How to Find Diamonds in Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill

Last Updated: February 1, 2023

Want to find diamonds, but don't know where to search? Maybe you need a diamond pickaxe to help get obsidian and to go to the Nether or create an enchantment table. Diamonds are precious, so your task will be difficult, but definitely possible. The following tips and a little luck will help you maximize your chances of finding diamond ore quickly and mining it efficiently.

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Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Creating an Iron or Diamond Pickaxe

1
Know that to mine diamonds, you need either an iron or diamond pickaxe. You cannot mine diamond with other implements, which means that you have to build an iron or diamond pickaxe first.^{[1]
X
Research source} If you already have an iron or diamond pickaxe and want tips on finding diamond, skip to the next section.
2
Create a workbench, or crafting table, if you haven't already. Crafting tables are made by placing a block of wood in your crafting area, producing 4 wooden planks. These 4 wooden planks are then put in the crafting area again, yielding a crafting table.

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3
Create a wooden pickaxe. In your crafting table, put:
- 3 wooden planks in a horizontal line across the top 1/3 of the grid
- 2 sticks in a vertical line down the middle of the grid
4
Create a stone pickaxe. With your wooden pickaxe, dig four blocks down into the earth until you find smooth stone. Mine only 3 stone while making sure that you still have 2 sticks left over. In your crafting table, put:
- 3 cobblestones in a horizontal line across the top 1/3 of the grid
- 2 sticks in a vertical line down the middle of the grid
5
Build or find a furnace. For your next step, you'll need a furnace. Furnaces can be found in NPC villages, or made using 8 cobblestones, lined around the outside edges of your crafting table.
6
Build an iron pickaxe. With your stone pickaxe, start searching for iron ore. Iron ore can be found above ground and in caves. You only need to mine 3 iron ore.
- In your furnace, smelt together iron ore and coal to create iron ingot. Alternately, craft a block of iron into 9 iron ingots.
7
Make an iron pickaxe by lining up in your crafting table:
- 3 iron ingots in a horizontal line across the top 1/3 of the grid
- 2 sticks in a vertical line down the middle of the grid

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Mining for Diamonds

1
Before you start, know that diamonds can sometimes be found above ground in naturally generated chests. These chests can be found in villages or abandoned mine shafts. Although it's possible to find diamonds without mining them, it's generally less successful. It's recommended to mine for diamonds if you want to collect them efficiently.
2
Make sure you have adequate supplies before you go diamond mining. Your mission is to get diamonds, but in order to realize that mission, you first need some supplies.^{[2]
X
Research source} Be prepared with the following when you dig underground to mine:
- Lots of torches (as much as you can take, but 2 or more stacks will be fine)
- Food
- An iron pickaxe, or a diamond pickaxe if you have one
- Weapons and armor, in case there are mobs in caves
3
Know that diamond can be found in layers 1 to 16. Diamond distribution is reputedly highest between levels 8 and 13, with level 12 having the highest likelihood for containing diamond ore. Diamond ore blocks come in small veins of 1 to 10 blocks. There's a chance you could find more than 10 blocks close to one another if the random generation is kind to you.
4
Make a staircase that goes down. To make this, make a 3 block high hole, make the same hole that starts at the middle of the hole to one block below the lowest block of the original hole, and repeat. Keep doing this with a pickaxe, and it is advised that you come back every 10 minutes or so to get more food, store goods in chests, and make more picks and swords, etc.
5
Once you reach bedrock, dig around and find the bottom-most layer. That is layer 0.
6
Go up to layer 12 (1 block is 1 layer), and make a small room there. Make chests, a crafting table, and a furnace, so you do not have to go all the way above ground to craft more tools.
7
Start digging using a digging pattern. There are several digging patterns that you can use to efficiently mine for diamonds. Here are just some of them that have worked well for other players:
- Make one main shaft that is 2 blocks tall and 1 block wide going in a straight direction for some while. Create small arms that start at the main shaft and appear every 5 blocks. Dig the arms in 2-tall, 2-wide blocks.
- Go in a straight line in 3x3 chunks until you hit diamond ore.
8
If you can, try using a Fortune enchantment on your pickaxe while mining. Enchanting your pickaxe with a Fortune enchantment will increase the diamond drops you get while mining. There are three Fortune levels you can enchant your items with.
- Level I gives you a 33% chance to multiply drops by 2 (a 33% increase on average), while level II gives you a 25% chance to multiply drops by 2 or 3 (yielding an average 75% increase), while level III gives you a 20% chance each to multiply drops by 2, 3 or 4 (averaging a 120% increase). Fortune level III enchantment is extremely rare, so be prepared to only get a Fortune I or II when you enchant your pickaxe.
9
Dig around a diamond block before mining it. Diamond ore is often around lava; when you mine them, there's a chance that the diamonds could accidentally fall into the lava, destroying them. Because diamonds are precious, it's best to make sure that they fall into your inventory, not the lava, when you mine them.
- Place stone, dirt, or gravel blocks on top of the lava if you happen to encounter a lava lake beneath the diamond ore. That way, if the diamonds fall down, they won't be sucked up into the lava.
- Diamond tools allow the player to mine obsidian and Ancient Debris.^{[3]
  X
  Research source}
- Obsidian allows the player to create a portal to the nether dimension. Ancient Debris provides nephrite scraps that you can make into Netherite ingots that create Netherite tools and armor.^{[4]
  X
  Research source}
- When combined with the diamond version of the tool or piece of armor in a smithing table, they create the most durable and efficient tools and armor in the game.^{[5]
  X
  Research source}
- If a player has diamonds, they can create an enchanting table that allows them to add upgrades to their tools and armor.^{[6]
  X
  Research source}

Community Q&A

Question

Can 10 Diamond Ores generate at all in Minecraft?

Community Answer

It happens very rarely, but yes. If there are more than 10 Diamonds in one vein, it's probably due to a collision between two veins.
Question

In what Minecraft biome can I find the most diamonds?

Community Answer

Diamonds are found equally in any biome. It does not matter which one. Diamonds can be hard to find in all biomes.
Question

If I find diamonds, where should I keep them so they will be safe?

Community Answer

Try keeping them in a hidden chest somewhere. Maybe under the floor of your house with a block placed on top.

Warnings

Never dig straight down, unless your attempting a diamond finding record, as lava may be underneath you. Never dig straight up either.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 39 Not Helpful 4
Be aware of creepers, they'll spawn quite fast and blow you up.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 28 Not Helpful 4
Always listen for mobs in Cave Systems or when you are Mining to avoid surprise attack. Turn up your volume to help with this.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 33 Not Helpful 7

Things You'll Need

Iron pickaxe
Armor
A lot of torches
Weapons
Crafting Table
Food
Minecraft

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[1]

[2]

[3]

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How to Find Diamonds in Minecraft

Steps

Creating an Iron or Diamond Pickaxe

Mining for Diamonds

Community Q&A

Warnings

Things You'll Need

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References

About This Article

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