Since Caves & Cliffs (1.18) the world goes down to Y = -64, and each ore has its own height band with a density peak. Mining at the right Y level more than doubles your yield for the same time spent.
Best Y levels at a glance
| Ore | Best Y | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond | -59 | -64 to 16 | Dense at bedrock; air-exposed veins get deleted |
| Redstone | -59 | -64 to 16 | Same band as diamond — dig both at once |
| Iron | 15 / 232 | -24 to 320 | Two peaks: Y=15 and high mountains |
| Coal | 96 | 0 to 320 | More coal the higher you go; none below 0 |
| Copper | 48 | 0 to 96 | Larger veins in dripstone caves |
| Gold | -16 | -64 to 30 | Extra veins in badlands |
| Lapis | 0 | -64 to 64 | Widest band |
| Emerald | 90 | 0 to 128 | Mountain biomes only |
| Ancient Debris | 15 | 8 to 22 | Nether-exclusive, ~1 vein/chunk |
Why -59 for diamond
Diamond veins are large (up to 10 ore) and most frequent between Y -32 and -64, peaking near the bedrock layer. Mining at Y = -59 sits just above the thickest density. Many players dig their main corridor at Y = -54 instead to stay above the worst lava lakes — a small yield tradeoff, a big safety gain.
Deepslate rules
Below Y = 0 every ore switches to a deepslate variant. Deepslate ores drop raw materials only with Silk Touch; otherwise you get cobbled deepslate. Fortune works identically — deepslate ores are just denser and deeper.
Strip-mine plan
- Dig a central tunnel 2 blocks high at your target Y.
- Branch 1-block-wide side tunnels every 3 blocks (3-wide spacing) — this covers every ore pocket without overlap.
- Light as you go; bring a Silk Touch pick for deepslate ores and an efficiency pick to clear stone fast.
- Use the Ore Finder on ChunkScope to check your seed’s exact distribution before you commit to a layer.
Quick tips
- Cave-mining beats strip-mining for diamonds: exposed cave walls show far more blocks per effort.
- Fortune III turns a 4-diamond vein into 4–16; always save your best pick for diamond.
- Ancient debris needs a different tool — no fortune works on it, but the bedrock layer trick in the Nether lets you expose it fast.