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Label Element Value
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading Global Hard Assets Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Global Hard Assets Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in hard asset securities.
Objective, Secondary [Text Block] rr_ObjectiveSecondaryTextBlock

Income is a secondary consideration.

Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading FUND FEES AND EXPENSES
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for Class A sales charge discounts if you and your family (includes spouse and children under age 21) invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000, in the aggregate, in Classes A and C of the Van Eck Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the “Shareholder Information” section of the Fund’s prospectus and in the “Availability of Discounts” and “Breakpoint Linkage Rules for Discounts” sections of the Fund’s SAI.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination 2014-05-01
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate that the Fund pays higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 27% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 27.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Expense Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either redeem all of your shares at the end of these periods or continue to hold them. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual expenses may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption Sold
Expense Example, No Redemption, By Year, Caption [Text] rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionByYearCaption Held
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

Under normal conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of “hard asset” companies and instruments that derive their value from “hard assets”. Hard assets include precious metals (including gold), base and industrial metals, energy, natural resources and other commodities. A hard assets company is a company that derives, directly or indirectly, at least 50% of its revenues from exploration, development, production, distribution or facilitation of processes relating to hard assets. The Fund concentrates its investments in the securities of hard assets companies and instruments that derive their value from hard assets. The Fund is considered to be “non-diversified” which means that it may invest a larger portion of its assets in a single issuer.


The Fund may invest without limitation in any one hard asset sector and is not required to invest any portion of its assets in any one hard asset sector. The Fund may invest in securities of companies located anywhere in the world, including the U.S. Under ordinary circumstances, the Fund will invest in securities of issuers from a number of different countries, and may invest any amount of its assets in emerging markets. The Fund may invest in securities of companies of any capitalization range. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures, the Fund’s investment management team selects equity securities of companies that it believes represent value opportunities and/or that have growth potential. Candidates for the Fund’s portfolio are evaluated based on their relative desirability using a wide range of criteria and are regularly reviewed to ensure that they continue to offer absolute and relative desirability.


The Fund may use derivative instruments, such as structured notes, warrants, currency forwards, futures, options and swap agreements, to gain or hedge exposure to hard assets, hard asset companies and other assets. The Fund may enter into foreign currency transactions to attempt to moderate the effect of currency fluctuations. The Fund may write covered call options on portfolio securities to the extent that the value of all securities with respect to which covered calls are written does not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net asset value. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies, including exchange- traded funds (“ETFs”). The Fund may also invest in money market funds, but these investments are not subject to this limitation. The Fund may invest in ETFs to participate in, or gain rapid exposure to, certain market sectors, or when direct investments in certain countries are not permitted.

Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading PRINCIPAL RISKS
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund’s share price and return will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund involves the risk of losing money.


Commodities and Commodity-Linked Derivatives. Exposure to the commodities markets, such as precious metals, industrial metals, gas and other energy products and natural resources, may subject a Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The commodities markets may fluctuate widely based on a variety of factors including changes in overall market movements, political and economic events and policies, war, acts of terrorism and changes in interest rates or inflation rates. Because the value of a commodity-linked derivative instrument and structured note typically are based upon the price movements of physical commodities, the value of these securities will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodities or related index of investment.


Derivatives. The use of derivatives, such as swap agreements, options, warrants, futures contracts, currency forwards and structured notes, presents risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in traditional securities. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying security, asset, index or reference rate. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing a Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. Also, a liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions and over the counter instruments may be illiquid.


Direct Investments. Direct investments may involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses. Because of the absence of any public trading market for these investments, a Fund may take longer to liquidate these positions than would be the case for publicly traded securities. Direct investments are generally considered illiquid and will be aggregated with other illiquid investments for purposes of the limitation on illiquid investments.


Emerging Markets Securities. Emerging markets securities typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under “Foreign Securities” and may be particularly sensitive to certain economic changes. Emerging markets securities are exposed to a number of risks that may make these investments volatile in price or difficult to trade.


Foreign Currency Transactions. An investment transacted in a foreign currency may lose value due to fluctuations in the rate of exchange. These fluctuations can make the return on an investment go up or down, entirely apart from the quality or performance of the investment itself.


Foreign Securities. Foreign investments are subject to greater risks than U.S. domestic investments. These additional risks may include exchange rate fluctuations and exchange controls; less publicly available information; more volatile or less liquid securities markets; and the possibility of arbitrary action by foreign governments, or political, economic or social instability. Foreign companies also may be subject to significantly higher levels of taxation than U.S. companies, including potentially confiscatory levels of taxation, thereby reducing the earnings potential of such foreign companies.


Hard Assets Sectors. The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of sectors. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation, impacting the hard assets sectors (such as the energy, metals and real estate sectors). Precious metals and natural resources securities are at times volatile and there may be sharp fluctuations in prices, even during periods of rising prices.


Investments in Other Investment Companies. A Fund’s investment in another investment company may subject the Fund indirectly to the underlying risks of the investment company. The Fund also will bear its share of the underlying investment company’s fees and expenses, which are in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses.


Market. Market risk refers to the risk that the market prices of securities that a Fund holds will rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. In general, equity securities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities.


Non-Diversification. A non-diversified fund’s greater investment in a single issuer makes the fund more susceptible to financial, economic or market events impacting such issuer. A decline in the value of or default by a single security in the non-diversified fund’s portfolio may have a greater negative effect than a similar decline or default by a single security in a diversified portfolio.


Small- and Medium-Capitalization Companies. Securities of small- and medium-sized companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than larger more established companies. The stocks of small- and medium-sized companies may have returns that vary, sometimes significantly, from the overall stock market.

Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney The Fund's share price and return will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund's portfolio securities. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund involves the risk of losing money.
Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus A non-diversified fund's greater investment in a single issuer makes the fund more susceptible to financial, economic or market events impacting such issuer. A decline in the value of or default by a single security in the non-diversified fund's portfolio may have a greater negative effect than a similar decline or default by a single security in a diversified portfolio.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading PERFORMANCE
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and one or more other performance measures. For instance, the S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index includes mining, energy, paper and forest products, and plantation-owning companies. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown.


Additionally, large purchases and/or redemptions of shares of a class, relative to the amount of assets represented by the class, may cause the annual returns for each class to differ. Updated performance information for the Fund is available on the Van Eck website at vaneck.com.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and one or more other performance measures.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress vaneck.com
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading CLASS A: Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text] rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund's Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

 

 

 

 

 

Best Quarter:

 

+24.25%

 

3Q ’05

Worst Quarter:

 

-35.78%

 

3Q ’08

Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Sep. 30, 2005
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 24.25%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Sep. 30, 2008
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (35.78%)
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate After tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred The after-tax return information shown above does not apply to Fund shares held through a tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) plan or Investment Retirement Account.
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text] rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown These returns are shown for one class of shares only; after tax-returns for the other classes may vary.
Caption rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/12
S&P® North American Natural Resources Sector Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 2.20%
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (1.51%)
10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 12.78%
S&P® 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 16.00%
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 1.66%
10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 7.10%
Class A
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice 5.75%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther none [1]
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.96%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.24%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.45%
Fees/Expenses Waived or Reimbursed rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.07%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.38%
Expense Breakpoint Discounts [Text] rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts You may qualify for Class A sales charge discounts if you and your family (includes spouse and children under age 21) invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000, in the aggregate, in Classes A and C of the Van Eck Funds.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required [Amount] rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount 25,000
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 707
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 1,001
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 1,315
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 2,205
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 707
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 1,001
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05 1,315
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10 2,205
Annual Return 2003 rr_AnnualReturn2003 42.44%
Annual Return 2004 rr_AnnualReturn2004 22.87%
Annual Return 2005 rr_AnnualReturn2005 48.72%
Annual Return 2006 rr_AnnualReturn2006 22.86%
Annual Return 2007 rr_AnnualReturn2007 42.62%
Annual Return 2008 rr_AnnualReturn2008 (44.68%)
Annual Return 2009 rr_AnnualReturn2009 52.46%
Annual Return 2010 rr_AnnualReturn2010 28.43%
Annual Return 2011 rr_AnnualReturn2011 (16.63%)
Annual Return 2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 2.49%
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (3.39%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (2.69%)
10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 14.81%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Nov. 02, 1994
Class A | After Taxes on Distributions
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (3.76%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (2.82%)
10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 14.30%
Class A | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (1.98%) [3]
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (2.31%) [3]
10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 13.26% [3]
Life of Class rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception    [3]
Class C
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther 1.00%
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.96%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 1.00%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.25%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.21%
Fees/Expenses Waived or Reimbursed rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.01%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 2.20%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 323
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 690
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 1,184
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 2,543
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 223
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 690
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05 1,184
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10 2,543
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 0.63%
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (2.31%)
10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 14.60%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Nov. 02, 1994
Class I
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.96%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.06%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.02%
Fees/Expenses Waived or Reimbursed rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.02%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.00%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 102
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 323
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 561
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 1,246
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 102
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 323
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05 561
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10 1,246
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 2.86%
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (1.15%)
Life of Class rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 4.70%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate May 01, 2006
Class Y
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.96%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.20%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.16%
Fees/Expenses Waived or Reimbursed rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.03%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.13%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 115
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 366
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 635
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 1,406
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 115
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 366
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05 635
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10 1,406
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 2.76%
Life of Class rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 1.27%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Apr. 30, 2010
[1] A contingent deferred sales charge for Class A shares of 1.00% for one year applies to redemptions of qualified commissionable shares purchased at or above the $1 million breakpoint level.
[2] Van Eck Associates Corporation (the "Adviser") has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, dividends and interest payments on securities sold short, taxes and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 1.38% for Class A, 2.20% for Class C, 1.00% for Class I, and 1.13% for Class Y of the Fund's average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2014. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to continue until the Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion of such expense limitation.
[3] After tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. These returns are shown for one class of shares only; after tax-returns for the other classes may vary. Actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and may differ from those shown in the preceding table. The after-tax return information shown above does not apply to Fund shares held through a tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) plan or Investment Retirement Account.