Easy Ways to Find Diamonds in Minecraft

Want to find Diamonds in Minecraft, but don't know where to search? Suppose 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.

Quickly Get Diamonds in Minecraft

Mine for Diamonds at Y level -58 to -56.
Strip mine, branch mine, or go cave exploring (spelunking) to find Diamonds.
You can also find Diamonds rarely in chests.

Section 1 of 4:

Exploring Caves

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1
Find a cave^{[1]
X
Research source}. Level -56 is recommended for being able to mine without constantly being blocked by bedrock. To check which level you are on, press F3 on your keyboard and look for the X, Y, and Z coordinates. The Y coordinate indicates the level you are at in your world heightwise.
- Lower Pickaxes, like a Stone Pickaxe, will ruin Diamonds. Instead, you need to use an Iron or better Pickaxe.
This will allow you to see across a dark cave to easily spot any Diamond Nodes. You can craft these potions easily.

Section 2 of 4:

Mining Diamonds

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Make sure you have enough supplies to mine. Your mission is to find Diamonds and get them, but you can't just punch them out with your hands. The following tools are near essentials when you are trying to mine:^{[2]
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- Torches. You need multiple stacks to mine a long distance, but you can place them 15 blocks away and prevent hostile mobs from spawning.
- Food, preferably bread or cooked meat, to keep health and hunger up during mining sessions.
- Iron, Diamond, or Netherite Pickaxe. You can also bring stone pickaxes for clearing out stone and iron.
- Iron, Diamond, or Netherite armor, in case mobs ambush you. To see how to fight mobs, check this guide: Fight Mobs in Minecraft
- A shield. A shield blocks nearly all damage, including creeper explosions, which can damage a large amount of your health. This can be valuable in life-or-death situations!
- A water bucket is also useful if you drop from a long distance, or if you have to scale a wall. Water can also save you from lava and fire.
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Branch mine. If caving is not your preferred method of mining, dig a staircase down to at least level -56 for the most concentration of Diamonds.
- Mine a long hallway, and begin making your way. Make sure each branch is 2 blocks away from each other to maximize the space you can find Diamonds in without mining blocks you don't need to. ^{[3]
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- Mine down each branch from the main hall for about 50 blocks or so. Don't spend too much time on one branch. This way, your search will be more spread out across the chunks of deep slate you are in, making it more likely you will find Diamonds.
- Keep in mind even with branch-mining, luck plays a part as well. It may take a while before you find any Diamonds.
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Make a small storage room. Once you get to layer -56, you can make a small 5 x 4 x 5 room with chests for food and supplies, and 3 directions to mine with an exit. You can also do this in caves. The directions to mine should be closed by a door so mobs can't wander into the room.
- Have a bed in your room and a water source. A bed allows you to sleep and respawn there if you die. You can place these nearby areas you feel like you may die in.^{[4]
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  Research source} A water source allows you to get a bucket with water to save yourself in dangerous situations.
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Obtain enchantments on your mining tools. Enchanting can help mine quicker or find more ores. You can enchant your pickaxe with Unbreaking to help it mine for longer, or you can enchant it with Fortune to help you get more ores. You can enchant tools at an enchanting table, which can be made with 4 Obsidian, 2 Diamonds, and a book. You can get Obsidian by pouring water over a lava source, and you can get a book via leather and paper. The higher the enchantment level, the more powerful it is, so a Fortune I pickaxe will get fewer ores on average than a Fortune III pickaxe. Here is a list of enchantments and where they are applied when mining: ^{[5]
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- Fortune: Increases how many ores you get when you mine an ore block (Pickaxe, Axe, Shovel, Hoe)
- Efficiency: Allows you to mine faster (Pickaxe, Axe, Shovel)
- Unbreaking: Chance to not consume durability when using something (Any tool/armor)
- Mending: Recover durability when you get XP (Any tool/armor)
- Protection: Percentage of damage reduced per level (Armor (Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots)
- Sharpness: Do more damage to anything (Sword, Axe)
- Smite: Do more damage to just undead mobs, does more damage than sharpness (Sword, Axe)
This makes sure no lava near them can burn the ore when they are dropped. Diamonds are pretty precious, so make sure to save them as best you can. If near lava, dig around the ores, turn any lava into obsidian or block it up, and then collect the ore.

Section 3 of 4:

Finding Diamonds

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In the Ocean are ravines, which can contain Diamonds. You'll need lots of potions for underwater breathing, but most of these Diamonds are ready for you to pick up off the ground.
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Look in chests. Diamonds can be found above ground in chests found in villages or abandoned mineshafts. However, Diamonds above ground are rarer than Diamonds underground. You have to travel thousands of blocks to find Diamonds, and you might not find any in a village! It is recommended to mine for Diamonds instead.
- Diamonds can only be found in villages with blacksmiths. The blacksmith's house will have a chance of generating chests with iron ingots, iron armor, and Diamonds. This is not guaranteed, however.
- Mineshaft chests have a chance of generating Diamonds.

Section 4 of 4:

Creating an Iron or Diamond Pickaxe

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You cannot mine Diamonds with other implements, which means that you have to build an iron or Diamond pickaxe first.^{[6]
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Research source} If you already have an iron or Diamond pickaxe and want tips on finding Diamond, skip this section.
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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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
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Create a stone pickaxe. With your wooden pickaxe, dig four blocks down into the earth until you find smooth stone. Mine only 3 stones 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
For your next step, you'll need a furnace. Furnaces can be found in villages, or made using 8 cobblestones, lined around the outside edges of your crafting table.
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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 an iron ingot. Alternately, craft a block of iron into 9 iron ingots.
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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

Community Q&A

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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.

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In what Minecraft biome can I find the most diamonds?

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

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

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

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You should also bring a crafting table and some wood so you can craft more tools and torches as you mine for ore.

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If your cave runs into a dead end, you can place a minecart with a block of TNT over it. When you sit in the minecart, you can see all the open spaces around you.

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There are plenty of apps on the App Store and Google Play Store that offer locations to Diamond Ores. Use these third-party applications with care, as they may not be correct and instead steal your information.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Always put torches on the left side of your cave when you mine. When you go out, make sure that the torches are on the right side.
One of the best places to store your diamonds when mining is a shulker box, if you have one.
Make sure to place signs as you mine so that you can find your way out.

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Warnings

Always listen for mobs in Cave Systems or when you are Mining to avoid surprise attack. Turn up your volume to help with this.

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Be aware of creepers, they'll spawn quite fast and blow you up.

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