How to Get Trial Keys in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Complete trial spawners in trial chambers: a finished spawner has a 50% chance to eject a trial key for every nearby player. Keys also appear in chamber chests, barrels and decorated pots. Use them to unlock vaults; ominous keys come from ominous spawners (30%) and open ominous vaults.

What you need

Trial chamber location
Combat gear for mob waves
Ominous Bottles for ominous trials (optional)
Empty inventory slots for vault loot

Step by step

Find a trial chamber underground (deepslate layers, roughly Y=-20 to -40) - explore caves or dig around mountainous terrain. Trial chambers are large copper-and-tuff structures; you can't miss the copper bulbs.
Trigger a trial spawner: step into range and it starts spawning its mob type (breezes, strays, slimes, spiders, silverfish...). It spawns a wave of mobs - kill them all.
Collect the reward: after the last mob dies, the spawner ejects loot for every nearby player. There's a 50% chance it includes a trial key - and when it rolls the key, every detected player gets one.
Loot the structure too: trial keys also generate in trial chambers chests, barrels and decorated pots, so check every corridor while spawners are on their 30-minute cooldown.
Open a vault: use the trial key on a standard vault (the block with a skull face) to eject loot - each player can open each vault once, so chambers work great multiplayer.
Go ominous for better loot: drink an Ominous Bottle (from raid captains or vaults) to turn spawners ominous. Ominous spawners drop ominous trial keys (30% chance), which open ominous vaults - the only source of heavy cores, flow armor trim, and the best loot.
Java quirk: a renamed or otherwise modified trial key can't open a standard vault due to a bug - keep your keys vanilla.

Java vs Bedrock

Trial key drops (50% from completed spawners) and vault mechanics are identical in Java and Bedrock. Two Java-only notes: renamed keys can't open standard vaults (a bug), and loot table details differ slightly per edition.

Versions: Trial keys were added as experimental content in Java 1.20.3 (23w45a) and Bedrock, then fully released with 1.21 (Tricky Trials, June 2024).

Frequently asked questions

How do you get trial keys?

Finish a trial spawner fight in trial chambers - there's a 50% chance the reward includes a trial key for every nearby player. Keys also appear in the chamber's chests, barrels and decorated pots.

What does a trial key open?

Standard vaults in trial chambers. Each vault can be opened once per player, so bring friends - up to 128 players per vault. Ominous vaults need ominous trial keys instead.

How do you get ominous trial keys?

Drink an Ominous Bottle to start an ominous trial, then complete ominous trial spawners - they eject ominous keys 30% of the time. Ominous keys open ominous vaults, the only source of heavy cores.

Why won't my trial key open the vault?

In Java, a renamed key (or one with modified data) can't open a standard vault because of a bug. Use a fresh, unrenamed key. Also check it's not an ominous vault - those need ominous keys.