How to find and farm Minecraft Diamonds in 1.21.11

Here are the best levels for farming Diamonds in Minecraft.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

Want to know how to find Minecraft Diamonds in 1.21.11? Playing Minecraft for the first time in prep for the movie, or just need a few more for your Diamond Armor? Getting Diamonds in Minecraft can be slow, but you can quite easily farm Diamonds, and develop Minecraft Diamond levels by following the techniques listed below.

Within this guide, we’ll tell you how to find Diamonds in both 1.21.11 and earlier versions of Minecraft as well as the best practices for mining them so you can kit yourself out with the shiniest weapons and armour in the game as quickly as possible.

In this guide:

• How to find Diamonds in Minecraft
• How to find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.17 and earlier
• Best method for mining Diamonds in Minecraft
• Other ways to get Diamonds in Minecraft
• What can you craft with Diamonds?

How to find Diamonds in Minecraft

To find Diamonds in Minecraft, you need to dig down below Y-level 16. The deeper you go beyond Y-level 16, the more common Diamonds become. So the best way to find lots of Diamonds is to mine just above the Bedrock layers (Y-level 59).

If you don’t find any at first, don’t despair! Diamonds have a low spawn rate, so just keep exploring the deepest caves you can find and you’re likely to come across Diamonds for all your crafting needs.

Your Y-level measures how deep you are in your Minecraft world. To know what Y-Level you’re on, hit F3 on the keyboard to bring up the coordinates display. The second number next to “XYZ” is your current Y-level.

Hit F3 to bring up the debug overlay. You can use this overlay to find out your current Y-Level, which will help you to find Diamonds more easily.

When a Minecraft world is first generated, any Diamond that’s about to be placed next to an open air block has a chance of not spawning. What this means is that Diamonds have a slightly lower chance of spawning in caves.

However, it’s still much quicker to explore caves than to strip-mine through endless blocks of stone, so there are pros and cons to both methods. Most players will tell you to just strip-mine until you hit a cave, then explore the cave fully before continuing to strip-mine.

So, in summary: to find Diamonds quickly, head as far down as you can go until you hit Bedrock, then start strip-mining! (More info on strip-mining below ).

How to find Diamonds in Minecraft 1.17 and earlier

If you’re playing on Minecraft version 1.17 or earlier, then the rules for finding Diamonds are slightly different. You can find Diamond Ore in every Overworld biome between Y-levels 1-15. They spawn most often at Y-levels 5-12 , so if you want to maximise your chances of finding Diamonds, stay between these two levels.

No matter what version of Minecraft you’re playing on, Diamonds will spawn in small veins of up to 9 blocks at a time, although very occasionally you’ll find larger veins that are made up of multiple veins touching each other. So even at the right levels, Diamonds are pretty rare.

Best method for mining Diamonds in Minecraft

Diamond Ore can only be mined with an Iron Pickaxe or better. The best method for mining Diamonds in Minecraft 1.21 is to dig down to Y-level -57 and dig a long 2-block-tall tunnel in any direction. Then start to mine out to either side in more 2x1 tunnels, leaving a 2-block-wide gap between each new tunnel. This is known as strip-mining.

Once you’re satisfied you’ve strip-mined all the Diamonds on that level, repeat the whole process at level -53. If you dig in this way at both level -57 and -53, then you’ll be able to see all Diamonds that spawn between levels -58 and -51. This gives you the highest concentration of Diamonds without intermittently running into blocks of Bedrock that may otherwise hinder your strip-mining progress.

If you’re playing on Minecraft 1.17 or earlier, you can use this exact same method but using levels 6 and 10.

While mining, it’s a good idea to keep a Water Bucket with you, because pockets of lava are fairly common at these levels, especially around level -54. Remember also to bring plenty of torches to light your way and prevent mobs from spawning in your tunnels. Alternatively you could light your way using Night Vision potions - though this won’t prevent mobs from spawning.

Other ways to get Diamonds

When visiting desert biomes, look within Desert Pyramids for extra Diamonds. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Mojang Studios

Other than strip mining as mentioned above, there are a few other key ways to both get Diamonds in Minecraft and to maximise your Diamond yield. The following methods are worth considering when exploring a new seed.

Use Enchantments

Whilst mining for Diamonds, we recommend using a Fortune Enchantment on your pickaxe to maximise the amount you’ll get from a Diamond Ore.

Fortune I gives a 33% chance to double your drop, Fortune II gives a 25% chance to multiply drops by 2 or 3 and Fortune III can multiply drops by 2, 3, or 4 (by 20% each).

To increase the odds of a higher level Enchantment, you can place bookshelves around an Enchanting Table (making sure there is at least one block of air between them). You can also trade with villagers. Librarians in particular are more likely to stock rarer Enchantments.

Loot Chests

You may find Diamonds within chests inside villages, shipwrecks and other structures throughout the Overworld. As is true of most things in Minecraft this is randomly generated, however, so it will mostly be luck-dependant. The following amounts of Diamond have the chance to be located within chests at the following locations in the Java edition of Minecraft:

The only major difference between the above calculations and the Bedrock spawn rates is an 8.9% chance to find 1-2 Diamonds in Bastion Remnants and a 59.9% chance to find 1-2 Diamonds within a Buried Treasure Chest.

Brush Away Suspicious Sand

Suspicious Sand was implemented along with other archaeology materials with the Trails and Tales update . Suspicious Sand is an extremely fragile block that can be broken if dropped from a height or interacted with tools other than a Brush.

When brushed, Suspicious Sand has a 12.5% chance to drop a Diamond. Although, you’re much more likely to get Pottery Sherds. Suspicious Sand can be found in rooms under Desert Pyramids, within Warm Ocean Ruins and at the bottom of Desert Wells. You can get a Brush by crafting a Feather with a Copper Ingot and Stick.

What can you craft with Diamonds?

From Diamond Armor to Enchanting Tables, you can craft some of the best Minecraft items with Diamonds. Here’s the full list:

• Block of Diamond
• Diamond Axe
• Diamond Boots
• Diamond Chestplate
• Diamond Helmet
• Diamond Hoe
• Diamond Leggings
• Diamond Pickaxe
• Diamond Shovel
• Diamond Sword
• Enchanting Table
• Firework Star
• Jukebox
• Smithing Template

If you’re struggling to find Diamonds in Minecraft even after reading this guide, you may want to check out our best Minecraft texture packs list, because some of these packs may help with visibility. You can also check out our list of the best Minecraft seeds for certain world spawns that have easy access to Diamonds. Elsewhere there’s our best Minecraft shaders list , to help improve the lighting of your worlds.

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

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