All 13 Places to Easily Find Diamonds in Minecraft (2023)

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.

A cave full of deepslate diamond ore
A cave full of deepslate diamond ores

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.

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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.

3 diamonds in a deep cave in Minecraft
Three diamonds in a deep cave in Minecraft

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.

Found diamonds while strip mining in Y level -58 in Minecraft
Found diamonds while strip mining in Y level -58 in Minecraft
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.

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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.

Y -58 is the best level to find diamonds in Minecraft
Y -58 is the best level to find diamonds in Minecraft

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.

A shipwreck is a great place to find diamonds in Minecraft because it can contain a couple of them inside the treasure chest and have a map to direct you toward more in a buried treasure
A shipwreck is a great place to find diamonds in Minecraft because it can contain a couple of them inside the treasure chest and have a map to direct you toward more in a 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.

minecraft beach
Minecraft beach
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.
A weaponsmith chest can make you early game survival a lot different
A weaponsmith chest can make your early game survival a lot different
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.

Just don't forget to break the pressure plate before you try to find diamonds in the chests inside a desert pyramid
Just don’t forget to break the pressure plate before you try to find diamonds in the chests inside a desert pyramid
Jungle Temple Chests

Jungle temple chests have about a 1 in 8 chance of containing 1-3 diamonds.

A jungle temple in Minecraft
A jungle temple in Minecraft
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.

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An abandoned mineshaft chest
An abandoned mineshaft chest
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.

The bridge leading to the treasure room in a treasure room bastion remnant
The bridge leading to the treasure room in a treasure room bastion remnant
Fortresses

Nether fortresses’ chests have 1 in 5 chances of having one to three diamonds.

A nether fortress's chests have 20% of having up to 3 diamonds
A nether fortress’s chests have 20% of having up to 3 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.

End city loot chests are among the best placed to find diamonds or diamond gear in minecraft
End city loot chests are among the best placed to find diamonds or diamond gear in minecraft

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.

End City with a Ship
End City with a Ship

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.

Steve surrounded by diamonds
Steve surrounded by diamonds

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.

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