How rare are diamonds in Minecraft?

Minecraft has a lot of different items, some of which are easy to find and quite necessary to own. An example would be coal, as it is a fuel source. That said, some are notoriously rare because of how powerful they are in-game. These items include netherite, heavy core block, and diamond. While netherite and heavy core blocks can be ignored at times, diamonds are necessary to make tools, weapons, and armor.

So this begs the question: how rare are diamonds in Minecraft? Their rarity is quantifiable. This article explains more.

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Where to look for diamonds in Minecraft

Finding a large cluster of diamonds in Minecraft is quite rare (Image via Mojang Studios)

Classifying the rarity of diamonds is complicated. Since Minecraft has many areas with different loot, the probability of finding them depends on where you are looking. For instance, at higher ground levels, it is almost impossible to find them. But as you dig deeper (make sure you do not dig straight down), the chances of finding diamonds increase.

When you are in the range of Y levels 5 to -18, you can find around one diamond per 1,200 blocks mined. This places the percentage at around 0.0846%, which is rare. With the recent updates, you can find diamonds even at very deep Y levels, in the ranges of -50 to -64.

Other ways of finding diamonds

Diamonds in Minecraft can also be found in chests (Image via Mojang Studios)

Mining diamonds is one way to obtain them, although this isn't the only way. That said, use an iron pickaxe when looking to mine diamonds. Stone and wood pickaxes will not work and you will lose the precious diamond ore.

As mentioned, the rarity of diamonds changes based on where you are looking. There is a good chance of finding diamonds in buried chests. This number is almost 60%, which makes the odds of finding some diamonds in these chests quite high.

Here’s a list of locations and their probability of finding diamonds:

• Stronghold: 7.3% - 21.5%
• Trial chambers: 8.5% - 26.4%
• Toolsmith’s chest: 9.9%
• Weaponsmith’s chest: 16.2%
• Shipwreck treasure chest: 14.1%
• Mineshaft: 8.9%
• Bastion Remnant: 14.3%
• Buried treasure: 59.9%
• Desert pyramid: 6.3% - 12.5%

These numbers are for the Java Edition of the game. It is almost the same for Bedrock Edition as well with a few exceptions, such as the chances of finding diamonds in buried treasure. In the Bedrock Edition, there is a 46.9% chance instead of 59.9%.