How to Farm Clay in 7 Days to Die (Plus Every Recipe)

Clay Soil might look like the most boring block in 7 Days to Die, but the moment you start crafting anything past a wooden club, it shows up everywhere. Cooking Pots, Steel Arrowheads, Wrought Iron Fences, and most of the late-game forge tree all demand a steady stash. This guide covers where to dig, what to dig with, and exactly how much clay each recipe wants from you.

Where to Find Clay Soil

Clay Soil is dug straight out of the ground with a Shovel. Since Alpha 17, you will not find it scattered around biomes as loose surface deposits anymore, so digging is the only reliable method.

The cheapest entry point is the Stone Shovel, which costs almost nothing to put together:

• 5x Small Stone
• 3x Plant Fibers
• 3x Wood

That gets you swinging in the first hour of a fresh save. From there, the priority is upgrading the shovel's quality tier as soon as the parts roll in. A higher tier shovel does more damage per swing, which translates directly into more Clay Soil per stamina point.

Mods Worth Slotting

Once your shovel has mod slots open, two attachments pull serious weight for any clay run:

• Ergonomic Grip Mod: cuts stamina cost per swing by 10%, letting you mine longer between food breaks.
• Grave Digger Mod: adds 15% extra damage against dirt blocks, which is exactly what Clay Soil counts as.

Stack both and your shovel suddenly feels like a different tool.

Clay Crafting Recipes

Below is the full list of items that consume Clay Soil. Stockpile aggressively before tackling the late-game forge tree, since a single Crucible chews through nearly a thousand units on its own.

• Anvil: 1000x Iron, 100x Clay Soil
• Buckshot: 3x Lead, 1x Clay Soil
• Bullet Casing: 5x Brass, 1x Clay Soil
• Bullet Tip: 2x Lead, 1x Clay Soil
• Bulletproof Glass: 110x Crushed Sand, 10x Small Stone, 40x Lead, 20x Iron, 20x Clay Soil
• Cobblestone Rocks: 1x Small Stone, 1x Clay Soil
• Cooking Grill: 25x Iron, 5x Clay Soil
• Cooking Pot: 25x Iron, 5x Clay Soil
• Crucible: 100x Forged Iron, 20x Mechanical Parts, 1,200x Small Stone, 20x Oil, 900x Clay Soil
• Farm Plot: 4x Wood, 10x Rotting Flesh, 25x Nitrate Powder, 100x Clay Soil
• Forged Iron: 10x Iron, 5x Clay Soil
• Forged Steel: 20x Iron, 10x Clay Soil
• Glass Block: 14x Crushed Sand, 5x Lead, 2x Clay Soil
• Industrial Glass Centered: 14x Crushed Sand, 5x Lead, 2x Clay Soil
• Industrial Glass 2 Centered: 14x Crushed Sand, 5x Lead, 2x Clay Soil
• Iron Arrowhead: 2x Iron, 1x Clay Soil
• Iron Bars: 100x Iron, 20x Clay Soil
• Iron Dart: 3x Iron, 1x Clay Soil
• Mushroom Spore Seed: 5x Mushrooms, 2x Clay Soil
• Nails: 1x Iron, 1x Clay Soil
• Potted Plant: 4x Plant Fibers, 8x Clay Soil
• Rocket Casing: 50x Iron, 30x Clay Soil
• Rocket Tip: 50x Lead, 30x Clay Soil
• Short Iron Pipe: 10x Iron, 5x Clay Soil
• Shotgun Breaching Slug: 3x Forged Steel, 2x Clay Soil, 4x Gun Powder, 1x Scrap Polymers
• Steel Arrowhead: 5x Iron, 1x Clay Soil
• Wrought Iron Fence: 15x Iron, 1x Clay Soil

Heads up: several of the higher-end recipes require the Forge with a Crucible attachment installed before they unlock.