Are there any spawning patterns to surface copper?

[Tenkontewl]

I've been running around for ages, trying to find any surface copper, but none is spawning. Does it spawn more regularly in some rocks? does it stop spawning at a certain height? do some geological structures (gravel plains, deserts, forests) have higher rates? I know I'm just unlucky in my world(s), but I'd rather not be running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Edited June 8, 2025 by Tenkontewl

[Grihm]

I tend to find bits and pieces on rocky terrain, gravel and such more than on grass and mud. If you see a stony area on the map, try to get high up and you will spot it. The deserts and dunes can have quite the gain, but it´s what i understand very random for all.

[Maelstrom]

Bauxite is absolutely guaranteed to have zero copper in it.  Otherwise it's random.  It's easier to spot it on sand/gravel plains due to the lack of grass.  You can start a wild fire to make grassland copper easier to spot, but you'll burn up all wild crops, berry bushes, trees and peat the fire comes across.  OTOH sand/gravel spawned surface copper (in my experience) is likely to be the first layer of rock under the sand or gravel meaning digging 2-3 blocks of sand/gravel per block of copper mined.  Additionally, (again in my experience lately) surface copper is more often than not poor quality, so mining a surface node of poor copper under 3 blocks of sand or gravel, is just more trouble that it's worth and I'll look for other nodes of copper, which are typically plentiful.

Edited June 9, 2025 by Maelstrom

[Zane Mordien]

I start many wildfires to help me find copper and make the wolves easier to see.