Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # Emerald From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 28 October 2026. *For the bigger gem, see [Big Emerald](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-emerald).* The Emerald is a small gem in Spelunky Classic worth $200 in the Mines and more deeper down, found only in Chests. ![A tiny round green gem with a yellow glint](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/06c990e56f8ec86f/sprites/sEmerald/frames/0%404x.png) | Emerald | | | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Value | $200[^1] | | Object | `oEmerald` | | Found in | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) (In Chests)[^2], [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle) (In Chests)[^2], [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) (In Chests)[^2], [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) (In Chests)[^2], [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair) (In Chests)[^2], [City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold) (In Chests)[^2], Tutorial (In its Chest)[^2] | | Dropped by | [Chest](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest) | It's the cheapest of the gems, one of the three small ones a [Chest](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest) holds with the [Sapphire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sapphire) and the [Ruby](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ruby), and worth half as much as either. Like every gem, it can't be collected until a moment after it appears; then the player collects it by touching it. ## Value An Emerald's base value is $200, and it's worth a quarter of that more for each area past the Mines, the code counting [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair) as an area of its own[^3][^4]: | Area | Value | | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) | $200 | | [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle) | $250 | | [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) | $300 | | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | $350 | | [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair) | $400 | ## Locations Emeralds come only out of [Chests](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest). Opened, a Chest that isn't a trap spills 3–4 small gems, each an Emerald, a Sapphire or a Ruby, one chance in three[^2]; one Chest in twelve, outside the Tutorial, holds a lit [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb) instead[^5]. Nothing else in the game makes one: level generation, the monsters and the level editor make only the big gems[^6]. ## Collecting **Clip: Chest opened.** The player stands at a chest and presses up and the attack key. The lid opens and four gems spill out, an emerald, a sapphire and two rubies, which he walks over and collects. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/06c990e56f8ec86f/clips/chest/open/clip.mp4)) A new Emerald can't be collected: the code all treasure shares starts it uncollectable, and the gem's own alarm makes it collectable 20 steps (0.67 seconds) after it appears[^7][^8][^9]. Gold out of the rock has no such wait[^10]. After that, the player collects it by touching it while he isn't stunned or dead[^11]. He takes one treasure a step, the one nearest him, and only if that one can be collected[^12]. So a gem fresh out of a Chest that lies nearer him than another treasure he touches holds the other back too, until its wait is over: the same nearest pick as the [nearest-enemy hits](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/nearest-enemy)[^13]. In the clip, a Chest opens into an Emerald, a Sapphire and two Rubies at the player's feet. He stands among them, collecting nothing, for 20 steps; then he takes one a step, a Ruby, the Sapphire, the other Ruby and last the Emerald[^14]. Its value shows under his money and is counted into it after a short pause; whatever is left is counted at once when he leaves the level[^15][^16]. A gem plays its own sound, where gold plays the coin's[^17], and the screen between levels shows each Emerald collected on the level[^18]. A loose Emerald falls and comes to rest like other treasure, moving only while it's on the screen; a [Web](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/web) it falls into holds it, and lava it sinks into destroys it[^19][^20]. ## Trivia - Each kind of gem collected is counted in a tally of its own (`global.emeralds` for the Emerald), which only the screen between levels reads, counting it back down as it draws the level's loot[^21][^22]. ## FAQ ### How much is an Emerald worth in Spelunky Classic? $200 in the Mines, $250 in the Jungle, $300 in the Ice Caves, $350 in the Temple and $400 in Olmec's Lair: the least of the gems, half a [Sapphire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sapphire)'s or a [Ruby](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ruby)'s worth. ### Where do you find Emeralds in Spelunky Classic? Only in [Chests](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest). An opened Chest spills three or four small gems, each an Emerald, a Sapphire or a Ruby at even odds, unless it's one of the one in twelve that hold a lit bomb. ### Why can't I pick up an Emerald in Spelunky Classic? A new Emerald can't be collected for its first 20 steps (0.67 seconds), so the gems out of a Chest stay at the player's feet a moment before he takes them, one a step. ### What's the difference between an Emerald and a Big Emerald in Spelunky Classic? The [Big Emerald](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-emerald) is worth four times as much, $800 in the Mines, and is found in rock, on the ground and in Jars; the small Emerald only comes out of Chests. ## See also - **Related:** [Sapphire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sapphire), [Ruby](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ruby), [Big Emerald](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-emerald) ## References [^1]: [`objects/oEmerald/create.gml:8`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oEmerald/create#L8) [^2]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:580-593`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L580-L593) [^3]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1996`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1996) [^4]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:24-29`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L24-L29) [^5]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:568-579`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L568-L579) [^6]: [`scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:269-284`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrCreateTileObj#L269-L284) [^7]: [`objects/oTreasure/create.gml:10`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTreasure/create#L10) [^8]: [`objects/oEmerald/create.gml:7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oEmerald/create#L7) [^9]: [`objects/oEmerald/alarm_0.gml:1`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oEmerald/alarm_0#L1) [^10]: [`objects/oGoldChunk/create.gml:8`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGoldChunk/create#L8) [^11]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1990-2016`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1990-L2016) [^12]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1990-1993`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1990-L1993) [^13]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^14]: Clip chest/open [^15]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1953-1971`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1953-L1971) [^16]: [`objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml:46-50`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end#L46-L50) [^17]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:2000-2014`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L2000-L2014) [^18]: [`objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:29-34`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/alarm_0#L29-L34) [^19]: [`objects/oTreasure/step.gml:1-79`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTreasure/step#L1-L79) [^20]: [`objects/oWeb/collision_oTreasure.gml:1-2`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oWeb/collision_oTreasure#L1-L2) [^21]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:2006-2012`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L2006-L2012) [^22]: [`objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:29-88`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/alarm_0#L29-L88) ### Source code - [`objects/oEmerald/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oEmerald/create) - [`objects/oEmerald/alarm_0.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oEmerald/alarm_0) - [`objects/oTreasure/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTreasure/create) - [`objects/oTreasure/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTreasure/step) - [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step) - [`objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/alarm_0)