Diamond Ore

Diamond ore is a rare ore that generates deep underground, and is the only reliable source of diamonds.

Natural generation


Diamond ore can generate in the Overworld in the form of mineral veins. Diamond ore attempts to generate 1 time per chunk in veins of 1-10 ore, between altitudes 1 and 16 (in layers 1-15), in all biomes. If multiple veins spawn directly adjacent, it is possible to have a "singular vein" with more than 10 diamond ore. On average they generate 3.7 ores per chunk. As of Java Edition 1.16.4, on average they generate 3.4 ores per chunk.

Breaking
The diamond ore block itself (rather than its diamond drops) can be obtained by mining it with an iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe with the Silk Touch enchantment. When mined without Silk Touch, diamond ore drops a single diamond. The maximum amount of diamonds dropped can be increased with Fortune. Fortune I gives a $1/3$ chance for 2 diamonds, averaging 1.33 diamonds, Fortune II gives a 25% chance (each) to give 2 or 3 diamonds, averaging 1.75 diamonds, and Fortune III gives a 20% chance (each) to give 2, 3, or 4 diamonds, averaging 2.2 diamonds.

Note Blocks
Diamond ore can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sound.

ID




Trivia

 * In some vein formations, ores connect diagonally.
 * In real life, the rarity of diamonds is highly exaggerated. Gemstone quality diamonds, whose qualities are mirrored by the game's mechanics, need to be cut and processed carefully, and therefore must be found in large pieces. Industry-grade diamonds, which are used in the manufacturing of most diamond-based tools, are relatively plentiful and affordable.