Where can you find Diamonds in Minecraft? (1.21)

Hello my fellow Diamond hunter, I see you seek Diamonds. They’re awfully helpful, allowing you to craft some of the best tools, weapons, and armor in the game. But they’re pretty elusive, aren’t they? Well, this article will show you exactly where you can find Diamonds in Minecraft.

If you apply all of these tips, you’ll have more diamonds than you know what to do with. Let’s get started, shall we?

Where to find Diamonds in Minecraft

It depends on which version of Minecraft you’re playing. 1.17.1 and below, you can find Diamonds anywhere below the 16 level (y16). From 1.18 onwards, however, you’re going to have to dig deep. Here, Diamonds typically spawn between y-level -50 and -64.

You can find also find Diamonds in some chests, but that’s super rare and not a dependable way to get Diamonds in Minecraft.

And there you go, you know where to get Diamonds in Minecraft, but do you know how? Here are two fool-proof ways to get Diamonds.

How to get Diamonds in Minecraft

There are two ways to get Diamonds in Minecraft. The first is the most exciting way, while the second method can be really, really boring. But that said, the second method will get you all the Diamonds you could ever want. So let’s check out how to get Diamonds in Minecraft.

How to find Diamonds in Minecraft by exploring caves

This method of getting Diamonds isn’t very reliable, but it is a lot of fun. Find your nearest friendly monster-infested cave, and hope it goes deep enough! If you can find a ravine, that’s great too. Often times, there are cave entrances at the bottom of ravines that could help you get to that -40 to -60 level where you can get Diamonds.

It’s not always easy to get Diamonds in caves, but you will get plenty of other resources as well. You’ll also get to fight tons of monsters, probably, so come prepared. I recommend having at least Iron Armor before you go too deep into a cave in Minecraft.

But you won’t find all that many Diamonds. So what’s the second method?

How to find Diamonds by digging in Minecraft

This is the boring old reliable way to get tons of Diamonds in Minecraft. All you’ll have to do is dig, deep down into the earth. Here’s how.

Step 1: Plan your Diamond mine

The first step is to select a good spot for your Diamond mine. You’ll also need to decide whether you want other resources, too. If you do, it’s best to start at the ground level and dig down from there. What you’ll do is dig a trench, and then start digging outwards from the trench. Leave a two-block space between each outward trench. Here’s what that looks like:

Now you’ll start to mine downwards. Remember to bring plenty of torches and ladders. When you start mining downwards, place a block in your trenches, leaving just one block space for you ladders. This will help so you don’t fall down the shaft later and die.

Step 2: Dig Deep

If you do want to skip other resources, you can dig straight down to level -44. Well, don’t dig straight down like I did, because you could fall into lava. The best way to dig down is to never break the block directly under you.

Anyway, once you get down to that level, create your strip mine there, same as on the surface. Then start digging down. Remember to put ladders down and be safe. You’ll get plenty of blocks, so if you run into a cavern, you can just build a nice safe wall around you and keep digging.

Or you could explore the cavern. Never know what you might find.

I was lucky enough to find Diamonds right where I dug down.

Always dig around your Diamonds so they aren’t touching any other blocks before you mine them. There’s nothing worse than mining a diamond and having it fall into lava. Make sure that can’t happen.

Mine Diamond blocks when you find them until you have 5 Diamonds. You’ll need these to maximize the amount of Diamonds you can get. Don’t mine any more than that for now.

Step 3: Craft a Diamond Pickaxe

Use your first three Diamonds to build a Diamond pickaxe. Don’t use it yet, and keep mining if you want. Take wooden signs with you as well, so you can mark the location of any other Diamonds you find.

Once you’ve found some Diamonds, have some levels, and have some Lapis Lazuli, it’s time to do some enchanting.

Step 4: Enchant your Diamond Pickaxe with Fortune III

For this step, you’ll need an Enchantment Table with 15 bookshelves nearby. In case you don’t know how yet, here’s how to build a bookshelf in Minecraft. That guide also shows you how to place the bookshelves.

And here’s how to build an Enchantment Table in Minecraft.

Now, place your Diamond Pickaxe and Lapis Lazuli into the Enchantment Table. If you don’t get Fortune III on your first try, put any other pickaxe (Iron, perhaps?) into the table and give it a level one enchantment. This will reset the enchantments and give you another chance at Fortune III.

Keep trying this until you see Fortune III as a definite level III enchantment.

Once you have a Diamond Pickaxe with Fortune III, it’s time to become really, really rich — in Diamonds!

Step 5: Get all the Diamonds you could ever want in Minecraft

Now go back to the Diamonds you’ve already found, and harvest them. I harvested five Diamond blocks with my new Fortune III pickaxe, and I got 13 Diamonds! Some of the blocks even dropped four Diamonds at once.

And that’s all there is to finding Diamonds in Minecraft. You could always cheat and activate creative mode, but where’s the fun in that!

Good luck surviving out there!