Gold Shards Guide: How to Earn and Spend Them (2026)

Short answer: Gold Shards are the rare PvE currency on Complex Gaming (hub.mc-complex.com). You earn them in each game mode's PvE area (Pharaoh's Tomb on Skyblock, Skull Island on Prison, the Dragon's Dojo on Survival, and the Lightzone and Darkzone on Factions) and spend them on backpack upgrades, Hidden Treasure, PvP Beacons, exclusive tags and more at the Shard Merchant or Golden Merchant. Gold Shards are contraband, so you drop them if you die in a PvE area (and anywhere on Factions), and they're wiped every season. You can trade them with other players on the Auction House.

What are Gold Shards?​

Gold Shards are a rare currency item on Complex Gaming's Skyblock, Prison, Survival and Factions servers. Unlike money or GC, they aren't a balance: each shard is a gold nugget item in your inventory that stacks to 64. They come from the PvE side of every game mode, and they buy the best PvE items and upgrades on the server.

• Each game mode has its own Gold Shards. Shards you earn on Skyblock stay on Skyblock, and the same goes for every other mode.
• They're contraband. If you die in a PvE area, your Gold Shards drop, including the ones stored in your backpack or in shulker boxes. On Factions, keep inventory is off, so you drop them anywhere you die. Combat logging drops them too.
• Shulker boxes count. Shards inside shulker boxes in your inventory can be spent at merchants and on upgrades, so you don't have to unpack them first.
• You can trade them. Buy and sell Gold Shards with other players on the Auction House (/ah, Contraband category) or request them with Item Hauls (/itemhauls). There's no way to sell them to the server for money.
• They don't carry over a reset. Gold Shards can't go in the Reset Vault, so spend them before the season ends.

Gold Shards on every game mode​

On every game mode, Gold Shards also pay for backpack upgrades, and Hidden Treasure costs 2,048 shards on every game mode (Tomb Tier 3 only on Skyblock, and 1,536 at the Raiding Outpost on Factions).

Gold Shards on Skyblock​

On Skyblock, Gold Shards come from Pharaoh's Tomb. Keep inventory is on in the Tomb, but your Gold Shards drop if you die there.
How to earn Gold Shards on Skyblock:

• Tomb mobs: every loot roll has about a 2.7% chance for shards in Tier 1, 3.0% in Tier 2 and 3.25% in Tier 3, and higher tiers drop more shards at once (up to 3).
• Treasure chests: open them with Treasure Keys from Tomb mobs for 64 to 384 shards, depending on the chest.
• Dungeon Shop: buy 64, 128 or 256 shards for 7,000, 12,000 or 17,000 Dungeon Coins.
• Tomb milestones: 40 shards in total for your first Tomb kills, chest, boss damage and pond capture, in /milestones.
• Tomb Pond Mastery: 64 shards once your island has captured the Tomb Pond 25 times.
• The Pharaoh: the boss merchant in Tier 3 trades boss heads for a daily bounty, which can be 64 or 128 shards.
• More sources: island missions (32 or 64), the Ra crate, Pharaoh's Realm skill perks, and the Rookies League (32 shards for 1st, paid into your island Shard Bank).

How to spend Gold Shards on Skyblock:

• Shard Merchants: in Tomb Tier 2 (X -1027, Z 74) and Tier 3 (X -1624, Z -17). They sell PvP Beacons (160 in Tier 2, 96 in Tier 3), Mending Glyphs (256), Reforge Glyphs (512), the Infinite Stacker Wand (2,048), the Standard Backpack (2,048), plus the Salt Tag (1,024) and Hidden Treasure (2,048) in Tier 3 only.
• Tomb Expeditions: entry costs 8 shards for Expedition 2, rising to 640 for Expedition 15 (Expedition 1 is free). You lose the fee if you die or leave.
• Island Shard Bank: deposit shards in your island menu to fuel minions and Super Hoppers. You can withdraw them again, and the bank holds 500 shards until you upgrade it with money.
• Tomb Backpack: 2,048 shards at the Tomb Armory (/tombarmory).
• Pharaoh's Realm: Realm skill perks are upgraded with Gold Shards and XP.

Full Tomb prices and drops are in the Pharaoh's Tomb Guide.

Gold Shards on Prison​

On Prison, Gold Shards come from Skull Island, which opens 20 days into each season. Keep inventory is on, but contraband like Gold Shards drops when you die there.
How to earn Gold Shards on Prison:

• Skull Island mobs: 5% for 1 shard in tier 1, 8.5% for 1 to 2 in tier 2, and 10.3% for 2 to 4 in tier 3.
• Mining: the Scavenged Shards pickaxe enchant finds shards while you mine, and the default backpack's Buccaneer's Bounty can give shards.
• Block milestones: 256 shards at 1 million blocks, 512 at 10 million and 768 at 100 million.
• Skull Island milestones: 40 shards in total, in /milestones.
• Envoys, treasure chests and ponds: Envoys give 32 to 64 shards, Skull Island treasure chests 32 to 128, and Pond Mastery 128 at your first capture and 512 at 25.
• Captain Sparrow: the boss merchant trades boss heads for a bounty that can be 128 or 320 shards.
• Crates: the Prisoner and Escapist crates can give Gold Shards.

How to spend Gold Shards on Prison:

• Shard Merchants: on Skull Island tiers 2 and 3. They sell PvP Beacons (320, tier 2 only), Silver Tickets (256), Mending Glyphs (256), Reforge Glyphs (512), Stacker Wands (512), 1h Private Mine Vouchers (1,024), the Paprika Tag (2,048) and Hidden Treasure (2,048).
• Skull Backpack: 64 shards from the Skull Armory NPC at spawn (/skullarmory).
• Prestige pickaxe skins: 2,048 shards each in /skins.
• Gang Private Mines: 15 minutes in your gang's private mine costs 128 shards, or as little as 32 with the Gold Shard Cost gang upgrade.

Every Prison price is in the Prison Gold Shards Guide.

Gold Shards on Survival​

On Survival, Gold Shards come from the Dragon's Dojo. Entry is free: /warp dojo takes you to the Shogun at spawn, and you click him to fly in. Keep inventory is on in the Dojo, but your Gold Shards drop if you die there.
How to earn Gold Shards on Survival:

• Dojo mobs: every kill has a 7.69% chance to drop a shard, and every hit on a Dojo mob has a small extra chance to swindle one.
• Runes: Swindled Shards works on any mob on Survival, and Scavenged Shards finds shards in natural ores.
• Samurai Stash: Dojo treasure chests can give about 33 to 128 shards.
• Dojo milestones: 34 shards in total, in /milestones.
• Dragon Tamer: the boss merchant (X 74, Y 88, Z -50) can pay 20 or 40 shards for a boss head.
• Guilds and farming: guild missions can reward 16 to 128 shards, and the Dojo farming perks give 1 to 3 shards per proc.

How to spend Gold Shards on Survival:

• Golden Merchant: in the Dojo at X 56, Y 88, Z -33. It sells Gold Coins (64), Silver Tickets (64), Mending Glyphs (256), Reforge Glyphs (512), Stacker Wands (512), the Cardamom Tag (2,048) and Hidden Treasure (2,048).
• Claim Shard Bank: deposit shards in your claim menu to fuel Super Hoppers. It holds 500 shards until you upgrade it with money.
• Dojo farming perks: the farming NPCs upgrade your perks for Gold Shards plus money.

There's no backpack shop on Survival, since the Dojo Backpack drops from Dojo mobs. More in the Dragon's Dojo Guide.

Gold Shards on Factions​

On Factions, the best Gold Shard sources are events and outposts, not mobs. Keep inventory is off on every Factions world except Daily Warzone, so your shards drop wherever you die.
How to earn Gold Shards on Factions:

• Raiding Outpost: once your faction has held the Raiding Outpost for 24 hours, one member can claim its daily rewards, which include 512 Gold Shards.
• Daily Warzone: loot gives 6 to 256 shards depending on the tier you find.
• Warzone KoTH: the faction holding the KoTH outpost gets 8 shards every 5 minutes.
• Drop Crates and Envoys: Drop Crates give 16 to 32 shards per shard reward, and Envoys give 32 or 64.
• Darkzone and Lightzone: mobs rarely drop 1 to 2 shards (Darkzone 0.33%, rising each week to 0.5%), and Darkzone event bosses have better odds.
• Raid Camps and milestones: some Raid Camps give shards for a first clear, and each faction farming milestone gives 64.

How to spend Gold Shards on Factions:

• Golden Merchant (Lightzone Tier 3): Stacker Wand (320), Darkzone Backpack (1,472), Tumeric Tag (2,048) and Hidden Treasure (2,048).
• Golden Merchant (Raiding Outpost): the same items 25% cheaper, but only for the faction that owns the Raiding Outpost (/routpost), and the member needs the Golden Merchant faction permission.
• Chunk loaders: 3 shards per hour to keep a chunk loader running (/f chunkloader).
• Raid Camp replays: 64 shards per loot replay, and 128 to 512 shards to raise your daily replay limit. See How to Raid in Factions.
• Backpacks: Factions backpack upgrades cost half as many shards as other modes.

How to get more Gold Shards​

• Play on Sundays: every game mode gives +5% Gold Shards on Sundays, and Plus members get it on Saturdays too.
• Upgrade your backpack: backpacks pick up shard drops automatically, and PvE backpack levels raise your loot bonus. See the Backpack Guide.
• Use a Gold Coin: it boosts your Swindled Shards chance for 30 minutes (60 on Prison).
• Gold Shard Boosters: a personal Gold Shard Booster raises your shard drops while it runs.
• Hold a pond: on Prison and Skyblock, the gang or island holding a Skull Island or Tomb pond gets extra loot luck on that tier's mobs.

Gold Shard runes and enchants:
Seasonal crates also bring runes that give Gold Shards. Check /warp infuser for the current crate runes.

How to keep your Gold Shards safe​

• Don't carry a big stack into PvE: anything you're holding (and anything in your backpack) drops if you die. Leave the shards you aren't spending in a chest or vault.
• Spend or bank them often: on Skyblock and Survival, putting shards in your Shard Bank keeps them safe and puts them to work.
• Don't combat log: logging out in combat drops your contraband.
• Spend them before the reset: shards can't go in the Reset Vault, so anything left at the end of the season is gone.
• Check the Auction House first: if you need a few hundred shards for an upgrade, /ah can be faster than farming them.

Gold Shards FAQ​

What are Gold Shards used for on Complex Gaming?​

How do you get Gold Shards fast?​

Do you lose Gold Shards when you die?​

Can you trade or sell Gold Shards?​

Do Gold Shards reset?​

Where is the Shard Merchant?​

Can I spend Gold Shards that are in a shulker box?​