There is no clay

[John Dow]

It's supposedly easy to find, but after playing several hours I've not found any

 

Is there some super simple process that I'm just missing? I've tried looking for it on maps, but I'm not seeing any.

[Krougal]

It seems like every week there is a new thread about this. Unless you spawned in the desert, there is usually plenty of clay around.

No one here will dismiss you offhand though, because sometimes world generation just screws you over.

Granted it might be like the rocks in Medieval Dynasty, no noob can find any, but once you know what they look like, they are everywhere.

Look at the pictures https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Clay

Fire clay is harder to find, because it is usually underground. Blue clay is actually rarest now, swamps seem to be a good place to find it, but it's still very rare.

Red is like everywhere, but because the top looks like normal grass unless you look closely (for the red tinge) it is hard to see unless you find a patch that has exposed sides.

I am honestly starting to think Tyron needs to get rid of the grass top on the clay.

I mean c'mon how many people have to start a there is no clay thread before we can admit there may be an issue?

 

Edited August 12, 2025 by Krougal

[Dilan Rona]

you would be suprised at how close to your base clay can be. clay normally generates near water bodies (not always, I had clay spawn halfway up a mountain capped with snow near my base on one map). If the clay is covered with grass, it will make it harder to spot it from the top though. So try to look again, but pay more attention to the ground, and what the tool tip says on top.

[Dilan Rona]

2 minutes ago, Krougal said:

I am honestly starting to think Tyron needs to get rid of the grass top on the clay.

I mean c'mon how many people have to start a there is no clay thread before we can admit there may be an issue?

 

tbh, when finding clay in the real world, it is just as challanging, if not more so, since their is a lot of dirt washing that needs to take place before any amount of clay can be taken out. So instead of removing all grass on top of the clay, maybe rework some of the clay blocks so grass cant spawn on top of it instead?

[Krougal]

20 minutes ago, Dilan Rona said:

tbh, when finding clay in the real world, it is just as challanging, if not more so, since their is a lot of dirt washing that needs to take place before any amount of clay can be taken out. So instead of removing all grass on top of the clay, maybe rework some of the clay blocks so grass cant spawn on top of it instead?

I dunno. Something. I run past a lot of it myself and I know what to look for. Peat is another one that is hard to spot.

I wish someone would make a high contrast texture pack.

There's always the particle mod I guess too. 

[Vratislav]

Well, if someone has an aim to find clay in the first day, it simply may not happen sometimes. I have no statistical proof, but in the last world I have tried, I had to "cheat" using color accurate map to find it. Still, it was atypical worldgen (warm climate + 70% upheaval) that probably decreased areas, where the clay may occur. Before this experience, I considered complains about clay to be too whining, after it I understand that it may happen and it may be very annoying, especially for new players.

I feel that clay is not being found by lakes in drier areas, where I'd like to see it  

Still, it is an early game issue so if the clay is not found soon, it is pretty easy to start again. I remember that my first long play started after four or five unsuccessful attempts...

 

[Dilan Rona]

Considering it took days to find peat on one map, and I had to travel over 8000 blocks before I ran into the first patches, it can be a challenge sometimes. And I was using blockoverlays to help locate it. There was nothing remotely close to spawn. And that map was a cooler temperature start biome

[Dilan Rona]

If you cannot find clay though, and you like your current map, give https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/22134 a try. It allows the crafting of clay.

[Krougal]

If the color map is cheating, block overlay must be heresy.

Yeah, upheaval does strange things. I've tried messing around with it a little, but never been pleased with results. Blue clay seems to be in what seem to be lowland swampy areas, of course it is very rare now. Fireclay is almost always found with black coal or anthracite. Red...yeah, it seems fairly random where it generates.

That is odd to not find peat nearby unless it's too warm, cooler it should be more common.

That's an interesting mod, pretty useless. Pulverizer and quern, give me a break. You can't even make a crucible without pottery, let alone the quern, pulverizer and windmills and the rest of the infrastructure to get there. That's just cruel and unusual punishment.

I keep https://mods.vintagestory.at/clayfromdirt installed as a contingency, but I've never had the need to use it. You still need smithing for a saw to make a barrel, but at least it isn't as ridiculous as the other mod. Your still going to need clay for molds too. Honestly that is pretty useless too. If you find any clay, you are going to find plenty of it. There are just some things you cannot progress without.

Like @Vratislav said, it is easier to just restart at that point. Especially if you use block overlay and can't find anything.

[Vratislav]

3 hours ago, Dilan Rona said:

And that map was a cooler temperature start biome

Not sure, but again, worldgen may mix up things a lot. But colder climate should genreate MORE peat by my oppinion.

[Vratislav]

2 hours ago, Krougal said:

upheaval does strange things

I wanted to start in warmer biome and to settle down somewhere higher to enjoy mountainous feel, but the landscape was still pretty close to sea level. Maybe next time I try to fiddle with the worldgen more. Still, to make worldgen with long rivers descending from high level mountain valleys to vast plains close to sea level... Did any game with procedurally generated world manage this "easy but difficult" thing already?

[hstone32]

Traveled a kilometer in every direction in search of clay. After I finally found it, I soon discovered there was a clay patch 50m from my shelter the whole time.

spent 2 entire days sailing to a bauxite desert searching for fire clay, only finding a tiny patch. On the way home, discovered an exposed bitumen vein less than a k from my house, under which was a massive fire clay deposit.

i'm convinced the game does not generate clay until after you've wasted a certain amount of hours searching for it. Than it's everywhere.

[Maelstrom]

7 hours ago, Krougal said:

I am honestly starting to think Tyron needs to get rid of the grass top on the clay.

Have you tried finding zinc in granite?  Compared to that finding anything and everything in VS is a cake walk!

 

4 hours ago, Vratislav said:

Well, if someone has an aim to find clay in the first day, it simply may not happen sometimes.

*raises hand*   What better way to get shelter and begin crafting than digging a hole in clay as the initial home?  Gone are the days of racing to build that initial dirt hut before bowtorns and drifters and shivers, Oh MY!   Now it's dig a hole in clay and pop a dirt block on top.

[Dilan Rona]

Given that the quern recipe was changed to require a hammer and chisel as well, it would be better to pair the clay processing mod (Clay Processing) with the Quern Recipe Revert mod. That way it is not a catch-22 situation where you are trying to grind shale or claystone the clay, but need to make moulds for a hammer, and a crucible, which require access to clay to begin with.

[Ryilo]

I seriously recommend using the color map, peat and clay can be seen as different colored ground pretty easily. Then once you know what to look for it will be easier to find it with the other map. For blue clay there is a mod called More Blue Clay that does what's written on the tin. Take a look at this image, if you look at the ground while walking you can spot special terrain pretty easily, it has spots all over. It's way more difficult finding high fertility soil, especially if it's under your feet and with grass/plants on top.

[LadyWYT]

Clay is similar to surface copper, in that it's certainly there, but difficult to spot and usually found a couple days into the game. Based on my experience, I'm thinking it goes unnoticed simply because I'm trying to rush things a little too much, and in my rush running around I'm missing critical details that are easier to spot when walking.

That's not to say that pushing for quick progress is bad; it can certainly be done. But sometimes it's more beneficial to take a step back, slow down, and be a little more intentional/thorough with your actions. 

As others have already noted, clay doesn't spawn in the arctic(although I think that was changed to allow very small deposits to form occasionally), deserts, or at extremely high altitudes. Clay also doesn't seem to spawn in forests, or if it does, it will be difficult to notice since it will probably be buried under forest floor. Clay also tends to be easier to find in areas that get a lot of rain, and doesn't require a body of water to spawn although that does depend on clay type. Red clay spawns at higher altitudes rather than sea level, and usually isn't by water. Blue clay spawns close to sea level and will usually always be next to a body of water. Fire clay can only spawn naturally in bauxite biomes(which in this case, can be deserts) or underneath black coal/anthracite deposits.

Clay is easier to notice if you play with world map colors enabled, since you can look for the circular discolorations on grassy areas to find clay and peat. Additionally, you can also find clay occasionally in cracked vessels, or acquire it via panning. Certain traders will also buy and sell various clay types, so it's worth checking with them as well.

[Krougal]

5 hours ago, Vratislav said:

Not sure, but again, worldgen may mix up things a lot. But colder climate should genreate MORE peat by my oppinion.

Well IIRC it doesn't generate at all if it is too warm. You won't find any in warm or hot starts.

 @Ryilo  Except clay and peat also look like forest ground.

@Maelstrom Yeah, the ores are another thing I struggle in the poor lighting to see. https://mods.vintagestory.at/visibleore is another QoL mod I really like.

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

...and in my rush running around I'm missing critical details that are easier to spot when walking.

Pretty much this game in a nutshell!

Part of why even if I am trying not to cheat and use it as a "ground penetrating scanner" I still use block overlay just to scan for nearby visible surface details, I consider it more an "accessibility option".

Same for the visible particles mod, sure, you can find meteors by looking for suevite, but ain't nobody got time fo'dat.

I highly recommend either or both mods for people who get tired of struggling.

I have also found as I gained experience with the game, I am less and less dependent on these mods, but they were definitely a useful crutch to keep me from rage-quitting in my early days. There is a lot to learn very quickly in VS. This isn't your fathers Minecraft!

 

[LadyWYT]

2 minutes ago, Krougal said:

I have also found as I gained experience with the game, I am less and less dependent on these mods, but they were definitely a useful crutch to keep me from rage-quitting in my early days. There is a lot to learn very quickly in VS. This isn't your fathers Minecraft!

I think this is something many players forget as well. It's okay to change the game settings or install mods if you're struggling in an area--that's partly why those options exist. I did the same when I first started playing, and gradually increased the difficulty as I got better at the game.

6 minutes ago, Krougal said:

Same for the visible particles mod, sure, you can find meteors by looking for suevite, but ain't nobody got time fo'dat.

I less look for suevite/meteor rock, and more look for circular indentations in the ground and dig down to see if there's suevite underneath. Meteor chunks don't always generate on the surface, but almost all meteors will have a crater pattern, so it's worth marking/investigating those indentations. Most of the time you'll hit suevite/meteor just beneath the dirt, although I have seen a meteor or two that was buried underneath a layer of rock as well.

9 minutes ago, Krougal said:

Well IIRC it doesn't generate at all if it is too warm. You won't find any in warm or hot starts.

I have seen it spawn on warm/hot starts, however, it is a lot more rare in those climates. I think in those cases, it spawns in the cooler chunks. Luckily, you don't actually need peat for anything; it's just a very handy early game fuel source for pit kilns and the like.

[Rudometkin]

On 8/11/2025 at 11:02 PM, Krougal said:

I am honestly starting to think Tyron needs to get rid of the grass top on the clay.

I think it would be fire if Tyron keeps the grass on top of the clay and we all have to deal with it in this uncompromising wilderness survival game.

[Krougal]

58 minutes ago, Rudometkin said:

I think it would be fire if Tyron keeps the grass on top of the clay and we all have to deal with it in this uncompromising wilderness survival game.

Of course you do, because you are the poster boy of the players around here who think anyone who plays differently than you is wrong.

[Rudometkin]

6 minutes ago, Krougal said:

Of course you do, because you are the poster boy of the players around here who think anyone who plays differently than you is wrong.

Well, this poster boy is sitting on 4 warnings, about to get banned if one more infraction. So I'm keeping my engagement light. Apparently not even the poster boy has immunity, hahaha

Edit: To keep the message relevant, I really do like that clay is hard to come by. It gives the stone age justice, and helps us appreciate the pottery age!

Edited August 17, 2025 by Rudometkin

[Krougal]

3 minutes ago, Rudometkin said:

Well, this poster boy is sitting on 4 warnings, about to get banned if one more infraction.

Gee. I wonder how that happened 

[Noble Radical]

On 8/11/2025 at 9:07 PM, Dilan Rona said:

tbh, when finding clay in the real world, it is just as challanging, if not more so, since their is a lot of dirt washing that needs to take place before any amount of clay can be taken out. So instead of removing all grass on top of the clay, maybe rework some of the clay blocks so grass cant spawn on top of it instead?

New player here. It probably depends on where you live in the world, but for me, this couldn't be father from the truth. I can literally drive 5 minutes to a nearby river with a shovel and find more red clay than I could in the same amount of time in vintage story. It's hard to spot, maybe, but you can dig almost anywhere and get some.

[Vexxvididu]

1 hour ago, Noble Radical said:

New player here. It probably depends on where you live in the world, but for me, this couldn't be father from the truth. I can literally drive 5 minutes to a nearby river with a shovel and find more red clay than I could in the same amount of time in vintage story. It's hard to spot, maybe, but you can dig almost anywhere and get some.

Clay is super common in Vintage Story.  Since finding my first clay, I've found several more big slabs of it kind of near my base.  I think it's mostly just an issue of being able to spot it for new players.  Odds are you have it near your base in less than the equivalent distance of a 5 minute drive.

[fxizy]

its pretty easy to find man