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. # Gold Nugget 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 27 October 2026. *For the smaller piece of gold, see [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk).* The Gold Nugget is a treasure in Spelunky Classic worth $500 in the Mines and more deeper down, found in rich gold veins, Jars and graves. ![A lump of gold with a bright highlight](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/60545f62383bb75b/sprites/sGoldNugget/frames/0%404x.png) | Gold Nugget | | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Value | $500[^1] | | Object | `oGoldNugget` | | Found in | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) (In the rock's rich gold veins)[^2], [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) (In the rock's rich gold veins)[^3], [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) (In the rock's rich gold veins)[^4], Olmec's Lair (In the rock's gold veins)[^5], City of Gold (In every block)[^4], Graveyard level | | Dropped by | [Jar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar), [Monkey](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/monkey) | It's the bigger of the two loose pieces of gold, five times a [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk)'s worth and as much as a [Gold Bar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-bar). Many come out of rock: a rich gold vein, broken open by a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb), a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock) or a boulder, spills three chunks and one nugget. The player collects one by touching it. ## Value A nugget's base value is $500, and it's worth a quarter of that more for each area past the Mines, the code counting Olmec's Lair as an area of its own[^6][^7]: | Area | Value | | --------------------------------------------------- | ------ | | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) | $500 | | [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle) | $625 | | [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) | $750 | | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | $875 | | Olmec's Lair | $1,000 | ## Locations - **Rich gold veins.** Each block of rock in [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines), [the Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), [the Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) and [the Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) (and Olmec's Lair) is a gold vein 19 times in 100 and a rich one, with more gold showing, 10 times in 100[^8][^9][^10][^11]. Destroyed, a rich vein lets out three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) and a nugget; a plain vein only the chunks[^12]. - **The City of Gold**: its blocks are gold, and each one destroyed lets out three chunks and a nugget[^4][^13]. - **[Jars](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar)**: a broken Jar holds one 1 in 6 times, once its 1 in 3 roll for a Gold Chunk fails[^14]. - **Graves.** On a Jungle graveyard level (the Restless Dead), a grave that isn't the ash grave, with no treasure under it already, has a 1 in 2 chance of a nugget buried in the block beneath it[^15]. - **A Shopkeeper's death**: one who dies leaves one to four nuggets, except in the Stars room, a bonus room off the high-score room[^16]. - **A [Monkey](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/monkey)** clinging to the player sometimes takes a nugget's worth of his money and throws it out as a nugget, which can't be collected for its first 20 steps[^17][^18][^19]. The level editor has no tile for one, and its blocks hold no gold: it sets each block's look back to plain rock after the block has rolled for its vein[^20]. ## Collecting **Clip: Shopkeeper's gold nuggets.** A bomb the player set down kills a shopkeeper in his shop and costs the player a heart. The shopkeeper leaves four gold nuggets on the floor; the player walks over two of them, and his money counts up by $1,000 while he throws another bomb up at the ceiling. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/60545f62383bb75b/clips/gold-nugget/shopkeeper/clip.mp4)) The player collects a nugget by touching it while he isn't stunned or dead; the one he takes is the treasure nearest him[^21]. Its value shows as "+500" under his money and, after a short pause, is counted into it a hundred dollars a step[^22][^23]; whatever is left is counted at once when he leaves the level[^24]. Gold plays the coin sound, where a gem plays its own[^25], and the screen between levels shows each nugget collected on the level[^26]. In the clip, a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb) the player set down kills a Shopkeeper, who leaves four nuggets; the player walks over two of them and his money counts up by $1,000[^27]. A loose nugget falls and comes to rest like other treasure, moving only while it's on the screen, and lava it sinks into destroys it[^28]. ## Trivia - The gold veins' code has an object for a nugget-and-chunks lump of gold in the rock, `oGoldBig`, but nothing in the game makes one[^29][^30]. - A nugget's own create event makes it collectable at once; its alarm, which does the same, only matters for the Monkey's, which turns that off for 20 steps[^31][^19]. ## FAQ ### How much is a Gold Nugget worth in Spelunky Classic? $500 in the Mines, $625 in the Jungle, $750 in the Ice Caves and $875 in the Temple and $1,000 in Olmec's Lair: a quarter of its value more for each area past the first. ### Where do you find Gold Nuggets in Spelunky Classic? Inside rock: one block in ten is a rich gold vein that breaks into three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) and a nugget, and the blocks of the City of Gold do the same. [Jars](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar) hold them, graves in the Jungle's graveyards hide them, and a killed Shopkeeper leaves one to four. ### What's the difference between a Gold Nugget and a Gold Chunk in Spelunky Classic? The nugget is worth five times as much: $500 against the chunk's $100 in the Mines. A rich gold vein holds both, three chunks and a nugget. ### Do Shopkeepers drop gold in Spelunky Classic? Yes. A Shopkeeper who dies leaves one to four Gold Nuggets, free to collect. ## See also - **Related:** [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk), [Gold Bar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-bar) ## References [^1]: `objects/oGoldNugget/create.gml:6` [^2]: `objects/oBrick/destroy.gml:18-29` [^3]: `objects/oDark/destroy.gml:19-30` [^4]: `objects/oTemple/destroy.gml:21-32` [^5]: `scripts/scrRoomGen5.gml:186-189` [^6]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1996` [^7]: `scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:24-29` [^8]: `objects/oBrick/create.gml:7-9` [^9]: `objects/oLush/create.gml:5-8` [^10]: `objects/oDark/create.gml:3-8` [^11]: `objects/oTemple/create.gml:5-9` [^12]: `objects/oBrick/destroy.gml:9-29` [^13]: `objects/oBlock/destroy.gml:13-24` [^14]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:17-18` [^15]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:187-198` [^16]: `objects/oShopkeeper/step.gml:487-498` [^17]: `objects/oMonkey/step.gml:199` [^18]: `objects/oMonkey/step.gml:230-241` [^19]: `objects/oGoldNugget/alarm_0.gml:1` [^20]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:36-40` [^21]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1990-2016` [^22]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1953-1971` [^23]: `scripts/scrDrawHUD.gml:183` [^24]: `objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml:46-50` [^25]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:2000-2014` [^26]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:47-52` [^27]: Clip gold-nugget/shopkeeper [^28]: `objects/oTreasure/step.gml:1-79` [^29]: `objects/oGoldBig/destroy.gml:1-10` [^30]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^31]: `objects/oGoldNugget/create.gml:6-7` ### Source code - `objects/oGoldNugget/create.gml` - `objects/oGoldNugget/alarm_0.gml` - `objects/oTreasure/create.gml` - `objects/oTreasure/step.gml` - `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml` - `objects/oBrick/create.gml` - `objects/oBrick/destroy.gml` - `objects/oShopkeeper/step.gml` - `objects/oMonkey/step.gml` - `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml`