Iron Ingots are a type of metal in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that you will mostly use for Upgraded Tools. You’ll also need 30 of them to help Timmy build a shop early on in the game. The only annoyance is that they aren’t quick to obtain, and might become one of those must-do daily tasks.
This guide was created during the first week of Animal Crossing: New Horizons release on the Nintendo Switch. Depending on when you’re reading this guide, some thing may be different due to future updates. However we’ll always try to come back and update these guides! For more of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons Guides & Best-of lists, make sure to check out our dedicated area here!
Getting Iron Nuggets
To get Iron Nuggets, you first need an Axe (which you should have hopefully unlocked by now). Any type will do, whether it be a Flimsy Axe or Stone Axe. Head into your Inventory by pressing X and equip the axe.
On your island, or any other island, find a large rock. They appear as they do on the image above. All you have to do is hit it a few times with your axe. It will drop a few materials, such as Stone, Clay and Iron Nuggets. Each rock usually gives 1-2 Nuggets, but you could get more before the rock stops dropping them.
With every swing, your character might move back a step, so you’ll need to re-position yourself. Currently, it’s not known how long it takes for the rocks to respawn their Iron Nuggets, but I’ve gone forward in time by a day and they’ve replenished by then.
If you need more Iron, you can buy a plane ticket and head to other islands, harvesting the Iron Nuggets from the Rocks you find on them. Once you unlock the elevated areas on your island, you’ll also have access to more rocks.
