Ha, found lots of charts. I forgot one reason why I stuck with y==11 -- lava lakes and when wanting all ores, that is the best layer to work at.
https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/minecra..._D_28x.jpg
My memory of stats is wrong above. The charts show that y==11 is actually the top band of 4 high for best results, not the middle band. So the bands are y==3, y==7 and y==11, not the what I said above.
Just need to google 1.9 vs 1.8 to see if anyone has found differences.
Found it. I did remember the band stats correctly for pre 1.8. 1.8 stripped out the upper band:
![[Image: djSvZ.png]](http://i.imgur.com/djSvZ.png)
Still don't know if 1.9 and now 1.10 has changed the distribution again.
Note that everyone saying diamonds are easier to find around lava are correct if you mean lava below y==11. Because lava generation takes away diamonds so the density of diamonds in stone below y==11 is higher. Less stone below y==11 but similar diamond numbers mean more diamonds per stone. Since there is only 1 pocket of diamonds per chunk on average, the pockets below 11 are larger (more ores together) than above 11. Thus if a chunk has diamond below 11 but the chunk has lots lava there, there is only a little stone in which the diamond can be in.
Wow, need to rethink diamond mining and maybe I will find a better mining technique. The secret is only 1 diamond pocket per chunk though sometimes none. Maybe mine at 12 (covers to 15) and if no diamond found in a chunk, then drill down the center 5x5 in that chunk with fingers out to find the pocket that is almost always there somewhere.
Does that sound like the technique you told me about a long time ago, Thorsassin?
And forgot the obsidian wear factor on diamond picks -- much cheaper on pickaxes to just work at y==11 than deal with digging through and around lava.
https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/minecra..._D_28x.jpg
My memory of stats is wrong above. The charts show that y==11 is actually the top band of 4 high for best results, not the middle band. So the bands are y==3, y==7 and y==11, not the what I said above.
Just need to google 1.9 vs 1.8 to see if anyone has found differences.
Found it. I did remember the band stats correctly for pre 1.8. 1.8 stripped out the upper band:
Still don't know if 1.9 and now 1.10 has changed the distribution again.
Note that everyone saying diamonds are easier to find around lava are correct if you mean lava below y==11. Because lava generation takes away diamonds so the density of diamonds in stone below y==11 is higher. Less stone below y==11 but similar diamond numbers mean more diamonds per stone. Since there is only 1 pocket of diamonds per chunk on average, the pockets below 11 are larger (more ores together) than above 11. Thus if a chunk has diamond below 11 but the chunk has lots lava there, there is only a little stone in which the diamond can be in.
Wow, need to rethink diamond mining and maybe I will find a better mining technique. The secret is only 1 diamond pocket per chunk though sometimes none. Maybe mine at 12 (covers to 15) and if no diamond found in a chunk, then drill down the center 5x5 in that chunk with fingers out to find the pocket that is almost always there somewhere.
Does that sound like the technique you told me about a long time ago, Thorsassin?
And forgot the obsidian wear factor on diamond picks -- much cheaper on pickaxes to just work at y==11 than deal with digging through and around lava.
/Rowebot