How to find Diamonds in Minecraft: Diamond level in Minecraft 1.21
Here are the best places to go mining for Diamonds in Minecraft
Want to know how to find Diamonds easily in Minecraft? Finding Diamonds always used to involve doing the same thing no matter which version of Minecraft you were playing on. Recent updates, however, have drastically changed how world generation (and Diamond spawning) works in any Minecraft world.
Read on to find out how to locate Diamonds in Minecraft 1.21, as well as how to find Diamonds in earlier versions of Minecraft. We'll also go over the best methods for mining and farming Diamonds so you can kit yourself out with the shiniest weapons and armour in the game as quickly as possible.
On this page:
- How to find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.21
- How to find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.17 and earlier
- Best method for mining Diamonds in Minecraft
How to find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.21
To find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.21, you need to dig down below Y=15. After this point, the further down you go, the higher your chances of finding Diamonds.
Minecraft 1.18 made several very important changes to Minecraft's world generation. If you're playing Minecraft 1.18 or later, you can go down below Y=0 and into negative figures. Below Y=0, you'll find all the usual ores, including Diamonds, embedded in Deepslate blocks instead of regular Stone blocks.
See the below graph of ore distributions for details on where you can find the highest concentration of Diamonds and other resources:
Diamonds start generating at Y=15, and increase linearly in frequency the further down you go. To know what Y-Level you're on, hit F3 to bring up the coordinates display. The second number next to "XYZ" is the current level of the bottom half of your body.
However, if a Diamond is about to be placed next to an open air block during world generation, it has a chance of not spawning. This makes it harder to find Diamonds in caves, so you'll need to spend some time digging tunnels through the Deepslate if you want to maximise your chances of finding them.
So, in summary: to find Diamonds quickly, head as far down as you can go until you hit Bedrock, then start strip-mining!
How to find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.17 and earlier
If you're still playing on Minecraft 1.17 or earlier (perhaps because you're perusing our list of the best Minecraft mods, some of which only work on older versions of the game), then you can find Diamond Ore in every Overworld biome between Y-levels 1-15. They spawn most often at levels 5-12, so if you want to maximise your chances of finding Diamonds, stay between these two levels.
No matter what version of Minecraft you're playing on, Diamonds will spawn in small veins of up to 9 blocks at a time, although very occasionally you'll find larger veins that are made up of multiple veins touching each other. So even at the right levels, Diamonds are pretty rare.
Best method for mining Diamonds in Minecraft
Diamond Ore can only be mined with an Iron Pickaxe or better. As of 1.18, Diamonds are far less common in open spaces like caves, which means to maximise your chances of finding Diamonds in Minecraft you should strip-mine in straight lines in all directions.
The best method for mining Diamonds in Minecraft 1.21 is to dig down to level -57 and dig a long 2-block-tall tunnel in any direction. Then start to mine out to either side in more 2x1 tunnels, leaving a 2-block-wide gap between each new tunnel.
Once you're satisfied you've strip-mined all Diamonds on that level, repeat the whole process at level -53. If you dig in this way at both level -57 and -53, then you'll be able to see all Diamonds that spawn between levels -58 and -51. This gives you the highest concentration of Diamonds without intermittently running into blocks of Bedrock that may otherwise hinder your strip-mining progress.
If you're playing on Minecraft 1.17 or earlier, you can use this exact same method but using levels 6 and 10.
While mining, it's a good idea to keep a Water Bucket with you, because pockets of lava are fairly common at these levels, especially around level -54. Remember also to bring plenty of torches to light your way and prevent mobs from spawning in your tunnels. Alternatively you could light your way using Night Vision potions - though this won't prevent mobs from spawning.
If you're struggling to find Diamonds in Minecraft even after reading this guide, you may want to check out our best Minecraft texture packs list, because some of these packs may help with visibility. You can also check out our list of the best Minecraft seeds for certain world spawns that have easy access to Diamonds. Elsewhere there's our best Minecraft shaders list, to help improve the lighting of your worlds.