This page is about the ore. For the solid diamond block, see Diamond (block).Diamond ore is generally considered to be the most valuable and elusive block in the game (except for clay in Alpha). It can be found inside stone blocks very deep underground, generally in a vein of 4 blocks, and you may often find lava in its proximity and vice versa. It can be mined for a diamond gem using an iron or diamondpickaxe. The diamond gems can be used right away in a workbench to craft diamond tools, weapons and armor, which are the currently the most durable in the game. This, along with Coal and Redstone, do not require any smelting and can be used immediately. You can also create diamond blocks by crafting nine diamond gems together in a 3x3 square using the workbench.
It can not be placed in Classic as of version 0.30 and it drops 1 Diamond (gem) in Indev, Infdev and Alpha.