Runes of the world and Attunement
What it is
Runes of the world can’t be crafted. Each one is found only in its own places: structure chests, lands you attune to, dungeons and bosses, world events and fishing. A few more are taught by study. What each rune does is listed on Runes of the World. Every rune by category is on the Rune Codex.
The tooltip on one says “Can’t be crafted: a rune of the world, found only in its own places”, and names where it comes from. Learn it like any rune: hold it and right-click.
The Grimoire has a section, Runes of the world, that counts how many you know. It lists every place. Runes you know show by name, and the rest show as hints. See The Grimoire and Feats.
Tier still matters:
- Tier II needs a Copper Cord or better.
- Tier III needs an Amethyst Cord.
- Tier IV needs an Echo Cord.
How to get it
| Kind of place | Runes |
|---|---|
| Vanilla structures | 21 |
| Lands, by Attunement | 15 |
| Wildercord’s dungeons and bosses | 10 |
| World events | 5 |
| Fishing | 2 |
| Lessons you study | 6 |
Servers can make rune finds more or less common. The chances below are the defaults.
Vanilla structures
Each chest gets one extra roll for the structure’s rune, on top of its normal loot. When a structure has two runes, the lower-tier one is more likely.
| Structure | Chance per chest | Runes |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient cities | 20% | Echolocate (5 in 7), Resonant Shriek (2 in 7) |
| Ocean monuments | 50% from each Elder Guardian (monuments have no chests) | Tidecall |
| Trial chambers | 12% of a vault’s rare rewards | Trial Key |
| Ominous trial vaults | 25% of an ominous vault’s rare rewards | Trial Key (5 in 7), Vortex (2 in 7) |
| Stronghold libraries | 25% | Infest or If Wounded, equally |
| Desert pyramids | 20% | Sandstorm |
| Jungle temples | 30% | Vinelash or Snare, equally |
| Igloo basements | 50% | Remedy |
| Pillager outposts | 25% | Warcry |
| Woodland mansions | 25% | Fangs (5 in 7), If Outnumbered (2 in 7) |
| Trail ruins | About 1 brush in 13 of their ordinary suspicious sand and gravel | Ancient Seed |
| Shipwrecks (the treasure chest) | 20% | Undertow |
| Buried treasure | 30% | Treasure Sense |
| Bastion remnants | 25% in the treasure room, 8% in most other chests | Tusk Charge |
| Nether fortresses | 20% | Blazecall |
| End cities | 20% | Shulkershell |
| Ruined portals | 15% | Portalfall |
Attunement
Fifteen lands each hold a rune. You draw it out with a Blank Rune.
- Wear a Cord and hold a Blank Rune in either hand.
- Go to the right biome at the right moment (see the table).
- Sneak and stand still on the ground to meditate.
- Keep still for 20 seconds. The blank fills in four stages, then one Blank Rune becomes the land’s rune.
If you move, stand up or switch items, the attunement breaks and you start over. If nothing happens, the Blank Rune tells you what is still missing, such as height or weather.
Each land gives you its rune once per in-game day (20 minutes of play). Sleeping doesn’t speed this up. Each land rests on its own timer, and the Grimoire shows when each one is ready.
| Land | When | Rune | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Grove | At night, under a full moon, under open sky | Moonpetal | II |
| Ice Spikes | While snow is falling on you | Hoarfrost | III |
| Deep Dark | Within about 4 blocks of sculk (any sculk block: sculk, veins, sensors, shriekers or catalysts) | Hush | II |
| Mushroom Fields | Any time | Sporebloom | II |
| Badlands (plain, eroded or wooded) or Emberwood Reach | Around noon (from mid-morning to mid-afternoon on the day clock), under open sky | Sunscorch | III |
| Swamp or Luminous Reedlands | While rain is falling on you | Mire | II |
| Lush Caves | Any time | Glowvine | I |
| Mangrove Swamp | Any time | Rootsnare | II |
| Dripstone Caves or Belowkeeper Hollows | Any time | Stalactite | II |
| Jagged, Frozen or Stony Peaks, Snowy Slopes, Groves, Windswept Hills / Gravelly Hills / Forests, or Windscar Highlands | Standing at height 200 or higher | Summit Wind | III |
| Soul Sand Valley | Any time | Soulfire | III |
| Warped Forest | Any time | Warp Step | II |
| Crimson Forest | Any time | Blood Moss | II |
| Basalt Deltas | Any time | Basalt Surge | III |
| The End’s outer islands (highlands, midlands, small islands and barrens) | Any time | Starlight Tether | III |
Craft Blank Runes from 4 Cobblestone around 1 Lapis Lazuli. One craft makes 4. See Items and Crafting.
Reedlands share the swamp’s daily attunement rest, Windscar shares the peaks’ rest, Belowkeeper Hollows share the dripstone caves’ rest, and Emberwood Reach shares the badlands’ rest. Walking across a biome border does not give a second rune before that rest ends. Rain, noon sky and altitude requirements still apply in the regional biomes.
Dungeons and bosses
Each dimension dungeon keeps its own runes in its vault. Its boss carries a Tier IV rune.
| Place | Runes | How |
|---|---|---|
| The Ember Sanctum vault | Cinderbrand (5 in 9), Ashen Veil (2 in 9), Kindled (2 in 9) | One in each of the two vault chests, and a 35% chance of a second |
| The Cinder Warden | Cinderheart (Tier IV), and 50% one of the Sanctum’s three | To its killer |
| The Astral Observatory vault | Constellation or Eclipse, equally | One in each of the two vault chests, and a 35% chance of a second |
| The Star-Eater | Starmaw (Tier IV), and 50% Constellation or Eclipse | To its killer |
| The Drowned Scriptorium vault | If Wet (5 in 7), Drowning Word (2 in 7) | One in each of the two vault chests, and a 35% chance of a second |
| The Tide Scribe | Tidewrit (Tier IV), and 50% If Wet or Drowning Word | To its killer |
World events
| Event | Runes | How |
|---|---|---|
| Fallen stars | Starshard | Most stars hold a Tier III rune, usually Starshard |
| Rift sieges | Riftcall, Unstable | A closed rift’s Tier III runes are usually one of these |
| The Riftcaller | Unstable, plus 50% Riftcall or Unstable | When a player kills it |
| Mana storms | Manaburn, Manatide | Starting with your 10th cast under a storm, a surge can drop one into your pack. You get one per storm |
Fishing
Runes only come up in open water: a clear stretch at least 5 blocks across with nothing around the bobber. That’s the same rule vanilla uses for treasure. A small pond or an ice hole never gives a rune.
In a treasure catch: about 4 in 11 treasure catches are a rune, and about 1 in 11 is a Torn Page. Luck of the Sea and a Potion of Luck raise your treasure chance.
| Rune | Tier | Share of treasure runes |
|---|---|---|
| Tidehook (found only by fishing) | II | about 1 in 11 |
| Current (found only by fishing) | II | about 1 in 11 |
| Tidebreath, Chill, Icicle, Icepath, Shock, Feather Fall, Night Eye, Swift, Heal, Collect, Leap | I | about 1 in 20 each |
| Bubble, Frost, Thunderclap, Jolt, Pull, Grapple, Levitate, Wave | II | about 1 in 32 each |
| Freeze, Lightning | III | about 1 in 80 each: a rare catch |
Magic waters: sometimes a rune comes up tangled in your line, on top of your catch.
- 12% under a mana storm
- 5% on or near a ley line
- 5% in a thunderstorm
These chances stack, up to 20% per catch. Luck of the Sea doesn’t affect them. Tidehook and Current are more likely here, each about 1 in 6.
Your first fished rune earns the Reeled In feat.
Now and then elsewhere
- Archive libraries: the Hall of Shelves chest in an Archive has a small chance of Echolocate, Infest, Fangs, Treasure Sense or If Wounded.
- Runebound Adepts: 8% to drop Vinelash, Undertow, Blazecall, Portalfall or Warcry.
Lesson runes
Six runes in the Grimoire’s list come from study, not from finding them. You earn the feat, collect the lesson, then study it with the right Heart Circle active.
| Rune | How |
|---|---|
| Relay | Lectern lesson in an Archive |
| Tollgate | After the Cinder Warden’s Tempered feat |
| Reweave | After the Tide Scribe’s Low Tide feat |
| Lifeline | After the Star-Eater’s Starbreaker feat |
| Excise | After Heartwood (Root Guardian) |
| Conduit | After Grounded (Storm Conductor) |
How to use it
Learn the rune, then add it to a Cord like any other. Because these runes can’t be crafted, a spare copy is valuable. Trade it to the Runesmith or rank it up at the Fusion Altar.
Tips and counterplay
- Carry a stack of Blank Runes. Each attunement uses one.
- Plan for the timed lands. A full moon comes once every eight nights. Snow or rain must be falling on you, so stand under open sky.
- Nine lands work at any time: mushroom fields, lush caves, mangrove swamps, dripstone caves, the End’s outer islands, and four Nether biomes.
- Meditating also speeds up your mana regeneration, so the wait isn’t wasted.
- For fishing, the best spot is a ley line under a mana storm, which gives 17% per catch.
- Hunt Runebound Adepts for the structure runes you’re missing.
Every found rune of the world
| Rune | Tier | Kind | Where to find it | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rune | Tier | Kind | Where to find it | |
 |
Ancient Seed | I | Life effect | Trail ruins (brushing) |
 |
Ashen Veil | III | Fire effect | Ember Sanctum vault; the Cinder Warden |
 |
Basalt Surge | III | Earth effect | Attunement: basalt deltas |
 |
Blazecall | II | Fire effect | Nether fortresses; Runebound Adepts |
 |
Blood Moss | II | Blood effect | Attunement: crimson forest |
 |
Cinderbrand | II | Fire effect | Ember Sanctum vault; the Cinder Warden |
 |
Cinderheart | IV | Fire effect | The Cinder Warden |
 |
Constellation | III | Shape | Astral Observatory vault; the Star-Eater |
 |
Current | II | Frost effect | Fishing in open water |
 |
Drowning Word | III | Frost effect | Drowned Scriptorium vault; the Tide Scribe |
 |
Echolocate | II | Void effect | Ancient cities; Archive libraries |
 |
Eclipse | III | Void effect | Astral Observatory vault; the Star-Eater |
 |
Fangs | II | Arcane effect | Woodland mansions; Archive libraries |
 |
Glowvine | I | Life effect | Attunement: lush caves |
 |
Hoarfrost | III | Frost effect | Attunement: ice spikes |
 |
Hush | II | Void effect | Attunement: deep dark |
 |
If Outnumbered | III | Link | Woodland mansions |
 |
If Wet | II | Link | Drowned Scriptorium vault; the Tide Scribe |
 |
If Wounded | II | Link | Stronghold libraries; Archive libraries |
 |
Infest | II | Earth effect | Stronghold libraries; Archive libraries |
 |
Kindled | III | Modifier | Ember Sanctum vault; the Cinder Warden |
 |
Manaburn | II | Arcane effect | Mana storms (a surge after 10 casts) |
 |
Manatide | III | Arcane effect | Mana storms (a surge after 10 casts) |
 |
Mire | II | Earth effect | Attunement: swamp |
 |
Moonpetal | II | Life effect | Attunement: cherry grove |
 |
Portalfall | II | Void effect | Ruined portals; Runebound Adepts |
 |
Remedy | II | Life effect | Igloo basements |
 |
Resonant Shriek | III | Void effect | Ancient cities |
 |
Riftcall | III | Void effect | Rift sieges; the Riftcaller |
 |
Rootsnare | II | Life effect | Attunement: mangrove swamp |
 |
Sandstorm | III | Earth effect | Desert pyramids |
 |
Shulkershell | III | Void effect | End cities |
 |
Snare | II | Shape | Jungle temples |
 |
Soulfire | III | Fire effect | Attunement: soul sand valley |
 |
Sporebloom | II | Life effect | Attunement: mushroom fields |
 |
Stalactite | II | Earth effect | Attunement: dripstone caves |
 |
Starlight Tether | III | Arcane effect | Attunement: the End’s outer islands |
 |
Starmaw | IV | Void effect | The Star-Eater |
 |
Starshard | III | Arcane effect | Fallen stars |
 |
Summit Wind | III | Wind effect | Attunement: mountain peaks, slopes, groves or windswept hills, at height 200 or higher |
 |
Sunscorch | III | Fire effect | Attunement: badlands |
 |
Tidecall | III | Frost effect | Ocean monuments (Elder Guardians) |
 |
Tidehook | II | Frost effect | Fishing in open water |
 |
Tidewrit | IV | Frost effect | The Tide Scribe |
 |
Treasure Sense | I | Arcane effect | Buried treasure; Archive libraries |
 |
Trial Key | II | Modifier | Trial chamber vaults; ominous vaults |
 |
Tusk Charge | II | Earth effect | Bastion remnants |
 |
Undertow | II | Frost effect | Shipwrecks; Runebound Adepts |
 |
Unstable | III | Modifier | Rift sieges; the Riftcaller |
 |
Vinelash | II | Life effect | Jungle temples; Runebound Adepts |
 |
Vortex | III | Shape | Ominous vaults |
 |
Warcry | II | Blood effect | Pillager outposts; Runebound Adepts |
 |
Warp Step | II | Void effect | Attunement: warped forest |