Mineshaft
Mineshaft is a generated structure in Minecraft. It is home to Cave Spider. Its chests can contain Rail, Torch, Name Tag, Glow Berries, and Bread.
Mineshafts are underground structures in the Overworld made up of interconnected 3×3 corridors with partial rail lines, wooden supports, and cobwebs. They feature wooden bridges or platforms when spanning caves, and may generate near the surface in badlands biomes, where they use dark oak materials. These badlands variants are more exposed and often generate more complete rail lines above ground.
Mineshafts contain various structural elements including a central starting room, supported tunnels, crossings, staircases, and abandoned passageways housing cave spider spawners—a feature unique to Mineshafts. They can intersect caves and aquifers, leading to blocked or suspended corridors supported by logs or chains.
Loot appears in minecarts with chests on rail tracks. Common loot includes rails, torches, coal, iron ingots, seeds, and glow berries. Rarer finds include golden apples, enchanted books, name tags, diamonds, and a small chance for an enchanted golden apple.
Mineshafts can generate large complexes if multiple instances spawn close together. Their mix of loot, traps, and hostile mobs like cave spiders makes them a valuable but risky location for exploration.
Mineshaft FAQ
Quick answers
Use the interactive seed-map finder on this page: enter your world seed and Java Edition version to see the exact coordinates of every Mineshaft. In-game, Mineshafts are underground, so dig down and explore cave systems (which they often intersect) until you spot wooden support beams and rails; in Badlands biomes the dark oak variant generates near the surface.
Mineshafts are an Overworld-only structure and can generate underground in nearly any biome. The standard variant uses oak wood and spawns deep beneath the surface, while Badlands (Mesa) biomes produce a unique dark oak variant that generates much higher up, sometimes exposed at or near the surface.
Mineshafts contain minecart-with-chest loot including rails, iron and gold ingots, name tags, lapis, and a rare enchanted golden apple. They are the only structure with Cave Spider spawners (hidden behind cobweb clusters), so bring a sword and torches before mining toward the corridors.
