Minecraft’s long-underused copper finally steps into the spotlight with the new Fall 2025 update-bringing tools and armor that promise a fresh middle ground between stone and iron. But with copper tools matching stone’s attack power yet boasting better speed and durability, and copper armor offering early protection without the iron grind, the real question is: are these new copper items game-changers or just a fleeting convenience? Let’s dig into whether copper gear is truly worth your crafting time across Mobile, PC, PlayStation, and Xbox versions.
Although the attack power is the same as their stone equivalent, in terms of durability and mining speed, copper tools and armor perform better than stone, but worse than iron. The question is, do you really need copper items to bridge this gap? Why not swap your stone gear for iron, like the good old days?
Should you make copper tools?
Making copper tools in Minecraft is a sensible choice for the early stages of the game, as they offer clear advantages over stone tools by providing higher durability and faster mining speed, despite having the same attack power. Their abundance also means you can conserve your iron for more important upgrades, making survival progression smoother. However, copper tools still fall short of iron in both strength and protection, so while they are a useful stepping stone, most players will eventually replace them with iron or better equipment. Copper tools and armor are primarily worthwhile if you need an accessible upgrade before iron, but shouldn’t be considered a long-term solution outside of early gameplay or specific resource-conserving strategies.
Upon starting a new game of Minecraft, you must use whatever your bare hands can get – which is wood, mostly. As hacking away at rocks with a wooden pickaxe merely yields stone, not ore, upgrading to stone tools is the logical next step. From there, you can finally mine raw iron and start working on a full iron loadout – at least, that’s how it used to be.
While playing on Minecraft’s test branch, I found it significantly easier to obtain a large stack of copper ore compared to iron ore, as each block of copper drops twice the number of resources. Naturally, this makes it easier to craft copper tools and armor, despite requiring the same number of ingots. No surprises there.
I also noticed a significant improvement in mining speed when comparing copper axes and pickaxes to their stone predecessors. True, iron is even faster, but stone to copper felt like a greater jump in efficiency.
That said, I still prefer to upgrade from stone tools to iron tools. Part of the reason is that, despite the higher resource rarity, iron tools don’t require a high number of ingots. As you usually start mining copper and iron at the same time, you’ll likely find enough iron ore on your first mining trip to craft an iron axe, pickaxe, and more. But even more importantly, I wasn’t able to mine any redstone, gold, diamonds, or emeralds with the copper tools. I considered bringing both copper and iron tools on my next mining trip (copper for basic resources, iron for special stuff), but I might as well use iron only and benefit from the higher speed and durability.
Should Mojang decide to make copper ore mineable with the wooden pickaxe (which, after testing it in the update preview, doesn’t seem to be the case), copper tools would become far more valuable as the next step before iron- but then again, this would disturb the natural order of the blocky world far more severely. It’s probably best to let copper tools remain an optional step, one that should be skipped if possible.
What about copper armor?
Copper armor in Minecraft serves as a solid early-game option, providing a middle ground between leather and iron armor. It offers better protection and durability than leather armor but falls short compared to iron armor, giving 5 armor points versus iron’s 7.5. Crafting copper armor is easier early on since copper is more abundant and quicker to gather than iron, making it a practical choice for players who want reliable defense without the resource overhead of full iron armor. While not superior, copper armor is a useful stepping stone and helps conserve iron for other essential tools and items in the early stages of the game.
Copper armor sets, on the other hand, are amazing. Although the full copper armor set provides 5 armor points instead of the iron set’s 7.5 armor points, crafting the copper set saves you from a choice between safety and progression. Requiring a whopping 24 ingots in total, full outfits are costly, so I usually end up wearing a leather fit as I spend my hard-earned iron on tools, weapons, buckets, compasses, shears, and other useful items. With copper being little more than a fancy building material up until now, spending it on armor seems a wise idea.
Speaking of the uses of copper, beware that you may want to save some copper ore to craft a copper golem. Furthermore, as the copper update is still in its testing phase, keep in mind that some of the functionalities and stats may be changed before the update’s full release. But based on what we know so far; yes, copper armor and tools are good in Minecraft, predominantly as an iron-saver.
Are copper tools and armor truly worth upgrading from stone or gold in Minecraft
Copper tools and armor in Minecraft are generally considered worth upgrading to from stone, but not necessarily from gold. Copper gear is designed as an early-game middle ground between stone and iron. While copper tools match stone in attack power, they offer better durability and mining speed, making them a significant upgrade over stone tools. However, copper tools cannot mine certain ores like redstone and diamond, limiting their usefulness compared to iron tools.
Copper is easier to find and mine than iron because copper ore blocks drop twice the amount of raw copper, simplifying the process of collecting enough to craft copper gear. This makes copper a good option for players wanting quick, early-game gear without the full resource investment iron requires.
Copper armor provides decent early protection with 5 armor points for a full set, compared to iron’s 7.5 points. Though inferior to iron armor, copper armor is easier and quicker to craft, which benefits players in the early stages of the game who might not yet have enough iron to craft full iron armor. It also helps save iron for other uses while still giving players a protective advantage over leather or gold armor typically available early on.
Players usually prefer to upgrade from copper to iron eventually, as iron tools and armor perform better overall. Copper tools and armor fill the gap between stone and iron, improving early game progression and resource management but are not intended to replace iron as a top early- or mid-game tier.
In summary:
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Copper tools are a clear upgrade from stone due to better durability and speed but are not as versatile or powerful as iron.
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Copper armor is a convenient early-game armor option that is easier to make than iron armor but provides less protection.
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Upgrading from gold to copper tools and armor is generally not necessary since gold tools have higher enchantability and different use cases.
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Copper gear is best viewed as a useful stepping stone for early survival to bridge stone and iron, not a permanent replacement.
How does copper’s durability compare to iron and gold in Minecraft
In Minecraft, copper tools have 172 durability points, which places them between stone and iron in terms of durability. Copper tools are generally more durable than stone and gold tools but less durable than iron tools. For comparison:
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Iron tools typically have higher durability (about 250 for pickaxes).
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Gold tools have lower durability (~32) than copper.
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Copper tools offer a middle ground, better than gold and stone but worse than iron.
Copper tools also feature better mining speed and durability than stone but do not match iron’s overall strength and longevity. Copper armor is less protective than iron armor but easier to craft early and offers decent durability for an early-game option, though less than iron.
So, copper’s durability is higher than gold’s but lower than iron’s, making copper a useful step between stone/gold and iron in early game progression.
