Minecraft armor trims are one of the best glow-ups your gear can get without touching a resource pack. If you’ve ever seen someone rocking a fully decked-out netherite set with gold accents and wondered how they pulled it off, this guide covers every trim in the game, where to find them, and how to actually use them.
Whether you’re gearing up for a full server flex, decorating an armor stand display in your base, or just tired of looking like every other player in plain diamond armor, trims are the easiest way to stand out. Below you’ll find the full list of every trim, exact drop odds, the materials that color them, and answers to the questions players ask most, like how to duplicate a template, whether you can swap trims later, and how Bedrock stacks up against Java.
What Are Armor Trims in Minecraft?
Armor trims were added in the 1.20 Trails and Tales update as a way to customize the look of your armor without changing its stats. A trim adds a pattern to your chestplate, helmet, leggings, or boots, and you pick a material to color that pattern. Same armor, totally different vibe. It’s purely cosmetic, so don’t expect extra defense from a fancy trim, but it’s a great way to flex your style once you’ve got your gear grinding sorted.
How Many Armor Trims Are in Minecraft?
As of the current version, there are 18 armor trims in Minecraft. That number used to sit at 16 before the Trial Chambers update added the Bolt and Flow trims, so if you’ve seen an older list saying 16, that’s why the count changed. Bedrock Edition has the same 18 trims as Java, they just work identically across both versions with a few small interface differences, which we’ll get into below.
How to Get Armor Trims in Minecraft
Every trim starts life as a smithing template, and you can’t craft these from scratch. You have to find them out in the world, mostly tucked away in chests inside structures like outposts, temples, fortresses, and ruins. Once you loot a template, head to any smithing table with three things in hand:
- The smithing template (the trim pattern)
- A piece of armor
- A material to color the trim (like iron, gold, diamond, or netherite)
Slot all three in, and the smithing table shows you a live preview before you confirm. Simple as that.
Where to Find Armor Trims in Minecraft
This is the part everyone actually wants, so here’s the full breakdown of all 18 armor trims in Minecraft, where each smithing template drops, and the odds of finding one in that location’s loot chest.
| Trim Name | Location | Drop Chance |
| Sentry | Pillager Outpost chest | 5% |
| Vex | Woodland Mansion chest | 50% |
| Wild | Jungle Temple chest | 33.3% |
| Coast | Shipwreck chest | 16.7% |
| Dune | Desert Temple chest | 14.3% |
| Wayfinder | Trail Ruins suspicious gravel | 8.3% |
| Raiser | Trail Ruins suspicious gravel | 8.3% |
| Shaper | Trail Ruins suspicious gravel | 8.3% |
| Host | Trail Ruins suspicious gravel | 8.3% |
| Ward | Ancient City chest | 5% |
| Silence | Ancient City chest | 1.2% |
| Tide | Dropped by Elder Guardians | 20% |
| Snout | Bastion Remnant chest | 8.3% |
| Rib | Nether Fortress chest | 6.7% |
| Eye | Stronghold Library chest | 100% |
| Spire | End City chest | 6.7% |
| Bolt | Trial Chambers vaults and chests | 6.3% |
| Flow | Trial Chambers ominous vaults | 22.5% |
A few quick callouts here. The Eye trim is the easiest freebie in the game since it’s a guaranteed drop from Stronghold libraries, so grab it while you’re hunting down the End Portal. On the flip side, Silence is the rarest by a mile at just 1.2 percent, buried deep in the Ancient City, which is already a sketchy place to be looting with a Warden lurking around.
Flow and Bolt are the newest additions, pulled straight from Trial Chambers. Flow specifically only spawns in ominous vaults, which means you need the Bad Omen effect (from an Ominous Trial Spawner) even to have a shot at it.
Tips for Finding Armor Trim Templates Faster
If you’re coming back to the game after a break, the “classic” 16 trims are everything above minus Bolt and Flow. Those two got bolted on (pun intended) with the Trial Chambers structures, giving dungeon crawlers a real reason to push through those vaults besides loot and XP. Hunting down all 18 armor trims in Minecraft can turn into a serious grind if you go in without a plan. A few things that help speed up the process:
- Prioritize the Trail Ruins: Since four different templates (Wayfinder, Raiser, Shaper, and Host) all come from the same suspicious gravel blocks, one Trail Ruins site can realistically hand you multiple trims in a single visit. Bring a brush, since that’s the only tool that reveals what’s buried in suspicious sand or gravel.
- Don’t skip Woodland Mansions: The Vex trim has a generous 50 percent chance per chest, way higher than most other templates on this list. Mansions are dangerous with all those Evokers and Vindicators roaming the halls, but the odds make it worth the risk if you’re missing this one.
- Stock up before heading to the Ancient City: Ward and Silence both live there, and Silence in particular is a grind due to its low odds. Bring Sculk-resistant gear like wool for your feet to muffle sound, and keep an ear out for the Warden. You do not want to be mid-loot when it shows up.
- Trial Chambers reward exploration: Bolt shows up in standard vaults, but Flow only appears in ominous vaults, which require Bad Omen from breaking an Ominous Trial Spawner. If you’re aiming to collect every single trim, this is usually the last box people check off since it demands a bit more setup than just finding a chest.
- Loot everything, even duplicates: Since templates can be duplicated once you’ve got one copy, finding a second or third of the same trim isn’t wasted. Bank them for trading with friends or to skip the duplication grind later.
Materials You Can Use to Color a Trim
Once you’ve got the template and armor piece ready, you’ll need a material to actually give the trim its color. Here’s every option:
- Iron ingot
- Copper ingot
- Gold ingot
- Lapis lazuli
- Emerald
- Diamond
- Netherite ingot
- Redstone dust
- Amethyst shard
- Nether quartz
- Resin brick
Each material gives the trim a distinct color palette, so the same Wayfinder pattern looks completely different in emerald versus netherite. This is where the fun really starts. Mixing and matching lets you build a set that actually matches your builds, your base, or just your personal aesthetic.
Best Armor Trims in Minecraft
Since trims don’t affect gameplay, “best” really comes down to looks and how easy each one is to get. That said, here’s what tends to top most players’ lists:
- Silence Armor Trim is the ultimate flex. Since it’s the rarest trim in the game, wearing it on a server basically screams that you’ve cleared an Ancient City and lived to tell the tale.
- Flow Armor Trim has become a fan favorite thanks to its clean, spiral-like pattern that looks great with almost any material, especially diamond or amethyst.
- Eye Armor Trim is beloved less for rarity and more for how easy it is to grab. Every stronghold library has one guaranteed, so it’s basically a starter trim for anyone diving into the End game.
- Wild Armor Trim gives off strong jungle explorer energy and pairs really well with gold or emerald if you want that lush, natural look.
At the end of the day, the best trim is whichever one matches the vibe you’re going for. Some players collect all 18 just to have the full set in their inventory as a trophy case.
Can You Change Armor Trims in Minecraft?
Yes, and it’s easy. Just take the armor piece back to a smithing table and apply a different template and material combo. There’s no penalty or cooldown, and your original trim just gets swapped out for the new look. This makes it super easy to experiment until you find a combo you actually like.
How to Duplicate Armor Trims in Minecraft
Smithing templates aren’t consumed the normal way when you use them for the first time, but here’s the trick most players miss: once you’ve applied a template at least once, you can duplicate it using this recipe at a smithing table:
- 1 existing smithing template
- 1 matching base material (the same material tied to that template’s biome, like cobblestone for Sentry or sandstone for Dune)
- 7 of that same base material surrounding the template in a crafting grid pattern
This means once you find a single copy of any trim, you can basically mass-produce it forever as long as you’ve got the base materials. Handy if you’re gearing up a whole server crew or just want a stockpile for future armor sets.
How to Remove Trims From Armor in Minecraft
If you decide you’re not feeling a trim anymore, a grindstone is your best friend. Toss the trimmed armor piece into a grindstone and it strips the trim completely, taking the armor back to its plain, untrimmed look. Keep in mind this also removes any enchantments on that piece, so don’t do this to your fully enchanted netherite chestplate unless you’re okay losing those enchants too.
Armor Trims in Minecraft Bedrock
Good news for console and mobile players: armor trims in Minecraft Bedrock Edition work basically the same as Java. Same 18 trims, same locations, same materials, same smithing table process. The only real differences come down to UI, since Bedrock’s crafting and smithing menus look a little different visually, but functionally you’re doing the exact same steps to apply, duplicate, and remove trims.
Do Armor Trims Affect Stats or Enchantments?
No. Trims are cosmetic only, so they won’t touch your armor points, toughness, knockback resistance, or any enchantments already on the piece. You can trim a fully enchanted netherite chestplate and it’ll keep every enchant exactly as it was, the only thing that changes is the visual pattern and color layered on top. This is part of why trims got so popular so fast. There’s zero downside to using them, so there’s no reason not to dress up your gear once you’ve got the templates in hand.
Can You Apply Multiple Trims to One Armor Piece?
No, each armor piece can only hold one trim pattern at a time. If you apply a second trim, it just replaces the first one rather than stacking. This is the same process used any time you want to change your look, head back to a smithing table, slot in the new template and material, and confirm the swap. Your old trim doesn’t get saved anywhere, so if you want to switch back later, you’ll need another copy of that original template.
What’s the Rarest Armor Trim in Minecraft?
Silence takes the crown as the rarest trim in the game, with just a 1.2 percent chance of dropping from an Ancient City chest. Getting your hands on one means surviving a trip through one of the most dangerous structures in Minecraft, since Ancient Cities are packed with Sculk Shriekers that can summon the Warden if you’re not careful. If you’re chasing bragging rights on a server, Silence is the trim to show off.
Key Takeaways
- There are 18 total armor trims in Minecraft right now, up from the original 16.
- Templates drop from chests, suspicious gravel, and mob loot across structures like outposts, temples, fortresses, and ancient cities.
- You need a smithing table, an armor piece, a template, and a material to apply a trim.
- Trims can be swapped anytime, duplicated with base materials, and removed with a grindstone.
- Bedrock and Java share the same trim system, just with a different menu look.
Armor trims are one of those small features that end up eating way more of your playtime than expected once you start collecting. Grab a few templates on your next dungeon run, experiment with materials, and build a set that actually looks like you.
