If you’re a regular Minecraft player, you likely had all the specific levels to find each ore memorized before the Caves & Cliffs update arrived to change everything. Now, the level you find diamonds has changed completely, so you may be wondering where you can actually find diamonds after the 1.20 update.
Best Y level to find diamonds in Minecraft 1.20
You’ll need to mine fairly deep to find diamonds since the best Y level to find them is level -58 and level -59. You can find diamonds anywhere from Y level 15 to level -64. To find diamonds, you’ll need to mine down to lower your Y level, which is the altitude you are at. You can keep track of what level you are on by using Minecraft’s coordinates system.
Although you can find them anywhere lower than Y level 15, diamonds are most common between levels -50 to -64 but are easiest to obtain at levels -58 to -59.
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Y levels -58 to level -59 are generally considered the best levels for finding diamonds since they are the lowest you can go before pesky bedrock starts spawning at level -60. Since you can’t break bedrock, you’ll have a much easier time mining just above where it spawns.
Before you try to mine any diamonds, make sure you have an iron pickaxe, a diamond pickaxe, or a Netherire pickaxe ready to go. The diamonds will break if you mine them with any weaker type of pickaxe.
Where is the best place to find diamonds in Minecraft 1.20?
The best place to find diamonds in Minecraft is deep underground. Even knowing the best Y levels to search for diamonds, it can still be quite a tough task to actually locate them.
Since the Caves & Cliffs update overhauled where diamonds used to be found, I’ve had an easier time finding them exposed around the massive cave systems rather than from mining the traditional way. But even with this, it still generally comes down to luck and what the seed you’re playing on looks like.
Tips for finding diamonds in Minecraft 1.20
If you’ve scoured the right levels but you’re still struggling to track down this pesky ore, here are some tips that may help you find them faster based on my experience searching for diamonds.
- Consider creating a dedicated mine around Y level -58 to -59 where you start a new tunnel every two chunks and mine in a perfectly straight line down each tunnel as far as you can. This will allow you to mine more thoroughly.
- Check around and near underground lava pools as they seem to commonly spawn around them.
- If you don’t want to mine anymore, consider checking structures instead. You can find diamonds in chests around villages, shipwrecks, Desert Temples, Jungle Temples, Nether fortresses, Strongholds, Bastion remnants, and mineshafts. Treasure maps may also lead you to buried treasure chests that have diamonds too.
- Consider enchanting your pickaxe with Fortune so you can obtain more diamonds when you do find diamond veins to mine.
