Since the second part of the Caves and Cliffs update, the community has repeatedly asked the same question. Where to find diamonds in Minecraft? And even though there weren’t drastic changes to the world generation since Minecraft 1.18, with every new version, the community seems to be torn between a few options.
So today, I’m gonna show you, once and for all, what is the best level to find diamonds in Minecraft 1.20, where else you can get them from, and what is the best way to get diamonds in Minecraft.
Some Background
Diamonds Level in Minecraft Versions Pre 1.18
It took the Minecraft community years to settle on y=12 for finding diamonds in the versions that preceded 1.18.
Until a bug in version 1.17 made diamonds much rarer than they should have been, reigniting the diamond-level debate. Players started looking for diamonds in other Y levels until the bug was patched in 1.17.1.
Minecraft Version 1.18
A few months passed, and Minecraft 1.18 changed everything – again. The world generation became much more extreme, reaching sub-zero Y levels for the first time.
It was clear that there was no point looking for diamonds in Y=12, but where?
What to Do with Diamonds in Minecraft?
Diamonds are quite useful, even beyond making the best armor, weapons, and the best tools. Diamonds are also used to craft an enchantment table, jukebox, and some firework designs.
You can use nine diamonds to create a diamond block, one of the blocks used to activate a beacon.
In version 1.20, You could use diamonds to duplicate smithing templates of armor trims and netherite upgrades. They can also be used as a smithing ingredient to apply diamond armor trims.
Where to Find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.20
I know that when you think about getting diamonds in Minecraft, your mind instantly thinks about mining. But don’t forget that diamonds can be found in many loot chests, and you can also get them by brushing suspicious sand or suspicious gravel with a brush.
Mining Diamonds
This is quite obvious, but when I’m saying mining, I don’t necessarily mean strip mining. Exploring deep caves is a very efficient way of finding diamonds, too. This is thanks to the large number of exposed blocks.
Exploring the Caves
Since the Caves and Cliffs update (1.18), huge deep caves have become quite common. If you’re very early game, you might not have the tools to strip mine thousands of blocks effectively. For that, you should consider finding and exploring a deep cave.
Caves are very common underground terrain features in all biomes. And if the cave is deep enough, it is more than likely to have some exposed diamonds somewhere.
While strip mining, every two blocks you break expose eight blocks (one above you, one below you, and two on each side). Exploring a cave can give you instant access to thousands of blocks.
Strip Mining
When you decide to strip mine, you need to decide exactly where to do that. For that, we will look at the ore distribution of the world generation.
Ore Distribution
As mentioned earlier, there weren’t drastic changes in ore distribution since the second part of the caves and cliffs update. This means that the diamond ore distribution in Minecraft 1.20 is similar to the one in 1.18.
Diamond veins spawn between Y levels 14 to -63, which are more common the farther down you go.
This might lead you to mine for diamonds in Y level -63, but there’s another thing you should consider: Bedrock spawns from Y level -60 and down, and it is prioritized over any other block.
This means that if part of a vein had spawned in a certain location below Y -60, it might’ve been overridden by the presence of bedrock.
Best Level to Find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.20
After taking into consideration the ore distribution, as well as the presence of bedrock, the best level to find diamonds in Minecraft 1.20 is -58.
This means the player stands on the block in Y level -58, and his upper body is on level -57.
Finding Diamonds in Loot Chests
There are a few places in your Minecraft world where you can find diamonds in loot chests. They are spread across multiple locations and in all three dimensions:
Diamonds in Loot Chests in the Overworld
In the overworld, you can find diamonds in chests in several locations, including locations you are likely to find very early game, sometime even when you’re trying to survive your first night.
Shipwrecks
You have about 1 in 7 chances to find one diamond in the treasure chest of a shipwreck. This is, in addition to the buried treasure map that leads to buried treasure.
Buried Treasure Chests
Buried treasure chests, for example, are very common on beaches. You can find buried treasure by using a map or even without a map.
You’ll find 1-2 diamonds in 60% of the chests. This is a huge advantage when you’re very early in the game.
Villages
In villages, there are two options to find diamonds:
- Toolsmith Chests – has one in 10 chances of containing 1-3 diamonds.
- Weaponsmith Chests – have 1 in 6 chances of containing 1-3 diamonds.
Desert Temple Chests
If you find yourself in the desert, do yourself a favor and look for a temple. Even though each chest has only about 1 in 16 chance of containing 1-3 diamonds, each temple has four chests, making your chances of getting diamonds about 25%! That’s not mentioning suspicious sand, which we’ll get into later.
Jungle Temple Chests
Jungle temple chests have about a 1 in 8 chance of containing 1-3 diamonds.
Mineshaft Chests
Even though each mineshaft chest has a chance of about 1 in 11 chance of containing diamonds (1-2 per chest), there is an average of 5.5 chests per mineshaft.
Stronghold Altar Chest
I consider diamonds in this chest ‘a bonus’, because you obviously didn’t get to this room searching for diamonds.
Nonetheless, the chest in the altar room of a stronghold has about a 1 in 14 chance to have 1-3 diamonds, and in each stronghold, there are up to 4 altars.
Diamonds in Loot Chests in the Nether
In the nether, chests with diamonds exist in the two most hostile structures, bastion remnants, and fortresses.
Treasure Bastion Remnants
Each chest in the treasure room of a treasure bastion remnant has 1 in 6 chances of containing 2-6 diamonds.
Fortresses
Nether fortresses’ chests have 1 in 5 chances of having one to three diamonds.
Diamonds in Loot Chests in the End Dimension
As we all know, the end dimension lacks some variety. For that reason, the only place to find diamonds in it is in the end city chests, each has a 1 in 5 chance of having between 2 and 7 diamonds. Sweet.
Of course, together with the diamonds, you’ll find enchanted diamond gear, and in end cities with a ship, you’ll get the elytra, making the diamonds almost insignificant in comparison.
Get Diamonds From Suspicious Sand or Suspicious Gravel
The new archeology mechanic introduced in version 1.20 added another way of getting diamonds. When you use a brush on suspicious sand or suspicious gravel, you have a chance of getting a diamond.
It depends on the location of the ruins, though. At the moment, the only place you can find diamonds in suspicious sand is in the secret room of a desert pyramid, and the chance of getting a diamond is 12.5% or 1 in 8.
[image of brushing suspicious sand and getting a diamond]
The Best Way to Find Diamonds in Minecraft
After looking into everything, we have a couple of very good options to find diamonds in Minecraft, and the best way to choose depends on how late you are in the game, where you are, and how many diamonds you need.
If you’re around a desert, there’s no doubt that the best chance to find diamonds is at the temples.
If you’re near an ocean, take a boat or swim to find a shipwreck.
On a beach, you should try finding buried treasure without a map.
Explore the caves if you’re near a ravine or a deep cave entrance. The farther down, the better.
And lastly, if you need high quantities of diamonds, strip mining is the most consistent way of finding diamonds in Minecraft.
Finishing Thoughts
Today we saw the best level to find diamonds in Minecraft 1.20 and learned a bit about the history of diamond distribution before the Caves and Cliffs update.
We also saw other ways to get diamonds in Minecraft that might suit you better if you’re in the early game stages.