Trail Ruins Finder

Before You Start Brushing

A quick rundown of what makes Trail Ruins different from every other structure — and why the brush actually matters.

• Where they spawnTrail Ruins generate in taiga, old-growth taiga, old-growth pine taiga, old-growth birch forest, snowy taiga and jungle biomes. Occasionally one will spawn right on the edge where those biomes meet another, which is a good visual marker if you're scanning by foot.
• How to lootNo chests. Trail Ruins have suspicious gravel blocks scattered throughout the buried structure (suspicious dirt isn't a block in the game — only gravel). Brush each one with a Brush item and the animation reveals a single hidden drop per block.
• Tool you needYou'll need a brush — crafted from a feather, a stick and a copper ingot at any crafting table. Brushes have low durability and tend to wear out before you finish a single ruin, so bring two or three with you.
• VersionTrail Ruins were added in the 1.20 Trails & Tales update and are present in every Java, Bedrock and Large Biomes world on 1.20 or later.
• DangerThe ruin itself poses no danger — there are no mobs spawning inside or any traps. The surrounding biome is a different story though, especially taiga at night, so keep an iron sword on your hotbar for the walk in and out.

What the Brush Reveals

Trail ruins are the only reliable source in the game for several items. That's what makes the quiet brushing worth it — you're chasing collectibles you genuinely can't get any other way.

How to Dig a Ruin Without Missing Anything

Trail ruins are bigger than they look. The gravel and dirt path can stretch a long way from the visible stone, and missing a few suspicious blocks means missing rare drops. Here's a reliable pattern to clear one properly.

1. Get a view from above before you start. Trail Ruins are mostly buried — what you see at ground level is just the tops of broken stone walls and patches of mossy bricks. Climb a nearby tree, pillar up with a stack of dirt, or stand on a hillside and look down — the full path outline of the ruin reveals itself, and you can spot where the suspicious gravel and dirt patches sit relative to the visible stonework.
2. Walk the whole ruin once before brushing anything. Suspicious Gravel blocks have a slightly speckled texture compared to normal gravel — easy to miss if you're not looking, and they're the only suspicious block Trail Ruins uses (suspicious dirt isn't a real block). Walk the full layout first and mentally tag every suspicious patch you spot. They cluster near broken floors, corners and doorways, and a single ruin can hold 30 to 60 of them.
3. Brush each suspicious block slowly with a Brush. Brushes are crafted from a feather, a stick and a copper ingot at any crafting table — bring two or three because they wear out fast. Hold right-click and let the brushing animation play all the way through. Stopping early cancels the drop, so be patient and watch the dust particles until the item pops out.
4. Pick up everything, even the bits that look like junk. Wheat, clay balls, sticks, tuff and dyes look like filler, but the seven Trail Ruins-exclusive pottery sherds (Burn, Danger, Friend, Heart, Heartbreak, Howl and Sheaf) can only drop here. You need four sherds — any combination, placed around a brick in the crafting grid — to craft a Decorated Pot, and certain themed pots require specific sherd combinations you can only get from this structure.
5. Save a brush for the outer ring of the ruin. The visible stonework is only the centre of the structure — the buried path usually extends well beyond it in a curving shape, and most first-time visitors stop brushing once the obvious walls run out. Walk a full lap around the perimeter, looking for stray suspicious patches in the surrounding biome. There's often an extra 20–30% of loot waiting beyond what looks like the "edge".

Pair It With Pottery and Archaeology

If you're leaning into the archaeology side of the game, trail ruins pair nicely with ocean ruins — different aesthetic, similar "brush suspicious blocks" loop, and between the two you'll complete most of the pottery sherd set. Desert temples also have a small amount of suspicious sand in their buried chambers. Want the full overview? The map with all three toggled on shows you a whole afternoon's worth of runs.