In survival mode, there are 2 ways to get diamonds in Minecraft: by locating diamond ores and mining those blocks with an iron pickaxe or a diamond pickaxe, or as a hidden reward in chests scattered around the stage. In the creative mode, the diamonds are available in your inventory.

Locating a diamond ore

The first way you can get a diamond is by mining it, for this, you need to find a block of diamond ore and break it using an iron pickaxe or a diamond pickaxe. If you break the ore with an inferior pickaxe, such as a stone or wooden pickaxe, you will get nothing.

To create the most basic pickaxe to mine this precious stone, you must follow the usual method, gathering on a crafting table 3 iron ingots and 2 wooden sticks. Iron is another mineral available in the game, and to mine it, you will need to have built a stone pickaxe beforehand, using 3 sticks and 3 stones. In order to mine stone, you will need a wooden pickaxe first. In Minecraft, you need tools of different materials to get others. As you progress through the game and get new materials, you can expand the materials that can be collected.

Now, explore your world with the iron pickaxe to locate blocks of diamond ore. It is one of the most desired objects and you will not find it easily. You can find diamond ores between levels 1 and 16, although the probability is higher between levels 8 and 13 and especially at level 12. They are usually located in agglomerations of 1 to 10.

A diamond ore blockA diamond ore block

Your first choice should be to find and enter a cave. Be sure to bring torches for lighting and enough tools to make your way.

Another alternative is to start your own mining operation. As in any open-pit mining operation, especially in survival mode, you should prepare your inventory well with a bed, torches (many), weapons, armor, crafting table, oven, food, chests and anything else you may need to survive.

Find a spot and start digging. During the excavations try to dig in zigzags to avoid falling into caves and caverns. Create a ladder that lets you get up and down easily. Once you reach the mother stone or layer 0, return to layer 12 and create your space there to locate all the items in your inventory so you do not have to go back up to the surface to get tools. Start digging using your own digging pattern.

When you locate a block of diamond, dig around it before destroying it, as it could be surrounded by lava. Place earth, stone or gravel on top of the lava to prevent it from destroying the block before it is collected.

Using an enchanted pickaxe with the spell of fortune while digging will increase the diamonds you get from digging a diamond ore. The probability varies between three different levels of the spell. Using an enchanted pickaxe with the touch of silk will allow you to get the full ore and not just the mineral. In an oven, you can melt the ore with any fuel to obtain the diamond itself.

A diamond ore smelting in a furnaceA diamond ore smelting in a furnace

Finding chests

Diamonds can also be found in chests scattered around the world, usually in villages, caves or abandoned mines.

A chest has 20% chances of containing diamondA chest has 20% chances of containing diamond

They can be found in almost 20% of the chests available in underworld fortresses, just over 6% of those available in desert temples, 16% in village smithy chests, just over 15% in jungle temple chests and just over 7% in fortress chests.