Item	Quantity	Chance
Buried Treasure Map	1	100%
Paper	1-10	89.4%
Coast Armor Trim	2	16.7%
Compass	1	7.7%
Empty Map	1	7.7%
Clock	1	7.7%

Using Treasure Maps

1. Open the map — the red X marks the treasure location
2. Your position appears as a white dot (if visible) or pointed icon
3. Walk toward the X — the map fills in terrain as you explore
4. When you're on the X, dig straight down — the chest is usually 1-5 blocks below the surface
5. Always in a beach biome, buried under sand or gravel

Buried Treasure Loot

Buried treasure chests are exceptionally valuable — one of the best early-game loot sources:

Item	Quantity	Chance
Heart of the Sea	1	100%
Iron Ingot	1-4	99.4%
Gold Ingot	1-4	88.0%
TNT	1-2	62.7%
Diamond	1-2	59.9%
Emerald	4-8	53.2%
Potion of Water Breathing	1	46.9%
Cooked Cod/Salmon	2-4	75%+
Prismarine Crystals	1-5	18.9%

Heart of the Sea & Conduit

The Heart of the Sea is found exclusively in buried treasure (100% drop rate). It crafts the powerful Conduit:

• Recipe: 1 Heart of the Sea + 8 Nautilus Shells (center + surrounding)
• Conduit Power: In a prismarine frame underwater, grants Water Breathing + Night Vision + Haste
• Frame sizes: Minimum 16 prismarine blocks → max 42 blocks for 96-block range
• Also attacks hostile mobs underwater within 8 blocks
• Nautilus Shells: From Drowned mob drops or fishing with Luck of the Sea

Pro Tips

• Respiration III helmet — 60 seconds of underwater breathing, essential for multiple shipwrecks
• Depth Strider III boots — swim at near-walking speed underwater
• Door trick (Java) — placing a door underwater creates an air pocket for breathing
• Check for Drowned — Drowned near shipwrecks may carry Tridents or Nautilus Shells
• Chain shipwrecks — multiple wrecks often generate near each other along coastlines
• Copper blocks — shipwrecks made of copper (1.21+) indicate newer generation

Frequently Asked Questions

What to Do After Finding a Shipwreck

Once you've looted a shipwreck, here's how to maximize the value of everything you collected:

Immediately After Looting

1. Read the treasure map right away — buried treasure is usually close. Chase it while you're already in the ocean area.
2. Count your Nautilus Shells — you need 8 per Conduit. Keep a running tally so you know how many Drowned you still need to kill.
3. Process the supply chest food — wheat, carrots, and potatoes are valuable early-game survival resources. Cook them in a furnace before proceeding.
4. Bank the emeralds from the treasure chest — emeralds are the universal villager currency. Even a few emeralds early game can buy Mending books.

Planning Your Conduit

If your goal is crafting a Conduit, plan the following progression:

• Collect 1 Heart of the Sea from buried treasure (the map chest leads you there)
• Farm 8 Nautilus Shells — kill Drowned in oceans (they sometimes carry shells), fish with Luck of the Sea III, or buy from Wandering Traders
• Gather 16+ prismarine for the minimum Conduit frame — or 42 blocks for full range
• Build your underwater base first — then place the Conduit inside it for instant benefits

Using Shipwreck Materials

Don't overlook the blocks themselves. Shipwrecks provide excellent building materials:

• Oak and spruce planks — standard building blocks, useful for early shelters
• Stripped logs (1.21+ copper shipwrecks) — decorative blocks for rustic builds
• Chains — hanging lanterns, industrial decoration
• Lanterns — light sources that work underwater
• Trap doors and doors — air pocket creation underwater and base building

Shipwreck Chain Farming

For players who want to collect many Hearts of the Sea (for multiple Conduits at different bases), chain farming is the most efficient approach:

1. Use MC Seed View to plot all buried treasure locations along a coastline
2. Sail the coastline systematically, stopping at each shipwreck for its map chest
3. Use the map to locate the buried treasure within each chunk
4. A single coastal run of 2,000 blocks can yield 4-8 Hearts of the Sea if you're efficient
5. Bring a Water Breathing potion or Respiration III helmet for deep ocean wrecks