Diamond Ore

Diamond Ore
Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	3
Hardness	Diamond Ore: 3 Deepslate Diamond Ore: 4.5
Luminous	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

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 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 ¹⁄₉ 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, 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 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.

Block	Diamond Ore	Deepslate Diamond Ore
Hardness	3	4.5
Tool
Breaking time
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

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:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.stone.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.stone.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.stone.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	None	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.stone.fall	None	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.stone.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	0.37	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	0.3	1.0
	Players	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	0.12	1.0
	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	0.22	1.0

Deepslate diamond ore

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.deepslate.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.deepslate.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.deepslate.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	None	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.deepslate.fall	None	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.deepslate.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.deepslate	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	place.deepslate	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.deepslate	0.3	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.deepslate	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.deepslate	0.3	1.0
	Players	Jumping from the block	jump.deepslate	0.12	1.0
	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.deepslate	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags (JE)	Translation key
Diamond Ore	diamond_ore	Block & Item	diamond_ores mineable/pickaxe needs_iron_tool	block.minecraft.diamond_ore
Deepslate Diamond Ore	deepslate_diamond_ore	Block & Item	diamond_ores mineable/pickaxe needs_iron_tool	block.minecraft.deepslate_diamond_ore

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Diamond Ore	diamond_ore	56	Block & Giveable Item	tile.diamond_ore.name
Deepslate Diamond Ore	deepslate_diamond_ore	660	Block & Giveable Item	tile.deepslate_diamond_ore.name

History

Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100128			Added diamond ore. Initially, it was referred to as "emerald ore."
		20100130			Emerald ore from the previous version is now referred to as diamond ore.
		20100201-2			The drop rate of diamonds has been reduced to 1 per ore mined (down from 1-3).
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1					Diamond ore no longer generates.
20100320					Diamond ore blobs now generate, but differently.
20100325					Ore blobs now appear more like they do today.
20100327					Diamond ore now regenerates after the world is reloaded, assuming that the positions of the ore blocks were replaced by stone.
20100330					Diamond ore no longer regenerates.
Java Edition Beta
1.6		Test Build 3			Before 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.
1.8		Pre-release			Diamond ore has now become about 25% rarer.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Diamond ore can now be collected with Silk Touch, dropping the block itself.
					Diamond ore now drops extra diamonds with the Fortune enchantment.
1.3.1		12w22a			Mining diamond ore now drops experience orbs.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 56.
Texture Update		January 4, 2018			A new texture for diamond ore has been proposed.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
		19w08a			The texture of diamond ore has been changed, once again.
1.17		21w06a			The height limit was expanded down to Y=-64. Diamand ores are temporary generating from Y=-64 instead of Y=0.
		21w07a			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, 2021			Henrik Kniberg shows a grimstone variant of diamond ore, its texture made by JAPPA.
		February 18, 2021			JAPPA shows a new texture for the grimstone variant of diamond ore.
		February 22, 2021			JAPPA shows updated grimstone variant of diamond ore.
		21w08a			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, 2021			JAPPA shows updated diamond ore texture.
		March 4, 2021			JAPPA shows updated deepslate variant of diamond ore texture.
		21w10a			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.
		21w11a			Slightly increased the frequency of diamond ore blobs.
		21w13a			Larger diamond ore blobs sometimes form.
		21w15a			All 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.
1.17.1		Pre-release 2			Now diamond ore generates at the correct Y-levels.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Diamond 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.
		21w40a			Increased the amount of unexposed diamond ore.
1.20.2		23w31a			Diamond ore now generates more frequently in deepslate layers.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					Added diamond ore.
v0.3.2					Diamond ore is now obtainable.
v0.12.1		build 1			Mining 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
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.5			The texture of diamond ore has been changed, once again.
1.16.220		beta 1.16.220.50			The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
1.17.0		beta 1.16.230.52			Added deepslate diamond ore behind the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
		beta 1.16.230.54			Diamond ore texture was updated.
		beta 1.16.230.56			In 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 1.17.0.52			Deepslate diamond ore now generates without the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
					Diamond ore blob was unintentionally made twice as smaller.
1.17.2					Diamond 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.
1.17.40		beta 1.17.40.20			Slightly increased the frequency of diamond ore blobs.
1.18.0		beta 1.18.0.20			Removed “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 1.18.0.21			Increased the amount of unexposed diamond ore.
		beta 1.18.0.22			Diamond ore generation height has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition.
		beta 1.18.0.24			Increased the amount of unexposed diamond ore again to be in parity with Java Edition.
1.18.1					Diamond ore blob now generates in correct size.
1.18.10		beta 1.18.10.21			Deepslate diamond ore now generates instead of coal ore on fossils that generate below Y=0.
1.20.30		beta 1.20.30.20			Diamond ore now generates more frequently in deepslate layers.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added diamond ore.
		1.90			The texture of diamond ore has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					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, and are completely unrelated to coal which form from dead plants.

Gallery

• 
  An exposed blob containing 8 diamond ores.
• 
  An exposed blob containing 10 diamond ores.
• 
  Naturally generated diamond and redstone ores in a cave.
• 
  Multiple ores, found in the new big cave.
• 
  Naturally generated diamond ore, Redstone Ore and Lapis Lazuli Ore found in a Canyon.
• 
  Diamond ore concealed behind lava.

Miscellaneous

• 
  An old chart of the diamond ore distribution in 135,704,866 blocks.

See also

• Block of Diamond
• Diamond
• Tutorials/Diamonds

External Links

• Block of the Week: Diamond Ore – Minecraft.net on October 20, 2017