Minecraft's 26.3 update dropped its first Autumn-themed snapshot, and the structure that's grabbed the most attention is the Abandoned Camp. These small surface structures scatter across 18 different Overworld biomes, and they punch well above their size when it comes to early-game loot. A secret chest tucked under a barrel can hand you diamonds and iron gear before you've even built a proper shelter. Here's exactly how to find them and what you can expect inside.
What are Minecraft abandoned camps?
Abandoned Camps are compact surface structures added in the Minecraft 26.3 Snapshot 1, part of the first Autumn drop. Think of them as forgotten campsites left behind by travelers who never came back. The visual centrepiece is a worn tent built from wool strands, surrounded by a small cluster of utility blocks: an unlit campfire, a crafting table, barrels, chests, cauldrons, and some decorative pieces that shift depending on where you find the camp.
That biome-adaptive design is one of the more thoughtful touches. A camp in a Cherry Grove picks up cherry-themed decorations, while one inside the new Dappled Forest biome gets dressed with Poplar wood, leaf litter, and Shelf Mushrooms. The structure type is the same everywhere, but each discovery feels like it belongs to its surroundings.
Abandoned camp in a forest biome
Unlike Woodland Mansions or Ancient Cities, these aren't rare finds. They generate across enough biomes that most exploration sessions will turn one up relatively quickly, making them a reliable early-game resource stop rather than a special event. You can even drop some blocks around one and use it as a starter base if the location suits you.
Where to find abandoned camps
Abandoned Camps spawn across the following Overworld biomes:
- Meadow
- Cherry Grove
- Forest
- Birch Forest
- Old Growth Birch Forest
- Flower Forest
- Windswept Forest
- Dappled Forest
- Taiga
- Snowy Taiga
- Old Growth Spruce Taiga
- Old Growth Pine Taiga
- Sparse Jungle
- Bamboo Jungle
- Swamp
- Savanna
- Wooded Badlands
- Pale Garden
Dappled Forest camp contrast
The Dappled Forest is arguably the best hunting ground of the new biomes. Poplar trees there come in red, orange, and yellow foliage, which means the pale wool tent stands out sharply against the autumn colours. Spotting one takes far less scanning than it does in a standard green forest.
For players just getting started in Minecraft, these camps are a much more accessible early loot source than anything underground. No torches required, no mob gauntlets, just open-world exploration.
What loot can you find in abandoned camps?
Each camp contains up to three types of storage: barrels, common chests, and secret chests. The gap in quality between them is significant, so knowing where to look matters.
Barrel loot
Barrels hold basic survival supplies. Nothing flashy, but genuinely useful on day one.
Every barrel item sits at the same 33.6% chance. A bundle this early is genuinely handy for managing inventory during extended exploration runs.
Common chest loot
Common chests are where the camp starts getting interesting. Copper gear, navigation tools, and saddles all appear here.
A saddle at 27.5% is particularly good news if you're trying to tame and ride a horse for faster camp-hunting. The copper armor pieces at 19% each give you a functional early combat loadout without touching your crafting resources.
Secret chest loot
This is the reason to search every corner of a camp rather than grabbing the first chest you see. Secret chests are sometimes buried under barrels or hidden in less obvious parts of the structure.
Diamonds at 36% from a surface structure with no combat requirement is a strong pull. The four potions (Healing, Leaping, Night Vision, Swiftness) also sit at 36% each, and finding a Night Vision potion this early changes how you approach cave exploration entirely.
How do you search abandoned camps efficiently?
After spending time testing the 26.3 snapshot, a few patterns stand out for finding and clearing camps quickly.
Travel on horseback. Forests and Taigas are large biomes. A horse cuts your search time dramatically compared to sprinting on foot, and the elevated view angle helps you spot tent structures before you're right on top of them.
Target the Dappled Forest first. The colour contrast between the orange-red Poplar canopy and the white wool tent makes visual detection much faster than in a standard green Forest.
Check every container. Each camp has barrels, at least one common chest, and potentially a secret chest. The secret chest is the highest-value item in the camp, so a quick scan under barrels and around the tent perimeter before you move on is worth the 30 extra seconds.
Use the camp as a base. The crafting table is already there. If the location is reasonable, dropping a few blocks to close off the tent turns it into a functional starter shelter, which pairs well with the first night survival guide if you're working through early-game progression.
How do abandoned camps compare to other early-game loot sources?
The camps sit in an interesting spot relative to other surface and near-surface structures. They don't require any combat to clear, unlike a Pillager Outpost, and they're far easier to reach than a shipwreck. For a full breakdown of what shipwrecks offer by comparison, the Minecraft shipwreck loot guide covers every chest type in detail.
The 26.3 update also introduced the Sulfur Caves, which bring their own new blocks and the Sulfur Cube mob. If you're planning to explore those after gearing up at abandoned camps, the Minecraft Sulfur Caves guide covers locations, blocks, and everything the new mob drops.
For more guides covering the 26.3 update and beyond, the full Minecraft guides collection has you covered.