Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

How to get iron nuggest in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Jon Bitner
By

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a massive leap forward for the series. Not only does it take the best features from previous titles, but it found ways to introduce new, exciting content without bogging down the experience. The best example of this is crafting — players can now create their own furniture and tools to help beautify the island and their homes.

In order to build anything, however, players are going to need to gather resources. One of the most useful — and scarce — resources is iron nuggets, required for crafting high-quality fishing rods, nets, and a whole slew of other items. Thankfully, once you know where to find iron nuggets you can quickly build up a sizable stockpile.

Further reading

Find iron nuggets by hitting rocks

Believe it or not, all you have to do to find iron nuggets is smack rocks with your shovel. Simply walk up to one of the many boulders on your island and give it a whack with your shovel (or axe). This will cause the rock to drop one of several resources — including iron nuggets. Although this is the easiest way to get iron nuggets, it’s far from the best.

Related

That’s because after the first smack, a brief window of time opens in which the rock will continue to drop resources when hit. In order to maximize your resources, you’ll want to follow the tried-and-true “two-hole” technique, explained below.

Dig holes behind your character

Animal Crossing New Horizons Bunny Day event guide egg locations

As you hit the rock with your shovel, you’ll notice that your villager gets pushed back a few paces. This means you need to waste time moving closer to the rock in order to strike it. To prevent this from happening, dig two holes — three if you want to be careful — behind your character. This will prevent them from recoiling backward after a successful hit. Now, you’re able to quickly land eight strikes and harvest eight resources. Just make sure there are no other items in the spaces around the rock; otherwise, it won’t have anywhere to drop your rewards.

Visit other islands

Your primary island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons can only hold a maximum of six rocks. If you’re in a hurry to harvest some iron nuggets, you’ll only get so far staying in your town. Once you’ve taken everything you can from these six, you can always venture out to other islands with a Nook Miles Ticket. These islands typically hold two or three rocks, giving you a chance to bolster your iron nugget stash. However, the island you’re sent to is random — meaning you could stumble upon a place that has dozens of rocks, or none at all! At the end of the day, collecting iron nuggets is a test of patience. While you can nab a dozen or so just by milling about your town and whacking rocks, there’s still no reliable method to quickly farm the valuable resource.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
The best weapons in Fallout 4 and where to find them
People standing outside Nuka World.

Bethesda titles are massive, with tons of loot to acquire. From the fantasy series of Elder Scrolls VI, to the sci-fi world of the future in Starfield, the one thing they share is a wide range of weapons. In the wastelands of Fallout 4, the weapons (and their cool names) are a major perk. Some weapons might give you an edge, but others feel as if they’re just for show.

While more common weapons like the submachine gun, hunting rifle, or powerful Gauss rifle will serve you well in the wasteland (especially if you add a weapon mod), there are a few rare weapons in the game that you'll want to get your hands on. We've created a guide that covers some of the best weapons in Fallout 4, from high-powered rifles to ghoul-slamming melee weapons, as well as how their performance might affect your gameplay for the better.
Further reading:

Read more
Here’s how to get Redfall Bite Back Edition for free from Nvidia
A character levitates a book in Redfall.

As part of the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Nvidia is launching a new GPU bundle. Anyone making a new purchase of the RTX 4090, RTX 4080, and RTX 4070 Ti desktop graphics cards, as well as RTX 40-series Nvidia desktops and laptops, will receive a copy of the Redfall Bite Back Edition when it releases on May 2, 2023, for free.

That's not just the base game, which normally retails for $70. It's a deluxe version that includes the game, the Hero Pass with two future characters, and several cosmetics. Nvidia also announced that Redfall will support Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), including Frame Generation on RTX 40-series graphics cards.

Read more
The best free Nintendo Switch games
black friday 2019 nintendo switch deal lite hands on 3

The Nintendo Switch offers an unparalleled gaming experience, allowing you to enjoy games big and small, no matter whether you’re on the couch or on the go. That said, Switch games rarely receive a discount, even if you’re constantly checking for the best Nintendo Switch deals. Our list of the best free Nintendo Switch games is here to help.

We've rounded up the top free-to-play games on Nintendo Switch, from Switch Online exclusives like Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99 to third-party hits like Fortnite and Rocket League. 

Read more