I dig down to 12 and then make 3x3 tunnels for main digging shafts then branch off of there. Finding lava is cause to search diligently as many times diamonds are near lava (likely more from their spawn proclivities more than notch trolling all of us who find diamonds then immediately fall into lava...).
This my current favorite. It takes a while to set up, but it is very effective.
That's only really effective at layers 11-16, so I wouldn't go outside of that range. Lower gets lava. Higher has fewer to no diamonds, depending on how high you go.
Diamonds are most commonly located near lava, from Y elevation: 11 to Y elevation: 16.
Hope I helped, I'm a newbie.
Sometimes there is randomly spilled lava in dungeons. Check the elevation if this happens. If it isn't 11 to 16, don't dig for diamonds, because there's probably nothing there.
Cave systems can be so large that many times I just explore and can find diamonds along the walls. When I am mining, rarely do I exclusively mine for diamonds. In that way, I either make large tunnels in all 4 directions, or I will even strip mine from layers 16 down.
If you build with stone a lot, you know you need lots of it. On a recent map, I dug a pit 10x10 all the way to bedrock. The majority of the stone was used just making a city wall for a nearby NPC village.
EDIT: oh and in that 10x10 pit, I did get 4 diamonds.
Cave systems can be so large that many times I just explore and can find diamonds along the walls. When I am mining, rarely do I exclusively mine for diamonds. In that way, I either make large tunnels in all 4 directions, or I will even strip mine from layers 16 down.
If you build with stone a lot, you know you need lots of it. On a recent map, I dug a pit 10x10 all the way to bedrock. The majority of the stone was used just making a city wall for a nearby NPC village.
EDIT: oh and in that 10x10 pit, I did get 4 diamonds.
Thats because each chunk spawns a single diamond deposit. Your 10X10 pit was very likely to hit at least one node.
There are a few tried and true methods. I personally prefer branch mining at layer 12 which is probably the most widely used method.
by c0yote
I tried it with terrible results. I gave my wife my glasses for a second, a creeper showed up and now my wife is pregnant.
Stupid 3D..
That's about it really.
----|----
----|----
For every four blocks you mine, make 2 branches (1x1) that go four in and repeat, very effective.
That's only really effective at layers 11-16, so I wouldn't go outside of that range. Lower gets lava. Higher has fewer to no diamonds, depending on how high you go.
This on level ten. White is where you mine until you hit lava, then turn around and collect the ores on your way back to your main shaft.
Diamonds are most commonly located near lava, from Y elevation: 11 to Y elevation: 16.
Hope I helped, I'm a newbie.
Sometimes there is randomly spilled lava in dungeons. Check the elevation if this happens. If it isn't 11 to 16, don't dig for diamonds, because there's probably nothing there.
If you build with stone a lot, you know you need lots of it. On a recent map, I dug a pit 10x10 all the way to bedrock. The majority of the stone was used just making a city wall for a nearby NPC village.
EDIT: oh and in that 10x10 pit, I did get 4 diamonds.
Thats because each chunk spawns a single diamond deposit. Your 10X10 pit was very likely to hit at least one node.
by c0yote
I tried it with terrible results. I gave my wife my glasses for a second, a creeper showed up and now my wife is pregnant.
Stupid 3D..