Nether quartz is a white mineral found in the Nether. Nether quartz ore usually spawns from levels 10 to 117 in all Nether biomes, however, it is most commonly found in the Basalt Deltas (32% chance). They play a big role in trading and Redstone systems and can be used to craft a lot of unique blocks.

In this article, we are going to showcase the top 5 uses for Nether Quartz in Minecraft.

Table of Contents

1. Create Redstone comparators

A Redstone comparator often plays a significant role in a Redstone system. It is a Redstone component used to maintain, compare, or subtract signal strength, or to measure certain block states (primarily the fullness of containers).

Redstone comparators
Of all the Redstone devices, the Redstone comparator is one of the most unique.

They are super useful in more complicated builds, where many items are being accumulated at once. Players can create a Redstone comparator using 3 Redstone torches, 1 quartz and 3 stone.

2. Trading

Trading is one of the most effortless and efficient ways to obtain certain items. Players can exchange quartz for emeralds, one of the most wanted ores in the game. In Java Edition, there is a 1/33 chance that Expert-level stone mason villagers would offer a trade of 12 quartz for one emerald. This trade is always offered in Bedrock, which makes exchanging quartz much easier.

Mason
The Mason Villager is a good source of emeralds.

Piglins may barter 5–12 Nether quartz when given a gold ingot.

3. Crafting an observer

An observer is a block that emits a Redstone signal when the block or fluid it faces experiences a change. It sometimes serves as a critical component in a Redstone contraption.

As observers can detect the state of other observers, placing two adjacent observers, each watching the other, can make a fast and compact Redstone clock.

An observer
An observer is placed similarly to a piston. It observes the block that it is placed against.

To craft an observer, players need 6 cobblestones, 2 Redstone dust and 1 nether quartz.

4. Decorations

Players can create a quartz block by fusing 4 quartz. These blocks are mainly used for decoration, as they can be modified to create slabs and stairs. There are 2 other variants of the block: Diorite and Granite.

Quartz blocks
Quartz blocks can be placed under note blocks to produce a "bass drum" sound.

Granite can only be crafted using Diorite and Quartz, therefore it is the rarest. However, Journeyman-level stone mason villagers have a 2/7 chance to sell 4 polished granite for one emerald as part of their trades.

5. Creating a daylight sensor

A daylight detector is a block that outputs a Redstone signal based on sunlight. This allows players to create a contraption that works based on the time of day. This is super useful if the player wants to run a Redstone operation during the day time only.

daylight sensor
You can make a door that closes when it gets dark using the daylight detector.

Sources of block light (torches, glowstone, etc.) cannot activate a daylight detector.

>>> Read more: 5 Most Useful Items For Exploring The End In Minecraft