Read your own Y coordinate first
Every number below is a Y level. In Java, press F3 and read the middle number on the XYZ line. In Bedrock, turn on "Show Coordinates" in world settings and read the middle of the three numbers in the corner. The overworld now runs from Y -64 at bedrock to Y 320 at the build limit, with sea level at Y 63.
The important consequence of the taller world is that "go down and dig" is no longer a strategy. Going down takes you through the iron band, past the lapis band, into the diamond band and finally into deepslate. Where you stop decides what you find, and the stop is a decision you make before you swing a pickaxe.
One practical note before the table: below Y 0 the stone turns to deepslate, which takes noticeably longer to mine. Everything below that line costs more time per block, so a deep trip should be planned as fewer, longer sessions rather than a quick errand.
Overworld ore table
| Ore | Spawn range | Most common at | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond | Y -64 to 16 | Deeper is better, around Y -59 | Diamond veins touching air generate less often, so tunnel mining beats cave hunting. |
| Redstone | Y -64 to 15 | Deeper is better | Shares the diamond band, so it fills your inventory whether you wanted it or not. |
| Gold | Y -64 to 32 | Around Y -16 | Badlands biomes add a second gold distribution from Y 32 to 256, in large amounts. |
| Lapis lazuli | Y -64 to 64 | Around Y 0 | Needed for enchanting, and late game demand is high. |
| Iron | Three separate bands | Around Y 16, and around Y 232 on mountains | The Y 16 band is the practical one. Mountain peaks carry exposed iron at the top. |
| Copper | Y -16 to 112 | Around Y 48 | Dripstone cave biomes generate larger and more frequent copper clusters. |
| Coal | Y 0 to 320 | Around Y 96, and higher on mountains | Exposed coal on hillsides is the fastest source on day one. |
| Emerald | Y -16 to 320 | Mountains, higher is better | Mountain biomes only, and always as single blocks, never veins. |
Nether ores work differently
| Ore | Most common at | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient debris | Around Y 15, concentrated Y 8 to 22 | The only source of netherite scrap. Blast resistant, and almost never exposed to air. |
| Nether quartz | Evenly across the Nether | Good experience, and required for comparators and observers. |
| Nether gold ore | Evenly across the Nether | Drops gold nuggets. Stockpile ingots before you go bartering with piglins. |
Ancient debris deserves its own trip. It never generates exposed to air, so there is no cave to walk through and collect it from. You either tunnel or you blast, and the second option is much faster once you can afford the gunpowder.
Three mining patterns that pay
1. Diamonds: branch tunnels at Y -58
Dig a two block high main tunnel at about Y -58, then cut side branches every third block, leaving two blocks of stone between them. That spacing exposes the face of every block in the layer without mining anything twice. Carry a water bucket: lava lakes are common at this depth and one bucket turns a disaster into a five second pause.
A Fortune pickaxe multiplies diamonds, redstone, lapis, coal and emerald, so it pays to delay those ores until you have one. If you are still on your first diamond trip, take what you find. Fortune is a second trip problem, not a first trip luxury.
2. Iron: find the vein, then build a farm
Large caves around Y 16 are dense with iron. You can also run into the big ore veins added in 1.18: copper veins mixed with granite above Y 0, and iron veins mixed with tuff below Y 0. A single vein can hand you several dozen ore blocks, which is more than a full mining trip usually returns.
Once your base is stable, an iron farm beats mining entirely. A working farm produces iron while you do something else, and the setup cost is a few villagers, some beds and a zombie in a box.
3. Ancient debris: beds or TNT
Tunnel at Y 15 in the Nether, or blast large areas with beds and TNT, then collect whatever debris is exposed. Beds explode in the Nether, which is exactly why they are useful, and a single bed clears a bigger hole than several TNT blocks for a fraction of the cost.
Always set the bed off from behind cover and at a safe distance, or you will take the blast yourself and set the tunnel on fire. The standard method is a short side tunnel, a bed placed at the far end, and a quick retreat behind a corner before you click.
Deep mining safety list
- Below Y 0 the stone turns to deepslate, which is slower to mine. Bring an Efficiency pickaxe or several spare picks.
- Lava lakes are common below Y -54. Carry a water bucket and seal lava before you mine into it.
- Near a deep dark biome, sculk sensors react to sound. Crouch and move slowly when you hear the clicks, or you will summon a warden.
- Place a torch every few blocks and keep the return direction marked. The best ore run is the one you walk out of.
- Do not mine directly above your head in a deep tunnel. Gravel and lava both fall, and both are worse at Y -50 than at Y 50.
Finally, a habit that saves more gear than any enchantment: empty your inventory of anything unnecessary before a deep trip. A full inventory is why people leave behind the diamonds they just found, and why they die trying to decide.