49

The durability of iron tools is really starting to annoy me, but in all my hours of playing I've only stumbled across one deposit of diamond ore that provided around 7 Diamonds.

What's the best way to locate more in Survival mode? Where is it most commonly found?

Diamond ore

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  • 32
    Just outside the big ass area you're trying to mine, obviously!
    – badp
    Sep 24, 2010 at 21:03

6 Answers 6

49

When in doubt, Find a Cave.

If you don't see anything on the surface, Dig Deeper.

Really, that's all there is to it. In general, you won't find Diamond much past 10 levels or so above Bedrock.

The graph below (taken from TR's interactive MC Block Distribution Chart) shows the density of Diamond in one generated world. 0 on the X axis represents bedrock. 255 is the top of the sky.

Density of Diamond

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  • 2
    +1 for the first sentence. Most resources I've found were in natural caves. But be warned, if you've ever looked at a cave map then you know that there's a real labyrinth down there.
    – Bobby
    Mar 6, 2011 at 11:08
  • 1
    Aren't the first and second sentences, contradictory? The following sentences (and graph) are basically saying there are no diamonds above level 20, whereas caves can be at all levels.
    – Cyclops
    Mar 6, 2011 at 14:17
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    So you're saying, Lucy isn't in the sky with diamonds.
    – Amarok
    May 12, 2012 at 5:53
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    I think @Cyclops' point is a good one, but I guess the advantage of caves is that they expose large surface areas to your view without you having to do any digging, and you have to combine that insight with the knowledge that diamonds only occur <= 16 altitude, and therefore look for caves that go right down near the bedrock. This is obviously hard to predict from the entrance of the cave - you've just go to explore them all. Mar 30, 2014 at 21:13
  • 1
    @JonathanHartley Or explore deep.
    – Zibbobz
    Jul 2, 2015 at 14:18
10

Follow a path that's been previously mined out by water. All you have to do is replace the source block (the block from which water appears to be flowing), and the water will cease to flow, allowing you easy passage through the cave.

After you've stopped the flow of water, follow its former path. Not only will your path be carved out for you, but you'll be much more likely to find coal, gold, red ore and diamond.

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  • Interesting, I've never seen water go that deep before. As an alternative to blocking it off, you could use a ladder to create a bubble.
    – travis
    Oct 8, 2010 at 18:36
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    Often the mined-out shaft will split off into several shafts, and/or lead you to another water spring, which you can plug and repeat. Also, replacing the source block with stone or dirt is simply cheaper and easier than using ladders or signs.
    – Keaanu
    Oct 9, 2010 at 18:12
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    The technique of blocking or removing source blocks of water to provide easier passage is a good one, but for the idea that the water in some way mined out the tunnel, I'd have to say 'citation needed' - I don't think Minecraft cave generation works this way. Mar 30, 2014 at 21:20
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One way I find lots of diamond is by making something I called Mining rooms. How you do this is dig a staircase type thing down until you're a couple blocks above bedrock. When you get there dig as far as you can right without moving and do the same thing to the left (your tunnel should look sorta like a "T" by now). Go into the right tunnel and dig a tunnel to the left(as long as you want). You then dig 9 blocks to the left. when you do that turn to the left once more and dig until you find your tunnel. Then dig up all the area in between the tunnels. Using this strategy I found 30 diamonds, 75 redstone, 36 iron, and loads of coal within an hour. Hope this helps

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  • 1
    +1 Exactly what I was thinking. Also, welcome to Gaming Stack Exchange!
    – Wipqozn
    Oct 23, 2011 at 21:19
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    @fireDude67 This is not Branch Mining. Chaseg is suggesting creating a couple tunnels which form an outline of a large rectangle, then you mine every block within the rectangle. Branch Mining is far more efficient and involves exposing the maximum possible surface area (and thus minerals) with the minimum possible amount of digging. It's far more efficient than the method Chaseg describes. Oct 24, 2011 at 6:59
0

For hunting diamond, dig down to bedrock. Diamonds only occur in the bottommost 10 levels of minecraft. Once you are at the proper depth, start digging exploratory branches until you find what you are after.

For more information on most efficent mining and efficent travel to the bedrock layer, see What's the most efficient Minecraft mining strategy?

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I've tried two or three different methods, and a single one stands out for its output.You'll need nothing more than what you would typically take on a mining expedition, apart from the addition of a bucket of water. Firstly, mine (or explore) to the general level of lave generation within the bottommost stretch of the Overworld, just before hitting bedrock. Once you've located a large pool of lava, get above it and place the water from your bucket on an adjacent or overhead block. Recollect the water, and repeat. Once all of the lava has been exhausted and you're left with a floor of obsidian, use this as your canvas to mine the area.

As this level is fairly easily accessed and close to the bedrock level, diamonds are sure to be found. Oftentimes, the removal of lava exposes diamonds above the pool or to the side that normally wouldn't have been seen.

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Method only works for versions 1.16+

All you have to do is:

  1. Find a swamp
  2. Find a clay patch (underwater)
  3. Mark the middle
  4. Go out 6 blocks from the middle south or positive Z axis
  5. Dig down on the 7th block
  6. You will have a 88% chance of finding diamonds!

enter image description here Source

Note:

Before trying it, players must note that this method has been tested in Minecraft version 1.16 Java Edition and works only in 87.5% of seeds. In the other 12.5% seeds, the probability of finding diamonds is 50%.

SWAMP_CLAY DIAMOND will work reliably on 87.5% of seeds.

Z offset 8 occurs with probability 0.500088

Z offset 6 occurs with probability 0.3749

Z offset 15 occurs with probability 0.062528

Z offset 12 occurs with probability 0.046895

Z offset 10 occurs with probability 0.011681

Source

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  • They do not mention swamps because that only works in newer versions, and this question is from 2010!
    – Esther
    Jun 8, 2022 at 3:30
  • Yes I know, I guess I should point out that this only works in newer versions @Esther
    – DialFrost
    Jun 8, 2022 at 3:36
  • works in 1.16 too IIRC. or something very similar.
    – Esther
    Jun 8, 2022 at 3:44

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