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Ore Generation

Ore Generation in GregTech 5 is very different from normal.
First, all ores from GregTech 5 are not normal blocks but Tile Entities. This means that this block can store additional NBT-data. In this case only the data about whether this block was generated here in the first place or it was already mined and then placed by player or any machine. This data is used by the automatic miners added by this mod to prevent ore duplication. Also all these blocks look like Stone from vanilla Minecraft unless any of their sides is exposed to air. This will cause them to generate their actual texture. This is done to prevent lags upon the world generation. This also makes mods like X-Ray completely useless when searching for particular ores as they will all look the same.
Next, GregTech 5 disables generation of all vanilla ores. This mod does not disable generation of ores from other mods, but it is advised to disable the generation of these ores manually as they are likely duplicates of the ores from GregTech 5, which usually ruins the ore generation balance for such ores.
The ores in GregTech 5 can be divided in 2 types: Small Ores and Ore Mix Veins.

Large Ore Mixes and Small Ores

Small Ores[edit]

These ores generate in single blocks. They do not have veins. These ores are not supposed to be the main source of materials, but they are essential in the early game as they contains some materials not available otherwise on current stage of progress, f.e. Zinc is only available in Small Ore before the player advances to MV age. Also the mining level of these ores is 1 below the mining level of normal ores. This is useful as some of the ores require a pickaxe made of the material which cannot be obtained by the player, so in some cases only small ores can be mined before the player has a better pickaxe.
Small ores do not drop themselves when mined. They drop Crushed Ore, Impure Pile of Dust, Dust of material and/or Dust of the stone type they were found in. Small ores of gems can also drop different sizes of gem they are related to, but the chance for this is minimal. Usually 1-2 of the items described above are dropped from 1 block. Silk Touch does not work on these blocks.

All available Small Ores can be found in the table below.

Material Minimal Height Maximal Height Rarity Overworld Nether The End
Copper 60 120 32 Yes Yes Yes
Tin 60 120 32 Yes Yes Yes
Bismuth 80 120 8 Yes Yes No
Coal 60 100 24 Yes No No
Iron 40 80 16 Yes Yes Yes
Lead 40 80 16 Yes Yes Yes
Zinc 30 60 12 Yes Yes Yes
Gold 20 40 8 Yes Yes Yes
Silver 20 40 8 Yes Yes Yes
Nickel 20 40 8 Yes Yes Yes
Lapis 20 40 4 Yes No No
Diamond 5 10 2 Yes Yes No
Emerald 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Ruby 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Sapphire 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Green Sapphire 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Olivine 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Topaz 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Tanzanite 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Amethyst 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Opal 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Blue Topaz 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Amber 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Ruby (Fake) 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Red Garnet 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Yellow Garnet 5 250 1 Yes Yes No
Redstone 5 20 8 Yes Yes No
Platinum 20 40 8 No No Yes
Iridium 20 40 8 No No Yes
Nether Quartz 30 120 64 No Yes No
Saltpeter 10 60 8 No Yes No
Sulfur 10 60 32 No Yes No
Sulfur 5 15 8 Yes No No

Sulfur generates differently in Overworld and in Nether.
The less Rarity value is, the rare the ore is.

Ore Mix Veins[edit]

Ore Mix Vein is a huge ore vein which contains several hundreds of ore blocks of 1 to 4 types. Most resources the player gathers comes from such veins. These ores are not intended to be mined fully when found, they are intended to be mined when needed until they are depleted.
Due to the enormous size of Ore Mix Veins they generate differently from normal ores.

  1. The world is divided into 3x3 chunk areas, with the 1,1 chunk being center of one of them. This grid is not affected by contents of the chunks.
  2. From each 3x3 chunk area the center chunk is located.
  3. A random coordinate (x and z) is chosen in this chunk.
  4. A random ore mix is chosen with the chance being ore rarity value divided by the sum of all ore rarity values which generate in this dimension.
  5. A random height (y coordinate) is chosen from the possible height for this ore mix.
  6. The ore mix will generate centered on the chosen block. When it generates, it replaces all following blocks: Stone, Netherrack, End Stone, Marble, Black Granite, Red Granite, Basalt with ore blocks. If there are no blocks of such kind, the ore mix will not generate (this usually happens in Deep Ocean biome where there is too few stone blocks in chunk).
  7. The generated ore mix will go the exact equal amount of blocks in East and West direction from the center block. The distance between the East-most and West-most blocks of the ore mix is defined by the size value in code. In South and North direction the ore mix goes randomly, forming a very sharp edge. The South-North distance though also depends on the size value.
  8. The ore mix consists of 4 types of ores: Primary, Secondary, Inbetween and Sporadic. Primary ore generates on the top side of ore mix, taking roughly 35% of the ore mix. Secondary ore generates on the bottom side of the ore mix, taking roughly 35% of the ore mix. Inbetween ore generates in the center of the ore mix, taking roughly 25% of the ore mix. Sporadic ore generates randomly throughout all the ore vein, taking roughly 5% of the ore mix.
  9. The ore vein will have more ore blocks if the density value is higher. This value does not affect the size of the ore vein, it affects the percentage amount of stone type blocks changed with ore blocks in the area the vein generates.

The ore mix veins can dig into each other or generate partially one above the other. This usually happens when in the center chunks the blocks are chosen very close to the chunk border, so big ore mixes occupy the side chunk fully and sometimes the chunk after the side chunk also has 2-3 blocks of this ore mix. If the other big ore mix generates the same way, they dig into each other.

Magnetite Ore Mix digs into Salts ore Mix

All available Ore Mix Veins can be found in the table below.

Name Minimal Height Maximal Height Rarity Density Size Overworld Nether The End Primary
Secondary
Inbetween
Sporadic
Naquadah 10 60 10 5 32 No No Yes Naquadah Ore Naquadah Ore
Naquadah Ore Naquadah Ore
Naquadah Ore Naquadah Ore
Enriched Naquadah Ore Enriched Naquadah Ore
Lignite 50 130 160 8 32 Yes No No Lignite Coal Ore Lignite Coal Ore
Lignite Coal Ore Lignite Coal Ore
Lignite Coal Ore Lignite Coal Ore
Coal Ore Coal Ore
Coal 50 80 80 6 32 Yes No No Coal Ore Coal Ore
Coal Ore Coal Ore
Coal Ore Coal Ore
Lignite Coal Ore Lignite Coal Ore
Magnetite 50 120 160 3 32 Yes Yes No Magnetite Ore Magnetite Ore
Magnetite Ore Magnetite Ore
Iron Ore Iron Ore
Vanadium Magnetite Ore Vanadium Magnetite Ore
Gold 60 80 160 3 32 Yes No No Magnetite Ore Magnetite Ore
Magnetite Ore Magnetite Ore
Vanadium Magnetite Ore Vanadium Magnetite Ore
Gold Ore Gold Ore
Iron 10 40 120 4 24 Yes Yes No Brown Limonite Ore Brown Limonite Ore
Yellow Limonite Ore Yellow Limonite Ore
Banded Iron Ore Banded Iron Ore
Malachite Ore Malachite Ore
Cassiterite 40 120 50 5 24 Yes No Yes Tin Ore Tin Ore
Tin Ore Tin Ore
Cassiterite Ore Cassiterite Ore
Tin Ore Tin Ore
Tetrahedrite 80 120 70 4 24 Yes Yes No Tetrahedrite Ore Tetrahedrite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore Tetrahedrite Ore
Copper Ore Copper Ore
Stibnite Ore Stibnite Ore
Nether Quartz 40 80 80 5 24 No Yes No Nether Quartz Ore Nether Quartz Ore
Nether Quartz Ore Nether Quartz Ore
Nether Quartz Ore Nether Quartz Ore
Nether Quartz Ore Nether Quartz Ore
Sulfur 5 20 100 5 24 No Yes No Sulfur Ore Sulfur Ore
Sulfur Ore Sulfur Ore
Pyrite Ore Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore Sphalerite Ore
Copper 10 30 80 4 24 Yes Yes No Chalcopyrite Ore Chalcopyrite Ore
Iron Ore Iron Ore
Pyrite Ore Pyrite Ore
Copper Ore Copper Ore
Bauxite 50 90 80 4 24 Yes No No Bauxite Ore Bauxite Ore
Bauxite Ore Bauxite Ore
Aluminium Ore Aluminium Ore
Ilmenite Ore Ilmenite Ore
Salts 50 60 50 3 24 Yes No No Rock Salt Ore Rock Salt Ore
Salt Ore Salt Ore
Lepidolite Ore Lepidolite Ore
Spodumene Ore Spodumene Ore
Redstone 10 40 60 3 24 Yes Yes No Redstone Ore Redstone Ore
Redstone Ore Redstone Ore
Ruby Ore Ruby Ore
Cinnabar Ore Cinnabar Ore
Soapstone 10 40 40 3 16 Yes No No Soapstone Ore Soapstone Ore
Talc Talc
Glauconite Ore Glauconite Ore
Pentlandite Ore Pentlandite Ore
Nickel 10 40 40 3 16 Yes Yes Yes Garnierite Ore Garnierite Ore
Nickel Ore Nickel Ore
Cobaltite Ore Cobaltite Ore
Pentlandite Ore Pentlandite Ore
Platinum 40 50 5 3 16 Yes No Yes Sheldonite Ore Sheldonite Ore
Palladium Ore Palladium Ore
Platinum Ore Platinum Ore
Iridium Ore Iridium Ore
Pitchblende 10 40 40 3 16 Yes No No Pitchblende Pitchblende
Pitchblende Pitchblende
Uraninite Ore Uraninite Ore
Uraninite Ore Uraninite Ore
Uranium 20 30 20 3 16 Yes No No Uraninite Ore Uraninite Ore
Uraninite Ore Uraninite Ore
Uranium 238 Ore Uranium 238 Ore
Uranium 238 Ore Uranium 238 Ore
Monazite 20 40 30 3 16 Yes No No Bastnasite Ore Bastnasite Ore
Bastnasite Ore Bastnasite Ore
Monazite Ore Monazite Ore
Neodymium Ore Neodymium Ore
Molybdenum 20 50 5 3 16 Yes No Yes Wulfenite Ore Wulfenite Ore
Molybdenite Ore Molybdenite Ore
Molybdenum Ore Molybdenum Ore
Powellite Ore Powellite Ore
Tungstate 20 50 10 3 16 Yes No Yes Scheelite Ore Scheelite Ore
Scheelite Ore Scheelite Ore
Tungstate Ore Tungstate Ore
Lithium Ore Lithium Ore
Sapphire 10 40 60 3 16 Yes No No Almandine Ore Almandine Ore
Pyrope Ore Pyrope Ore
Sapphire Ore Sapphire Ore
Green Sapphire Ore Green Sapphire Ore
Manganese 20 30 20 3 16 Yes No Yes Grossular Ore Grossular Ore
Spessartine Ore Spessartine Ore
Pyrolusite Ore Pyrolusite Ore
Tantalite Ore Tantalite Ore
Quartz 40 80 60 3 16 Yes No No Quartzite Ore Quartzite Ore
Barite Ore Barite Ore
Certus Quartz Ore Certus Quartz Ore
Certus Quartz Ore Certus Quartz Ore
Diamond 5 20 40 2 16 Yes No No Graphite Ore Graphite Ore
Graphite Ore Graphite Ore
Diamond Ore Diamond Ore
Coal Ore Coal Ore
Olivine 10 40 60 3 16 Yes No Yes Bentonite Bentonite
Magnesite Ore Magnesite Ore
Olivine Ore Olivine Ore
Glauconite Ore Glauconite Ore
Apatite 40 60 60 3 16 Yes No No Apatite Ore Apatite Ore
Apatite Ore Apatite Ore
Phosphorus Ore Phosphorus Ore
Pyrochlore Ore Pyrochlore Ore[1]
Galena 30 60 40 5 16 Yes No No Galena Ore Galena Ore
Galena Ore Galena Ore
Silver Ore Silver Ore
Lead Ore Lead Ore
Lapis 20 50 40 5 16 Yes No Yes Lazurite Ore Lazurite Ore
Sodalite Ore Sodalite Ore
Lapis Ore Lapis Ore
Calcite Ore Calcite Ore
Beryllium 5 30 30 3 16 Yes No Yes Beryllium Ore Beryllium Ore
Beryllium Ore Beryllium Ore
Emerald Ore Emerald Ore
Thorium Ore Thorium Ore
Oilsand 50 80 80 6 32 Yes No No Oilsands Ore Oilsands Ore
Oilsands Ore Oilsands Ore
Oilsands Ore Oilsands Ore
Oilsands Ore Oilsands Ore

Chances[edit]

  • In Overworld each chunk has many Small Ores and a part of Ore Mix Vein or no Ore Mix Vein if it failed to generate due to absence of stone blocks in the area. So is in Nether and in the Main Island in The End.
  • The End will also generate Asteroids. The default chance for an asteroid to appear in chunk is 1/300. The Asteroid can appear on any height (reasonable height so all asteroid can generate).
  • The sum of all rarity values of all ore mix veins which generate in Overworld is 1750, in Nether is 710 and 270 in The End. The chance for a certain ore mix to generate in a certain chunk is (rarity of this ore mix)/(value above) for each dimension and for each Asteroid in The End.
  • The exact chances are written on every page of the ore from GregTech 5.
  • All chances and ore mixes can be reconfigured, new ore mixes can be added, remaining ones can be removed in config files.

References[edit]

  1. Phosphate Ore Phosphate Ore before 5.09.31.