How to Find and Mine Diamonds Fast on Minecraft
Prepare your inventory for strip mining., Dig downward to a height of at least 16 blocks., Set up your home base., Dig your main tunnel., Dig a branch on the left or right side of your tunnel., Dig a a small branch a few blocks left or right., Dig...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Prepare your inventory for strip mining.
Strip 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.
To prepare for strip mining, you'll need the following items in your inventory:
Iron pickaxe
- Requires three iron bars (three smelted iron ore) and two sticks.
Iron pickaxes and diamond pickaxes are the only pickaxes that can mine diamond.
Bed
- Requires three wooden crates and three blocks of wool.
Your bed becomes your spawn point once you sleep in it, so if you die while mining, you'll respawn nearby.
Torches
- Require one stick and one piece of coal or charcoal.
Since you'll be underground, torches will help you see where you're going.
Chests
- Require eight wood crates (two wood blocks) each.
Chests will allow you to store the ore you mine while looking for diamond.
Furnace
- Requires eight cobblestone blocks.
Having a furnace will allow you to smelt any ore you come across (e.g., iron, gold, or diamond), meaning you can make a conceptually unlimited number of pickaxes.
Crafting table
- Requires four wood crates (one wood block).
A crafting table in your base will allow you to build more tools and structural items as you dig.
Doors
- Require six wood crates.
A door will keep monsters out of your home base while you sleep.
Wood blocks
- 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 blocks.
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. -
Step 2: Dig downward to a height of at least 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).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.
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. , 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)., 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. , 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. , You shouldn't go past the row of blocks where your tunnel ends, so keep that in mind as you dig., Once you reach the main tunnel, you should have two equally long, narrow tunnels a few blocks apart from one another., 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. -
Step 3: Set up your home base.
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Step 4: Dig your main tunnel.
-
Step 5: Dig a branch on the left or right side of your tunnel.
-
Step 6: Dig a a small branch a few blocks left or right.
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Step 7: Dig back to the main tunnel.
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Step 8: Mine anything in between the two tunnels.
Detailed Guide
Strip 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.
To prepare for strip mining, you'll need the following items in your inventory:
Iron pickaxe
- Requires three iron bars (three smelted iron ore) and two sticks.
Iron pickaxes and diamond pickaxes are the only pickaxes that can mine diamond.
Bed
- Requires three wooden crates and three blocks of wool.
Your bed becomes your spawn point once you sleep in it, so if you die while mining, you'll respawn nearby.
Torches
- Require one stick and one piece of coal or charcoal.
Since you'll be underground, torches will help you see where you're going.
Chests
- Require eight wood crates (two wood blocks) each.
Chests will allow you to store the ore you mine while looking for diamond.
Furnace
- Requires eight cobblestone blocks.
Having a furnace will allow you to smelt any ore you come across (e.g., iron, gold, or diamond), meaning you can make a conceptually unlimited number of pickaxes.
Crafting table
- Requires four wood crates (one wood block).
A crafting table in your base will allow you to build more tools and structural items as you dig.
Doors
- Require six wood crates.
A door will keep monsters out of your home base while you sleep.
Wood blocks
- 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 blocks.
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.
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).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.
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. , 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)., 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. , 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. , You shouldn't go past the row of blocks where your tunnel ends, so keep that in mind as you dig., Once you reach the main tunnel, you should have two equally long, narrow tunnels a few blocks apart from one another., 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.
About the Author
Claire Sanders
A passionate writer with expertise in cooking topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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