Ore boxes

Ore boxes are items that store metal ores and stone spirits.

Initially, ore boxes can store up to 100 of each ore, which is increased by 20 for most ores as the player reaches certain level milestones. After completing the Everything Is Oresome achievement — requiring level 90 Mining — the maximum capacity for these ores is increased by a further 20, up to a maximum of 140. After completing the Everything Is Still Oresome achievement — requiring level 100 Mining — the maximum capacity for these ores is further increased by 10, up to a maximum of 150.

Gold, silver, and platinum ore are not subject to storage increases due to increased Mining levels, completion of Everything Is Oresome, or completion of Everything Is Still Oresome. The maximum stored for these ores is 100.

The bronze ore box can be smithed directly at an anvil. Ore boxes may be upgraded from the previous tier to a higher tier by adding two bars of the desired metal onto an existing ore box at an anvil. Ore boxes may only be upgraded one tier at a time, and players must have the relevant smithing level to upgrade them. The properties of an existing ore box will carry over to new ore box during upgrading. In this way, an ore box may be upgraded directly to the next tier regardless of its contents, as all contents will appear as normal in the new upgraded ore box. Alternatively, players may purchase and use any of the available ore boxes from the Grand Exchange regardless of the player's Mining level.

Mechanics

The ore box's Fill option fills the box with all unnoted ores and stone spirits in the player's backpack up to the maximum tier of ore or spirit the ore box can contain; this maximum tier corresponds to the Smithing level required to create the ore box plus nine. Ores and stone spirits can also be individually used on the box to fill them with all items of that type. The item's tooltip shows the contents of the ore box, roughly sorted from the lowest to the highest tier. The ore box can be added to an action bar, allowing the player to fill the box with a keybind.

The ore box cannot be emptied into a player's backpack. Once filled, it can only be emptied into a bank, bank deposit box, or metal bank. The Deposit-all option for the metal bank empties all ores from the ore box, as does the ore box's Empty - ore option that can be selected in the bank interface. With deposit boxes, the ore box must be used on it to deposit the contents without banking the ore box, as the empty option does not exist in the deposit box interface, but this does allow the player to return to mining. Simply placing an ore box into the bank also empties ores from the box, placing them into the bank without removing any stone spirits stored within the box. If there isn't enough space in the bank, the ores will stay in the box while banked.

Ore boxes share storage between them, so there is little use in owning multiple boxes. The player cannot fill the ore box while carrying more than one of them in their backpack. Attempting to fill the ore box whilst carrying several of them simply results in the player character exclaiming "I can't hold all these ore boxes!", with no ore being added to the box.

The metal bank can be viewed via the View metal bank option, but no items may be deposited or withdrawn from it.

A temporary boost in Mining level can increase the capacity temporarily.

Dying in the Wilderness while opted into PvP with an unprotected ore box of any tier will result in the box and its contents dropping on the ground for the killer. If the player protects their ore box, any ores or stone spirits contained within the ore box will be dropped on the ground for the killer; however, the ore box will be kept.

Stone spirits will be dropped on the ground upon death, even when outside of the Wilderness.

If the backpack is filled by mining while carrying the ore box, the game displays a message that the player could fill the box, even if the material mined cannot be stored there (such as when the box is already full).

Types of ore boxes

Ore box		Highest storeable tier	Ingredients	XP (from scratch)	Mining level for storage increase^[1]	Price	Profit for creation when buying:
Ore box		Highest storeable tier	Ingredients	XP (from scratch)	Mining level for storage increase^[1]	Price	Bars^[2]	Ores^[3]	Prior ore box + bars^[2]
	Bronze ore box	Copper ore Tin ore	2 × Bronze bar	30	7	1,586	−3,106	−1,412	N/A
	Iron ore box	Iron ore	1 × Bronze ore box 2 × Iron bar	80 (110)	18	16,474	7,466	10,648	10,572
	Steel ore box	Coal Silver ore	1 × Iron ore box 2 × Steel bar	150 (260)	29	18,750	6,716	11,080	−750
	Mithril ore box	Mithril ore	1 × Steel ore box 2 × Mithril bar	240 (500)	37	36,741	19,899	26,149	13,183
	Adamant ore box	Adamantite ore Luminite Gold ore	1 × Mithril ore box 2 × Adamant bar	340 (840)	41	61,806	37,098	44,916	17,199
	Rune ore box	Runite ore	1 × Adamant ore box 2 × Rune bar	480 (1,320)	55	77,748	42,914	52,248	5,816
	Orikalkum ore box	Orichalcite ore Drakolith	1 × Rune ore box 2 × Orikalkum bar	700 (2,020)	66	105,313	54,337	66,529	11,423
	Necronium ore box	Necrite ore Phasmatite	1 × Orikalkum ore box 2 × Necronium bar	1,000 (3,020)	72	177,929	109,075	122,589	54,738
	Bane ore box	Banite ore	1 × Necronium ore box 2 × Bane bar	1,400 (4,420)	85	240,711	151,845	166,759	42,770
	Elder rune ore box	Light animica Dark animica	1 × Bane ore box 2 × Elder rune bar	2,000 (6,420)	95	364,924	247,364	272,898	95,519
	Primal ore box	Novite ore Bathus ore Marmaros ore Kratonium ore Fractite ore Zephyrium ore Argonite ore Katagon ore Gorgonite ore Promethium ore Platinum ore	1 × Elder rune ore box 2 × Primal bar	2,800 (9,220)	102	510,210	340,228	363,914.4	92,864

^ The Mining level required to increase storage capacity for the box's highest tier ore. Increase does not count for gold or silver ores, which are always limited to 100.
^ ^a ^b Using the price of bars bought from the Grand Exchange.
^ Using the price of ores bought from the Grand Exchange.

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Update history

This information has been compiled as part of the update history project. Some updates may not be included – see here for how to help out!

update 12 August 2024 (Update):
- Primal ore box released.

patch 12 August 2024 (Update):
- The Family Crest quest is no longer required to store Silver and Gold in the Ore Box and Metal Bank. The quest still unlocks the Smelting Gauntlets.
- Depositing an item into an ore box of insufficient level now gives more specific information about why the item couldn't be deposited.

patch 4 December 2023 (Update):
- Items in Ore Boxes will now be saved on death unless it is a PvP death.

hotfix 14 November 2023 (Update):
- Fixed the bug that would delete noted ores when using them on an ore box.

patch 13 November 2023 (Update):
- You can now store stone spirits in the ore box.

ninja 16 May 2022 (Update):
- You can now check your metal bank from any tier ore box.
  - You may not deposit or withdraw items from the metal bank when opening it via the ore box.

patch 4 May 2021 (Update):
- Using the 'Fill' and 'Inspect' options on an Ore Box will no longer interrupt actions.

patch 11 January 2021 (Update):
- You'll no longer receive popup messages regarding deposits in the ore box when smelting gold or silver before completing Family Crest.

patch 15 June 2020 (Update):
- Fixed an issue that would cause the 'Inspect' option on ore boxes to cut off words if the chat character limit was reached.

patch 24 February 2020 (Update):
- Fixed an issue in which the contents of an ore box was being deposited into a player's inventory if the box had previously been placed into a full bank upon death.

patch 22 July 2019 (Update):
- The Ore Box tooltip has been adjusted to stop visual clipping when using a large variety of ores.

patch 18 February 2019 (Update):
- An ore box can now be used on a deposit box, in a similar fashion to a (spirit) gem bag or coal bag, to empty the ore box's contents into your bank without depositing the ore box.

patch 14 January 2019 (Update):
- It is now no longer possible to fill ore boxes when you have multiple of them on you.

patch 4 February 2019 (Update):
- No longer autofill noted ores - you can still use the noted ores on the ore box to store them if you wish.

patch 28 January 2019 (Update):
- There is now a warning when attempting to alch or disassemble them.
- Smithing and ore boxes are no longer allowed in New Varrock.

patch 21 January 2019 (Update):
- Players will no longer be able to remove pickaxes from their toolbelts while in New Varrock.

patch 7 January 2019 (Update):
- You can make an ore box using the smithing skill. Depending on its upgrade level, it can store up to 100 of each ore.