How To Get Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

You don't have to get iron nuggets just from the rocks, there are different other ways. This is especially helpful if you need to get more iron nuggets faster, for Tom's store, for example.

It's baffling how Tom expects you to get 30 Iron Nuggets for the shop, when there are only 2 or 3 rocks on your island. So how do you get more iron nuggets faster?

What Are Iron Nuggets? Please Read First!

Iron nuggets are a crafting material used to create different tools or furniture items.

Usually iron nuggets are obtained by hitting rocks with a shovel or axe.

Once collected from a rock, you need to wait for that rock to regenerate iron nuggets again.

Sometimes hitting a rock will produce 1 iron nugget. Other times 2, or none.

Every rock can give you up to eight iron nuggets each day if you mine frequently.

To get maximum number of iron nuggets, dig holes near the rock you're mining.

You can get more iron nuggets from the same rock because they continue to regenerate.

When hitting rocks, make sure to completely clear ground around the rock. Remove surrounding weeds, trees, or items. This might prevent iron nuggets, or other items, to fall out.

If you've just eaten fruit, you can completely destroy a rock! If this happens, the same rock will reappear elsewhere on the island in a few days.

What Are Iron Nuggets Used For?

Whenever you need to create an item made out of metal, you will need iron nuggets.

Iron nuggets can be used to create tools such as the axe, shovel, and fishing rod, as well as furniture items such as the ironwood kitchenette and iron garden bench.

Iron nuggets are also required to build and upgrade certain structures on the player's island, such as the shop and the museum.

So how do you get more iron nuggets faster?

How To Obtain Iron Nuggets Without Rocks?

Because iron nuggets are fundamental for building things, each rock only has a limited number of iron nuggets per day, and you have to wait for them to regenerate again, many players are seeking for alternatives to finding more iron nuggets faster.

Thankfully, getting Iron Nuggets from rocks with an axe or a showel is not the only way. There are a few other ways to obtain iron nuggets without relying solely on rocks!

Try these ideas to obtain iron nuggets without rocks:

• Shoot down balloons with slingshot, they will occassionally drop iron nuggets.
• Participate in the Island Tours mini game at the airport.
• Purchase Iron Nuggets from Nook's Cranny, by upgrading your resident services.
• Purchase them from visiting merchants, like Saharah, Redd or Gulliver.
• Find them on mystery islands, using Nook Miles ticket.
• Trade them with other players.

How To Get Iron Nuggets From Balloons?

Balloons spawn at the edge of the map, near water far in the ocean.

The travelling direction of balloons depends on the time of day and island's beach layout.

Balloons carry different items. But 5% of the time, they carry iron nuggets.

In the game you will sometimes see red, blue, yellow and green balloons.

Blue balloons are the ones that will carry crafting items. They have greater chance of dropping iron nuggets. Yellow balloons can contain bells. Red and green balloons don't drop crafting materials or bells, but they can drop just about anything else.

Each balloon spawns at every x:x4 and x:x9 minute away in the ocean and it may take a while for them to float toward the shore where you can slingshot them. Wind speeds also affect how fast a balloon will travel.

Distribution of items inside balloons varies with the number of balloons you have already shot down on that day. This is done to control the maximum number of items per day that balloons can possibly drop.

Getting items from balloons is one of my favorites!

How To Get Iron Nuggets In Animal Crossing Without Tools?

It's not possible to get iron nuggets in Animal Crossing without using tools, as they can only be obtained by hitting rocks with a tool such as an axe or shovel.

How Rare Are Iron Nuggets?

Iron nuggets are not necessarily a rare item in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but they can be more difficult to obtain than some other crafting materials.

Each rock on the player's island can be hit multiple times with a shovel or axe to obtain resources, but only a limited number of items can be obtained from each rock each day. This means that players may need to visit multiple rocks or wait until the next day to obtain enough iron nuggets to complete certain tasks.

Additionally, iron nuggets are required for a number of important tasks in the game, such as building tools and upgrading key structures like the shop and museum, so players may need to prioritize obtaining them over other resources.

Overall, while iron nuggets may not be rare in the game, they are a valuable and important resource that players will need to gather consistently throughout their playthrough.

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