Non-renewable resource

A non-renewable resource (as opposed to a renewable resource) is a resource that cannot be obtained in indefinite quantities in Survival without exploring more terrain or using certain glitches, commands or Creative mode to create more of them. While running out of resources other than the unique dragon egg is not likely to be a factor in normal gameplay due to massive size of a Minecraft map, in principle there is a finite quantity of these resources available in each Minecraft world.

Obtaining

Non-renewable resources can be obtained through crafting recipes that consume other non-renewable items, found as naturally generated blocks, obtained from structure loot chests or as drops from certain enemies that do not respawn (elder guardians and piglin brutes).

Some resources are non-renewable or even unobtainable if playing on Peaceful difficulty, as monsters do not spawn.

The degree of impact the non-renewability of a resource has on normal gameplay generally depends on how limited the resource is, but on custom maps these relationships may be changed; for example, on many Skyblock-style maps, any diamonds provided are extremely valuable, as no more can be obtained.

All status effects and enchantment-item combinations that cannot be obtained in Survival are non-renewable.

Generated structures

These non-renewable resources are found only as loot from generated structures, the blocks the structures are composed of, or as non-renewable drops from mobs which generate with the structures, and cannot be obtained in other ways unless using certain glitches, commands or Creative mode. This renders most of them unavailable in worlds with the "Generate Structures" option disabled, with the exception of the items which can be found in dungeons or desert wells, which aren't affected by the option^[1]^[2] . These resources are generally the most finite resources in the game.

Resource	Non-renewable products	Sources
Banner Pattern "Snout"	―	Found in bastion remnant chests. Like other banner patterns, it is not consumed when used.

Disc Fragment		Found in ancient city loot chests.
Dragon Egg	―	Spawns on top of the exit portal when the ender dragon is defeated for the first time. Only one is obtainable in each world, making it the rarest obtainable resource in the game.
Dragon Head	―	Generates on the end ship alongside end cities.
Echo Shard		Found in ancient city loot chests.
Elytra	―	Generate in the end ship alongside end cities.
Enchanted Book (With Swift Sneak I-III)	(With Swift Sneak I-III)	Found in ancient city loot chests.
Enchanted Golden Apple	"Thing"	Very rarely found in the chests of ancient cities, dungeons, desert pyramids, mineshafts, ruined portals, woodland mansions and bastion remnants.
Gilded Blackstone	―	Generates in bastion remnants, both as a part of the structure and as chest loot.
Heart of the Sea		One can be found in every buried treasure chest, which can be found using treasure maps found in shipwrecks or ocean ruins.
Non-leather Horse Armor	―	Can be found in generated chests of dungeons, desert pyramids, end cities, jungle pyramids, nether fortresses, strongholds, and villages. Gold horse armor can also be found in ruined portals, and diamond horse armor can be found in ancient cities. Leather horse armor can be purchased from leatherworker villagers, or crafted with leather, a renewable resource.
Large Fern	―	Can be found in generated chests of taiga villager houses. Large ferns can be renewably created by using bone meal on ferns, but do not drop themselves when broken, even with Silk Touch. (Can be infinite in world as blocks, but not as an item in inventory).
Music Disc "otherside"	―	Found in dungeons, stronghold corridor chests, and ancient city loot chests.
Music Disc "Pigstep"	―	Found in bastion remnant chests.
Music Disc "Relic"	―	Can be excavated as rare loot from suspicious gravel generated in trail ruins.
Pottery Sherds	(With pottery sherds)	Various pottery sherds can be excavated from suspicious gravel/sand generated in desert pyramids, desert wells, ocean ruins, and trail ruins.
Suspicious Gravel/Sand	―	Spawn in desert pyramids, desert wells, ocean ruins, and trail ruins, can be collected as an item by making the falling entity float on a bubble column until it breaks. The resulting item won't drop any loot if placed and excavated.
Tall Grass	―	Can be found in generated chests of savanna villager houses. Tall grass can be renewably created by using bone meal on grass, but do not drop themselves when broken, even with Silk Touch. (Can be infinite in world as blocks, but not as an item in inventory).
Wet Sponge		Spawn in the sponge rooms of some ocean monuments. Dropped by elder guardians. Formed when water touches a sponge. Sponges are formed when wet sponges are dried in a furnace or the Nether.

Enchantments on items without prior-work anvil penalty

While all enchantments obtainable in Survival other than Swift Sneak are renewable, for treasure enchantments the only renewable way to get them on most items is by using an anvil to combine the item with a renewable enchanted book. Using an anvil in this way causes the item to gain prior work penalty, increasing the cost of future anvil use. Similar limitations apply to some high level enchantments, which cannot be renewably obtained on items with insufficient enchantability without using an anvil.

This renders most types of items that have at least one of these enchantments without having any prior-work penalty non-renewable. Many of these item variants are unobtainable in Survival, but some of them can be found in the loot chests of various generated structures.

Enchantment	Items	Sources
Curse of Binding		Diamond armor can be found in end city and bastion remnant chests. Golden armor can be found in bastion remnant and ruined portal chests. Iron armor can be found in end city chests. Leather armor can be found in shipwreck supply chests. Diamond and iron leggings can be found in ancient city loot chests.
Curse of Vanishing		Diamond armor, swords, pickaxes and shovels can be found in end city and bastion remnant chests. Golden armor, hoes‌^{[BE only]} and axes‌^{[JE only]} can be found in bastion remnant chests. Golden armor, swords and tools can be found in ruined portal chests. Iron armor, swords, pickaxes and shovels can be found in end city chests. Crossbows and iron swords‌^{[JE only]} can be found in bastion remnant chests. Leather armor can be found in shipwreck supply chests. Diamond and iron leggings and diamond hoes can be found in ancient city loot chests.
Efficiency V		Diamond shovels and pickaxes can be found in end city and bastion remnant chests. Diamond hoes can be found in ancient city loot chests
Frost Walker I-II		Diamond boots can be found in end city and bastion remnant chests. Golden boots can be found in bastion remnant and ruined portal chests. Iron boots can be found in end city chests. Leather boots can be found in shipwreck supply chests.
Mending		Diamond armor, swords, pickaxes and shovels can be found in end city and bastion remnant chests. Golden armor, hoes‌^{[BE only]} and axes‌^{[JE only]} can be found in bastion remnant chests. Golden armor, swords and tools can be found in ruined portal chests. Iron armor, swords, pickaxes and shovels can be found in end city chests. Crossbows and iron swords‌^{[JE only]} can be found in bastion remnant chests. Leather armor can be found in shipwreck supply chests. Diamond and iron leggings and diamond hoes can be found in ancient city loot chests.
Sharpness, Smite, or Bane of Arthropods I-V	‌^{[JE only]}	Golden axes with Sharpness, Smite, or Bane of Arthropods can be found in ruined portal and bastion remnant‌^{[JE only]} chests. In Bedrock Edition, golden axes can renewably receive any of the enchantments without gaining prior-work penalty through normal enchanting.
Sharpness V		Diamond swords can be found in end city and bastion remnant chests. Iron swords can be found in end city and bastion remnant‌^{[JE only]} chests.
Soul Speed I-III		Golden boots with Soul Speed can be found in bastion remnant chests.
Thorns I-III		Diamond armor can be found in bastion remnant chests. Golden armor can be found in bastion remnant and ruined portal chests. Leather armor can be found in shipwreck supply chests.
Thorns III		Diamond chestplates can be found in bastion remnant and rarely end city chests. Golden chestplates can be found in bastion remnant and ruined portal chests. Iron chestplates with Thorns III can very rarely be found in end city chests. Leather tunics can be found in shipwreck supply chests.
Renamed Item		Empty maps renamed as "Buried Treasure Map" without prior-work penalty can be found in shipwreck and underwater ruin loot chests when the game tries to generate a buried treasure explorer map and fails.

Items in bastion remnant, ruined portal and shipwreck loot chests are limited to one enchantment, while items from end city or ancient city chests often have multiple.

Other

These non-renewable resources can be obtained from the world outside generated structures, they are generally more abundant, but some may be hidden under other blocks, making them harder to find. Since they generate outside structures, they can be found even in worlds with the generate structures option disabled.

Resource	Non-renewable products	Sources
Ancient Debris	Any armor with netherite trim	Generates in ore features in the Nether, especially at low Y-levels. Ancient debris, netherite scrap, netherite ingots, and lodestones can be found in bastion remnant chests.
Calcite	―	Generates as strips in the stony peaks biome and as the middle layer of amethyst geodes.
Cobbled Deepslate and Deepslate	(Any armor with ward or silence trim)	Generates underground below Y=8. Deepslate is obtained by smelting cobbled deepslate, or by mining it using a tool enchanted with Silk Touch. Deepslate variants can also be found in ancient cities. Ward armor trim smithing template can be found in ancient city loot chests, one template is required to craft duplicates using cobbled deepslate and diamonds.
Dead Bush	―	Can be collected with shears in badlands, desert, swamps and giant tree taiga biomes. They can also generate in chests and potted in some desert villages, and found buried in trail ruins.
Diamond Ores	(With "trail" effect) (Any armor with any trim)	Generates in ore features in the Overworld, below Y=16. Deepslate diamond ore also generates in fossils. Diamonds can also be found in chests of many generated structures as well as excavated from suspicious sand generated in desert pyramids. Diamond blocks also generate in "lava" and "obsidian" rooms in woodland mansions. Unlike diamonds themselves, diamond tools and armor are renewable using certain top-level villager trades. Smithing templates can be found in various generated structures, one template of the same type is required to craft duplicates using diamonds. Crafting the netherite upgrade and rib armor trim templates also requires non-renewable netherrack and the ward and silence armor trims require non-renewable cobbled deepslate.
Copper Ores		Copper ores generate underground in all biomes of the Overworld. Copper is renewable through the rare drops of drowned.
Iron Ores		Iron ores generate underground in all biomes of the Overworld. Iron is renewable through the drops of iron golems, zombies, by melting down renewable iron armor or tools and via bartering.
Gold Ores		Gold ores generate underground in all biomes of the Overworld. Gold is renewable through the drops of zombified piglin or by melting down renewable gold armor or tools.
Nether Ores	—	Generate in medium-sized ore features in the Nether. Gold is renewable through drops of zombified piglin or by melting down renewable gold armor or tools. Quartz is renewable through bartering.
Other Ores	—	Emerald ores generate in mountains and windswept hills biomes, usually in single-block ore features. The other listed ores generate underground in all biomes of the Overworld. Coal ore also generates in fossils. Coal is renewable through the drops of wither skeletons. Emeralds are renewable through trading, and as drops from raid mobs and foxes. Lapis Lazuli is renewable through trading and as a raid gift‌^{[JE only]}. Redstone is renewable as drops from Witches, through trading and as a raid gift‌^{[JE only]}.
Spore Blossom	―	Generates in lush caves biomes.
Tuff	―	Generates in ore features underground.

Not obtainable in Survival

These resources are not obtainable as items in Survival. However, they can be encountered as blocks and some even created or manipulated in Survival.

Resource	Notes
Bedrock	Bedrock can be found at the bottom 5 levels of the Overworld, the top and bottom 4 levels of the Nether, and as part of end crystal structures and portals in the End, but cannot be broken or moved in current versions.
Budding Amethyst	Budding amethyst generates in the innermost layer of amethyst geodes but cannot be obtained when mined even if Silk Touch is used.
Chorus Plants	Chorus plants generate on the the outer end islands but cannot be obtained when mined even if Silk Touch is used.
Dirt Path	Dirt Path may be created by using a shovel on renewable dirt, grass blocks, podzol, mycelium, coarse dirt, or rooted dirt, but always drops dirt when mined. Note in Bedrock Edition, dirt path can be obtained using a Silk Touch tool.
End Portal Frame	Can be found in strongholds, but cannot be broken or moved in current versions.
Farmland	Farmland may be created by tilling renewable dirt, grass blocks or dirt paths with a hoe, but always drops dirt when mined.
Frogspawn	Frogspawn may be created by breeding frog using renewable slimeball, then the frog will go to the water to hatch the frogspawn, but cannot be obtained when mined even if Silk Touch is used.
Infested Blocks	Infested blocks may be generated infinitely as silverfish infest renewable cobblestone, stone and stone bricks, but do not drop themselves when mined even with Silk Touch is used. They also generate naturally in strongholds, igloos, woodland mansions and in mountains.
Monster Spawners	Monster spawners can be encountered in dungeons, mineshafts, strongholds, fortresses, mansions, and bastion remnants, but drop only experience if mined in current versions.
Reinforced Deepslate	Reinforced deepslate can be encountered in ancient cities but cannot be obtained when mined even if Silk Touch is used.

Not encountered in Survival

These resources cannot be accessed, even as blocks, without using Creative mode or commands.

Resource
Barrier
Command Blocks
Jigsaw Block
Light
Minecart with Command Block
Petrified Oak Slab
Player Heads
Spawn Eggs
Structure Blocks

Bedrock Edition

These items are non renewable in Bedrock Edition, and are not items at all in Java Edition.

Resource	Notes
Chemistry Products	Not encountered in Survival
Chemistry Equipment	Not encountered in Survival
All Elements and Compounds	Not encountered in Survival
Medicines	Not encountered in Survival
Potion of Decay	Not encountered in Survival. However, arrows of decay are renewably obtainable through trading.
Tall Seagrass	Tall seagrass can be created by applying bone meal to normal seagrass. However, breaking tall seagrass with shears drops 2 normal seagrass.
Technical Blocks	Technical blocks are blocks such as portal blocks and fire, whose main functions are strictly tied to the usage of other blocks and items. Many can be generated renewably in the world, but they cannot be acquired as items through normal Survival gameplay.

Java Edition

These resources are not renewable in Java Edition, even though they are in the Bedrock Edition.

Resource	Non-renewable products	Reason for discrepancy
Netherrack	(Any armor with rib trim)	When nether portals generate in the air, they do not create netherrack like they do in Bedrock Edition. Rib armor trim smithing template can be found in nether fortress chests, netherite upgrade smithing template can be found in bastion remnant chests, one template of the same type is required to craft duplicates using netherrack and diamonds. Items that need diamonds or netherite to craft remain non-renewable on Bedrock edition, despite the renewability of netherrack.
Dirt Path		Dirt paths may be created by right clicking renewable grass blocks with a shovel, but drop dirt when mined. Thus, they are obtainable only in Bedrock Edition.

These items are non renewable in Java Edition, and are not items at all in Bedrock Edition.

Resource	Notes
Debug Stick	Not encountered in Survival
Knowledge Books	Not encountered in Survival
Unbrewable Potions	Not encountered in Survival

Peaceful difficulty

These resources are not renewable while playing in Peaceful difficulty as their renewable methods of obtaining require the spawning of hostile mobs. (Previously mentioned non-renewable resources are removed from the products list).

In Bedrock Edition, piglins still spawn in Peaceful difficulty. By killing piglins, the player can sometimes obtain golden swords, then smelt them into gold nuggets. This makes gold renewable, along with all items obtainable via bartering.

Going to the End almost always requires the use of eyes of ender, which are unobtainable in Peaceful difficulty, to activate the end portal, with the chances of requiring none being only 1 in a trillion for each end portal. Therefore, resources exclusive to the End can also be considered unobtainable and therefore non-renewable in Peaceful difficulty.

Resource	Non-renewable products	Remaining sources	Reason for discrepancy
Brewing fuel		Potions and splash potions of Fire Resistance can still be renewably obtained from bartering, and Potions of Invisibility can be renewably obtained by killing wandering traders. All potions and splash potions are still obtainable as those can generate in each swamp hut cauldron but are non-renewable‌^{[BE only]}. Potions of Regeneration can be found in buried treasure.‌^{[BE only]} Potions of Water Breathing can be found in buried treasure. Potions of Regeneration can be found in ancient cities. Splash potions of Weakness can generate in igloo basements. All other potions (excluding water bottles, which are renewable) are unobtainable in Java Edition.	Brewing requires blaze powder, which is unobtainable, as blazes do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Blaze Rod		Brewing stands generate in igloo basements and village temples. Magma blocks generate in water aquifers, ruined portals, ocean ruins, and the Nether. Magma cream generates in the chests of some bastion remnants. A random potion can be found in each swamp hut cauldron.‌^{[BE only]} Fire charges, potion of Fire Resistance and splash potion of Fire Resistance can still be renewably bartered with piglins.	Blazes do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Chorus Flower		―	Not obtainable if the End is inaccessible.
Coal		Coal can be obtained from coal ore or generated chests.	Wither skeletons do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Copper Ingot		Copper ingots can be obtained by smelting raw copper.	Drowned do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Dragon's Breath	―	―	Besides the fact that this resource is not obtainable if the End is inaccessible, the ender dragon will not shoot dragon fireballs in Peaceful difficulty, preventing their collection.
Ghast Tear		Potions of regeneration can be found in buried treasure.‌^{[BE only]} Potions of regeneration can also be found in ancient cities. A random potion can be found in each swamp hut cauldron.‌^{[BE only]}	Ghasts do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Mob Heads	"Creeper" and "Skull" "Creeper" and "Skull" Charge Banners "Creeper-Shaped" Firework Stars & Rockets	Skeleton skulls can be found in ancient cities.	These mobs do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Music Disc	―	13 and Cat can be found in dungeons, ancient cities, and woodland mansions chests. In Bedrock Edition, Mellohi and Wait can be found in buried treasure chests, while others are unobtainable in Peaceful difficulty.	Neither creepers nor skeletons spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Ominous Banner	―	8 ominous banners generate in every pillager outpost.	Pillager raid captains do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Prismarine Shard and Crystals		Prismarine crystals can be found in generated buried treasure chests. Prismarine crystals are obtained from sea lanterns. Prismarine, prismarine bricks, and sea lanterns generate in ocean monuments, prismarine and sea lantern also generate in ocean ruins or are crafted from these blocks.	Guardians do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Froglight	―	―	Magma Cube do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Shulker Shell		Dropped by shulkers, which still spawn during end city generation in Peaceful difficulty, but cannot damage the player.	Besides the fact that these resources are not obtainable if the End is inaccessible, shulkers will not shoot shulker bullets in Peaceful difficulty, preventing the generation of more shulkers.
Spider Eye		Found in desert temple chests. Splash potions of weakness generate in igloos. A random potion can be found in each swamp hut cauldron.‌^{[BE only]}	Spiders and witches do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.
Totem of Undying	―	Dropped by evokers, which still spawn during woodland mansion generation in Peaceful difficulty, but cannot damage the player.	Raids do not occur in Peaceful difficulty. Totems of undying are also not renewable in Easy difficulty, since raids do not last long enough to spawn evokers.
Trident	―	―	Drowned do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty.

Gameplay

[1] MC-77787

[2] MC-143151

[1]

[2]