Last updated: 19 October 2026

Minecraft Bastion Remnant Guide — Loot, Types & Piglin Brutes

A bastion remnant is the Nether's big blackstone fortress, and for most players it is the real prize on the road to netherite: it holds the only netherite upgrade smithing template, plus ancient debris, golden apples, enchanted diamond gear and gilded blackstone. This guide covers how the four bastion types differ, what the four chest types actually contain (with odds from the game's own loot tables), and how to loot one without being swarmed.

01Why Bastions Matter

Netherite gear needs two things: netherite ingots (from ancient debris, see our how to find netherite guide) and a netherite upgrade smithing template. Bastions are the source for the template. The wiki lists them as the only source of the template, gilded blackstone, the Pigstep music disc, the snout banner pattern and snout armor trim, and magma cube spawners.

Bastion remnants generate in all Nether biomes except basalt deltas, although a structure can extend into one. In each structure region they compete with Nether fortresses: in Java Edition a bastion has a 60% chance against 40% for a fortress, while in Bedrock the odds are about two thirds. Region sizes differ by edition, so expect to explore a bit if the first region has a fortress.

02The Four Bastion Types

• Treasure room: the most valuable layout, built around a central vault with a guarded treasure chest. This is the type to look for if you only want the template.
• Bridge: a large rampart with a carved piglin face and multi-level walkways above lava. Its chests hold a lodestone and golden gear (see below), and it has plenty of gold blocks.
• Hoglin stables: a three-part rampart with damaged stables on both sides. It has hoglins for food and leather, and chests with saddles and ancient debris.
• Housing units: blocky residential buildings with scattered chests and a lot of piglins.

All four types can hold a template, but only treasure chests guarantee it. If you find a bastion with no vault, loot every chest you can safely reach rather than expecting one lucky chest.

03What Is in the Chests

Bastion chests use four separate loot tables: treasure, bridge, hoglin stable and generic. The percentages here come from the game's own loot-table data for the current release; Bedrock may differ slightly, so check your edition.

Treasure chest

• Netherite upgrade smithing template: guaranteed in every treasure chest.
• Three rolls of valuables: each roll has roughly a 13% chance of a netherite ingot, 9% for a single ancient debris (plus about 4% for a stack of two), 7% for netherite scrap, 4–5% for diamonds (2–6) and about 2% for an enchanted golden apple; the rest of the roll is enchanted diamond gear.
• 3–4 rolls of resources: spectral arrows, gold and iron blocks and ingots, crying obsidian, quartz, gilded blackstone and magma cream.
• Snout armor trim: 1 in 12 chance.

Bridge, hoglin stable and generic chests

• Netherite upgrade smithing template: 10% chance per chest.
• Snout armor trim: 1 in 12 chance per chest.
• Bridge chests: a lodestone every time, plus 1–2 rolls of golden armour and tools, crossbow, spectral arrows, gilded blackstone, crying obsidian and gold and iron ingots.
• Hoglin stable chests: ancient debris and netherite scrap, diamond pickaxe or shovel, saddle, gold blocks, golden carrots and golden apples.
• Generic chests: a mix including ancient debris, netherite scrap, spectral arrows, golden carrots and apples, a soul speed book, a crossbow, the Pigstep disc and the snout banner pattern.

In short: treasure chests are the jackpot, hoglin stable chests are the best for ancient debris and food, and bridge chests are mostly gold-themed. Two templates is not a promise from the loot tables; a larger bastion simply has more chests, each with its own 10% roll.

04Piglins and Piglin Brutes

Piglins attack any player not wearing gold armour, so put on at least one piece of gold (even boots) before you enter. Opening a chest, mining a gold block or attacking a piglin aggravates nearby piglins within roughly 15-16 blocks, gold armour or not.

Piglin brutes are the real threat. They are hostile regardless of gold armour, hit hard with axes, and spawn only when a bastion is generated; they do not despawn unless killed or the difficulty is Peaceful, and once they are dead they do not respawn. Kill them early from a safe spot and the rest of the loot is far safer.

A safe routine used by most players:

1. Wear gold armour and bring a shield, fire resistance and plenty of blocks.
2. Find the brutes first and kill them one at a time, using a choke point.
3. Open one chest at a time, then wall yourself in or pillar up to loot calmly.
4. Leave gold blocks for last, since mining them also angers piglins.

Throwing a gold ingot is an old distraction trick, since piglins stop to pick up and inspect it. The structure is huge and ruined, so mark your way out with torches or markers.

05From Template to Netherite Gear

With the template in hand you need a diamond tool or piece of armour and a netherite ingot at a smithing table. Netherite ingots come from ancient debris (4 scrap plus 4 gold ingots per ingot); stable and treasure chests give you a head start with scrap and debris. For finding more ancient debris, see how to find netherite and best Y level for diamonds for general mining depth habits.

Gold you collect also helps: trade it with piglins by barter, or turn gold blocks into more ingots. Use enchantments on the gear afterwards (see the enchantment guide).