Talk:Ore

Seeing what's written about the coal, there are formula's known about the ore generating. Is it possible to draw a graph for the types of ore for how many % is usually that ore in a specific layer? I think it would be interesting.

I will upload an image showing the differences in ore by quadrant when I get the permissions. I am currently gathering information on all ores by layer and quadrant. NZPhoenix 06:13, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Images
There needs to be a diamond ore image on the page. Timberdoodle 18:44, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Huh? There is... --Warlock 18:45, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

In the section ore varieties I'm not seeing any image. Timberdoodle 01:12, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

Gold...?
According to this page, gold (and lapis lazuli) are found in layer 35 of the map, if only rarely. The thing is, I have now peeled back all of layer 36 of the map in a 130 by 130 block space (don't ask), and am currently well into peeling back layer 35, and I have found no gold or lapis ore blocks. What gives?!? Wandergirl108 01:15, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Okay, I DID find gold ore while digging out layer 35, but that means that it didn't appear until layer 34, so again, what gives?Wandergirl108 13:39, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

It's all about chance and randomness: Gold is, very rarely, on layer 36. It is like 0.01% though, so assuming that is a correct guess you would on average find 1 gold per 10.000 blocks you remove. Since gold normally has about 4 pieces per layer, you'd need to mine 40.000 blocks at that layer to find one gold vein, on average. That is a 200x200 square. Again, on average, so you might as well need to mine 4 times as much if you are unlucky. Jippiedoe 13:51, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

1.8 please!
This really needs updating, it sure is different now and I want to know how much. Atleast clay is a lot less rare. Jippiedoe 10:31, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

i totally agree, but people didn't leave any sources on the program they made the diagram with, for me to check if it is updated to 1.8.1 yet edit: found it it's called mian (minecraft analyzer) -Wally

http://i.imgur.com/djSvZ.png There is a picture that someone made about the new ore hights. Finally I know why my mine didn't work: I mined with layer 12 as the floor!Jippiedoe 14:05, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

Ore frequency
Could someone add some chart about how many blocks of ore you can find per chunk? Or, I'll conduct an experiment in MCEdit that removes all stone, sand, gravel, dirt, lava, water, and sandstone; conducting it in several biomes, when I have time. Skyminer707 20:08, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I started trying to add rarity data from the individual articles, but it's very inconsistent so I'm not adding it to the article. It would be great to have some consistent measure. Here's how it looks:

Seanos 04:32, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

I love this information, but is there a way to make it into more consistent units? Average number/chunk? % of stone blocks? etc. I'm trying to come up with a reliable equation of efficiency*durability*(frequency of materials) to determine which tool set is really the best "value". I'm coming to the conclusion it's probably stone tools and iron armor, but maybe leather if you have a ranch. Of course enchantments can make the rarer materials more worthwhile... 130.212.135.38 03:00, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Adjacency to dirt and gravel
I remember hearing or reading somewhere that deposits of dirt or gravel underground always indicates there's an ore vein next to it. I've been playing the game since 1.5, and this has at least almost always turned out to be true. Is there some sort of deliberate pairing of the two in the generation code, or is this just a coincidence (i.e. any deposit of gravel or dirt is very likely to be next to an ore vein because, by the time you've dug through one, you've dug beyond the average distance between veins)? Steve the Pocket 00:51, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

Ore Spawning?
I have gone down mine shafts that I had been down dozens of times, and seen ore blocks of iron, coal, and occasionally rarer things like redstone or gold. They weren't in a dark corner or anything, they were in plain sight, even places I had to walk over multiple times. I can accept that I could miss blocks sometimes, but this has happened too often and in places too easy to see to be normal. I'm now starting to wonder if ore blocks can spawn in caves after chunk generation, or, if not spawn, be converted from existing blocks. I had considered it before, but do so now more than ever after Notch's GDC talk. In it, he mentioned that players had yet to discover something (though he said it wasn't a crafting recipe), and he mentioned both that the game has its' roots in serious physics and that unexpected consequences sometimes made it into the game. Additionally, in a newly created world, I was a level of 12 when I found a 6-block vein of coal next to a lava pool. While this in no way constitutes evidence, as coal can be found virtually anywhere, including places where one might expect diamond to be, it is interesting to think that if my theory is correct, this might naturally turn into diamond. This is all mildly crazy conjecture, and so I would welcome all of your thoughts and criticisms on the subject.
 * I don't believe you're crazy but you're definitely wrong. If I used a map viewer and highlighted all the diamonds. Played for a few days, then used the map viewer again there would be the same diamonds in the same locations (excluding ones I've mined of course). I've done this as well. Just today I noticed a pocket of iron in my xp farm room that I've been in dozens of times. It's the locations you've been too that you've set a routine where this happens since you do things more by muscle memory and less by sight. --Moxxy 01:43, 10 March 2012 (UTC)