What is deepslate redstone ore?
Deepslate redstone ore is a block that drops redstone dust when mined with the right pickaxe. It looks like deepslate (dark gray, banded texture) with red specks scattered across the face. When a player or mob touches it, the specks glow and the block emits light, the same way the regular variant does.
Mojang added it in version 1.17, the Caves and Cliffs Part 1 update. Before then, all redstone ore was the same block. Now there are two variants: the shallow one (plain redstone ore) and the deep one this guide covers.
The difference matters less for what you get out of it (the dust is identical) and more for where you find it and how long it takes to mine. If you build with redstone at all, you will end up mining this version far more often than the shallow one.
Where to find deepslate redstone ore
Deepslate redstone ore generates wherever deepslate has replaced stone, which is roughly Y=0 and below. The transition zone from stone to deepslate sits between Y=0 and Y=-8, so you will see both variants in that band. Below Y=-8, every redstone ore you encounter will be the deepslate variant.
Redstone ore in general gets denser as you go down. Between Y=-32 and Y=-63, you hit the highest concentration. That same band overlaps with peak diamond generation, so a strip mine at that level pays off for two resources at once.
It generates in veins of about 4 to 8 blocks, sometimes up to 10. Most veins are isolated, though you will occasionally find two close enough to mine in one breath.
Each chunk has its own random placement for ores, so density varies a lot from one 16-block area to the next. If a strip mine in one chunk feels dry, move 16 blocks over and try again. The world generator does not care whether you are above an ocean, a forest, or a mesa: deepslate redstone ore generation is controlled by Y level and chunk seed, not the surface biome.
How to mine deepslate redstone ore
You need at least an iron pickaxe for the block to drop anything. Wood and stone pickaxes break the block but yield nothing. Iron, diamond, and netherite all work.
Deepslate is harder than stone, so this variant takes longer to mine than the shallow one. The hardness value is 4.5 in Java (the regular variant is 3.0). An Efficiency-enchanted pickaxe helps a lot, especially during long mining sessions. A diamond or netherite pickaxe with Efficiency IV or V will save real time when you are pulling several stacks of ore at once.
Each ore block also gives between 1 and 5 experience orbs when broken without Silk Touch, so a deep mining run pays off in levels as well as dust.
Drops, Fortune, and Silk Touch
With no enchantments, deepslate redstone ore drops 4 to 5 redstone dust per block. Fortune changes the yield as follows:
- Fortune I: 4 to 6 dust
- Fortune II: 4 to 7 dust
- Fortune III: 4 to 9 dust
Silk Touch behaves differently. A Silk Touch pickaxe drops the deepslate redstone ore block itself rather than dust. That is useful if you want to relocate the ore for decoration, or save blocks to smelt later. You cannot put Silk Touch and Fortune on the same pickaxe through normal enchanting, so pick the one that fits your goal before you head down.
Smelting deepslate redstone ore
A furnace or blast furnace will smelt deepslate redstone ore into redstone dust. The output is 1 dust per block, plus 0.7 experience. A blast furnace does the job in half the time of a regular furnace.
Smelting only makes sense if you broke the ore with Silk Touch in the first place. If you mined it normally, the dust already dropped. Compared with Fortune III (which averages over 5 dust per block), smelting is much worse for raw yield, so the use case is narrow.
What to do with the redstone dust
Once you have a stack or two of redstone dust, the obvious uses are powering and timing builds. The common applications:
- Crafting redstone components: repeaters, comparators, pistons, dispensers, droppers, observers, hoppers
- Crafting redstone torches (constant power, also acts as a NOT gate when wired in)
- Crafting redstone blocks (9 dust each) for compact, always-on power sources
- Brewing the Mundane Potion as a base, and extending the duration of other potions
- Crafting clocks and compasses (each needs a unit of dust)
If you have never built with redstone before, a single stack covers a basic farm or automatic door several times over. Two stacks gets you into piston elevators and item sorters. Larger projects like sugar cane farms, mob grinders, or hidden bases can burn through six or more stacks. The dust stacks to 64, so storage is not a problem.
Light and glow behavior
Like the shallow redstone ore block, deepslate redstone ore lights up when something touches it. The triggers are:
- A player walking on it
- A mob stepping on it
- A player right-clicking the block
- An arrow or other entity landing on it
The light level when activated is 9, and the glow fades after a few seconds of no contact. The block does not emit a redstone signal, just light. Some builders use redstone ore as decorative floor lighting, since a tripwire or pressure plate can trigger the surrounding ore when a mob walks past. The effect is purely cosmetic in modern versions, since hostile mobs require light level 0 to spawn, but the glow still looks good in builds where ambient cave lighting matters.
Tips for mining deepslate redstone ore
- Strip mine at
Y=-58. That depth catches deepslate redstone ore, diamonds, gold, and lapis in a single pass. - Bring an iron pickaxe with Efficiency at minimum. Unenchanted mining of the harder block gets painful fast.
- If you are stocking up for a redstone build, enchant a diamond pickaxe with Fortune III. The dust gains add up quickly across two or three veins.
- Watch for lava. Below
Y=-50, lava lakes are common. A water bucket and a few cobble blocks in your hotbar are worth the inventory slots. - Skip TNT for ore mining. Explosions destroy the dust drops, and a pickaxe always nets more.
- Mark your path with torches on the right wall as you go in. The same wall on the left becomes your way back out, no compass needed.
A good loadout for a deep mining run
If you are heading down past Y=-32 specifically for redstone dust, this loadout covers the common pain points:
- Diamond or netherite pickaxe with Efficiency IV or V, Fortune III, and Unbreaking III
- Backup iron pickaxe with Efficiency (in case the main one runs low)
- One stack of torches for marking the path and lighting tunnels
- Water bucket for lava emergencies and quick descents
- Half a stack of cobblestone for emergency walls and bridging
- Food: 16 to 32 cooked steak or cooked porkchops
- An ender chest plus an obsidian backup if you have one, for stashing dust mid-run
With this kit, a single session can pull several full stacks of dust plus the diamonds, gold, lapis, and emeralds you run into along the way. The full inventory at the end is the goal, not the rare lucky vein.
Java vs. Bedrock differences
For deepslate redstone ore, Java and Bedrock are functionally the same. Generation range, vein size, drop amounts, Fortune scaling, and Silk Touch behavior all match. The glow effect can look slightly more saturated on Bedrock, but that is a cosmetic render quirk, not a mechanic. If you play both editions, you will not need to relearn anything about this block when switching.
Frequently asked questions
Can you mine deepslate redstone ore with a stone pickaxe?
No. You need iron or better to get any drop. A stone pickaxe will break the block but yield nothing.
Does deepslate redstone ore drop more than the regular variant?
No. Base drops (4 to 5 dust) and Fortune scaling are identical. The only real differences are mining time and where the block generates.
Does Fortune work on smelted deepslate redstone ore?
No. Smelting gives 1 dust per block regardless of enchantments. Fortune only matters when you break the ore directly.
Will deepslate redstone ore regrow after I mine it?
No. Once mined, it is gone for good. There is no renewable or farmable version in vanilla Minecraft.
Why does my pickaxe take so long to break it?
Deepslate is harder than stone, so any deepslate variant mines slower than the shallow one. Add Efficiency to your pickaxe to speed things up.
Can deepslate redstone ore be moved by a piston?
No. Like other ores and like the base deepslate block, pistons cannot push it. The only way to relocate the ore is to mine it with Silk Touch and place it where you want.
Is deepslate redstone ore the same as a redstone block?
No. The ore drops dust when mined. A redstone block is crafted from 9 redstone dust and gives off a constant redstone signal. They look different, behave differently, and are not interchangeable.
Can deepslate redstone ore be found in the Nether or the End?
No. The block generates only in the Overworld. The Nether has its own ore set (nether gold, ancient debris, quartz, nether quartz), and the End has none of these.
Final note
If you are running low on dust mid-build, a single trip past Y=-32 with an Efficiency pickaxe and Fortune III will usually cover an entire project. Plan one mining run, come back with a couple of stacks, and the build does not have to pause for a refill.
