How to get Iron Nuggets fast in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Daniel Megarry
Animal Crossing New Horizons Iron Nuggets

Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows players to craft many new items using Iron Nuggets for your island. If you need to find Iron Nuggets fast, here is how you can get them.

One of the most sought-after items in New Horizons is Iron Nuggets as they allow you to craft various items such as a shovel or a fishing rod which can then be used to catch a variety of fish.

So, here’s everything you need to know about how to get Iron Nuggets in the game.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Rocks that get be used to get Iron Nuggets.
Materials can be found by hitting rocks.

Where to find Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing New Horizons?

The only way to find Iron Nuggets in New Horizons is to hit rocks with a shovel or an axe. These are the small-ish silver rocks, not the big dark grey rocks that you’ll find around the coast.

Every hit will spawn one single crafting material at random, and it’s certainly not guaranteed that they’ll be Iron Nuggets, so you’ll want to hit as many rocks as you can for maximum gathering potential.

The following materials can appear when you hit a rock:

  • Stone
  • Clay
  • Iron Nuggets
  • Gold Nuggets
  • Money

You can get a total of eight materials from a rock, and each rock resets once every calendar day. You have a limited time to get all eight hits in before the rock stops giving out materials, so you’ll have to be fast.

As your character will bounce away from the rock every time you hit it, the best way to maximize your materials is to dig holes around yourself with a shovel to keep you in place and stop you from moving.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Nook Miles Ticket.
Nook Miles Tickets are the key to farming Iron Nuggets.

What’s the fastest way to get Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing?

The fastest way to get Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing is by farming them and here is how you can do it:

  • Purchase a Nook Miles ticket from the Nook Stop terminal for 2,000 Miles.
  • Visit the airport on your island.
  • Use your Nook Miles ticket to visit a deserted island.
  • Search for rocks and hit them with your shovel or ax.
  • Collect any Iron Nuggets that pop out of the rocks.
  • Rinse and repeat!

You can purchase as many Nook Miles Tickets as you like, and there’s no limit on how many deserted islands you can visit in a single day. As long as you’ve got enough Nook Miles saved up, you can farm as many Iron Nuggets as you need using this method.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Crafting workbench that can be unlock after you get Iron Nuggets.
Iron Nuggets can be used for loads of crafting recipes.

What are Iron Nuggets used for in Animal Crossing?

There are countless DIY Recipes you can craft with the help of Iron Nuggets, and as a result, it’s one of the best materials you can gather in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The most obvious use for them is tools.

Here are the tools you can craft using Iron Nuggets:

  • Axe: Flimsy Axe X1, Wood X3, Iron Nugget X3
  • Shovel: Flimsy Shovel X1, Iron Nugget X1
  • Fishing Rod: Flimsy Fishing Rod X1, Iron Nugget X1
  • Net: Flimsy Net X1, Iron Nugget X1
  • Watering Can: Flimsy Watering Can X1, Iron Nugget X1
  • Iron Wand: Iron Nugget X3, Star Fragment X3

Aside from crafting tools, there are multiple pieces of furniture that require Iron Nuggets, from basic homeware like the Iron Closet and the Ironwood Chair, to huge items like the Robot Hero and the Flying Saucer.

That’s everything you need to know about how to get Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing. You can also check out how to get different types of Axes in Animal Crossing. If you’re looking for more games like Animal Crossing, you can take a look at the 11 best games like Animal Crossing to play on Switch & PC.