Generally true, but not always. Lava can occur at any depth, but it seems to be much more prevalent just above that "sweet 16" near bedrock. Once you find lots of lava, you're probably close.
Right?!? That's exactly what I was thinking looking at all of these threads. I guess those are ways to do it without a map i suppose...
Well, if you're mucking about near the "lava lake" levels, it's pretty easy to get roasted and have your map burn up. And if you haven't got enough redstone or paper to make a new one yet...
A few clarifications on the earlier comments in this thread (many of which were made before the map item was updated to show the coordinates).
Point 1: The bedrock on XBox levels is, in fact, only 3 layers thick (only 2 layers are visible except for weird circumstances like a hole into the void). The only exception to this I've seen is on the Tutorial world (which was, presumably, created on the PC and ported to XBox). I've verified it myself on many worlds, dig down yourself if you want to see it. (This applies to the overworld only. The bedrock surrounding all sides of the Nether is a full 5 blocks thick.)
Point 2: The Y coordinate display was adjusted slightly between the bugfix update and the 1.7.3 update. When the map item was first update to show coordinates, the Y coordinate shown was the block just above the player's head. This was confirmed by 4J as a rounding bug. Now since the 1.7.3 update, the Y coordinate shown is the block at eye-level (head level), just like the PC.
With this in mind, here are the layers that certain things will appear:
Top ocean layer: Layer 63 (sea level was changed to layer 62 in version 1.8)
Top lava pool layer: Layer 10
Bedrock: Layers 0, 1, 2
Diamond Ore: Layers 2 - 15, with larger concentrations between layers 5 and 12 (based on PC data from http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Diamond_Ore and not confirmed on XBox, although it seems likely correct).
The wiki actually contradicts itself a little bit. In some places it says "the bottom 16 layers". In others, it says layer 1 through 15 or even layers 2 through 15. I'd love to see someone do a map analysis on an XBox world, to see if the distribution holds.
Conclusion:
Ideally, mine blocks in layers 12 and 13 (your Y coordinate will show Y=13) to avoid falling in lava pools.
This is actually 9 layers above the top bedrock layer, not 7 as it is on the PC. Use your map coordinates instead of measuring from the bedrock.
i found my bedrock layer is only at layer 3-4 nothing above level 4. I have a level 3 layer of lava
I assume you mean that your map shows Y=3 and Y=4 when standing on the two visible layers of the bedrock?
Subtract 2 for your player's height, and you are standing on bedrock layers 1 and 2.
Also if you 've lost your map but got a spare controller plug it in and sign as a guest. They get a free map so give it to your main character then save it and disconnect the other player. TaDDA free map.
Yep, that's my favorite way to get a map back if I lose it. Kinda cheating, but still handy
Generally true, but not always. Lava can occur at any depth, but it seems to be much more prevalent just above that "sweet 16" near bedrock. Once you find lots of lava, you're probably close.
Right?!? That's exactly what I was thinking looking at all of these threads. I guess those are ways to do it without a map i suppose...
Well, if you're mucking about near the "lava lake" levels, it's pretty easy to get roasted and have your map burn up. And if you haven't got enough redstone or paper to make a new one yet...
Point 1: The bedrock on XBox levels is, in fact, only 3 layers thick (only 2 layers are visible except for weird circumstances like a hole into the void). The only exception to this I've seen is on the Tutorial world (which was, presumably, created on the PC and ported to XBox). I've verified it myself on many worlds, dig down yourself if you want to see it. (This applies to the overworld only. The bedrock surrounding all sides of the Nether is a full 5 blocks thick.)
Point 2: The Y coordinate display was adjusted slightly between the bugfix update and the 1.7.3 update. When the map item was first update to show coordinates, the Y coordinate shown was the block just above the player's head. This was confirmed by 4J as a rounding bug. Now since the 1.7.3 update, the Y coordinate shown is the block at eye-level (head level), just like the PC.
With this in mind, here are the layers that certain things will appear:
Top ocean layer: Layer 63 (sea level was changed to layer 62 in version 1.8)
Top lava pool layer: Layer 10
Bedrock: Layers 0, 1, 2
Diamond Ore: Layers 2 - 15, with larger concentrations between layers 5 and 12 (based on PC data from http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Diamond_Ore and not confirmed on XBox, although it seems likely correct).
The wiki actually contradicts itself a little bit. In some places it says "the bottom 16 layers". In others, it says layer 1 through 15 or even layers 2 through 15. I'd love to see someone do a map analysis on an XBox world, to see if the distribution holds.
Conclusion:
Ideally, mine blocks in layers 12 and 13 (your Y coordinate will show Y=13) to avoid falling in lava pools.
This is actually 9 layers above the top bedrock layer, not 7 as it is on the PC. Use your map coordinates instead of measuring from the bedrock.
I assume you mean that your map shows Y=3 and Y=4 when standing on the two visible layers of the bedrock?
Subtract 2 for your player's height, and you are standing on bedrock layers 1 and 2.
Yep, that's my favorite way to get a map back if I lose it. Kinda cheating, but still handy
This is true on the PC, but not on the XBox. Test it yourself.
The wiki does not have accurate info for the XBox edition.