Graveyard Keeper 2 Iron Guide

Where to Get Your First Iron

Start with the surface rocks south of the graveyard, then search the Forest and Swamp as you unlock them. Check the rocks around the pipes outside the mine entrance: their copper-like coloring can make them easy to miss. You can collect iron before opening the mine, so use that first supply for the tool upgrades and access work blocking your progress. For a continuing iron farm, unlock Zombie Miner and a transport route; opening the mine alone does not create an automatic supply.

Iron Ore Locations: Surface Rocks, Forest, and Swamp

Begin with the reachable surface deposits rather than waiting until every route is open. Search south of the graveyard, then revisit the Forest and Swamp when story progress gives you access. Around the mine entrance, inspect the rocks between the pipes and confirm the material you receive instead of identifying ore by color alone.

The main mine entrance is in the Forest. If you have reached its door but cannot enter, check the obstruction's interaction requirements and your equipped tools. Early iron outside the mine lets you work toward those requirements without first getting through the blocked entrance.

Keep surface gathering and long-term mining separate in your plan. Finding a rock near the entrance does not mean you have found a vein you can mine forever. Build your initial stock from the deposits you can reach, then work toward the zombie mining setup below.

How to Smelt Iron and Keep Ingots Moving

Treat ore gathering and ingot production as separate jobs. Before spending your stock, open the Iron Ingot recipe and check its unlocked technology, station, Mastery, ingredients, and fuel. Use the quantities shown in your installed build when planning a batch: furnace crafting and fuel costs have changed in post-launch updates.

For factory smelting, set up a Smithy I or II with a qualified zombie worker. Feed Iron Ore and Coal from the resource storage into its input using conveyors, choose Iron Ingots as the product, and connect the output to a conveyor chest. The factory also needs power from the Zombie Carousel. Ore in storage will not become ingots until the whole line is supplied, powered, and staffed.

Start with one working batch. Watch the ore reach the smithy, the worker complete the craft, and the ingots reach their destination before expanding. If the smithy never starts, inspect its selected recipe, worker requirements, incoming materials, and power; if it finishes once and stops, inspect the output path and available storage.

Iron Tools: What to Craft and What to Check

Use your first iron to solve the requirement currently blocking you. If the mine entrance is locked, inspect its required crafting proficiency and compare it with your equipped gear. Iron tool upgrades can help bridge that gap; owning an upgrade in storage is different from equipping it.

Open the specific tool recipe before committing ingots to other projects. Check its technology, required workbench and any extension, then compare the recipe's Mastery with your current value. Reserve the listed materials for that upgrade. A locked recipe needs its prerequisite resolved, while a visible recipe with missing ingredients needs supplies; more mining will not fix both problems.

For an iron pickaxe intended for a zombie miner, plan the worker's equipment separately from your own. After crafting it, inspect the miner's tool slot and the mining station rather than assuming the Keeper's loadout also equips the worker. Check the zombie guide for job-specific equipment and Mastery troubleshooting.

Iron Farm: Zombie Mining, Transport, and Automation

The continuing supply comes from zombie mining inside the mine. Research Zombie Miner, clear the blocked passage inside, and open the route linking the mine with your underground production area. Check both access and technology before expecting the mining post to be available.

Separate extraction from delivery. A miner produces resources, a porter brings them back, and the factory worker turns them into ingots. Adding miners cannot repair a missing transport link or an idle smithy. Check each handoff before expanding the workforce.

1. Open the mine's required passages and unlock Zombie Miner in the technology tree.
2. Build the mining post, assign a zombie, and equip its pickaxe.
3. Set up the porter station and assign transport back to the factory resource storage.
4. Connect Iron Ore and Coal to the smithy, provide Carousel power, and assign a qualified crafting worker.
5. Select Iron Ingots and connect output storage. Follow a complete extraction-to-ingot cycle before leaving the line unattended.

Iron Production Stuck? Find the Missing Step

Follow the material from the mine to the finished ingot. The first point where it stops tells you which part of the chain to inspect. Confirm a correction with one completed job before changing the next station.

If a correctly supplied miner repeatedly stops after returning its output, check for game updates before rebuilding the line. Official updates have addressed workers at the mine failing to begin their next job after delivering resources. A full chest, missing porter, or unpowered smithy still needs a setup fix.