The Ocean Monument is Minecraft’s underwater fortress — a huge prismarine temple guarded by guardians and three elder guardians. It hides 8 blocks of gold, sponge rooms, and the materials for prismarine builds and a conduit. This guide covers how to raid one, beat the Mining Fatigue debuff, and grab every reward.
Where ocean monuments generate
Monuments spawn only in deep ocean biome variants. They’re rare: a maximum of one monument per 512×512 block area, so you may sail a long way to find one. They sit on the ocean floor as a glowing prismarine structure, easy to spot once you’re near.
The guardians
| Mob | Count | Drops |
|---|---|---|
| Guardian | Many (spawn continuously) | Prismarine shards, prismarine crystals, raw fish |
| Elder Guardian | Exactly 3 — one at the top, one in each wing | Prismarine shards/crystals + wet sponge (guaranteed) |
Guardians fire a charging laser beam that does steady damage. The three elder guardians are the real obstacle because of the debuff they inflict.
Mining Fatigue III
Each elder guardian periodically inflicts Mining Fatigue III on every player in and around the monument, slowing your mining speed to a crawl. You’ll see a ghostly elder-guardian image flash on screen when it hits. There are two ways to deal with it:
- Drink milk to instantly clear the debuff (it comes back until you kill the elders).
- Kill all three elder guardians — once they’re dead, Mining Fatigue stops being reapplied.
The treasure
Hidden in the monument’s central chamber are 8 blocks of gold encased in dark prismarine — that’s 72 gold ingots’ worth. Mining them requires either clearing the Mining Fatigue (milk) or accepting very slow mining. The gold is the headline loot, but not the only reward:
| Reward | Details |
|---|---|
| 8 gold blocks | Central chamber, behind dark prismarine |
| Wet sponges | Sponge rooms hold ~30 wet sponges on the ceiling (not every monument has one) |
| Prismarine, dark prismarine, sea lanterns | Harvest the whole structure for building blocks |
| Prismarine shards & crystals | From guardians — craft sea lanterns and prismarine |
Dried sponges are the fastest way to drain the monument for a dry base — smelt wet sponges in a furnace to reuse them.
How to raid an ocean monument
- Potions of Water Breathing and Night Vision are essential — you can’t fight blind and drowning.
- Bring milk buckets to clear Mining Fatigue, or hunt the 3 elder guardians first.
- Use Respiration and Aqua Affinity on your helmet, and Depth Strider boots to move underwater. Plan these with our enchantment calculator.
- A trident with Impaling shreds guardians — see our best trident enchantments guide.
- Consider draining the monument with sponges or building an air pocket to fight on your terms.
Why raid a monument?
- Sponges — the only renewable-free way to remove water in bulk.
- Prismarine and sea lanterns — unique, glowing building blocks.
- Conduit power base — guardian farms and prismarine let you build a conduit, granting underwater breathing, vision, and mining speed in a radius.
FAQ
How many elder guardians are there? Exactly three per monument. Kill all three to permanently stop Mining Fatigue in that structure.
Do guardians respawn? Yes — regular guardians keep spawning, which is why players build guardian farms. Elder guardians never respawn.
Is the gold worth it? The 8 gold blocks are nice, but the real value is sponges, prismarine, and a spot to build a guardian XP/drop farm.
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