Minecraft is finally making copper useful with a new tier of tools bridging the gap from stone to iron, and a long-lost mob returning as the automatic item sorter fans have wanted for years

Copper hit Minecraft back in 2021, but hasn't really done a great job justifying its own existence. Now, Mojang has a new update in store that'll finally give you a reason to use the material, including a whole new tier of tools and the long-awaited return of the copper golem.

In a new update currently available in beta preview on Bedrock - it will eventually hit Java, too - you're able to craft copper pickaxes, swords, and much more. This is a full new equipment tier that'll bridge the gap between stone and iron items, which should hopefully make the early-game grind just a bit less arduous.

"My personal relation to copper in-game is that I mine a bunch of it, forget that I can't use it for tools, and then hold it in my inventory," senior gameplay engineer Matthew Clohessey says in the announcement video. The intent here is to give the very abundant material a proper purpose so it's not just clogging up your chests anymore.

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But the return of the copper golem is arguably even more exciting. This creature previously contended for the 2021 mob vote, but ultimately lost to the allay, a creature that would fly around and collect loose items for you. The allay's ultimate form was a bit disappointing because it didn't turn out to be the item-sorting solution players wanted, but the new-and-improved copper golem is set to fulfill that role now.

"The new design is that it's going to move around and take items from copper chests," Clohessey explains, "and put them in either empty chests or chests with a matching copy of that item, to help clean up your inventory management and your chests."

Minecraft players have been building elaborate item-sorting contraptions for years to avoid the pain of inventory management, but the copper golem looks poised to finally offer a vanilla solution to that problem. The fact that it's going to be craftable with such a readily available early-game material is a very nice bonus.

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