Pharaoh's Tomb Guide: Tiers, Expeditions, Bosses and Gold Shards (2026)

Short answer: The Pharaoh's Tomb is the PvE area on Complex Skyblock (hub.mc-complex.com). Go there with /warp tomb and kill custom Egyptian mobs and bosses for diamonds, Gold Shards, spawners, rune tomes, Tomb gear and rare Angelic items. It opens 14 days after each season starts and has 3 tiers. Tier 1 is open to everyone. To unlock Tier 2, clear Tomb Expeditions 1 to 5 and get 20,000 Tier 1 kills. To unlock Tier 3, clear Expeditions 6 to 10 and get 50,000 Tier 2 kills. Tiers 2 and 3 also need a weekly pass from /tomb. You keep your gear when you die, but contraband like Gold Shards drops.

How to get to the Tomb​

• Type /warp tomb, or step on the Tomb catapult pad at spawn next to the Mummy Warrior.
• Type /tomb to open the Pharaoh's Tomb menu, where you can see your tier progress, buy weekly passes and open Expeditions, the Tomb Armory and Sprees.
• On your first visit, you can play Expedition 1, a free tutorial that gives you your first backpack.
• Catapult pads inside the Tomb take you between tiers.
• Leave through a Tomb Exit portal or with a Silver Ticket.

Inside the Tomb you can't use commands like /tp, /spawn, /home, /fly, /warp, /ah or /trade. Elytra and ender pearls don't work, and chests can't be opened.

Tomb tiers and how to unlock them​

• Buy a pass from the /tomb menu or with /buytombpass 2 or /buytombpass 3. Plus members get 25% off.
• A pass lasts 7 days of active Tomb time. Its time only runs down while you're in that tier.
• Kills only count toward an unlock in the tier you're fighting in, and Expedition kills don't count.
• If another player kills you in Tier 2 or 3, you can't go back to that tier for 5 minutes.

Tomb loot and drops​

Every Tomb kill rolls for loot twice, and Tier 3 kills have a 50% chance of a third roll. Drops go straight into your backpack if you have one on.
Tiers 2 and 3 also drop Tomb Swords, and every tier can drop pouches, Tomb Rune Tomes, Zombie and Skeleton Spawners, money and EXP boosters, Totems of Undying, Mending books, Pharaoh's Realm artifacts and very rare Angelic items.

• Tomb runes: Tomb Rune Tomes only drop in the Tomb. Their runes, like Insatiable Greed (more Tomb loot) and Bane of the Dark (more damage to Tomb mobs), only work in the Tomb.
• Angelic items: rare timed gear (swords, axes, tools, armor, crossbows and backpacks) that lasts a few hours to a few days. They're contraband.
• Better luck: a backpack gives a chance at an extra roll per kill (3% per level for a Standard Backpack, 3.75% for other backpacks), and the Insatiable Greed rune raises your drop luck.
• Crossbows: kills with a crossbow in either hand get 40% worse drop odds.
• Sundays: Gold Shard drops are 5% bigger, and Plus members also get this on Saturdays.

You can also buy starter Tomb gear and a Standard Backpack from the Tomb Armory at spawn (/tombarmory).

Gold Shards and contraband​

Gold Shards are the Tomb's currency. Spend them on:

• Expedition entry fees
• Backpack level upgrades
• The Shard Merchants in Tier 2 (X: -1027, Z: 74) and Tier 3 (X: -1624, Z: -17)
• A Standard Backpack (2,048 Gold Shards)
• Your island's Gold Shard bank, which fuels minions and super hoppers

The Shard Merchants sell Kahk Cookies, Pharaoh's Grog, Gold Coins, Silver Tickets, Ancient Acid, PvP Beacons, Lodestones, Mending and Reforge Glyphs, Elevator Blocks, End Portal Frames, Infinite Stacker Wands and Standard Backpacks. The Tier 3 merchant also sells Hidden Treasures, which raise a rune on your item by 1 level, even past its max.

Tomb Expeditions​

Expeditions are solo arenas where you fight waves of Tomb mobs and then a boss before time runs out. Open them with /expeditions or from the /tomb menu. You have to start from outside the Tomb, and you have to clear each Expedition before the next one opens.

• Failing: dying, leaving, logging off or running out of time fails the run, and you lose the entry fee. You keep your items.
• Replays: you can replay any Expedition for a better time, but first clear rewards are given once per season. They reset every new season, so you can earn them again.
• Weekly races (11 to 15): the fastest clear each week becomes that Expedition's champion and picks one island to get a Sell Portal value boost for the next week: +1% for Expedition 11, up to +2% for Expedition 15. Records reset every Monday at midnight Eastern.
• Champion handicap: for each other weekly race you already hold first place in, your attempt gets mobs with 20% more health and damage.

Tomb bosses​

Bosses spawn in the Tomb at 30 minutes past the hour, every 3 to 4 hours, and every hour on Sundays. Type /bosses to see when the next one spawns and where the live ones are.
Scheduled spawns are Easy or Medium bosses. Hard bosses come from The Pharaoh's head trade and from Boss Beacons, which can summon a boss of any difficulty with 3 times the health.

• Rewards: the top 3 players by damage each get rolls of the Tomb loot pool with boosted luck, money (up to $75M for 1st on a Hard boss) and a chance at a crate key.
• Boss heads: bosses have a 50% chance to drop their head. The Pharaoh, the boss merchant in Tier 3, asks for one specific Easy or Medium boss head and summons a Hard boss in return. Stand within 5 blocks of him and type /bossmerchant. His trades change every 24 hours.
• Stuck boss: stand within 64 blocks of a boss's spawn point and type /unstuckboss to call it back.

Treasure chests​

Treasure chests spawn on a shared timer, 1 to 2 hours after the last round. Each Tomb tier and the Pharaoh's Realm gets its own chest, and once any chest runs out of uses, they're all cleared and the timer starts again. Type /treasurechests to see their status, and use a Lodestone from the Shard Merchant to find the chest on your tier.

• Rare chests spawn in Tier 1, Epic in Tier 2, Legendary in Tier 3 and Mythic in the Pharaoh's Realm. Each needs its matching Treasure Key.
• Each player can open a chest once, and you can't open it with another player within 12 blocks.
• You can only carry one Treasure Key into the Tomb.
• Chests give Gold Shards or a timed Pharaoh's tool (sword, axe, pickaxe, hoe or fishing rod). Mythic chests can also give a Minion Implant.

Tomb Sprees​

Type /tombspree to see your 3 daily Tomb quests, like killing a set number of one mob or collecting Gold Shards. Finish them in order to earn a drop luck boost: +5% for 30 minutes, +10% for 33 minutes or +15% for 36 minutes. You can claim one boost a day, and Sprees reset at midnight Eastern.

PvP and events in the Tomb​

• PvP: in any tier, two players who are both combat tagged can fight. In Tiers 2 and 3, PvP also turns on near PvP Beacons, near bosses summoned with a Boss Beacon and around unclaimed ponds, and in Tier 3 during Last Man Standing. PvP Beacons can be placed in Tiers 2 and 3.
• Tomb Domination: every hour at :15 in Tier 3, islands race to capture the flag 5 times. Each member of the winning island who played gets $1M and a random Angelic item, and everyone else who played gets $250,000.
• Hourly Tomb event: every hour at :30, either a Treasure Hunt (loot chests across the tiers) or Last Man Standing in Tier 3, where the players still standing at the end get 50 rolls of Tomb loot.

For PvP Teams, ponds and PvP Top, see our Skyblock PvP Guide.

The Tomb and your island​

• Island levels: island levels 15, 20, 30 and 50 need Tomb kills from your island, and Tomb kills count double on Sundays. See the Skyblock Island Level Guide.
• Island missions: Kill Tomb Mobs and Fight Tomb Bosses missions show up while the Tomb is open, and Collect Gold Shards missions show up anytime.
• Jobs: the Slaying job pays $1,000 for every Tomb mob.
• Milestones: /milestones has Tomb milestones with money, Gold Shards and Tomb Tomes.

Tomb FAQ​

How do you get to the Pharaoh's Tomb?​

How do you unlock Tomb Tier 2 and Tier 3?​

Do you lose your items when you die in the Tomb?​

What are Gold Shards used for?​

What are Tomb Expeditions?​

When do Tomb bosses spawn?​

Is there PvP in the Pharaoh's Tomb?​