All 23 Pottery Sherds in Minecraft (And Where to Find Them)

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: There are 23 pottery sherds: 20 found by brushing suspicious sand and gravel in archaeology sites (desert temples, wells, trail ruins, ocean ruins) and 3 (Flow, Guster, Scrape) from decorated pots in trial chambers. Combine 4 sherds on a crafting grid to make a decorated pot.

What you need

A brush (feather, copper ingot, stick)
Access to archaeology sites: desert temples, desert wells, trail ruins, warm and cold ocean ruins
Trial chambers for the 3 newest sherds

Step by step

How archaeology works: brush suspicious sand or suspicious gravel slowly - the item inside emerges after a few seconds of brushing.
Trail ruins (suspicious gravel): Burn, Danger, Friend, Heart, Heartbreak, Howl, Sheaf - plus the Wayfinder, Raiser, Shaper and Host armor trims from the same blocks.
Desert temples (suspicious sand): Archer, Miner, Prize, Skull.
Desert wells (suspicious sand): Arms Up, Brewer.
Warm ocean ruins (suspicious sand): Angler, Shelter, Snort.
Cold ocean ruins (suspicious gravel): Blade, Explorer, Mourner, Plenty.
Trial chambers (decorated pots): Flow, Guster, Scrape - break or loot the pots themselves.
Crafting pots: 4 sherds in a diamond shape make a decorated pot with one pattern per side - mix sherds and bricks for partial patterns; an all-brick pot has no patterns.
Handle with care: decorated pots shatter when broken with a tool - silk-touch-like care (or breaking by hand gently... pots drop as items when mined carefully without smashing) matters if you want to move them. Breaking a pot with a projectile smashes it into its sherds.

Java vs Bedrock

Snort, Howl and Burn are the fan-favorite sherds; all trail ruins sherds share one loot table, so expect duplicates while hunting the full set.

Versions: All 23 sherds exist on Java and Bedrock. Flow, Guster and Scrape arrived with trial chambers in 1.21.

Frequently asked questions

How many pottery sherds are there?

23: 20 from archaeology sites (trail ruins, desert temples, desert wells, ocean ruins) and 3 from trial chambers decorated pots (Flow, Guster, Scrape).

What is the fastest way to get sherds?

Trail ruins - a single site contains huge amounts of suspicious gravel holding 7 different sherd types. Bring several brushes and mark where you have brushed.

Can I break a decorated pot without losing it?

Mine it carefully by hand and it drops as an item; smashing it with a tool or shooting it with a projectile breaks it back into its sherds and bricks.