This article shows you how to find and get diamonds efficiently in Minecraft.
Steps
Step 1. Get the supplies to create a mine
The best technique for finding diamonds is to dig down to Y coordinates 5-16, create a base camp, then open two-by-two side tunnels in all directions. The more terrain you explore, the easier it will be to find the gemstones you are looking for. You will need:
- Iron pickaxe: to build it you need three iron ingots (three raw iron ores cooked in the furnace) and two sticks. The iron and diamond pickaxes are the only ones capable of digging the diamond.
- Bed: three wooden planks and three wool blocks are needed to build it. The bed becomes where you enter the world once you've slept in it, so if you die in the course of the excavation, you can get back to work right away.
- Torches: to create them you need a stick and a unit of coal or charcoal. Since you will find yourself in the dark underground, the torches allow you to see where you are going.
- Speakers: to build one you need eight wooden planks (two blocks of wood). Inside them you can deposit the minerals you find while looking for diamonds.
- Furnace: you can build it with eight blocks of crushed stone. This tool allows you to melt all the minerals you find (for example, gold and iron); this way you can create other pickaxes without having to surface.
- Work table: make it with four wooden planks (one block). The table allows you to create tools and other useful items as you dig.
- Doors: six wooden planks are needed to build them. Doors keep monsters out of your base camp while you sleep.
- Wood blocks: Wood is one of the two resources you probably won't find underground. You can use it to make tools and other useful blocks. Try to have at least 64 wooden blocks available.
- Map (console version only): you can create it with eight pieces of paper and a compass. On the map you can check your coordinates and see how deep you are.
- Raw meat: the other resource you won't find in your mine. Thanks to the meat you will not have to worry about going hungry and you will be able to recover health.
Step 2. Dig down to a height of no more than 16 blocks
Diamonds naturally form between Y coordinates 5 and 16, although they are more abundant in levels 5-12. You can check the Y coordinates by opening the map (console and PE) or by pressing F3 (PC) or Alt + Fn + F3 (Mac).
- Dig in zigzags when you go down, so you don't risk falling into a natural cave.
- If you can't make a map or the one you have doesn't work, dig until you reach the parent rock layer (which you can't break); this rock is at a height of 4, so your character occupies levels 5 and 6 when walking on it.
Step 3. Create a base camp
To do this, you must dig a room three blocks high and five by five, create an entrance and place all the useful objects (torches, bed, table, furnace and chests) inside it.
Step 4. Dig the main tunnel
To begin with, it should be twenty blocks long and two blocks wide. You can start directly from the base camp entrance, or you can dig it at right angles.
- You will be digging perpendicular to this main tunnel, so make sure the first side tunnel does not end in base camp.
- Place torches a few blocks away from each other so you don't get lost.
Step 5. Dig a tunnel to the left of the main tunnel
Continue for twenty blocks in length and one or two blocks in width; with time you will enlarge it.
Make sure you dig a few blocks further back than the end of the main tunnel
Step 6. Dig a small tunnel a few blocks to the right or left
You shouldn't go past the row of blocks where the tunnel ends, so consider this factor as you dig.
Step 7. Go back to the main gallery
Once you reach it, you should have created two narrow tunnels of the same length, a few blocks away from each other.
Step 8. Dig up the material between the two tunnels
This will free up a section of the mine entirely; as you dig, be sure to look for diamonds on the ceiling and floor as well.
Repeat this until the main gallery is expanded, then move further away from base camp and repeat until you find all the diamonds you need
Advice
- Make sure you save often if you are using a computer or the PE version of Minecraft.
- You can use TNT to destroy large sections of the tunnel, but this is a less accurate method of excavation.
- Diamonds are most frequently found near lava, which is usually generated around level 10.
- You can often find diamonds in fortresses, underground enemy bases.
- You can charm your pickaxe in order to increase the chances of finding diamonds. If you don't feel like digging, pay a visit to the blacksmith's shop, where you may find some precious stones.
Warnings
- Watch out for noises made by enemies. If you feel a monster approaching, flee to base camp or get ready to face it.
- Be careful near the lava. If you fall into the hot liquid, you will die and your inventory will be destroyed.
