How to Get Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing

Farming Iron Nuggets in 2 Easy Steps

1. Craft a Shovel or Axe

To farm iron nuggets you’ll need either a flimsy shovel or flimsy axe.

To Create a Flimsy Axe:

You will receive the DIY recipe for the Flimsy Axe from Tom Nook after you catch at least two bugs or fish and show them to him. This typically occurs early in the game as part of the introductory tasks.

To craft the Flimsy Axe, you will need:

• 5 Tree Branches

• 1 Stone

Tree branches can be found on the ground around your island or by shaking trees. Stones can be collected by hitting rocks with a tool.

Crafting Process:

Once you have gathered all the materials, open your crafting menu by interacting with a workbench or your DIY crafting table.

Select the Flimsy Axe recipe and craft it.

To Create a Flimsy Shovel:

• Craft a Flimsy Axe

• Donate five unique critters (fish or bugs) to Tom Nook. This will lead to the arrival of Blathers, who will set up the museum on your island.

• After Blathers arrives, speak to him, and he will give you the DIY recipe for the Flimsy Shovel.

• Gather 5 Hardwood by hitting trees with your Flimsy Axe. Hardwood is one of three types of wood and is distinguished by its darker color.

• Open your crafting menu and select the Flimsy Shovel recipe to create it.

2. Hit Rocks to Farm Iron Nuggets

Iron nuggets can be found by hitting the small silver rocks scattered around your island using either a shovel or an axe. However, using a shovel is recommended as it allows you to conserve your axe for cutting trees.

Each rock can yield up to eight items per day, including iron nuggets, stone, clay, and occasionally gold nuggets.

Stand in front of the rock and dig two holes behind you. This prevents you from bouncing back after each hit, allowing you to strike the rock continuously without moving away.

You have about ten seconds to hit the rock as many times as possible before it stops producing items.

Rocks have about a 30% chance of dropping an iron nugget each time they are struck.

Pro tip: Remember that each rock will reset daily, so you can only farm them once per day on your island.

Tips for Farming Iron Nuggets Efficiently

• Visit Mystery Islands: Purchase a Nook Miles Ticket (costing 2,000 Nook Miles) from the Nook Stop terminal in Resident Services. Use this ticket at the airport to visit a deserted island where you can find additional rocks to hit for iron nuggets.

• Friends’ Islands: If you have friends playing the game, consider visiting their islands. You can hit their rocks for resources as well.

• Avoid Eating Fruit: Do not eat fruit before hitting rocks, as doing so will cause the rocks to break instead of yielding materials. Save fruit consumption for when you need to break rocks intentionally.

• Remove Weeds: Clear any weeds around the rock before hitting it; weeds can block items from dropping.