How to Get a Heavy Core in Minecraft

The Heavy Core is obtained from trial chamber vaults in Minecraft. It is a rare loot item that drops from ominous vaults inside trial chambers (added in 1.21). The Heavy Core is used to craft the Mace, a unique weapon that deals more damage the further you fall before hitting.

Where to Find Trial Chambers

• Trial chambers generate underground, typically between Y -20 and Y -40.
• Use /locate structure minecraft:trial_chambers to find one.
• They are large copper-themed structures with mob spawners, traps, and reward vaults.

How to Get the Heavy Core

• Fight through trial chamber rooms, defeating mobs from trial spawners.
• After clearing mobs, you receive a trial key.
• Use an ominous trial key (from ominous trial spawners) on an ominous vault.
• The Heavy Core is one of the rare loot items from ominous vaults.
• Each vault can only be opened once per player.

Crafting the Mace

• Combine 1 Heavy Core + 1 Breeze Rod in the crafting grid.
• Breeze rods drop from Breeze mobs, which only spawn in trial chambers.
• Place the breeze rod on top, heavy core on the bottom.

Mace Abilities

• Fall damage scaling: The further you fall before hitting, the more damage the Mace deals.
• Negates fall damage: Successfully hitting a mob with the Mace cancels your own fall damage.
• Works with Density enchantment for even more fall-based damage.
• Other Mace enchantments: Breach (ignores armor) and Wind Burst (launches you upward on hit).

Finding Trial Chambers

Trial chambers are underground structures that spawn between Y -20 and Y -40 in the Overworld. They generate in any biome and are found using the /locate structure minecraft:trial_chambers command. Without commands, listen for the distinctive trial spawner sounds while mining at those depths. Trial chambers contain trial spawners and ominous vaults — the heavy core drops exclusively from ominous vaults, not regular vaults. To activate an ominous vault, you need an ominous trial key obtained by defeating mobs from ominous trial spawners while under the Bad Omen effect.

Crafting the Mace

Combine 1 heavy core + 1 breeze rod on a crafting table to create the mace. The breeze rod drops from the breeze mob found inside trial chambers. The mace is Minecraft’s first dedicated fall-damage weapon — its damage scales with how far you fall before hitting a mob. From a 10-block drop, the mace can deal over 40 damage. The mace can be enchanted with Density for more fall damage, Breach for armor penetration, or Wind Burst for automatic re-launch after hitting.

Mace Combat Strategy

The ideal mace attack starts from height. Build a pillar, use wind charges to launch yourself upward, or jump from a cliff. Time your attack to hit a mob at the end of your fall. The mace negates all fall damage to the player when an attack lands, so you take zero damage from the fall itself. For repeatable attacks, combine the mace with Wind Burst enchantment — each successful hit launches you upward again, allowing chain attacks without rebuilding height. This fly-slam-fly loop makes the mace one of the most satisfying weapons in the game.

Trial Chamber Preparation Checklist

Before entering trial chambers, prepare with iron or diamond armor (Protection IV preferred), a strong sword, a bow with at least 2 stacks of arrows, food with high saturation, and potions of healing, strength, and fire resistance. Bring a water bucket for emergency escapes and ender pearls for quick repositioning. Trial spawners activate when you enter their range and produce waves of mobs including breezes, zombies, skeletons, and silverfish. Clearing all waves rewards you with trial keys. To get the ominous trial key needed for heavy cores, drink an ominous bottle or enter with Bad Omen from a raid captain kill — this upgrades trial spawners to ominous versions with harder mobs and better rewards.

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