Some people were asking me how I could find so many diamonds in a short amount of time. Here are my strategies for mining.
Branch Mining
This is the best way to get cobble, diamonds, redstone imo. Of course you also get lots of other ores, but I think they are easier to find when caving.
Stuff you want to bring:
- Normal pickaxe for mining cobble/iron/gold. Preferably something like Unbreaking III and Efficiency IV diamond pickaxe, but anything works really.
- Shovel. I usually also bring an axe, but it's not really necessary.
- Sword, because mobs do happen.
- Fortune III diamond pickaxe.
You want this for branch mining. This should be your #1 priority as a new player IMO. The amount of extra ores you get is ridiculous. You can get something like 30 diamonds from a single vein. For new players, I'd say you should put all your diamonds into an enchanting table and then enchanting for a fortune pickaxe. It's pretty much the best thing ever.
- Water bucket. This one is optional, but it's really nice to have if you come upon large lava pools.
- Wood to make more torches on the go.
- Lots of food
Where and how to mine
Dig down to where your Y level is at 11. That's eye level 12.62, and also where the lava pools are under your feet. Why this level? Well, looking at the wiki we see that diamonds are most common on levels 5-12. However, below level 11 is lava. Mining through or around lava pools is a huge effort, and you want this to be quick and easy. If your feet is at 11, that means you cover levels 10, 11, 12, 13 with your tunnels. Now, since level 13 has a bit lower amount of diamonds, some would say that mining at level 10 is better. But that's also riskier, since you could spill lava all over yourself.
Level 11 it is.
Make a long tunnel as your main tunnel. I usually make a 3x3 tunnel so it's easy to know which one is the main tunnel. Then you make branches from this tunnel, leaving 3 blocks between each branch.
Code:
-------------------------
--O---O---O---O---O---O--
-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-
-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-
--O---O---O---O---O---O--
-------------------------
- = stone
O = block you can see
# = tunnel
Most people seem to leave two blocks between the tunnels, which I think is very unnecessary. I
n theory, leaving 4 or more blocks between would be best as long as you have a lot of space to make mines in. If you have 3 blocks in between, there is a chance that there is an ore between that you can't see, but that's extremely uncommon. Veins are usually 2 or 3 blocks wide, so you could safely make your branches have 4 or more blocks between them. When mining with branches too close, you often find holes from ores you have already mined in a different branch. That's bad.
So yeah, 3 or 4 blocks between the branches depending on how large you want to make your mine. I personally prefer 3 blocks though.
Code:
Side view of branches
-------------------------
--O---O---O---O---O---O--
-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-
-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-O#O-
--O---O---O---O---O---O--
-------------------------
- = stone
O = block you can see
# = tunnel
Code:
Above view of main tunnel with 3 block spacing.
------------O###O-------------
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
##############################
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
------------O###O-------------
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
##############################
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
------------O###O-------------
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
##############################
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
------------O###O-------------
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
##############################
OOOOOOOOOOOOO###OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
------------O###O-------------
Mine redstone, lapis, diamonds, coal with your Fortune Pickaxe. Unless you only have one Fortune pick that's about to break, I'd say you should mine them all. Because ores are fun and valuable. Otherwise, stick to mining diamond with fortune. Light up your tunnels, beware of mobs, regularly go back to the main tunnel to dump off stuff. Pick up everything, even gravel and cobble. At least if you're a hoarder like me. Sneak a lot. Preferably all the time, unless you have a very fast pickaxe. Sneaking lets you hide from bandits who might roam the area, and also stops you from accidentally walking off into lava or something.
Not dying is rule #1. If you do happen to be unlucky, at least if you go back regularly you will not lose as much. I usually go down one branch until my inventory gets full, go back to the main tunnel to leave stuff and maybe make a new pickaxe, then go start a new branch.
Branch mining is awesome. It's not very dangerous, gives you lots of materials both for building and fighting, and you also get lots of XP. Most importantly,
it doesn't really require any attention. It's a great time to catch up on a TV show or something. Either have a secondary monitor or play in a small window.
Caving/spelunking
Because of the amount of surface area, it's easier to find ores when caving. Most caves and mineshafts are above diamond (and mostly redstone) level though, so I wouldn't recommend it for those ores. For everything else, yeah, caving is the most effective. It can be quite dangerous though with all the mobs, lava and whatever else.
If you really need gold, go caving. Since gold can be found over a large span of Y-levels, it can be quite rare down at lava level.
Those are my tips for mining. Feel free to comment or share your strategies.
![[Image: vmt7hgA.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/vmt7hgA.gif)
![[Image: Diamond_D_28x.jpg]](http://media-mcw.cursecdn.com/d/d0/Diamond_D_28x.jpg)
