The new 1.21 Minecraft update is here, and it features new materials, mobs, armor trim, pottery, banners, and even paintings. However, what we're most interested in this time around is how to get the new Ominous Trial Key in Minecraft.
There are plenty of reasons to want the Ominous Trial Key, from rewards to the exciting enemies you'll have to face throughout the Trails and Tales update. Whatever your reason, you're in the right place to discover how to get everything you need to grab the Ominous Trial in Minecraft.
Then, once you've finished reading our excellent guides—if we do say so ourselves—we recommend sitting down and going through our Minecraft 2 hub to get you up to speed with everything about the future of Minecraft.
Minecraft Ominous Trial Key Locations
The Ominous Trial Keys name may make finding them seem like a wearisome effort, but that's not the case.
First, you'll need to head to Trial Chambers, a new structure added with the 1.21 update. These are relatively easy to find.
At this point, you'll soon discover where the ominous part of the title comes from. Finding the location for the Trial Chambers was hunky dory. But actually obtaining the Ominous Trial Key? Much more difficult.
How to get an Ominous Trial Key in Minecraft
Now that you're at a Trial Chamber, you'll have to take three different steps; otherwise, you will not be able to obtain the Ominous Trial Key.
Step 1: Drink an Ominous Bottle
There's no Ominous like an Ominous Trial, but to do so, you'll first need to drink an Ominous Bottle. These can be found in numerous different ways, but the easiest way is through killing a Raid Captain.
Before the 1.21 update, doing so would give you an ominous status effect. However, that has since changed, and now the captain merely drops an Ominous Bottle. Do NOT drink the bottle yet, as it has a timer on it, which will interfere with your quest to get the Ominous Trial Key.
Step 2: Drink the Ominous Bottle at a Trial Chamber
Trial Chambers are easily found, as they are usually located between -20 and -40 in the Overworld. If you can't find one, it's likely due to the fact that you haven't dug down far enough. So keep on digging until you do.
Once you've found a Trial Chamber, drink the Ominous Bottle. Once you've seen the chamber glow a different colour and see that mobs have started to spawn, you'll know you're on the right track.
Step 3: Defeat the mobs of monsters
With a whole mob of monsters coming at you, the next thing to do is hack and slash your way through each and every monster you find. Keep on doing this until the monsters are gone.
Unfortunately, sometimes the rewards you get will not be an Ominous Trial Key, and you'll have to repeat the process over and over until you get one. This is frustrating, but it's the only way to get these keys.
Ominous Trial Key Vaults
When you do finally get an Ominous Trial Key, you may be wondering what you have to do with it next. The answer to that is to find a vault! After all, every lock comes with a key, so trust us when we say that you'll want to use this one to get all the goodies you can get.
Finding a vault for your Ominous Trial Key doesn't require you to look far, as they'll spawn in the Ominous Trial Chambers. They can be tricky to spot if you don't know what you're looking for at first, but keep an eye out for candles and look for a copper grate. If you spot anything similar to that, head straight towards it.
Once you've found the vault, simply interact with it with your hard-earned Ominous Trial Key and reap all the treasure that awaits you.