How exactly has Diamond ore generation changed in 1.18?

Question

So I've been watching some of the Hermitcraft "Season 8" videos on YouTube, and one of the "problems" they've come across is the change in ore distribution - particularly diamonds. Basically, they've found that diamonds are more rare than they used to be.

With the addition of copper and the new "Raw" resources, it makes sense that distributions have changed somewhat.

After looking on the wiki however, I am still lightly confused. When mentioning referring to obtaining the Diamond Item from Mining this remains the same - Diamond ore can be found on levels 1-15.

However, the generation of Diamond Ore seems to have changed somewhat:

‌In Java Edition 1.18 and Bedrock Edition 1.18.0‌, diamond ore attempts to generate in two batches. The first batch generates 6 times per chunk in blobs of 0-5 ores, from Y=14 to Y=-63, being more common as the y-level decreases. The second batch generates in 1⁄9 chunks in blobs of 0-23 ores, from Y=14 to Y=-63, being more common as the y-level decreases. Diamond ore is also less likely to be exposed to air: 50% of ore blobs from the first batch and 70% from the second batch will not generate. Diamond ore can replace stone, granite, diorite, andesite, tuff, and deepslate. Diamond ore that replaces tuff or deepslate will become deepslate diamond ore. Diamond ore generating under Y=0 or in a deepslate blob will be replaced by its deepslate variant.

To me, this says that the generation of Diamond ore(s) can happen on over 70 levels now?

Answer 1

The recently released "Caves and Cliffs - Part 1" update is version 1.17. This is what the hermits are playing in season 8. Here is the official information from Mojang about splitting the update in two parts: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/a-caves---cliffs-announcement

The diamond ore distribution is not changed in 1.17, it is still a uniform distribution in levels 1-15. However, there seem to be some incidental changes because of world generation changes of other elements around these levels. Here is a video that shows a comparison:

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The confusion is due to the upcoming (fall 2021) "Caves and Cliffs - Part 2" update, which will be version 1.18. There, the distribution of all ores will change significantly. Mojang have shown what exactly they intend to change, that is why on the internet there is a lot of information about 1.18 even though it is not released yet. Of course, things can still change significantly before the final release of 1.18.