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While mining in Minecraft, many players seek to find the most efficient way to find valuable resources. Forming a strip mine is, by far, the most popular option, since due to how efficient it is. In this guide, we will explain how to strip mine and make the most of your mining time.

How to Strip Mine in Minecraft

If you're curious why strip mining is productive, read below the guide for a bit more information. Otherwise, follow the basic instructions below to get started on finding Diamond and Emerald Ores!

The first thing you need to do is set up the underground base for your mine. This is where you will return to drop your materials, and also where the entrances to each mining strip will be. When you first start off, dig down until you're standing on a block at y 5 (where Bedrock starts to form) and dig a hole 3 blocks wide by 9 blocks long by four blocks high.

After you've built the primary base, place all your equipment and tools you'll need in this area, mine a doorway that is 1 block wide by 2 blocks high. This is the start of your mine strip. Create this doorway every fourth block on the long wall. If you're confused, use the image above for reference.

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Repeat this process for the next layer up the wall. However, instead of making the doorways on the next layer directly above the doorways on the previous layer, make sure they fall directly in between the doorways underneath them.

This is the bottom layer of your mine. Dig as far as you'd like in through these doorways. Because of the way these doorways are aligned, you will not miss a single Ore Block in this section of your mine. As you can see, at least one mine strip will touch every block between them.

From this point, you can expand your mine by expanding the ceiling of your mine's base or by branching the walls outward. Diamond Ore generates up to y 16, so we recommend expanding your mine upward to make sure you find all Diamond Ores near your mining base.

As you can see in the image above, it didn't take us long at all to find a Diamond vein.

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Tips and Additional Info

Tips

• Expanding upward creates the problem of getting inside each mine strip. There are a few options to do this, but we found the cleanest way is to place a half slab outside each doorway and a ladder going up to the highest level. You can also try covering the wall in Scaffolding, if you feel that works better.
• Place a light source every 7 to 10 blocks down each strip to make sure mobs don't spawn behind you.
• Strip Mining is most effective if you don't dig too far away from your base above ground. We recommend mining strips in 50-block increments. It's completely up to you to dig past this, but it's important to consider time spent travelling if you're looking to make the best use of your time.

Information

• Strip Mining is considered the most effective way to mine due to the balance between effort and productivity. It offers the benefit of being certain you've found all valuable resources in the area with the least amount of mining possible.
• We recommend keeping the strips between the height of y 5 and y 16. Bedrock begins to form at y 5, so mining below that point will just interfere with your movement. Diamonds don't spawn above y 16.
• Emeralds generate between the levels of y 4 to y 31, but only underneath mountains. For this reason, it's best to form a strip mine underneath a mountain.

That's the basics for how to get started with strip mining in Minecraft! Don't forget to comment below if this technique improves your mining productivity!

Do you want to play with friends that are using other consoles? Check out our guide on How to Add Friends in Minecraft on All Platforms!

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