What is the rarest smithing template in Minecraft?

The Silence armor trim, found only in ancient city chests at a low chance. The Flow trim is also rare, since it only drops from ominous vaults in trial chambers.

Do smithing templates make armor stronger?

Armor trims do not — they are purely cosmetic. Only the netherite upgrade template improves gear, by turning diamond items into netherite.

How many times can you use one smithing template?

Once. A template is consumed when applied, but you can duplicate it beforehand using the template, its matching block and seven diamonds in a crafting table.

Where do you find the netherite upgrade template?

In bastion remnants in the Nether. One is guaranteed in the chests on the central platform of the treasure room, and others can appear in bastion chests generally.

Minecraft Smithing Templates: How to Find and Use Them

Smithing templates quietly changed two big things about Minecraft: netherite is no longer something you simply craft, and armor is no longer doomed to look identical on every player. Here is how the whole system works.

Two Kinds of Template

The upgrade template — one single template, found in bastion remnants. It is the only way to turn diamond armor, tools and weapons into netherite. No template, no netherite, which makes it one of the most valuable finds in the game.
Armor trim templates — 18 different patterns that stamp a decorative design onto a piece of armor. Trims are purely cosmetic; they change how gear looks, never how it performs.

Both look like small stone tablets etched with a symbol hinting at where they belong.

Where Every Template Spawns

Each trim lives in exactly one kind of structure, which turns collecting them all into a genuine world tour:

Template	Location
Netherite Upgrade	Bastion Remnant (guaranteed in the treasure room)
Sentry	Pillager Outpost
Dune	Desert Pyramid
Coast	Shipwreck
Wild	Jungle Temple
Tide	Ocean Monument
Ward	Ancient City
Vex	Woodland Mansion
Rib	Nether Fortress
Snout	Bastion Remnant
Eye	Stronghold
Spire	End City
Silence	Ancient City
Wayfinder, Raiser, Shaper, Host	Trail Ruins
Bolt, Flow	Trial Chambers (Flow only from ominous vaults)

The rarest of the set is generally agreed to be Silence, which hides in ancient city chests at a very low rate. The netherite upgrade, at least, is guaranteed in a bastion's central treasure platform — bring your best gear and a plan for the piglin brutes.

How to Duplicate a Template

Templates are consumed on use, which would make a full set of trimmed armor painfully expensive — so duplicate first. The recipe is the same shape for every template:

Place the template in the centre cell of the top row of a crafting table.
Place its matching material block directly beneath it (for example, cobblestone for some trims, terracotta for the trail ruins designs — each trim has its own partner block).
Fill the remaining seven cells with diamonds.

Seven diamonds per copy stings, but it converts a one-off find into a permanent pattern library.

How to Use a Template at the Smithing Table

Open the smithing table and put the template in the leftmost slot.
Put the armor piece or diamond item in the middle slot. Silhouettes show what the template can accept.
Add the material in the right slot: a netherite ingot for the upgrade template, or a colour material for trims.
Take the finished item; the template is consumed.

The 10 Trim Colours

Trim patterns are coloured by the material you add, giving ten options: iron (light grey), copper (orange), gold (yellow), lapis lazuli (blue), emerald (green), diamond (cyan), netherite (dark grey-black), redstone (red), amethyst (purple) and quartz (white). The same trim in different materials on different armor pieces makes a full matching set — or a deliberately mismatched one, which is half the fun.

Do Templates Make Armor Stronger?

Only one of them does. Armor trims are decoration, full stop — a trimmed chestplate blocks exactly as much damage as a plain one. The netherite upgrade is the exception: it genuinely upgrades diamond gear into netherite, with the higher stats, knockback resistance and lava immunity that come with it.