This is a guide on how to quickly farm Iron Nuggets, a DIY material in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH). Iron nuggets can be found on rocks. Learn how to quickly get iron nuggets, where else to farm iron nuggets, how they can be used, and more!

Gold Nuggets

Iron Nuggets

How to Get Iron Nuggets

The Best Source is Rocks on Mystery Tours

The best way to get Iron Nuggets is by hitting rocks on the islands you visit on Mystery Tours, the tours you can go on by using the Nook Miles tickets. Make sure you have 2,000 Nook Miles to buy a Nook Miles ticket!

Remember to bring axes or shovels to hit the rocks with!

Mystery Island Tours and Nook Miles Ticket Guide

Get Iron Nuggets from Rocks on Mystery Tours

You can only get Materials from the Rocks on your island a limited times per day, but you always have unlimited chances of finding them so long as you keep going on Mystery Island Tours.

Dig holes behind you to get all 8 materials

If you dig two holes behind you when farming the various materials from rocks, you can avoid being bounced back too far, allowing you to hit the rock 8 times repeatedly to get the maximum number of materials.

How to Hit the Rock 8 Times

The Materials are Random

Rock Materials
Clay	Stone	Iron Nugget	Gold Nugget

You can find a variety of materials from hitting rocks, such as Clay, Stone, and Iron Nuggets, but all of them have a random chance of dropping.

Iron Nuggets are somewhat uncommon, but you should be able to get at least one or two from Rocks most of the time.

Don't hit a rock after eating Fruit

If you eat Fruit, you'll gain a point of Stamina, which will cause you to break a rock when you hit it with a Shovel.

Stamina won't decrease until a day has passed, so try picking up a tree with the Shovel or sitting in a piece of furniture to decrease your Stamina.

Hit the Rocks Every Day

Iron Nuggets have a lower drop rate than normal stones, but you should still get one or two of them for each rock you hit with a shovel/axe.

This means that if you want to get a lot of these, the only option is to do this daily.

Things to Do Every Day

Build a Rock Garden

You can make a rock garden to put all your rocks into one location, making it easier for you to farm iron nuggets every day!

How to Make a Rock Garden

How to Get Iron Nuggets Without Rocks

Get From Balloon Presents

Blue Balloons have a higher chance of dropping crafting materials.

You can sometimes get Iron Nuggets from the Presents dropped by shooting down balloons. You need a Slingshot to shoot down the balloons, and they can be pretty rare, so shoot them down whenever you see or hear them!

What can you get from Balloons

Get Iron Nuggets from a Friend's Island

If your friend has untapped rocks, you may ask them if they can let you get resources from their island. You can also have them offer you Iron Nuggets as payment if you help around their island!

You can also check out online if someone has any rocks to spare!
Message Boards

Get From Residents on Rare Occasions

Once in while, you can get Iron Nuggets by talking to a resident. The chance of receiving them is pretty low, so it's not recommended as an effective way to gather them.

What are Iron Nuggets Used For

Necessary to Unlock Nook's Cranny

Materials	Needed Amount
Wood	30
Hardwood	30
Softwood	30
Iron Nugget	30

Iron Nuggets are also necessary to open Nook's Cranny. You will need 30 pieces of all three kinds of wood and 30 pieces of Iron Nuggets in total.

Use as DIY Material

You can make the items below with Iron Nuggets.

Simple DIY Workbench	Frying Pan	Axe
Shovel	Fishing Rod	Net
Watering Can	Wooden-Block Stereo	Wooden Toolbox
Wooden Full-Length Mirror	Wooden Bucket	Robot Hero
Plain Sink	Natural Garden Table	Natural Garden Chair
Mini DIY Workbench	Ironwood Kitchenette	Iron Wall Lamp
Hearth	Fountain	Drinking Fountain
Crest Doorplate	Brick Oven	Barrel
Windflower Fan	Water Pump	Terrarium
Manhole Cover	Juicy-Apple TV	Ironwood Dresser
Barbed-Wire Fence	Iron Garden Table	Iron Garden Chair
Wooden Table Mirror	Astronaut Suit	Satellite
Crewed Spaceship	Flying Saucer	Star Clock
Lunar Lander	Lunar Rover	Rocket
Iron Wand	Space Shuttle	Standard Umbrella Stand
Shell Speaker	Ironwood Cart	Iron Closet
Cutting Board	Cosmos Shower	Cherry-Blossom Clock
Knight's Helmet	Butter Churn	DIY Workbench
Garden Bench	Garden Wagon	Gong
Iron Doorplate	Iron Frame	Iron Garden Bench
Ironwood Chair	Ironwood Clock	Ironwood DIY Workbench
Kettlebell	Kettle Bathtub	Log Wall-Mounted Clock
Zen Fence	Wooden-Block Wall Clock	Trophy Case
Steel-Frame Wall	Steel Flooring	Silo
Sauna Heater	Rope Fence	Recycled-Can Thumb Piano
Natural Square Table	Lily Record Player	Key Holder
Jail Bars	Iron Worktable	Ironwood Table
Ironwood Low Table	Ironwood Cupboard	Ironwood Bed
Iron-and-Stone Fence	Iron Wall Rack	Iron Shelf
Iron Hanger Stand	Iron Fence	Iron Armor
Illuminated Tree	Illuminated Snowflakes	Illuminated Reindeer
Illuminated Present	Turkey Day Table Setting	Hanging Terrarium
Golden Gears	Cherry Speakers	Barbell
Bamboo Speaker	Armor Shoes	Acoustic Guitar
Wedding Fence	Mermaid Vanity	Mermaid Wall Clock
Mermaid Lamp	Spooky Fence	Spooky Carriage
Spooky Garland	Spooky Table Setting	Turkey Day Casserole
Spooky Trick Lamp	Corrugated Iron Fence	Block Fence
Park Fence	Stonework Kitchen	Wooden Storage Shed
Concrete Pillar	Low Concrete Island Counter	Tall Concrete Island Counter
Low Steel Island Counter	Tall Steel Island Counter	Steel Pillar
Wooden Music Box	Vine Lamp	Suspicious Cauldron
Shell Music Box	Plate Armor	Ornament Tree
Ornament Table Lamp	Ornament Garland	Iron Ladder Set-Up Kit
Imperial Pot	Glowing-Moss-Jar Shelves	Glowing-Moss Balloon

Related Links

List of Materials

How to Get Materials
Clay	Clump of Weed	Tree Branch
Hardwood	Wood	Softwood
Stone	Iron Nugget	Gold Nugget