Pretty Simple, I know where to look for diamonds, but often find it difficult to actually come across them. If you have an efficient way of finding them, please share. I just end up spending hours branch mining, but I know there has to be a better way.
There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous people. R.A. Heinlein
If you aren't part of the solution, then you obviously weren't properly dissolved.
I just do a normal strip/branch mine. I find it more effective than caving, but that's for finding JUST diamonds. Say if I wanted iron/coal, I would much rather just go caving. But if I want some more diamonds, I'll strip/branch mine.
I've always made mines like this, which have yielded around one diamond ore per 120 blocks mined (from tunnels only):
The tunnels are spaced every 4th block (3 between tunnel); however, I've since come across information on the Wiki (BigAlanM linked to it) that claims that you can double the efficiency (diamond per block mined, as well as throughput over time) by increasing the spacing to at least 6 blocks (every 7th block), so I may try this next time (a single straight 1x2 tunnel will also achieve the same result but it will become impractically long).
Also, the mine shown above yielded 91 diamond ore, twice as much as I'd have needed (without Fortune) if I wasn't playing a modded world and looking for a rarer mod ore, and afterwards I do not need to mine for any more resources since my "end-game" is spent caving (for fun with resources/XP as byproducts which happen to meet all of my needs); likewise, with Mending you do not need to use resources to repair gear (for these reasons I do not consider Fortune to be worth getting just for diamonds; the time and effort needed to get it likely outweighs the need to mine more diamonds, even if you play in 1.8+).
You may also notice that I mined below lava level (actually, at y=1 due to my mod, which does not change the density of vanilla ores around that level but adds a rare ore which is most common at y=1 and only 1/8 as common as diamond above lava); I have not had much trouble with lava, certainly not enough to warrant avoiding mining deeper down (efficiency will be slightly increased if you mine a bit lower than the standard y=11 since diamond ore becomes less common above y=12; a tunnel at y=11 will have its ceiling at y=13, and ores that you find in the ceiling can extend higher up into less diamond-rich layers).
This is one of the least efficient and most dangerous ways to mine, especially early on when you have little in the way of armor or weapons; to get some idea, here is what I mined in one world while caving (ignore the mod ores, which are insignificant anyway; emerald ore is also not really representative either due to the fact it only generates in one biome (a few more in my mod, which were still rarer than usual in this world) and I usually find more emerald than diamond in them):
Blocks mined over 121 sessions/466 hours spent caving:
percent /session /hour
Coal ore: 256837 67.5654 2122.62 551.15
Iron ore: 93786 24.6720 775.09 201.26
Redstone ore: 12831 3.3754 106.04 27.53
Gold ore: 10857 2.8561 89.73 23.30
Lapis ore: 3754 0.9876 31.02 8.06
Diamond ore: 1598 0.4204 13.21 3.43
Amethyst ore: 223 0.0567 1.84 0.48
Ruby ore: 153 0.0402 1.26 0.33
Emerald ore: 92 0.0242 0.76 0.20
Total ore: 380131 3141.58 815.73
Rails: 18053 149.20 38.74
Moss stone: 10173 84.07 21.83
Cobwebs: 8850 73.14 18.99
Ore+other: 417207 78.8156 3447.99 895.29
Stone mined: 95777 18.0935 791.55 205.53
Total blocks: 529346 (pickaxe) 4374.76 1135.94
538196 (+cobwebs) 4447.90 1154.93
Notes:
Percentages for ores are relative to total ore
Percentages for ore+other and stone are relative to total blocks mined with an amethyst
pickaxe (only used while caving)
Total blocks is all blocks mined with an amethyst pickaxe plus cobwebs (mined with shears)
Only 3.43 diamond ore per hour - 7 hours just to get a full set of diamond armor; sure, it may be faster if you only search for low-level caves but you can't consistently stay that deep, especially with the caves in 1.7 and later versions. You can also see that more than 90% of all ores are coal (2/3 of the total by itself) and iron. The ratio of diamond / total blocks mined is also extremely bad - only 0.3% or about 6 times worse that the Wiki's best figure and about 3 times worse than "standard" branch-mining (again, largely due to the amount of other ores mined; if you exclude coal, of which I only mined what I needed prior to 1.6, you halve the number of blocks mined but this still makes it close to a 2 block branch-mine spacing, which is about a third of the maximum efficiency).
For comparison, you can easily get 10 times more diamonds per hour by branch-mining, and they did not even use the Wiki's "best" mining strategy, just the "standard" 3 block spacing plus less efficient 2x2 main tunnels:
As someone inordinately fond of mining, I thought I would do another little pseudo-experiment last night to see what I could find spending 60 minutes branch mining. I grabbed a stack of pork chops, freshened up my picks (Eff IV Un III and Eff IV Un III Silk Touch) and went down to my local mines. These mines are a series of parallel 2x2 tunnels at y=11+12, spaced 100 blocks apart underneath an extreme hills biome (for the most part). Each "branch" then is a 1x2x100 long tunnel spaced every fourth block (i.e., three solid blocks between tunnels). For better or worse, I've already spent quite a bit of time here, so the new branches I made intersected previously explored (and plundered) caves. So, all the ores I found were strictly from mining and not caving.
First, the ratio of "good stuff" vs mine tailings (waste material left over from mining)
ore blocks/all blocks = 641/1717= 37%
It's interesting that given this method (with re-filled holes with unwanted stone) about a third of what I brought back to my chest was valuable ore.
Second, the relative prevalence of raw ore blocks:
293 coal
147 iron
121 redstone
34 diamond
25 gold
12 lapis
9 emerald
(regarding "waste" material, all the stone I mine while caving is soon placed again as cobblestone; I do not accumulate a net surplus and actually mine more than necessary to carve out walkways along the sides of ravines and the like, so in this sense caving is superior)
I've always made mines like this, which have yielded around one diamond ore per 120 blocks mined (from tunnels only):
The tunnels are spaced every 4th block (3 between tunnel); however, I've
since come across information on the Wiki (BigAlanM linked to it) that
claims that you can double the efficiency (diamond per block mined, as
well as throughput over time) by increasing the spacing to at least 6
blocks (every 7th block), so I may try this next time (a single straight
1x2 tunnel will also achieve the same result but it will become
impractically long).
Also, the mine shown above yielded 91 diamond ore, twice as much as I'd
have needed (without Fortune) if I wasn't playing a modded world and
looking for a rarer mod ore, and afterwards I do not need to mine for
any more resources since my "end-game" is spent caving (for fun with
resources/XP as byproducts which happen to meet all of my needs);
likewise, with Mending you do not need to use resources to repair gear
(for these reasons I do not consider Fortune to be worth getting just
for diamonds; the time and effort needed to get it likely outweighs the
need to mine more diamonds, even if you play in 1.8+).
You may also notice that I mined below lava level (actually, at y=1 due
to my mod, which does not change the density of vanilla ores around that
level but adds a rare ore which is most common at y=1 and only 1/8 as
common as diamond above lava); I have not had much trouble with lava,
certainly not enough to warrant avoiding mining deeper down (efficiency
will be slightly increased if you mine a bit lower than the standard
y=11 since diamond ore becomes less common above y=12; a tunnel at y=11
will have its ceiling at y=13, and ores that you find in the ceiling can
extend higher up into less diamond-rich layers).
This was an incredible answer to my question, there is so much information and you're genuinely great at delivering it. Thanks so much for the help!
I generally start on layer 13 and do a 1x3 tunnel for either 32 or 64 blocks straight, then move sideways 3 blocks and repeat back toward starting area (leaves 2 block thick wall). I keep cutting parallel tunnels Until I have a square area. then I repeat at the 10 and 7 level so the tunnels eventually become 1x9 slots. I don't generally go down to deeper level (4) as bedrock is uneven and makes this a pain to work up and down.
Putting lights on floor of tunnels at 12 block distances keeps mobs out. As you cut deeper, the light drops down and is repaced below where it was.
Before starting you should get a 'Fortune III" pick. An AFK fish farm will rapidly give you all the enchanted books you need and the XP to use the anvil to make it.
I dig to the 6th and 12th level above bedrock. Then I do 3x3 tunnels spaced 4-5 blocks apart. Those are the levels that yield the most diamonds I believe. It's been so long since I have had to actually mine in my world! Sort of miss it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
See my Minecraft world (100% Survival), Dirty Baker City here:
I generally start on layer 13 and do a 1x3 tunnel for either 32 or 64 blocks straight, then move sideways 3 blocks and repeat back toward starting area (leaves 2 block thick wall). I keep cutting parallel tunnels Until I have a square area. then I repeat at the 10 and 7 level so the tunnels eventually become 1x9 slots. I don't generally go down to deeper level (4) as bedrock is uneven and makes this a pain to work up and down.
You could probably nearly double your efficiency by switching to 1X2 tunnels at least 3 blocks between tunnels at layers 5-6, 8-9 and 11-12. As TheMasterCaver pointed out higher up more than 4 blocks between tunnels is even better and ThomasDevelops' post seems to bear that out.
Stagger the tunnels, move the middle level (8-9) 2 blocks to the side relative to the other 2.
You are wasting a lot of mining by removing the floors between the tunnels and normal diamond veins can't hide in 3 block thick walls without being seen from either side so you're better off losing a few small veins in exchange for covering a larger area and finding more normal sized veins.
I dig to the 6th and 12th level above bedrock. Then I do 3x3 tunnels spaced 4-5 blocks apart. Those are the levels that yield the most diamonds I believe. It's been so long since I have had to actually mine in my world! Sort of miss it.
Also rather inefficient.
For every meter of tunnel you mine 9 blocks uncovering 21 blocks, including the mined blocks, which is 2.333 blocks per mined block, 1X2 tunnels are almost twice as efficient with 8 blocks uncovered per 2 mined or 4 blocks per mined block.
And a 1X2 tunnel covers 4.5 times the distance/area with the same effort increasing the number of caves you find.
A 1X2 tunnel with 1X1 poke holes to the sides and upwards is probably even more efficient but I can't be bothered, prefering to just mine straight ahead until I find ores.
For every meter of tunnel you mine 9 blocks uncovering 21 blocks, including the mined blocks, which is 2.333 blocks per mined block, 1X2 tunnels are almost twice as efficient with 8 blocks uncovered per 2 mined or 4 blocks per mined block.
And a 1X2 tunnel covers 4.5 times the distance/area with the same effort increasing the number of caves you find.
A 1X2 tunnel with 1X1 poke holes to the sides and upwards is probably even more efficient but I can't be bothered, prefering to just mine straight ahead until I find ores.
I'll give it a try, thanks. Not a fan of the long skinny corridors but does sound a bit more efficient.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
See my Minecraft world (100% Survival), Dirty Baker City here:
Pretty Simple, I know where to look for diamonds, but often find it difficult to actually come across them. If you have an efficient way of finding them, please share. I just end up spending hours branch mining, but I know there has to be a better way.
Thanks in Advance
Read the second post in this thread:
https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-java-edition/discussion/2919437-fancy-mining-methods-a-bunch-of-crap
There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous people. R.A. Heinlein
If you aren't part of the solution, then you obviously weren't properly dissolved.
The latest release of Amidst, version 4.6 can be found here:
https://github.com/toolbox4minecraft/amidst/releases
You should probably also read this:
https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding-java-edition/minecraft-tools/2970854-amidst-map-explorer-for-minecraft-1-14
You can find me on the Minecraft Forums Discord server.
https://discord.gg/wGrQNKX
I just do a normal strip/branch mine. I find it more effective than caving, but that's for finding JUST diamonds. Say if I wanted iron/coal, I would much rather just go caving. But if I want some more diamonds, I'll strip/branch mine.
I've always made mines like this, which have yielded around one diamond ore per 120 blocks mined (from tunnels only):
The tunnels are spaced every 4th block (3 between tunnel); however, I've since come across information on the Wiki (BigAlanM linked to it) that claims that you can double the efficiency (diamond per block mined, as well as throughput over time) by increasing the spacing to at least 6 blocks (every 7th block), so I may try this next time (a single straight 1x2 tunnel will also achieve the same result but it will become impractically long).
Also, the mine shown above yielded 91 diamond ore, twice as much as I'd have needed (without Fortune) if I wasn't playing a modded world and looking for a rarer mod ore, and afterwards I do not need to mine for any more resources since my "end-game" is spent caving (for fun with resources/XP as byproducts which happen to meet all of my needs); likewise, with Mending you do not need to use resources to repair gear (for these reasons I do not consider Fortune to be worth getting just for diamonds; the time and effort needed to get it likely outweighs the need to mine more diamonds, even if you play in 1.8+).
You may also notice that I mined below lava level (actually, at y=1 due to my mod, which does not change the density of vanilla ores around that level but adds a rare ore which is most common at y=1 and only 1/8 as common as diamond above lava); I have not had much trouble with lava, certainly not enough to warrant avoiding mining deeper down (efficiency will be slightly increased if you mine a bit lower than the standard y=11 since diamond ore becomes less common above y=12; a tunnel at y=11 will have its ceiling at y=13, and ores that you find in the ceiling can extend higher up into less diamond-rich layers).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
This is one of the least efficient and most dangerous ways to mine, especially early on when you have little in the way of armor or weapons; to get some idea, here is what I mined in one world while caving (ignore the mod ores, which are insignificant anyway; emerald ore is also not really representative either due to the fact it only generates in one biome (a few more in my mod, which were still rarer than usual in this world) and I usually find more emerald than diamond in them):
Only 3.43 diamond ore per hour - 7 hours just to get a full set of diamond armor; sure, it may be faster if you only search for low-level caves but you can't consistently stay that deep, especially with the caves in 1.7 and later versions. You can also see that more than 90% of all ores are coal (2/3 of the total by itself) and iron. The ratio of diamond / total blocks mined is also extremely bad - only 0.3% or about 6 times worse that the Wiki's best figure and about 3 times worse than "standard" branch-mining (again, largely due to the amount of other ores mined; if you exclude coal, of which I only mined what I needed prior to 1.6, you halve the number of blocks mined but this still makes it close to a 2 block branch-mine spacing, which is about a third of the maximum efficiency).
For comparison, you can easily get 10 times more diamonds per hour by branch-mining, and they did not even use the Wiki's "best" mining strategy, just the "standard" 3 block spacing plus less efficient 2x2 main tunnels:
(regarding "waste" material, all the stone I mine while caving is soon placed again as cobblestone; I do not accumulate a net surplus and actually mine more than necessary to carve out walkways along the sides of ravines and the like, so in this sense caving is superior)
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
This was an incredible answer to my question, there is so much information and you're genuinely great at delivering it. Thanks so much for the help!
I generally start on layer 13 and do a 1x3 tunnel for either 32 or 64 blocks straight, then move sideways 3 blocks and repeat back toward starting area (leaves 2 block thick wall). I keep cutting parallel tunnels Until I have a square area. then I repeat at the 10 and 7 level so the tunnels eventually become 1x9 slots. I don't generally go down to deeper level (4) as bedrock is uneven and makes this a pain to work up and down.
Putting lights on floor of tunnels at 12 block distances keeps mobs out. As you cut deeper, the light drops down and is repaced below where it was.
Before starting you should get a 'Fortune III" pick. An AFK fish farm will rapidly give you all the enchanted books you need and the XP to use the anvil to make it.
Learn something new each day
I dig to the 6th and 12th level above bedrock. Then I do 3x3 tunnels spaced 4-5 blocks apart. Those are the levels that yield the most diamonds I believe. It's been so long since I have had to actually mine in my world! Sort of miss it.
See my Minecraft world (100% Survival), Dirty Baker City here:
https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft/show-your-creation/2915825-dirty-baker-city
You could probably nearly double your efficiency by switching to 1X2 tunnels at least 3 blocks between tunnels at layers 5-6, 8-9 and 11-12. As TheMasterCaver pointed out higher up more than 4 blocks between tunnels is even better and ThomasDevelops' post seems to bear that out.
Stagger the tunnels, move the middle level (8-9) 2 blocks to the side relative to the other 2.
You are wasting a lot of mining by removing the floors between the tunnels and normal diamond veins can't hide in 3 block thick walls without being seen from either side so you're better off losing a few small veins in exchange for covering a larger area and finding more normal sized veins.
Just testing.
Also rather inefficient.
For every meter of tunnel you mine 9 blocks uncovering 21 blocks, including the mined blocks, which is 2.333 blocks per mined block, 1X2 tunnels are almost twice as efficient with 8 blocks uncovered per 2 mined or 4 blocks per mined block.
And a 1X2 tunnel covers 4.5 times the distance/area with the same effort increasing the number of caves you find.
A 1X2 tunnel with 1X1 poke holes to the sides and upwards is probably even more efficient but I can't be bothered, prefering to just mine straight ahead until I find ores.
Just testing.
I'll give it a try, thanks. Not a fan of the long skinny corridors but does sound a bit more efficient.
See my Minecraft world (100% Survival), Dirty Baker City here:
https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft/show-your-creation/2915825-dirty-baker-city
You've got a point.
For anything that I'd be using regularly I'd prefer something more spacious, but mine shafts are mostly just used once, then I dig another.
Just testing.