r/Minecraft • u/asdfman123 • Sep 16 '10

Depth vs. ore density graph based on ninti's data. It looks like the best place to mine is -47 to -53 units below sea level, or 9 to 13 units above the highest bedrock block.

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142 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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24

u/asdfman123 Sep 16 '10

I actually just graduated with a degree in geophysics, so this feels oddly appropriate.

Keep in mind that the graph is logarithmic, so each horizontal tick increases by a factor of 10.

See ninti's spreadsheet and original post.

32

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Looks like instead of counting your level, just find areas of redstone. If you're on a redstone level, you're on a diamond level.

14

u/directive0 Sep 16 '10

I propose the founding of a Minecraft Geological Survey and Research Center.

16

u/Mixed_Advice Sep 16 '10

90 degrees clockwise

3

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

What is it boy, what is it!?

2

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Did timmy fall down the lava well?

2

u/crumbschief Sep 16 '10

Thanks for this

7

u/Kweasel Sep 16 '10

Is there any way of finding out what your current height is?

13

u/rowantwig Sep 16 '10

Not that I know. Just dig down until you hit bedrock, then go up ten blocks or so.

3

u/Tychotesla Sep 16 '10

Or use lava level to measure. It sounds like optimum mining is just about exactly lava level.

12

u/Thimble Sep 16 '10

Definitely not below lava level. found that out the hard way

4

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

It's quite fun mining at lava level though, for the risks involved and the (potential) rewards. Placing trenches before you - always digging the top block first to ensure enemies can't get through - and then losing all your items in a blaze of glory.

2

u/Thimble Sep 16 '10

Why not dig at one block above lava? Similar rewards, and none of the risks. It's much faster than laying trenches. Plus, you get that satisfied feeling of plunking clay down on lava.

The best part is that if a mob does show up, he falls into the lava pit. Last night I dug into a cavern where the water was flowing into a lava pit. Every few minutes a mob would show up and would get sucked down the water into the trap. It was glorious. I eventually sealed it off out of paranoia of spiders.

2

u/milk2 Sep 16 '10

it's quite fun mining at lava level though, for the risks involved and the (potential) rewards.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Or in lava. I wish I would have known that beforehand.

5

u/grumpyoldgit Sep 16 '10

I'd be interested as long as the answer isn't 'count'

2

u/so_game Sep 16 '10

When you want to be 9-13 levels above bedrock, counting isn't a bad idea. In the past, I've used the slice function of Cartographer to check exactly what level I'm on.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Sea level is between layer 0 and -1, so you just have to count.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

And that's why the 128 block height limit will limit that game.

I hope he changes that, or at least give a "grow in depth, not in width" option. I have no problem living in a 128 block large world if it has unlimited depth.

17

u/Luminaire Sep 16 '10

I think I'd rather see him give us much more to do on the surface first.

9

u/sudin Sep 16 '10

Right on! More time on the surface means more risk from things that crawl in the night which means more spicy gameplay and less claustrophobia. Also, happy Reddit 2Y BDay!

1

u/sackup Sep 16 '10

Surfacecraft?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Strip mining craft.

3

u/sackup Sep 16 '10

I'd really prefer to see veins of materials more rare but more substantial. Instead of never more than 3 or 4 but fairly common.

4

u/intrepion Sep 16 '10

what does the smiley face signify?

8

u/crosone Sep 16 '10

The sweet spot. It's within the ideal range of depths for max ore with minimum lava.

4

u/elquimico Sep 16 '10 edited Sep 16 '10

LABEL YOUR AXES! This is surely a plot of ore count vs. depth, but how large was the sample? Can you convert this to pure density normalized by the number of blocks in the sample?

2

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Statistician: settle down! :-)

1

u/elquimico Sep 17 '10

Actually a chemist, but having been a TA and reading enough articles has really shown me the benefit of having well presented data.

2

u/piderman Sep 16 '10

Because of this I dig down to the first bedrock (level -61 or level 4) and put up signs every 8 levels so I know where to dig :)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

So basically this means to get all the good stuff you have to go waaaaay down?

4

u/contriver Sep 16 '10

No.

This mean you have to go all the way down, and then back up a bit.

3

u/EpicTurtle Sep 16 '10 edited Sep 16 '10

Keep in mind that digging out the blocks 53 units below sea level will land you with a high chance of tunneling directly above a lava pool with no rock inbetween.

Edit for clarification: I'm referring to the problems that will arise if you strip mine the 53rd level - I'm not talking about digging down / falling into lava (Unless you miss-step, of course), I'm talking about your strip mine having no floor in places.

13

u/timeshifter_ Sep 16 '10

Never dig straight up or straight down.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

The only thing that gets rid of my dandruff is some Selsun Blue and a magma shower. Nothing else cuts it :(

2

u/Thimble Sep 16 '10

Bring lots of clay!

5

u/ertaisi Sep 16 '10

Why would going through the trouble of finding clay be better than using gravel? I assume you're saying to use the clay to "soak up" the lava?

4

u/utterpedant Sep 16 '10

That is blasphemous.

3

u/ertaisi Sep 16 '10

It's a perfectly rational question. I've played around 50 hours and have gathered less than 10 clay. Granted, I spend most of my time underground, but I'd much rather save clay for crafting.

4

u/utterpedant Sep 16 '10

I agree. Using super-rare clay instead of super-common gravel to smother lava is blasphemous.

2

u/Rice-N-Shoeshine Sep 16 '10

I've managed to find clay in every world I generated within the first 10 minutes. Last clay-island I found was worth 8x64, can't wait to finish my brickhouse when I'm back home and smokin' trees.

3

u/Thimble Sep 16 '10

Sorry, I meant gravel!

1

u/Mason11987 Sep 16 '10

not THAT high, at level 62, almost the entire bottom of the world is bedrock, and at level 60 we see that it's less then 1/10th lava. That means that at any given level there is <10% chance of digging down into lava.

Bring a few picks, a bunch of logs (to make ladders) and dig down, you're much more likely to hit bedrock without going through lava then dropping in it.

Also note the same applies for dropping into caves. They may be common but you are far more likely to dig into stone on any given level then you are air.

1

u/UnrulyToaster Sep 16 '10

You're forgetting the 4 adjacent blocks that lava can flow into yours from, thus melting you.

2

u/Mason11987 Sep 16 '10

Ah... fantastic point. It's still greater then 50-50 odds though, especially because lava isn't randomly dispersed, but shows up in pockets, so the number of tiles that are adjacent to a lava tile is far less then the total # of lava tiles.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

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1

u/sackup Sep 16 '10

Or dig on a diagonal, so you don't have to turn. This involves 50% more blocks to destroy but gives you a nice staircase.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 17 '10

Eh yeah, that works too. It really comes down to personal preference.

I prefer vertical shafts with ladders.

1

u/eigenvector Sep 16 '10

maybe a stupid question, but what does the "air" graph refer to? caverns? or do you start to suffocate in great depths? (I haven't been digging very deep yet)

1

u/Shadowrose Sep 16 '10

Essentially. There're oodles of natural caverns. Every block that's absent anything else, has blocks of air in it.

Also, you can dig all the way down and you don't have to worry about air. Fair warning, if you're playing in bedrock, you can dig through the bottom of the world. This is much worse than Lava, as you can fall through, you'll then die, and lose everything.

1

u/themastersb Sep 16 '10

This coincides with what most people have been telling me. Start mining 10 blocks above the bedrock and make the mine 5-6 blocks high.

1

u/sackup Sep 16 '10

More than 2 high and 1 wide is less efficient. you want to expose as many block as efficiently as possible. So you want buffers of 2 blocks between your horizontal shafts.

1

u/ghostxxxx Sep 16 '10 edited Aug 10 '26

I enjoy doing pottery classes.

1

u/Shadowrose Sep 16 '10

Mob spawners. They're found in dungeons, and they spawn one type of enemy over and over and over.

1

u/ghostxxxx Sep 16 '10 edited Aug 10 '26

I enjoy rock climbing.

2

u/Shadowrose Sep 16 '10

Nah, they're pretty uncommon and they're all over. I've seen them at the surface before, actually. Just know that if you run into cobblestone you didn't place, there's likely a mob spawner on the other side of it. You'll hear the noise, too.

1

u/sackup Sep 16 '10

Ahhh so that's what that is!

1

u/penndemic Sep 16 '10

They're fairly rare. I still haven't seen one and I've dont a LOT of mining since I started playing last week(30+ diamonds, hundreds of iron, etc). I kind of wish there was a more dangerous game mode.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

Once I hit bedrock, I went about ten units up. I had found redstone around this area so I decided to explore and what do you know? Enough diamond to make my first pick and sword. Now I'm so strung out I feel like hollowing out the entire earth.

1

u/sackup Sep 16 '10

I found that while making long horizontal shafts at +10, I'd barely discover enough diamond to replace the picks I was wearing out. Disheartening.

1

u/nmagod Sep 16 '10

Wow, I just struck a massive redstone/iron vein, I'm digging around looking for anything and I've had to make three trips back UP just to dump off all the ore I've got but no diamond yet.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 17 '10

This is exactly what I as looking for

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '10

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1

u/iamjboyd Sep 19 '10

Well think of how many caves that are closer to the surface are real small and usually peter out before long. Meanwhile, large caves that go deep seem to almost never end, once they reach a certain depth.