This article is about Diamond ore. For the block, see Diamond (Block). For the gem, see Diamond (Gem).
Diamond Ore is generally considered to be the most valuable and elusive block in the game. It can be mined for a diamond gem using an Iron or Diamond Pickaxe.
Uses
Diamonds can be used to make Shovels, Pickaxes, Axes, Hoes, Swords, and Armor of the highest quality. It is also a requisite ingredient in Jukeboxes, and solid diamond blocks.
Prospecting
Diamond Ore can be found in veins of 1-9 blocks (with larger concentrations being more rare). Diamond shows up at elevations ranging from 1 to 20 blocks above the bottom of the map.
- Below elevation 18, it occurs in roughly 0.12% of rock.
- This calculates to approximately 4 diamond ore per chunk.
Trivia
- When diamond was first introduced, it was called emerald.[1]
- If diamond ore is obtained via inventory hacking, smelting it will give the diamond gem.
- Diamond, like other ores, is easier to find in caves and empty lava pools, as this gives more surface area.
- Like other ores, diamond was about 50% more common in the quadrant south-west of the point (0,0) compared to the north-east quadrant. However, this was fixed in Beta 1.6.
- In some vein formations, ores connect diagonally. Therefore it is recommended to mine around diamond ore. This also permits checking for lava.
- Diamond Ore, along with other ores, appears in the background on the achievement page.
- Diamonds are considered to be the rarest item in the game, but, due to a bug in 1.6 (and only 1.6), Clay was the rarest material in the game.
- Diamond ore cannot be found or placed in Classic as of version 0.30.