I was wondering what other people do to find diamonds. I always use branch mining with 3 spaces in between each shaft. I find this to be the easiest (non-assistance) way to find diamonds. What do you think?
Please share your methods
I don't mine for diamonds, I just end up with stacks and stacks.
Here's the secret, multiplayer only.
Build an enderman farm, and make players pay 4 diamonds for unlimited access, works like a charm
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/\ Stolen from Daemon67, who stole from Axxe127, who stole from awshox, who stole from switchs, who stole from Badgerz, who stole from Tirin.
What do you people do with the cobble you get from all this?
Smelt into stone for stone bricks, aww yeah stone bricks!
To find diamonds I build stairway to level twelve build big room with chests, furnaces,maybe tree,crafting table and start tunnels off in all directions then mine every third space in each tunnel on both sides. Learnt it of the forums then perfected works every time 60% of the time.
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I put my shirt on one leg at a time, just like everybody else.
I build a staircase or switch back staircase down to y12 and build a 5x5 or 7x7 room. Then I dig out the 3 walls left into 3x3 corridors to form main hallways. In each hallway to either side I did 1x3 tunnels next to each other with 2-3 block in between each. Those form the actual branch mine.
The is the direct way I do it. Otherwise i do other things to have a chance to get them (stumble upon them). Like a slime farm would be one of the first things, and possibly a mobivator and mob type of contration. Spawners are also something I keep in mind when I find them below y16. Else I just do what I do above.:D
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My First World, always getting back to is a pleasure I enjoy with each new update that brings in more things to add in.
branch mining, plus shovel out the dirt... and i'll usually get under the gravel too, throw down a torch underneath it and take a whole column of gravel breaking only one block... cuts out some large spaces in your mine... exposes a lot of blocks quickly.
i look at it like this: when you're at the diamond level, whats the quickest/most efficient way to expose the greatest number of blocks?
so, i've started trying a slightly different method based on branch mining...
basically you dig out the standard 2 x 1 corridor, then you strafe down it and punch out 1 x 1 x however far you can reach holes at eye level, with two blocks in between.
so with each block you break, you're exposing 4 new blocks... if you see an ore in there, mine it out.
now, when mining out a walkable corridor, when you break the bottom block, you're only exposing 3 more blocks per block broken.
not sure if this is a better way, but i have been accumulating ores quickly.
I used to use caves to find them, but now the caves are so overwhelmingly maze-like that it's a lost cause. Now, I dig straight down, keeping an ear open for lava, and stop at level 10. Once there, I start digging out a home base where I place tons of chests, crafting table, about 100 furnaces (exaggeration), and a bed. From there, I build a long base mine (sometimes 200+ long) and start making branches along that shaft with 2 blocks, sometimes 3, between them.
When I've pretty much exhausted one shaft, I expand the main branch so I can have a new layer above the old shafts so I can do the same thing at 13. Then again at 16 (never been that high yet, but it's part of the layout I use).
Create a base at layer 12
Put a wall of chests and the opposite of that wall put chests but the 2nd with goodies and the first with cobblestone.
Bring armor. You will be getting in to a lot of caves with mobs.
Bring 1 water bucket with you. You'll see a lot of lava.
Bring a clock and a map. So you know what time it is and where you're at.
Bring 2 stacks of torches when you branch/strip mine.
On the outside surface of your branch mine make a little tree farm for wood to make sticks for tools and sugar cane farm for books
Bring brewing stands or speed potions with you. Put them in a chest. When you die you can drink them and get to the place faster where you died.
Make 2 different pathways 3x3 left and right.
Skip 3 between each branch/strip/line
1 block wide, 3 blocks high every branch/strip/line
Place torches every 10 blocks in the branch/strip/line
Above your branch mine make an enchantment table or another room at the branch mine (optional)
Bring crafting tables. 1 with you when you're mining and 1 at your base.
Make a room for beds for you to sleep in just in case if you died you can respawn there.
Make a furnace room (optional)
Get a silk touch pickaxe (Mine the ores. Saves lots of space in your inventory)
Get a fortune III pickaxe (Triples the amount of diamonds, redstone, etc.)
Get a row of iron pickaxe enchanted at level 1 in your inventory
Go straight in the branch/stip mine until you're at the end of the world
Use cobble to smelt to stone then patch up the areas that isn't stone so you have a clean looking stone branch mine. (optional)
Use cobble to smelt to stone then craft to stone bricks then remodel your base or build something with it. (optional)
Once your done bring home the goodies then mine it with your fortune pickaxe.
You want to get furnaces in your base and enchantment table so you don't have to go back to enchant an iron pickaxe or make one.
Always get the coal, redstone, etc! Diamonds sometimes are hiding under it.
I got 3 stacks of diamonds in 2 days by doing this.
Feel free to ask questions about my personal tactic.
I know. The top one, since I've never made it that far, will be for double checking the top layer for other ores I may have missed. There is also the off chance that I might lower the mine on some worlds, so I still tend prepare for that top later.
Plus, doesn't the Y coordinate correspond with Steve's eye level? That's how I've heard it works. If it does, then that top layer is actually in 15 and 16, so it'll still work, even though it won't be as efficient as lay 10 and 11. If not, oh well. I'll just forgo the top layer.
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Please share your methods
You may want to read my post while you still can, some of them have been randomly disappearing lately *cough*
Play Minecraft
Make a pickaxe
Find iron
Make an iron pickaxe
Strip mine
Find diamonds
Here's the secret, multiplayer only.
Build an enderman farm, and make players pay 4 diamonds for unlimited access, works like a charm
/\ Stolen from Daemon67, who stole from Axxe127, who stole from awshox, who stole from switchs, who stole from Badgerz, who stole from Tirin.
I have a full Diamond Suit, 22 extra diamonds, and 76 raw ore in my house. ._.
Stay fluffy~
You may want to read my post while you still can, some of them have been randomly disappearing lately *cough*
Smelt into stone for stone bricks, aww yeah stone bricks!
To find diamonds I build stairway to level twelve build big room with chests, furnaces,maybe tree,crafting table and start tunnels off in all directions then mine every third space in each tunnel on both sides. Learnt it of the forums then perfected works every time 60% of the time.
The is the direct way I do it. Otherwise i do other things to have a chance to get them (stumble upon them). Like a slime farm would be one of the first things, and possibly a mobivator and mob type of contration. Spawners are also something I keep in mind when I find them below y16. Else I just do what I do above.:D
This.
branch mining, plus shovel out the dirt... and i'll usually get under the gravel too, throw down a torch underneath it and take a whole column of gravel breaking only one block... cuts out some large spaces in your mine... exposes a lot of blocks quickly.
i look at it like this: when you're at the diamond level, whats the quickest/most efficient way to expose the greatest number of blocks?
so, i've started trying a slightly different method based on branch mining...
basically you dig out the standard 2 x 1 corridor, then you strafe down it and punch out 1 x 1 x however far you can reach holes at eye level, with two blocks in between.
so with each block you break, you're exposing 4 new blocks... if you see an ore in there, mine it out.
now, when mining out a walkable corridor, when you break the bottom block, you're only exposing 3 more blocks per block broken.
not sure if this is a better way, but i have been accumulating ores quickly.
When I've pretty much exhausted one shaft, I expand the main branch so I can have a new layer above the old shafts so I can do the same thing at 13. Then again at 16 (never been that high yet, but it's part of the layout I use).
Branch mine
Strip mine
Put a wall of chests and the opposite of that wall put chests but the 2nd with goodies and the first with cobblestone.
Bring armor. You will be getting in to a lot of caves with mobs.
Bring 1 water bucket with you. You'll see a lot of lava.
Bring a clock and a map. So you know what time it is and where you're at.
Bring 2 stacks of torches when you branch/strip mine.
On the outside surface of your branch mine make a little tree farm for wood to make sticks for tools and sugar cane farm for books
Bring brewing stands or speed potions with you. Put them in a chest. When you die you can drink them and get to the place faster where you died.
Make 2 different pathways 3x3 left and right.
Skip 3 between each branch/strip/line
1 block wide, 3 blocks high every branch/strip/line
Place torches every 10 blocks in the branch/strip/line
Above your branch mine make an enchantment table or another room at the branch mine (optional)
Bring crafting tables. 1 with you when you're mining and 1 at your base.
Make a room for beds for you to sleep in just in case if you died you can respawn there.
Make a furnace room (optional)
Get a silk touch pickaxe (Mine the ores. Saves lots of space in your inventory)
Get a fortune III pickaxe (Triples the amount of diamonds, redstone, etc.)
Get a row of iron pickaxe enchanted at level 1 in your inventory
Go straight in the branch/stip mine until you're at the end of the world
Use cobble to smelt to stone then patch up the areas that isn't stone so you have a clean looking stone branch mine. (optional)
Use cobble to smelt to stone then craft to stone bricks then remodel your base or build something with it. (optional)
Once your done bring home the goodies then mine it with your fortune pickaxe.
You want to get furnaces in your base and enchantment table so you don't have to go back to enchant an iron pickaxe or make one.
Always get the coal, redstone, etc! Diamonds sometimes are hiding under it.
I got 3 stacks of diamonds in 2 days by doing this.
Feel free to ask questions about my personal tactic.
-Zephy's tactic
I know. The top one, since I've never made it that far, will be for double checking the top layer for other ores I may have missed. There is also the off chance that I might lower the mine on some worlds, so I still tend prepare for that top later.
Plus, doesn't the Y coordinate correspond with Steve's eye level? That's how I've heard it works. If it does, then that top layer is actually in 15 and 16, so it'll still work, even though it won't be as efficient as lay 10 and 11. If not, oh well. I'll just forgo the top layer.