Tutorials/Mining

In Minecraft, there are many ways a player can mine. This article explains several techniques that may be of use.

Safety
The safety rule #1 when mining downwards: never mine the block you are standing on if you don't know what's below it - there can be lava or a cave into which you would fall. And in the case of lava - you would die and lose all your items to the lava. Therefore mining 1x1 shafts is considered dangerous. Also it is advised to carry a some blocks of material and a water bucket somewhere in a quick-slot with which you could quickly plug the leakage in the cases of lava leakage from the sides of the shaft - a water bucket poured over moving lava will turn it into a cobblestone, and the water should put you out if the lava has set you on fire.

Staircases
Staircase mining is a common mining technique for quickly reaching lower levels of the map while continuing to gather Stone. It essentially consists of mining downwards in such a way that the player can always climb back up to the mine entrance.

Since the player can only jump up one block at a time, the path can never drop down more than one block.

Straight
The most basic strategy is to mine in a straight line at a 45° angle downwards, moving one block across for every block down. To climb back up these stairs afterwards, you only need to hold down the jump key while moving forward.

After enough cobblestone (or wood) is collected, you can craft Stairs and place them at your downright tunnel. It will make the trip a lot smoother, easier and faster without any need to jump. Although an extra block from the ceiling of the staircase will need to be removed to accommodate the stairs.

Spiral
Spiral staircases are slightly more complicated since they have frequent turns, but have the advantage of leading straight down. They also have the benefit of being more contained and give you a more targeted dig. One design is a 3x3 horizontal grid. By digging one block down at a time, and moving around the perimeter of your 3x3 area, you will have enough head room as you move down the staircase. You can optionally leave the central column for a barrier or remove it to place ladders centrally, but it isn't necessary for the functionality of the staircase. You can also add stair blocks to this setup as well.

Spiral (2x2)
1) Stand on the bottom-left block of your staircase. Dig one block down, so you have to hop to exit the stairs.

2) Mine the block/s in front of you and the block beneath. Drop down.

3) Turn 90 degrees. Periodically place torch above head when dark.

4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until desired result achieved.

Shaft mining
Shafts are mined vertical tunnels used to gain access to underground mining sites. They can be of any widths starting from 1x1 blocks. Shafts with widths of 4x2 and up have the possibility of being turned into water elevators for fast vertical transportation.

1x1
As dangerous as mining underfoot is, it can also be a very quick way down to an already dug mine. Ladders can be placed every two blocks for efficiency or with only a couple of ladders at the bottom of your shaft, a free-fall from the top of the world is perfectly safe. It is fairly likely you will run into lava or a cave, so it is suggested to only carry with you what you need to get back up or defend and heal yourself.

1x2

 * Pick a place where you want your shaft
 * Mine a first block adjacent to the block you are standing at
 * Step down
 * Mine a block you were standing at and one below it
 * Go to 2.1
 * Continue in above pattern until you reach desired depth. From then on use a horizontal mining methods of your choice

Safety
The safety rules are similar when digging forwards. There can still be lava or caves. And in the case of lava - you would die and lose all your items to the lava. Therefore mining the top layer of your head height tunnels allows for a block of material and a water bucket somewhere in a quick-slot with which you could quickly plug the leakage in the cases of lava leakage from the sides of the shaft - a water bucket poured over moving lava will turn it into a cobblestone, and the water should put you out if the lava has set you on fire.

Branch Mining
An effective technique if you want to find rare resources with minimal effort. It is basically mining down to any level, usually to bedrock, and then mining outwards to the sides, much like a tree with a trunk and branches.

1. Use the staircase method to dig down to bedrock.

2. Go up 2 blocks and fill any space below you mined out.

3. Dig a 3x3 room. This is the tricky bit. You must dig a straight 2x1 tunnel in a straight line then dig out 20 blocks every 4th block. Diagram: X= Tunnel "Trunk" B= Branch S= Staircase B      B                 B       B           B       B                 B       B           B       B                 B       B           B       B                 B       B           B       B                 B       B           B       B                 B       B           B       B       XXX       B       B X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXX X X X X X X X X X X X X           B       B       XXX       B       B           B       B        S        B       B           B       B        S        B       B           B       B        S        B       B           B       B        S        B       B           B       B        S        B       B Each branch can be any length, but about 20 blocks long is a good length to begin with.

Strip Mining
Strip Mining is an efficient way to discover resources as it uncovers every block down a certain length of tunnel. It involves digging tunnels (usually 20 spaces long) either side of a two-block thick wall.

1) Dig a room that is 7 blocks long, 10 blocks wide and 3 blocks high. Have your stairway/ladder in the middle of one of the 10 block walls, preferably 2 spaces wide.

2) Starting in one of the corners, dig parallel to one of the walls of the room you just dug, for 20 spaces, placing a torch every 5 blocks.

3) Then, dig another 20 block tunnel that has two blocks between it and the previous tunnel.

4) Continue until you reach the other side of the room.

Diagram:

Key: Each block of air will be represented by the letter 'A'     Each block of stone will be represented by the letter 'B'      Each part of the staircase will be represented by the letter 'S'      Each part of a tunnel will be labelled 'T'

A A A A A A A A A A T T T T T                 A A A A A A A A A A B B B B B                  A A A A A A A A A A B B B B B                  A A A A A A A A A A T T T T T                  A A A A A A A A A A B B B B B                  A A A A A A A A A A B B B B B                  A A A A A A A A A A T T T T T                  T B B T S S T B B T                   T B B T S S T B B T                  T B B T S S T B B T                  T B B T S S T B B T                  T B B T S S T B B T

By utilising Strip Mining properly you can uncover all the blocks in quite a large area, and the mineral yields are quite high. Having the stairs 2 blocks wide allows for most efficient strip mining as they can be strip mined around. Also, a good length for each tunnel is 20 blocks long.