Best way to get Limestone/Lime in general?

[Big Lax Johnny]

Hi all! This is my first post on here so please direct me to another thread if my question has been asked already. My brief skim of the questions forum helped me none, and the wiki can only do me so much good, so here i am! So yeah, what's the best way to find limestone or get lime so I can kickstart my leatherworks? I have made countless worlds and not one has had notable deposits of limestone or sufficient ways to get lime, so I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing anything wrong. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have been scrounging for seashells and grinding them in my quern, but a man can only dedicate so many days to seashell hunting before going mad.

Edited July 22, 2023 by reallitup2

[Ashery]

There are actually a few more potential sources of lime: Besides limestone and seashells, chalk is another type of sedimentary rock that can be ground into lime. Marble can be used as well, and it can be found in metamorphic layers (Phyllite and slate). Borax is your final option, and it's an ore that spawns in sedimentary layers. If you don't get lucky with nearby limestone or chalk layers, borax is probably the most reliable option as it can spawn in any sedimentary layer besides bauxite and you can find it with the propick.

In terms of finding limestone or chalk, it largely comes down to a matter of luck and covering a lot of distance, as the rock layers can be absolutely massive. You can utilize some knowledge of the game mechanics to help narrow things down a bit (Granite top layer? Keep moving. Basalt? Might be worth checking a cave to see what the next layer is, but if that next layer's andesite, keep moving. Claystone? Peak into a cave and see what's underneath.), but how far you travel ultimately comes down to luck.

[Big Lax Johnny]

30 minutes ago, Ashery said:

There are actually a few more potential sources of lime: Besides limestone and seashells, chalk is another type of sedimentary rock that can be ground into lime. Marble can be used as well, and it can be found in metamorphic layers (Phyllite and slate). Borax is your final option, and it's an ore that spawns in sedimentary layers. If you don't get lucky with nearby limestone or chalk layers, borax is probably the most reliable option as it can spawn in any sedimentary layer besides bauxite and you can find it with the propick.

In terms of finding limestone or chalk, it largely comes down to a matter of luck and covering a lot of distance, as the rock layers can be absolutely massive. You can utilize some knowledge of the game mechanics to help narrow things down a bit (Granite top layer? Keep moving. Basalt? Might be worth checking a cave to see what the next layer is, but if that next layer's andesite, keep moving. Claystone? Peak into a cave and see what's underneath.), but how far you travel ultimately comes down to luck.

I did try most of the stuff in the first paragraph, but I had no clue that there was a method to lime hunting! Though, yeah. My luck has been completely awful with my last few worlds and I'm still working on building my food stores

 

Thanks a ton for your suggestions though!

[Maelstrom]

Certain traders will also sell lime.  Take stuff to sell them then turn around and buy the lime.

[Varenvel]

if you want you can try generating few worlds and settle on one who has limestone or chalk nearby  (you can generate few worlds and see if any has any nearby chalk or limestone on surface)

generaly i wish there was better way to get it but game keeps itself quite realistic

other then finding it is traders(not recomended) and sometimes you can find it in loot

 

id share you my seed but unless you would also ran with my settings(i just tried) would not generate same world

 

[Thorfinn]

You can also use borax and I think alum for leather, too.

Far and away, on those weird situations where I can't find limestone or chalk, so long as you have ample shoreline, it's not that hard to collect 25 shells, enough for a full barrel. Carry the quern with you because you won't find shells that stack.

[pigfood]

Finding Limestone or Bauxite can easily take 5000 - 10000 tiles. So I think, you have unreasonable expectations.

[Thorfinn]

10,000 isn't even that far. With good terrain, 2 days, with bad, maybe 4. In fact, if you crank view distance all the way up. you "see" a block over 3k across.

[Owktree]

And be aware that if the top strata rock is basalt or a sedimentary rock (claystone, shale, etc.) there can be other sedimentary rock layers between the top rock strata and the igneous bedrock in the area.  (For example near my current base the usual layers are basalt, shale, slate, andesite.)

 

[Raging Thunder]

Guys common now...you gotta look for water and mountains. thats where i always find my limestone. if you see what looks like white sand on the map, go to that sand and you will find limestone very very close 

 

[Wolf builds]

25 000 Blocks travel and no limestone yet

[Thorfinn]

Have you found any sedimentary layers yet? It's not unusual at all to find chalk, limestone or marble under them. But once you get to igneous rock might as well stop.

[PineReseen]

This doesn't bode well for my journeys for finding chalk or limestone... All I've seen so far is granite, shale, and some basalt.

Edited March 20, 2025 by PineReseen
Wrong stone mentioned

[Thorfinn]

Both shale and sometimes basalt can have sedimentary layers below them.

[Hiro Protagonist]

I've been on my current world for two weeks now (real world weeks), and there's nothing but granite and andesite and one small patch of conglomerate in 40-50,000 blocks in every direction. I've never seen limestone, marble, chalk or borax. Not in caves, beach, mountains. not anywhere.

While I am new to the game, every world I generate seems to be missing one key component that stops progression completely. I spend 90% of my time searching for whatever it is and 10% of the time eating berries and bushmeat.

I've finally made it to bronze and now that I can't make leather I'm torn between re-starting for the 5th time or just deciding if this isn't the game for me.

I was hoping for a challenge. Making something incredibly rare isn't challenging, it's boring.

[coolAlias]

6 minutes ago, Hiro Protagonist said:

I was hoping for a challenge. Making something incredibly rare isn't challenging, it's boring.

I mostly agree, but it also sounds like you got very unlucky. Usually, I've found most rock types to be within a 5000 x 5000 area, and you've gone much, much farther than that.

Have you used the prospecting pick at all, specifically in density search mode? It won't help you find the first three, but it can help you find borax, and it's what I had to do to get leather on my latest world.

[Hiro Protagonist]

I've used the propick for ores. It turns out most of my world is made of quartz, massive amounts everywhere. I'll never go hungry for quartz. But I've never seen borax show up on the hits. I need to find a layer that might have it.

Last night I made a copy of my world and went into creative mode in it. I really didn't want to do that, especially in my survival world (I know I can just switch modes, but I'm really trying to play as pure as possible). I went into fly/noclip and just flew and flew and flew for a couple of hours in concentric expanding circles. Granite and Andesite forever. That's all i ever saw. Above ground, below ground.

With that said, this was my first map that I tinkered with non-default upheaval and other formation settings. Maybe I did something that caused this situation, not understanding fully how it would affect the map. Other than lime my map is great. Good quantities of native copper, seas of cattails, food aplenty. It was a breeze starting off. But no matter how far I go, it's al the same (or it's ocean) apart from snow and ice in the north and heat in the south.

I keep restarting because I can't find what I need to progress. My first world had no above ground native copper rocks. None. I never found any. I stumbled into exposed copper after about 4 real days of exploring but it was inside of a stone that requires bronze to break, so I only got 2 blocks of it.

My next map had it everywhere, but no tin. I didn't understand how the propick worked. My next couple of maps were abandoned quickly as they just didn't seem interesting.

I'm torn between deciding right away if a map is good/bad and abandoning a bad one or just playing it out, exploring and seeing what it has to offer.

 

Can anyone make suggestions as to world generation settings that can increase the likelihood of something like marble, other than just increasing ore? (which wouldn't help? i think?) Maybe it's just my lack of understanding how world gen works.

 

[PoisonedPawn777]

Just curious before I comment, are you using any mods? Particularly world gen mods that may affect your outcomes? My favorite part of the game is the first year. I've started and played through dozens of worlds and while granite and andesite can dominate a landscape for thousands of blocks, I've never seen any issue like what you've described. Once is bad luck..reroll, but consistently? Seems very odd.

[Hiro Protagonist]

My mods that touch on world gen or ore/rock are:

Juicy ores and prospect together, neither should have any direct effect I think.

The rest are HUD mods and cosmetics.

 

 

 

[PoisonedPawn777]

Gotcha, yeah sounds like extraordinarily bad luck. I can't remember the last time I needed to travel beyond 20k blocks to find a resource and even that far is very rare, and usually I'll find it much closer to home a month later anyways!

Regarding leathermaking, anything you can use for the first stage of processing, aside from seashells or marble which really aren't an ideal long-term solutions, will be found solely in sedimentary layers which will only generate above igneous layers like granite or andesite (Basalt can generate above sedimentary layers but is an exception and not applicable here). In your case, with granite and andesite as the surface layer, there cannot be sedimentary layers below them and thus no lime, chalk or borax as borax will only spawn is sedimentary layers. You need to find an area with a top layer of sedimentary and go from there. Now, multiple types of sedimentary can generate on top of one another, still no guarantee you find what you need, but worth poking a hole until you reach an igneous layer just in case. If, in your case, you just get incredibly unlucky, the commodities traders also carry lime which can be purchased for a few rusty gears. If you do go for marble, it's a rarer spawn that only occurs within slate or phyllite layers and, in my experience, tend to be rather small deposits. One final sidenote, bauxite won't spawn ores so if borax is in the area, it's in the sedimentary layer above or below the bauxite. As far as I know there isn't a worldgen setting that has an effect on the stone type one spawns in and around, although I usually find most types within a few days journey, so it isn't an issue. I have noticed that different types of sedimentary stones tend to spawn together so always worth exploring a world with a conglomerate or sandstone start to see if it borders a chalk or limestone layer.

I personally don't usually reset upon spawn, but I've also played through enough worlds that I no longer really have a specific thing I want to spawn in. If you're having a hard time finding certain things and it's stealing the enjoyment of the game from you, I'd suggest upping the global ore deposit rate a tick and reroll until you start in a stone layer you want. Once you get your head around the game and get more experience you can always scale it back again..or not if that's what you enjoy. You could also explore the mods to find one that tweaks leathermaking or limestone gathering to your preference. I can't speak from experience on any in that genre, but I have seen options out there.

[coolAlias]

I have had a similar experience with no mods. My first world had native copper galore just laying about everywhere, surface borax, limestone, everything. I didn't know how good I had it lol.

My new world in 1.22 I had to pan for my first 60 copper because I couldn't find any anywhere (I have since found 2-3 surface copper bits nearer to home, but that is all).

No limestone for several thousand blocks, and I only found that because a translocator dumped me right next to a limestone mountain. Found plenty of cassiterite and borax though, so I made do once I got to the bronze age.

Now my bottleneck is fire clay - I have prospected for days and days in a pretty wide area and there is no sign of bituminous coal (TONS of lignite) and my one miniscule lead on anthracite didn't turn into anything more in any direction. So I guess I have to gather several stacks of flint by hand and make my own fire clay if I want to get to steel. Also still have not found any salt.

Anyway, all that to say you are not alone. I was getting very frustrated by my lack of prospecting results day after day, so to salvage my fun, I've decided to just settle into the iron age and take it slow - I'll get enough flint or stumble on some fire clay eventually, and there are animals to domesticate and crops to grow.

[PoisonedPawn777]

1 minute ago, coolAlias said:

Now my bottleneck is fire clay - I have prospected for days and days in a pretty wide area and there is no sign of bituminous coal (TONS of lignite) and my one miniscule lead on anthracite didn't turn into anything more in any direction. So I guess I have to gather several stacks of flint by hand and make my own fire clay if I want to get to steel. Also still have not found any salt.

Anyway, all that to say you are not alone. I was getting very frustrated by my lack of prospecting results day after day, so to salvage my fun, I've decided to just settle into the iron age and take it slow - I'll get enough flint or stumble on some fire clay eventually, and there are animals to domesticate and crops to grow.

I've personally never not just made my own fireclay. If by random chance I stumble upon it mining coal, great. It's so easy to make through, I've never bothered.

[coolAlias]

1 minute ago, PoisonedPawn777 said:

I've personally never not just made my own fireclay. If by random chance I stumble upon it mining coal, great. It's so easy to make through, I've never bothered.

Yeah, I get that. I just need such huge quantities of it for processing steel and, not knowing that, I had mostly stopped gathering flint. I won't make that mistake again lol.

[PoisonedPawn777]

Yeah, I usually have a stack or two after a couple days. Fortunately, one stack of flint makes eight stacks of fireclay. It's just so rare now. Oh the days it spawned like regular old clay.

[Zane Mordien]

4 hours ago, Hiro Protagonist said:

I've been on my current world for two weeks now (real world weeks), and there's nothing but granite and andesite and one small patch of conglomerate in 40-50,000 blocks in every direction. I've never seen limestone, marble, chalk or borax. Not in caves, beach, mountains. not anywhere.

While I am new to the game, every world I generate seems to be missing one key component that stops progression completely. I spend 90% of my time searching for whatever it is and 10% of the time eating berries and bushmeat.

I've finally made it to bronze and now that I can't make leather I'm torn between re-starting for the 5th time or just deciding if this isn't the game for me.

I was hoping for a challenge. Making something incredibly rare isn't challenging, it's boring.

What is your seed?