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In Minecraft, I'm trying to get diamonds, for both a pickaxe and an enchanting table. Once I have enough, I also want armor. What's the chance I'll get a diamond while strip mining at bedrock? I don't want to cave mine, since it's dangerous. Why I am asking is because I want to know if strip mining at bedrock is better, or quarry mining at bedrock.

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    It's less dangerous to mine at 10 blocks above bedrock, because below that you risk digging into a lava pool.
    – Matthew Wells
    Jul 30, 2021 at 12:22
  • Also, do you mean branch mining vs strip mining? There's not much difference between quarry and strip mining if you are going all the way down.
    – Matthew Wells
    Jul 30, 2021 at 12:24
  • Also, are you playing in 1.17, or earlier? The answer changes if you have the 1.17 update.
    – Matthew Wells
    Jul 30, 2021 at 12:27
  • I usually go strip mining rather than branch mining at bedrock, but if you specifically want diamonds you should branch mine at y-12
    – c1uq92
    Jul 30, 2021 at 19:35
  • I'm playing using an XBOX, so it only has World of Color update.
    – Potato
    Jul 31, 2021 at 1:15

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Statistically, it is best to strip mine while looking for diamonds at y level 11 (As of 1.18, the current best level for mining diamonds is -57). The exact chance of finding diamonds is pretty much unknown, but in most of my survival worlds, I can find diamonds in 5-30 minutes. The most efficient way to strip mine, is to make a 1x1x1 section at your feet, then dig a small hole at the bottom edge, place a water bucket up high, and then swim into the 1x1x1 hole. This is efficient because you waste 2x less durability on your pickaxe, and have about the same chance that you will find diamonds while in a 2x1 hole. Here is a diagram of how to do this:

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(I recommend to do this later in game, just in case you might miss a diamond or two)

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    just as a note for present/future viewers, this has changed dramatically in 1.18+ and the best layer for mining is generally considered to be -57 in these versions. =)
    – Millard
    May 27, 2022 at 20:54

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