thank you so much for your many contributions to the minecraft community. I would like to see some info on farming from you at some point, It would be good to know the most effecient farm designs. Ive always wanted to start farming, but I've always been debating about the best way to design my farms, and I've ended up never making a big one because i couldnt make up my mind. and they are fixing the quadrant glitch by wednesday, so you dont have to bother with making a tut for the S farm.
thank you so much for your many contributions to the minecraft community. I would like to see some info on farming from you at some point, It would be good to know the most effecient farm designs. Ive always wanted to start farming, but I've always been debating about the best way to design my farms, and I've ended up never making a big one because i couldnt make up my mind. and they are fixing the quadrant glitch by wednesday, so you dont have to bother with making a tut for the S farm.
Yeah, I'm kinda glad about it. I had been debating whether or not to do it anyway.
I could do something on farming. I definitely understand your point though, it's hard to define 'efficient' for some things. That's why I've decided to go with multiple designs for mining, I could do multiple farm designs.
Yeah, I'm kinda glad about it. I had been debating whether or not to do it anyway.
I could do something on farming. I definitely understand your point though, it's hard to define 'efficient' for some things. That's why I've decided to go with multiple designs for mining, I could do multiple farm designs.
Thanks you.
If it's in your plans, I recommend having the following optimized farms for each type of farmable item:
-Space efficient
-Time efficient
-Easy/simple (Though there are various interpretations of this...)
Great news. The new ore ratios are either the same, or similar, to what the South-west quadrant was before the patch. More ore for everyone! Free diamonds!
I don't understand why you guys are putting so much time and effort into something most people doesn't care for, let alone understand it. What the hell is a quadrant? Dude, make it somewhat understandable for us non-mathematicians. Oh, and please don't tell me to go back to school, because I don't even know what a quadrant is, and I probably won't even want to know.
tl;dr:
Can someone write a SMALL summary of what this guide stated?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hidden ranks:
Quote from shairn »
42- The answer to life, the universe and everything
64- Full stack
314- Mathematical Dessert
413- Stuck at home(Or something similar, I can never remember)
666- Mark of the Beast
1337- Pathetic meme
5555- Creeper
I don't understand why you guys are putting so much time and effort into something most people doesn't care for, let alone understand it. What the hell is a quadrant? Dude, make it somewhat understandable for us non-mathematicians. Oh, and please don't tell me to go back to school, because I don't even know what a quadrant is, and I probably won't even want to know.
tl;dr:
Can someone write a SMALL summary of what this guide stated?
Just because you don't care doesn't mean other people don't care. A quadrant is a quarter of an area. If you look at the first post there is an image where the bottom-left is much darker than the top-right. It's showing ores on a map. The south-west portions of maps used to have a lot more ore than everywhere else. Now, that's been fixed.
The question comes up often. Is it better to mine with Diamond, Iron, or Stone pickaxes. Here is your answer.
These mining times and returns were calculated by mining through a generated chunk of pure stone with each type of pickaxe for a period of 10 minutes. I then extrapolated figures for the hour, and averaged ore return by percentage. This time did include the time it takes to equip new pickaxes(in the case of stone), but didn't include other tasks like making tools, placing torches, etc... Given that, the information for stone pickaxes is slightly optimistic.
Also note that the ores listed would be the number of ores you could find in a given time period, not the number of ores you could mine in the same time period. For example, it would take over an hour to mine all the redstone you found with a diamond pickaxe.
Lastly, the figures for ore are based off of layer 14 mining. For those who prefer layer 12 mining, everything would be the same(slightly less, actually), with the exception of Lapis, which would be reduced by about 30%.
Mining Speed
Stone - 3840 stone blocks/hr
Iron - 4900 stone blocks/hr
Diamond - 5800 stone blocks/hr
Ore Returns
Stone Pickaxe
180 Coal per Hour
110 Iron per Hour
24 Gold per Hour
53 Lapis per Hour
18 Diamond per Hour
480 Redstone per Hour
Iron Pickaxe
230 Coal per Hour
85 Iron per Hour
31 Gold per Hour
70 Lapis per Hour
23 Diamond per Hour
620 Redstone per Hour
Diamond Pickaxe
280 Coal per Hour
170 Iron per Hour
37 Gold per Hour
82 Lapis per Hour
17 Diamond per Hour
740 Redstone per Hour
Summary
Now that the math is out of the way, the answer is clear. There is no reason to use stone pickaxes. The only advantage they have is a very slight increase in the number of diamonds found per hour compared to using diamond pickaxes, but if you factor in the extra time taken to make the stone pickaxes, that number would drop to even or below. The same goes for iron ore.
And for the golden(diamond?) question, Iron vs Diamond, the answer is still pretty clear.
Diamond
+50 Coal per Hour
+85 Iron per Hour
+6 Gold per Hour
+12 Lapis per Hour
+120 Redstone per Hour
-6 Diamond per Hour
I think it's fair to say that it's a fair trade to give up those 6 diamond per hour for everything else. Plus, using Diamond Pickaxes will get you to caves more quickly, meaning you actually get better results than what is listed here
Don't have time to read it just yet, but I did a skim and this looks incredibly informative and interesting. I wish I could study Minecraft at university.
Don't have time to read it just yet, but I did a skim and this looks incredibly informative and interesting. I wish I could study Minecraft at university.
That would be the best degree ever! Although, to be fair, you could learn a lot about circuitry and architecture/design from Minecraft.
just like school, u've increased my knowledge, but this is something i actually like to learn. great guide.
Sorry, I hope I didn't bring up any bad school-related feelings(RECESS!!!!)
Dirt and Gravel: To Mine, or Not To Mine?
I have a new topic to cover, even though this will be a short entry. Should you mine out dirt and gravel that you find in large caves?
To get straight to the point, the answer is this: Dirt, no. Gravel, yes.
Here is why you don't want to mine dirt. Dirt generates in large chunks. Often an argument is made that you can dig through dirt more quickly than you can mine stone. While this is true, most of the digging you do in dirt, only reveals more dirt. There is 0% chance of you finding ore inside dirt, it only spawns inside stone. So you might come across a large pocket of dirt, and have to dig out 5-10 blocks to uncover 1 stone block. Digging out dirt is very inefficient.
Gravel is different, however. Gravel can block off another portion of a cave. This happens when gravel is generated, and in falling, blocks off a tunnel/opening. Also, because gravel falls when you mine it, you expose more stone blocks than you do with dirt.
When the new patch (1.6.4) came out I was wondering if ore distribution was really fixed so I started a new world and ran iron and diamond through Cartograph:
iron+diamond
diamond
It seems to be fixed in 1.6.4. :tongue.gif:
PS: The pictures show roughly a 1000x1000 area centered on z and x =0 (click on thumbs to enlarge). If the bug was still around the difference in ore distribution should be easily visible.
Thank you. I haven't had the time to map out an area yet. If you don't mind, I'll just use your image for now.
Another way of looking at these figures is as a conversion rate. The number of ore you put into crafting pickaxes vs. the gain in ore.
Iron -> Iron: 1.46 Iron Ore per Iron Ingot
Iron -> Diamond: 0.46 Diamond Gems per Iron Ingot
Diamond -> Iron: 15.3 Iron Ore per Diamond Gem
Diamond -> Diamond: 1.52 Diamond Ore per Diamond Gem
Basically, if you have excess diamond and need iron, use diamond pickaxes. If you have excess iron and need diamond, use iron pickaxes.
Another way of looking at these figures is as a conversion rate. The number of ore you put into crafting pickaxes vs. the gain in ore.
Iron -> Iron: 1.46 Iron Ore per Iron Ingot
Iron -> Diamond: 0.46 Diamond Gems per Iron Ingot
Diamond -> Iron: 15.3 Iron Ore per Diamond Gem
Diamond -> Diamond: 1.52 Diamond Ore per Diamond Gem
Basically, if you have excess diamond and need iron, use diamond pickaxes. If you have excess iron and need diamond, use iron pickaxes.
That seems pretty much common sense yeah? If you have X and need Y use X to get Y.
Though I do use stone for my shovels. Anything which can be shoveled is fast enough at that level and rare enough during mining that 1-2 will last as long as a diamond pick.
That seems pretty much common sense yeah? If you have X and need Y use X to get Y.
Though I do use stone for my shovels. Anything which can be shoveled is fast enough at that level and rare enough during mining that 1-2 will last as long as a diamond pick.
I think the best use of the conversion rates would be in economy/barter systems. If someone asks for diamond, willing to give you iron, you know what is fair.
Another very common debate. Should you leave 2 spaces between your branches, allowing you to view every block, or 3 spaces, assuming that most ore veins are more than 1 block wide.
The only way to approach this subject is by looking at your purpose and goal in mining. If you are using a space-saving mining method, consolidating on space and travel time, it makes sense to use a 2-gap. Changing to a 3-gap will increase the size of your mine by 33%. If, however, you want to get as much ore as possible in a given amount of time, then a larger gap is better.
However, I can't bring myself to recommend a 3-gap system, except in one situation. If you are stacking branch mines vertically on top of each other, and want to be thorough in finding ore in an area, and keep the size of your mine down, I can recommend 3-gap because it allows you to view every block in an area. In this type of mining, however, 3-gap is the equivalent of a 2-gap in single-layer mines. It is the consolidated, thorough version. For a multi-layer mine, a 5-gap system would be the same as a 3-gap in single-layer mines.
So, a brief overview of the above(I'm thinking out loud here). 2-gap in a single-level mine, or 3-gap in a multi-level mine, is considered a consolidated, thorough approach. For finding the most ore in the shortest amount of time, 3-gap and 5-gap patterns work better.
That being said, I can't think of any reason to use a 3-gap or 5-gap pattern. If you do, you are admitting that you want more efficiency, and don't care about consolidating your mining area. If that is the case, it is much better to use larger gaps, such as 20 meters between branches. This will cut down on mining into the same cave systems multiple times. It will ensure that you never mine into the same ore vein twice.
I realize that didn't come out very clearly, and I apologize. I will post recommendations with each type of mine pattern to help clarify this. As always, feel free to ask any questions, and I'll clarify after I get some sleep.
Thank you for all the information you shared. I especially found the section about pickaxes very useful. I'll try to use diamond pickaxes from now on, see how it goes.
Quote: "* Fixed ore density varying per quadrant from the center of the world"
http://notch.tumblr.com/post/5775170768/the-changelist-for-1-6
Edit: My bad, already addressed
You ninja'd my ninja comment... your powers are strong, grasshopper.
Yeah, I'm kinda glad about it. I had been debating whether or not to do it anyway.
I could do something on farming. I definitely understand your point though, it's hard to define 'efficient' for some things. That's why I've decided to go with multiple designs for mining, I could do multiple farm designs.
Thanks you.
If it's in your plans, I recommend having the following optimized farms for each type of farmable item:
-Space efficient
-Time efficient
-Easy/simple (Though there are various interpretations of this...)
I'll get exact figures later.
tl;dr:
Can someone write a SMALL summary of what this guide stated?
Just because you don't care doesn't mean other people don't care. A quadrant is a quarter of an area. If you look at the first post there is an image where the bottom-left is much darker than the top-right. It's showing ores on a map. The south-west portions of maps used to have a lot more ore than everywhere else. Now, that's been fixed.
These mining times and returns were calculated by mining through a generated chunk of pure stone with each type of pickaxe for a period of 10 minutes. I then extrapolated figures for the hour, and averaged ore return by percentage. This time did include the time it takes to equip new pickaxes(in the case of stone), but didn't include other tasks like making tools, placing torches, etc... Given that, the information for stone pickaxes is slightly optimistic.
Also note that the ores listed would be the number of ores you could find in a given time period, not the number of ores you could mine in the same time period. For example, it would take over an hour to mine all the redstone you found with a diamond pickaxe.
Lastly, the figures for ore are based off of layer 14 mining. For those who prefer layer 12 mining, everything would be the same(slightly less, actually), with the exception of Lapis, which would be reduced by about 30%.
Mining Speed
Stone - 3840 stone blocks/hr
Iron - 4900 stone blocks/hr
Diamond - 5800 stone blocks/hr
Ore Returns
Stone Pickaxe
Iron Pickaxe
Diamond Pickaxe
Summary
Now that the math is out of the way, the answer is clear. There is no reason to use stone pickaxes. The only advantage they have is a very slight increase in the number of diamonds found per hour compared to using diamond pickaxes, but if you factor in the extra time taken to make the stone pickaxes, that number would drop to even or below. The same goes for iron ore.
And for the golden(diamond?) question, Iron vs Diamond, the answer is still pretty clear.
Diamond
I think it's fair to say that it's a fair trade to give up those 6 diamond per hour for everything else. Plus, using Diamond Pickaxes will get you to caves more quickly, meaning you actually get better results than what is listed here
That would be the best degree ever! Although, to be fair, you could learn a lot about circuitry and architecture/design from Minecraft.
Sorry, I hope I didn't bring up any bad school-related feelings(RECESS!!!!)
To get straight to the point, the answer is this: Dirt, no. Gravel, yes.
Here is why you don't want to mine dirt. Dirt generates in large chunks. Often an argument is made that you can dig through dirt more quickly than you can mine stone. While this is true, most of the digging you do in dirt, only reveals more dirt. There is 0% chance of you finding ore inside dirt, it only spawns inside stone. So you might come across a large pocket of dirt, and have to dig out 5-10 blocks to uncover 1 stone block. Digging out dirt is very inefficient.
Gravel is different, however. Gravel can block off another portion of a cave. This happens when gravel is generated, and in falling, blocks off a tunnel/opening. Also, because gravel falls when you mine it, you expose more stone blocks than you do with dirt.
Thank you. I haven't had the time to map out an area yet. If you don't mind, I'll just use your image for now.
Another way of looking at these figures is as a conversion rate. The number of ore you put into crafting pickaxes vs. the gain in ore.
Iron -> Iron: 1.46 Iron Ore per Iron Ingot
Iron -> Diamond: 0.46 Diamond Gems per Iron Ingot
Diamond -> Iron: 15.3 Iron Ore per Diamond Gem
Diamond -> Diamond: 1.52 Diamond Ore per Diamond Gem
Basically, if you have excess diamond and need iron, use diamond pickaxes. If you have excess iron and need diamond, use iron pickaxes.
That seems pretty much common sense yeah? If you have X and need Y use X to get Y.
Though I do use stone for my shovels. Anything which can be shoveled is fast enough at that level and rare enough during mining that 1-2 will last as long as a diamond pick.
I think the best use of the conversion rates would be in economy/barter systems. If someone asks for diamond, willing to give you iron, you know what is fair.
Another very common debate. Should you leave 2 spaces between your branches, allowing you to view every block, or 3 spaces, assuming that most ore veins are more than 1 block wide.
The only way to approach this subject is by looking at your purpose and goal in mining. If you are using a space-saving mining method, consolidating on space and travel time, it makes sense to use a 2-gap. Changing to a 3-gap will increase the size of your mine by 33%. If, however, you want to get as much ore as possible in a given amount of time, then a larger gap is better.
However, I can't bring myself to recommend a 3-gap system, except in one situation. If you are stacking branch mines vertically on top of each other, and want to be thorough in finding ore in an area, and keep the size of your mine down, I can recommend 3-gap because it allows you to view every block in an area. In this type of mining, however, 3-gap is the equivalent of a 2-gap in single-layer mines. It is the consolidated, thorough version. For a multi-layer mine, a 5-gap system would be the same as a 3-gap in single-layer mines.
So, a brief overview of the above(I'm thinking out loud here). 2-gap in a single-level mine, or 3-gap in a multi-level mine, is considered a consolidated, thorough approach. For finding the most ore in the shortest amount of time, 3-gap and 5-gap patterns work better.
That being said, I can't think of any reason to use a 3-gap or 5-gap pattern. If you do, you are admitting that you want more efficiency, and don't care about consolidating your mining area. If that is the case, it is much better to use larger gaps, such as 20 meters between branches. This will cut down on mining into the same cave systems multiple times. It will ensure that you never mine into the same ore vein twice.
I realize that didn't come out very clearly, and I apologize. I will post recommendations with each type of mine pattern to help clarify this. As always, feel free to ask any questions, and I'll clarify after I get some sleep.