How to use the Desert Well Finder
Desert wells are tiny sandstone features in deserts with a 1 in 1,000 chance per chunk. Since 1.20 the sand at the bottom contains suspicious sand with the Arms Up pottery sherd and other rewards.
- Type or paste your seed in the seed box (numbers and text seeds both work), then pick your edition and version.
- Desert wells are marked on the map automatically. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and hover an icon to see its coordinates.
- Click an icon to copy the coordinates or a ready-made /tp command, and tick "Completed" to keep track of the ones you have visited.
- Use the "Nearest" list in the sidebar to jump straight to the closest ones to spawn or to any X/Z you enter.
How desert wells are placed
A desert well is a world feature, not a full structure, so it has no region grid. Each desert chunk rolls a 1 in 1,000 chance, then the game checks that it lands on flat sand. Wells are 5×5 sandstone platforms with a water source in the middle and a small roof on pillars.
Because of the terrain check, the finder shows generation attempts: most marked chunks have a well, but some attempts are cancelled by slopes in-game. Large flat deserts give the best odds.
Archaeology in desert wells
Since 1.20, the sand under the water and around the base of the well hides suspicious sand. Brush it to get the Arms Up and Brewer pottery sherds, emeralds, bricks or a suspicious stew. Each block can only be brushed once.
Bedrock isn't supported for desert wells yet, so the finder only shows them for Java.
Editions and versions
| Dimension | Overworld |
|---|---|
| Java Edition | 1.13 – 26.3, approximate positions |
| Bedrock Edition | Java only: Bedrock placement is not implemented, so nothing is shown rather than wrong positions |
| Note | Generation attempt; needs a flat sand surface to actually appear. |
Questions
Why are desert wells marked approximate?
Wells are placed by a random check per chunk that also depends on the terrain surface, so a small share of marked chunks have no well.
What can I find in a desert well?
Brush the suspicious sand under the water for pottery sherds (Arms Up and Brewer), emeralds, bricks or a suspicious stew.
Does the desert well finder work for Bedrock?
Not yet. Bedrock's feature placement differs, and the finder only shows exact or verified positions, so desert wells are Java only.
How rare are desert wells?
About one desert chunk in a thousand gets a well attempt, so expect one every few thousand blocks of desert. Use the map to skip the search.
Can I /locate a desert well?
No. Desert wells are a world feature rather than a structure, so /locate cannot find them. Use the map instead.
Updated · data for Minecraft Java up to 26.3