Of all the resources you'll be hunting for as you progress through Palworld, Ore is, by far, the most important. While it's not required for anything in the early game, Ore quickly becomes a material you'll need for almost everything as you advance into the mid and late-game. The problem, though, is that Ore is generally less plentiful than other resources — and unfortunately, there's no way to produce it infinitely in your bases like you can with Wood and Stone.
This constant high demand for and low supply of Ore is why Palworld players are constantly looking for a way to keep it flowing steadily. So far, pretty much everyone agrees that the best way to do that is to farm spots where clusters of Ore deposits spawn (and respawn once every 24 in-game hours) naturally. With one or two efficient farming bases set up in an optimal location, you'll get all the Ore you need.
But where are the best locations to farm Ore, and how should you go about building an Ore farming base? Which Pals are up to the job, and where can you catch them? I go over everything you need to know below.
Palworld: Best Ore locations
There are quite a few different places on Palworld's map where you can find several Ore deposits grouped together, but not all of them are conducive to efficient base-building. For example, many spots aren't flat, which slows down the movement of worker Pals and makes it very difficult to put down structures.
For that reason, when choosing the best Ore locations to spotlight, I picked plots of land that are easy to build on and have a ton of Ore. Not only will the below spots yield a ton of Ore from farming, but the bases you make at them will be easy to both build and maintain.
This plateau (157, -395) southwest of the Fort Ruins area is unquestionably the best place to set up an Ore farm in the early game, and honestly, it's also one of the best Palworld base locations in general. There's 8 Ore deposits atop this spacious and flat piece of high ground, and the natural chokepoints will make it incredibly easy for your Pals to defend themselves from raiders if they have to. The only downside is that getting up to it on foot takes quite a while, but you can get around that with a flight-capable mount, the Grappling Gun, or a fast travel to the base's Palbox.
These flat landmasses (10, -522) southwest of the Small Settlement town are another top-tier spot where you can build an amazing Ore farming base. Though it offers little natural protection from raids, it's packed with Ore to mine, has a ton of level ground to work with, and is within walking distance of a village with useful NPC vendors. Don't forget to bridge the two plateaus with some stairs (use a slanted roof if you're having trouble with the finnicky building) so that your Pals can efficiently get around.
On top of this mountain (190, -40) that's northeast of the Sealed Realm of the Guardian fast travel statue, you'll find quite the hidden gem of a farming spot. Though it's not as flat as the previous locations and doesn't have as many Ore deposits, it does have clusters of Coal — a material you'll eventually need to combine Ore with to make Refined Ingots. Therefore, it's arguably the best place you can set up a farming base in Palworld's late-game, especially since it's so high up it's basically raid-proof. Make sure you bring a flying mount.
A location that's worthy of an honorable mention is the area just behind the Desolate Church at coordinates (63, -417). Though not the best place to put down a base since a large part of the terrain around the nearby church is marked as an area where you can't build, you can teleport to the church's fast travel statue and mine the 9 Ore deposits behind it yourself each time they respawn.
Palworld: Best Ore mining Pals
Now that you've got some Ore locations to set up farms at, the next step is choosing (and catching) some Pals that are capable of performing the Mining job. When deployed at your Ore bases, these Pals will automatically mine the deposits there each time they reappear. They form the backbone of any farm, and paired with a few other Pals that are capable of growing food and transporting materials, they'll keep things running like a well-oiled machine.
There are many Pals that can extract Ore from deposits in Palworld, ranging from specialized miners to general-purpose workers that can perform many different tasks. All of them get the job done well, but some are better than others, either because they have a higher Mining level or because they offer some unique utility. These are what I consider to be the best Pals for mining, which I've listed below:
- Cattiva: This low-level Pal is all over the game's beginner areas, and in addition to having a level in Mining, it can also do Gathering, Transporting, and Handiwork. Those skills will come in handy at your Ore farms, making Cattiva an excellent early game mining Pal.
- Tombat: Another great early game Mining Pal, though it'll be tough to get if you're extremely low level. Can only spawn around the starting zones at night, but comes with Level 2 Mining, Transporting, and Gathering.
- Penking: The Alpha Pal version of this awesome penguin can be caught repeatedly in an Elden Ring-style evergaol in the autumnal area north of Rayne Syndicate Tower. It can perform a ridiculous number of tasks, including Level 2 Mining, Handiwork, Transporting, Watering, and Cooling. At an Ore base, it'll mine deposits, take the metal to storage, and water crops.
- Digtoise: This spiny turtle can only mine, but with a Mining level of 3, it does so exceptionally well. It's also quite easy to catch in the early-to-mid game, with frequent spawns in the Twilight Dunes at (-145, -115).
- Reptyro: If you're brave and prepared enough to venture to the volcanic areas around (-500, -500), you can catch this beast of a Pal that has Level 3 Mining and Kindling. That means it's a great miner and is also capable of smelting Ore into Ingots at a furnace, too.
- Anubis: In the same Twilight Dunes area where Digtoise is found, there's a Level 47 Alpha Pal called Anubis with Level 3 Mining, Level 4 Handiwork, and Level 2 Transporting. You're in for a tough fight, but you'll have a great miner and hauler if you can manage to catch it.
- Astegon: At (-600, -425) on the west side of the volcano region is Astegon, a Level 45 Alpha Pal with Mining Level 4 and Handiwork Level 1. It's one of the only two Pals with Level 4 in Mining.
- Blazamut: Good luck with this one. Blazamut is an incredible Ore base Pal with Level 4 Mining and Level 3 Kindling, but it's Level 49, and arguably one of the hardest Pals to fight and catch in all of Palworld. It's found at (-450, -550).
If you're struggling to find the above Pals, make sure you try using this handy Palworld interactive map. It'll visually show you exactly where a Pal — including Alpha Pals like Anubis — can be found when you type in its name, making your search significantly easier.
Also, keep in mind that in addition to weakening the Pal you're trying to capture, you'll also need to field more advanced Pal Spheres if the Pal in question is above Level 15-20. These dramatically raise your chances of successfully catching the tougher, most-valuable Pals at the top of most Palworld tier lists, so you should definitely be using them.
Palworld: Building an Ore farm base
You've got Ore farming locations, and you've got Pals ready to take care of the mining. All that's left to do is to actually build your Ore farm base, and thankfully, that's pretty easy to do (make sure your main base is Level 10 so you can plop down a second Palbox somewhere). Here's how I go about the process:
1. Like your main base did, it starts with a Palbox. Build one in the center of the spot you've chosen to farm for Ore. This ensures you can take advantage of as much space as possible.
2. Bring out Pals for Mining, Planting, Watering, Gathering, Transporting, and (optionally) Kindling. The miners will, well, mine, while the planters, waterers, and gatherers will take care of keeping everyone in the base fed. Transporters take Ore to storage chests and food to the Feed Box you'll make next, and if you want to smelt your Ore into Ingots at the farming spot, Kindling Pals will tackle that.
3. Build a few Berry Plantations, a Feed Box, and a Wooden Chest. These will get your food production started, give the Pals a place to store it (and eat from), and provide the transporters with a place to put all the Ore.
4. Build a Hot Spring or two, as well as enough Straw Pal Beds for everyone at the base. Your Pals need a place to sleep and relax every once in a while, or else their SAN (Sanity) will decrease and they'll get sick or refuse to work.
5. Finally, add some basic walls to the perimeter of the settlement, and maybe some light defenses if you're in the late-game. The place doesn't need to be a fortress, but you don't want the base to be completely exposed to wild Pals and squads of raiders.
Follow these five steps, and you'll have an efficient, self-sustained Ore farming base up and running in no time at all. Remember to fast travel to it periodically to collect the Ore (or Ingots, if you smelt it there) and take it all back to your main crafting hub in your primary base, as you'll need it for tons of weapons, armor, Pal Spheres, structures, and more.
Palworld is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, and Windows PC via either the Microsoft Store or Steam. It's quickly become one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of 2024 so far, and it's also playable through Xbox Game Pass.