How to Find and Mine Diamonds Fast on Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill and Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: May 9, 2022

Diamonds are one of the most revered resources and items in Minecraft. They are the pinnacle tier of swords and armor. Additionally, they are the ingredients to some of the most durable and efficient tools in the game.^{[1]
X
Expert Source

Zac Churchill
Minecraft Specialist
Expert Interview. 2 December 2020.} With diamonds, you can mine materials like obsidian and ancient debris. However, finding diamonds is not a simple game. Found at the lower depths of the earth, players will fight to the death for them. Luckily, players have discovered efficient ways of obtaining diamonds, which are listed on this article.

Steps

1
Prepare your inventory for branch mining. Branch mining involves digging down to a Y coordinate of between 16 and 5, setting up a home base, and mining in two-by-two tunnels in each horizontal direction. The more ground you cover, the more likely you are to come across diamonds. Having a furnace will allow you to smelt any ore you come across (e.g., iron or gold), meaning you can make a conceptually unlimited number of pickaxes.
- Crafting table - Requires four wood planks (one wood log). A crafting table in your base will allow you to build more tools and structural items as you dig.
- Doors - Requires six wood planks. A door will keep monsters out of your home base while you sleep.
- Wood logs - Wood is one of the two resources you likely won't find in your mine. It will allow you to create handles for your tools and other structural replacements. Aim for at least 64 wood logs.
- Map (console and PE only) - Requires eight pieces of paper and a compass. The map will track your coordinates and update as you dig downward.
- Raw meat - The other resource you won't find in your mine. Having meat you can cook while you're in your mine will help keep your hunger and health bars full.
2
Dig downward to a height of at most 16 blocks. Diamonds occur between the Y-coordinates 5 and 16, though they occur most often between layers 5 and 12. You can check your Y-coordinates by opening your map (console and PE), or by pressing F3 (PC) or Alt+Fn+F3 (Mac).^{[2]
X
Research source}
- You may want to do this in a zig-zag fashion, since digging straight down might lead to falling through the top of a cavern roof, a mob room (Room with 2 small chest a torch and a mob spawner) or even lava.
- If you can't make a map or your map isn't working, dig down to the bedrock (unbreakable) layer; this layer marks a height of 4, which means your character is standing at 5 and 6 whilst standing on bedrock.
Advertisement
3
Set up your home base. To do so, you'll want to hollow out a three-block-tall, five-by-five (at least) space, create a doorway, and place all of your items (e.g., your torches, bed, table, furnace, and chests).
4
Dig your main tunnel. You'll want it to be around twenty blocks and two blocks wide to start. This tunnel can go straight out of your base's doorway, or you can create a right angle that branches away from your base.
- You'll be digging perpendicular to this main tunnel, so make sure the first branch off of the tunnel won't go through your base.
- Place torches every few blocks so that you don't get lost.
5
Dig a branch on the left or right side of your tunnel. Start with about twenty blocks of length. This branch can be one or two blocks wide; you'll be expanding it eventually.
- Make sure you dig this branch a few blocks back from the end of your tunnel.
6
Dig a small branch a few blocks left or right. You shouldn't go past the row of blocks where your tunnel ends, so keep that in mind as you dig.
7
Dig back to the main tunnel. Once you reach the main tunnel, you should have two equally long, narrow tunnels a few blocks apart from one another.
8
Mine anything in between the two tunnels. Doing so will clear out a strip of the mine; as you dig, make sure you're looking for diamonds in the ceiling and floor as well.
- You'll repeat this process until your whole main tunnel has been expanded, then dig further and repeat as necessary.
- Make sure to dig around the ores in case there's lava. Sometime ores will have lava behind it. If you find lava behind the ore, use non-flammable blocks to stop the flow of lava.

Expert Q&A
Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow

Question

How do you get Netherite?

Zac Churchill
Minecraft Specialist
Zac Churchill is from Davidson, North Carolina, and currently attends Tufts University. He has played Minecraft for over eight years and has extensive knowledge on how to play Minecraft and how the game has changed over the different versions. Specifically, Zac has expert experience in survival worlds, large builds on creative mode, and server design/upkeep.

Zac Churchill

Minecraft Specialist

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

To get Netherite, you'll first need to visit the Nether dimension. You can do this by using diamond tools to mine obsidian, which will allow you to create a portal to that dimension.
Question

Are diamonds usually by bedrock?

Community Answer

They are relatively close to bedrock. The bedrock layer is about 3 blocks tall. The best elevation to look for diamonds is about y = 10. I usually go strip mining and find a ton.
Question

What should I do if I am mining for diamonds when suddenly my last pickaxe breaks, and I run out of rescources but am near the bedrock layer?

Lutark Lampri

Community Answer

If you are mining manually, go up through the shaft you have created to get more materials to continue. If you are cave mining though, you need to follow your paths (hopefully you have marked it out). If there is no way out, usually you should always bring chests. Put your stuff in that chest, then commit suicide. Respawn and get back there with some resources.

Warnings

Listen for hostile mobs. If you hear an enemy approaching, either run back to your base or prepare to fight it.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 65 Not Helpful 4
Bring extra Iron pickaxes just in case one of them breaks.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 45 Not Helpful 5
Be careful around lava. Falling into it will both kill you and incinerate anything in your inventory. You might need to build a 3 block tall bridge to get across the lava or need to block off lava while mining. You can also use a water bucket to clean up the lava (which would make Obsidian, which you can use for crafting other things later in the game. Or to build a Nether portal)

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 26 Not Helpful 6