Copper armor and tools will be introduced in Minecraft with the upcoming copper update, providing a sturdier alternative to stone gear. Copper tools and armor have better durability and mining speed than stone but are less effective than iron. Copper ore is easier to acquire than iron, yielding double the resources per block. Copper tools can mine basic materials but cannot mine valuable resources like redstone, gold, diamonds, or emeralds. A full copper armor set offers 5 armor points, less than the 7.5 points of iron armor, and requires 24 ingots to craft. Players may prefer to use leather armor while saving iron for essential items. The copper update is currently available in Minecraft Bedrock Edition and will be included in future Java snapshots.