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Reason: Java Edition 1.20.2 increased diamond ore distribution

This article is about the ore. For the item, see Diamond. For the mineral block, see Block of Diamond.

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

Deepslate diamond ore is a variant of diamond ore that can generate in deepslate and tuff blobs.

Obtaining[]

Natural generation[]

See also: Ore (feature)
Ore feature of diamond ores

Ore feature of diamond ore.

Diamond ore generates in the Overworld in the form of ore features, and is more common as the altitude decreases. Diamond ore blocks have a chance to not generate if they are exposed to air; however, they do not have a reduced chance to generate if exposed to water or lava, making them appear more commonly on the walls of aquifers.

Diamond ore generation occurs in three batches:

  • 7 blobs of 1-5 ores per chunk, from Y=14 to Y=-63. There is a 50% chance to not generate an ore block if it is next to air.
  • 1 blob of 1-23 ores every 19 chunks, from Y=14 to Y=-63. There is a 70% chance to not generate an ore block if it is next to air.
  • 4 blobs of 1-10 ores per chunk, from Y=14 to Y=-63. Ore blocks do not generate if they are next to air.

Diamond ore can replace stone, andesite, diorite, granite, tuff[JE only], and deepslate. Diamond ore that replaces tuff or deepslate becomes deepslate diamond ore.

Deepslate diamond ore also generates as part of fossils that generate below Y=0, replacing some of the bone blocks.

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 13 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.

Block Diamond Ore Deepslate Diamond Ore
Hardness 3 4.5
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default 15 22.5
Wooden 7.5 11.25
Stone 3.75 5.65
Iron 0.75 1.15
Diamond 0.6 0.85
Netherite 0.5 0.75
Golden 1.25 1.9
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Usage[]

Smelting ingredient[]

Name Ingredients Smelting recipe
Diamond Diamond Ore or
Deepslate Diamond Ore +
Any fuel


1

Note Blocks[]

Diamond ore can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sounds.

Sounds[]

Diamond ore[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Block brokenBlocksOnce the block has brokenblock.stone.breaksubtitles.block.generic.break1.00.816
Block placedBlocksWhen the block is placedblock.stone.placesubtitles.block.generic.place1.00.816
Block breakingBlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenblock.stone.hitsubtitles.block.generic.hit0.250.516
None[sound 1]Entity-DependentFalling on the block with fall damageblock.stone.fallNone[sound 1]0.50.7516
FootstepsEntity-DependentWalking on the blockblock.stone.stepsubtitles.block.generic.footsteps0.151.016
  1. a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.stone1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placeddig.stone1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.stone0.370.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.stone0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.stone0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.stone0.121.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.stone0.221.0

Deepslate diamond ore[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Block brokenBlocksOnce the block has brokenblock.deepslate.breaksubtitles.block.generic.break1.00.816
Block placedBlocksWhen the block is placedblock.deepslate.placesubtitles.block.generic.place1.00.816
Block breakingBlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenblock.deepslate.hitsubtitles.block.generic.hit0.250.516
None[sound 1]Entity-DependentFalling on the block with fall damageblock.deepslate.fallNone[sound 1]0.50.7516
FootstepsEntity-DependentWalking on the blockblock.deepslate.stepsubtitles.block.generic.footsteps0.151.016
  1. a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.deepslate1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placedplace.deepslate1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.deepslate0.30.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.deepslate0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.deepslate0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.deepslate0.121.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.deepslate0.221.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormBlock tags (JE)Translation key
Diamond Orediamond_oreBlock & Itemdiamond_ores
mineable/pickaxe
needs_iron_tool
block.minecraft.diamond_ore
Deepslate Diamond Oredeepslate_diamond_oreBlock & Itemdiamond_ores
mineable/pickaxe
needs_iron_tool
block.minecraft.deepslate_diamond_ore

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormTranslation key
Diamond Orediamond_ore56Block & Giveable Item[i 1]tile.diamond_ore.name
Deepslate Diamond Oredeepslate_diamond_ore660Block & Giveable Item[i 1]tile.deepslate_diamond_ore.name
  1. a b Available with /give command.

History[]

Java Edition Indev
0.3120100128Diamond Ore JE1 BE1 Added diamond ore. Initially, it was referred to as "emerald ore."
20100130Emerald ore from the previous version is now referred to as diamond ore.
20100201-2The drop rate of diamonds has been reduced to 1 per ore mined (down from 1-3).
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1Diamond ore no longer generates.
20100320Diamond ore blobs now generate, but differently.
20100325Ore blobs now appear more like they do today.
20100327Diamond ore now regenerates after the world is reloaded, assuming that the positions of the ore blocks were replaced by stone.
20100330Diamond ore no longer regenerates.
Java Edition Beta
1.6Test Build 3Before this update, diamond was about 50% rarer in the north-east quadrant of the point (0,0) compared to the quadrant to the south-west. In this update, clay blocks are now more rare than diamond due to a glitch.
1.8Pre-releaseDiamond ore has now become about 25% rarer.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4Diamond ore can now be collected with Silk Touch, dropping the block itself.
Diamond ore now drops extra diamonds with the Fortune enchantment.
1.3.112w22aMining diamond ore now drops experience orbs.
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 56.
Texture UpdateJanuary 4, 2018Diamond Ore TextureUpdate Revision 1 A new texture for diamond ore has been proposed.
1.1418w43aDiamond Ore JE2 BE2 The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
19w08aDiamond Ore JE3 BE3 The texture of diamond ore has been changed, once again.
1.1721w06aThe height limit was expanded down to Y=-64. Diamand ores are temporary generating from Y=-64 instead of Y=0.
21w07aDiamond Ore JE4 The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
Diamond ore now generates as a triangle spread, generating below Y=16 and peaking at Y=-64.
February 17, 2021Deepslate Diamond Ore (pre-release) Henrik Kniberg shows a grimstone variant of diamond ore, its texture made by JAPPA.
February 18, 2021Deepslate Diamond Ore (pre-release 2) JAPPA shows a new texture for the grimstone variant of diamond ore.
February 22, 2021Deepslate Diamond Ore (pre-release 3) JAPPA shows updated grimstone variant of diamond ore.
21w08aDeepslate Diamond Ore JE1 Added the deepslate diamond ore, which take place of diamond ores that generate in deepslate.
Added diamond_ores block tag.
If a diamond ore in a blob is exposed to air, it has a 50% chance of not generating.
March 2, 2021Diamond Ore JE5 BE5 JAPPA shows updated diamond ore texture.
March 4, 2021Deepslate Diamond Ore (pre-release 4) JAPPA shows updated deepslate variant of diamond ore texture.
21w10aDiamond Ore JE5 Deepslate Diamond Ore JE2 Tweaked the diamond ore textures.
Deepslate diamond ore now generates instead of coal ore on fossils that generate below Y=0.
Diamond ore blobs are now smaller but slightly more frequent, making diamond ore overall less common.
21w11aSlightly increased the frequency of diamond ore blobs.
21w13aLarger diamond ore blobs sometimes form.
21w15aAll the changes to diamond ore generation in the previous 1.17 snapshots have been reverted, but they can be re-enabled with the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack.
1.17.1Pre-release 2Now diamond ore generates at the correct Y-levels.[1]
1.18Experimental Snapshot 1Diamond ore once again generates the way it did in the 1.17 snapshots without the use of a data pack.
Slightly increased the frequency of diamond ore blobs.
21w40aIncreased the amount of unexposed diamond ore.
1.20.223w31aDiamond ore now generates more frequently in deepslate layers.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0Diamond Ore JE1 BE1 Added diamond ore.
v0.3.2Diamond ore is now obtainable.
v0.12.1build 1Mining diamond ore now drops experience orbs.
Diamond ore can now be collected with Silk Touch, dropping the block itself.
Diamond ore now drop extra diamonds with the Fortune enchantment.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Diamond Ore JE2 BE2 The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.5Diamond Ore JE3 BE3 The texture of diamond ore has been changed, once again.
1.16.220beta 1.16.220.50Diamond Ore JE4 BE4 The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
1.17.0beta 1.16.230.52Deepslate Diamond Ore JE2 Added deepslate diamond ore behind the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
beta 1.16.230.54Diamond Ore JE5 Diamond ore texture was updated.
beta 1.16.230.56In the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay, diamond ore blob now generates as a triangle spread generating below Y=15 and peaking at Y=-64, and are now smaller. Larger diamond ore blobs now sometimes form.
beta 1.17.0.52Deepslate diamond ore now generates without the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
Diamond ore blob was unintentionally made twice as smaller.[2]
1.17.2Diamond ore once again generates in the expected amounts when not using the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
In the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay, diamond ore blob was unintentionally made twice as bigger.
1.17.40beta 1.17.40.20Slightly increased the frequency of diamond ore blobs.
1.18.0beta 1.18.0.20Removed “Caves and Cliffs” experimental toggle. New granite generation are now available through normal gameplay.
Diamond ore generation has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition.
The size of diamond ore blob is expected to be decreased to match Java Edition. However, it now generates in wrong size.
beta 1.18.0.21Increased the amount of unexposed diamond ore.
beta 1.18.0.22Diamond ore generation height has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition.
beta 1.18.0.24Increased the amount of unexposed diamond ore again to be in parity with Java Edition.
1.18.1Diamond ore blob now generates in correct size.
1.18.10beta 1.18.10.21Deepslate diamond ore now generates instead of coal ore on fossils that generate below Y=0.
1.20.30beta 1.20.30.20Diamond ore now generates more frequently in deepslate layers.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 11.0.1Diamond Ore JE1 BE1 Added diamond ore.
1.90 Diamond Ore JE2 BE2 The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Diamond Ore JE1 BE1 Added diamond ore.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Diamond Ore" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

  • In some blob formations, ores connect diagonally.
  • After the Caves & Cliffs update, diamond ore is the only type of Overworld ore that largely keeps the classic ore texture, with only some minor tweaks to coloration.
  • The Minecraft mechanic that diamond ore replaces coal ore in fossils that generate in deepslate layers, is in accordance with the common misconception in real life that diamonds form from highly compressed coal.
    • In fact, diamonds mostly form from carbon that comes from carbonate rocks,[3] and are completely unrelated to coal which form from dead plants.

Gallery[]

Miscellaneous[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. MC-229191 — Diamond ore distribution changed between 1.16.5 and 1.17
  2. MCPE-127555
  3. How do diamonds form? They don't form from coal! – Geology.com in 2012

External Links[]

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