The resource system is the single most important mechanic on EarthStonks. Unlike vanilla Minecraft, strategic resources do not spawn randomly across the map. Instead, they are tied to real-world geographic locations — modeled after actual mines, oil fields, and mineral deposits on Earth.
This creates genuine scarcity. Not every town can be self-sufficient. Not every nation can afford to grow. Control over resource zones is the foundation of every war, trade deal, and alliance on the server.
These resources only exist inside designated green zones on the map. You will not find ore blocks — you mine Stone within a claimed zone and the resource drops from it.
| Resource | Used For | Where Found |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | Small town upkeep (1–50 chunks) | Brazil (Carajás), Australia (Hamersley, Yandi, Newman), Sweden (Kiruna), Ukraine, South Africa (Sishen), Guinea (Simandou), India (Bailadila) |
| Gold | Medium town upkeep (51–100 chunks) | Indonesia (Grasberg), Uzbekistan (Muruntau), Russia (Olimpiada), USA Nevada (Cortez, Carlin), Australia (Boddington, Cadia), Papua New Guinea (Lihir), Peru (Yanacocha), Dominican Republic (Pueblo Viejo) |
| Diamond | Trade & high-value economy | Botswana (Orapa, Jwaneng), South Africa (Kimberley, Venetia), Angola (Catoca), Canada (Diavik, Ekati), Australia (Argyle), Russia (Udachny, Jubilee) |
| Oil | Large empire upkeep (100+ chunks) | Saudi Arabia (Ghawar, Safaniya, Shaybah, Abqaiq), Kuwait (Burgan), Iran (Gachsaran, Ahvaz), UAE (Upper Zakum), Iraq (West Qurna), Kazakhstan (Tengiz), Venezuela (Bolívar), Russia (Romashkino, Samotlor), Canada (Athabasca), Mexico (Cantarell) |
| Copper | Trade & crafting | Chile (Escondida, Collahuasi, El Teniente, Chuquicamata), Peru (Cerro Verde), USA (Morenci, Bingham), Mexico (Buenavista), DRC Congo (Kamoa), Indonesia (Grasberg) |
These spawn normally across the entire map and do not require zone control:
Common resources are your bread and butter for early income — mine them with a Miner job and sell via /shop.
How to Find Zones
Open the live world map and look for green squares. Each green square is a resource zone. The zone label tells you what resource it contains.
Green zones are protected WorldGuard regions placed at geographically accurate locations across the Earth map. Each zone is named after the real-world mine or oil field it represents — for example, a diamond zone might be named after the Kimberley Mine in South Africa.
You Must Claim the Land First
Mining Stone in a zone you haven't claimed will not drop resources. Your town or outpost claim must cover the green zone tiles you are mining.
The Oil Drill is a craftable machine that automates resource extraction from your claimed zones. Craft it, drop it in your town, and feed it oil — it produces raw resources on its own while the chunk is loaded.
iron_*, gold_*, diamond_*, or copper_* regionOutput depends on which region the drill sits in. Rates are per production tick (subject to change):
| Region | Produces | Chance per Tick | Drop Amount | Resources per Oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
iron_* |
Raw Iron | 2.5% | 1–2 | 25 |
gold_* |
Raw Gold | 1.25% | 1 | 14 |
diamond_* |
Diamond | 0.6% | 1 | 5 |
copper_* |
Raw Copper | 4.25% | 2–4 | 40 |
Where to Get Oil
Oil comes from the oil barrel or from mining oil fields directly. Drill responsibly.
Town upkeep is stacking — not tiered. As you expand, new resource costs are added on top of existing ones. You will always pay Iron; Gold and Oil kick in as your town grows.
1 Iron per chunk per day, always. A 20-chunk town needs 20 Iron. A 200-chunk empire needs 200 Iron (or 400 at "The Wall"). Iron zones are the most common strategic resource — secure one before anything else.
Once you exceed 50 chunks, Gold is added: 0.5 Gold per chunk above 50. At 89 chunks that's 20 Gold on top of your full Iron cost. Start securing a Gold zone before you approach the 50-chunk threshold or you'll be caught off-guard.
Large empires pay Oil too: 0.2 Oil per chunk above 100. At 150 chunks that's 10 Oil daily — on top of 150 Iron and 50 Gold. Oil is the rarest resource on the server. Nations frequently go to war over it.
Towns that exceed 200 chunks hit The Wall: all resource costs double. Expansion beyond 200 is possible but extremely expensive. Most players cap growth before this threshold.
You have two fundamental strategies for securing resources:
If your town or nation controls a key resource zone, you have significant market leverage. Other towns need your resource to survive. You can set your own prices, form trade agreements, or deny supply to enemies entirely. This is how resource wars start.
Because strategic resources are geographically fixed, they are inherently scarce relative to the number of players who need them. When diplomacy fails, the SiegeWar system allows you to take resource zones by force — occupying a defeated town cuts off their production and puts you in control of that zone.