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Now that booster tracks can be created using gold ore, I seem to be getting through my supplies rather quickly.

What is the layer with the highest amount of gold? I'm currently looking around layer 25-30, but can't seem to find more than a couple of blocks..

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Gold can actually be found at any depth, I'm pretty sure. I found some on the surface once. – GnomeSlice Apr 22 '11 at 15:39

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up vote 11 down vote accepted

I'm always mining on the second level on top of bedrock. That is 4-6 blocks on top of bedrock layer.

This area is very rich in everything. Tons of coal, tons of iron and reasonable amounts of gold/diamonds/lapiz/redstone.

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I just picked up 15 blocks in about 10 minutes by doing this, good call – soulBit Apr 22 '11 at 12:49
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If you're worried about lava, you might mine a little higher. I think diamonds spawn 10 layers and down. – Shinrai Apr 22 '11 at 13:04
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I actually ended up mining about layer 11-12 when looking at the F3 debug info (so just on top of the lava layer) – soulBit Apr 22 '11 at 16:32
up vote 37 down vote

ore frequency

mirror of original source

See also http://digital-trauma.de/mc.html and http://minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Altitude

Gold is equally common between 5-20 blocks above bedrock. Lava becomes extremely common at about 10 blocks above bedrock. If you mine at about 12 blocks above bedrock, your odds of finding ore are just as good as they are anywhere else, while your odds of finding lava are far lower.

So save yourself a lot of pain: don't bother going much deeper than about 12 blocks above bedrock.

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Where did you find that image? That's excellent! – Ricket Apr 23 '11 at 4:12
If I understand the graph correctly, you should go 7 blocks (not 12) above bedrock, cause bedrock ends at layer 5. – Let_Me_Be Apr 23 '11 at 12:32
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That is an interesting link and all, but do you of a source that was updated later then May 2010? That is almost a year ago and Mincraft has updated several times. Are we certain that the map generator has not been modified at all since then? – Zoredache Apr 25 '11 at 22:09
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Link is dead.... – John Dec 25 '11 at 21:53
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digital-trauma.de/mc.html and minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Altitude seem relatively up to date. Frank, take your pick! – Pureferret Sep 6 '12 at 23:25
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up vote 3 down vote

Try to mine around lava, the lower you get and the closer you are to lava, the more chances you get for rare ores like diamond and gold.

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up vote 1 down vote

Gold is often found in the bottom 10 layers of the world, but it can be found almost anywhere (although it's very rare). When hunting for gold, you know you are at the right depth if you see pools of lava

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up vote -6 down vote

gold and diamonds normally appear within 30 blocks of lava and also diamonds appear underneath the lava and to the side

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5  
This is due to confirmation bias (i.e., it's just in your head), because it's easier to see diamond that's exposed to lava. Diamond and gold is actually evenly distributed if you look at an ore finder (or the game's code). – SevenSidedDie Sep 7 '12 at 0:35

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