How to get iron nuggets in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Guides
By
published

Craft better tools by arming yourself with a pocket full of iron nuggets

Animal Crossing: New Horizons iron nuggets
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons iron nuggets are a valuable resource for crafting all kinds of items, from better tools to furniture and more. Getting better tools is an important part of everyday life in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and for that you're going to need iron nuggets. Crafting is a huge part of the new Switch exclusive, and as you start to upgrade your tools, like your axe, shovel or even fishing rod, you'll notice that you'll start needing access to iron nuggets.

These clumpy little clusters are going to be the backbone in your progress of upgrading from a set of flimsy tools to the mid-range toolset, which has the simple naming scheme of: axe, fishing rod, shovel and so on. Does it need to say more?

Well, in order to craft any of these better tools, you'll first need one flimsy version, and one iron nugget. 

How to find iron nuggets in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 

In order to find iron nuggets, you'll need to start hitting some rocks. Take your flimsy axe or flimsy shovel and find a rock on your island. Rather than the bigger, darker rocks that make up the coastal landscape of your island, you'll want to locate the small, silvery rocks. 

Stand close and then hit it with your shovel or axe. Out will pop one of four resources - and maybe even a bug if you're lucky. You can get stone, clay, iron nuggets or even money from hitting rocks in this way. Usually, you'll get at least three items from a single rock per calendar day, so make sure to hit each of the rocks on your island multiple times per day. 

However, you can also utilise Nook Miles Tickets to get yourself additional iron nuggets in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. After you've paid off your Moving Fee of 5,000 Miles with Tom Nook, you'll open up the Nook Miles Rewards section of the Nook Stop terminal in Resident Services. For 2,000 Miles, you can buy a Nook Miles Ticket, which you can trade-in at the airport for a jaunt to another deserted island. 

These islands are totally random and procedurally generated, so each one is unique. When you get there, you'll find fruit trees (handy for increasing the variety of fruit you can grow back home), fish, bugs, weeds and more, perhaps even someone to invite to live on your island. But, more importantly, you'll always find at least two rocks to smash for more iron nuggets. In my quest to get a good haul, I was finding at least six iron nuggets per island hop. As long as you're earning enough Miles, you can buy as many Nook Miles Tickets as you want in a given day, so you can really farm iron nuggets if you're willing to grind a bit for Miles. 

Sam Loveridge
Sam Loveridge
Global Editor-in-Chief, GamesRadar+

Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.

See comments