Mining Guide

Ever wondered how deep to dig when you are looking for a specific material. Use this chart from the minecraft wiki to help. Layer 0 is the very bottom of the bedrock.

Landscape Feature	Complete range[1]	Commonly found between	Ideal layer[2]	Implement needed to obtain
Coal ore	Layers 1-115	Layers 5-52	Layer 49	Wood or better pickaxe
Gravel	Layers 1-114	Layers 5-62	Layer 49	None
Dirt (including Grass)	Layers 0-119	Layers 5-71	Layer 68	None
Sand	Layers 46-111	Layers 59-63	Layer 61	None
Water	Layers 1-106	Layers 61-63	Layer 63	Bucket
Iron ore	Layers 1-67	Layers 5-52	Layer 50	Stone or better pickaxe
Gold ore	Layers 1-35	Layers 5-32	Layer 33	Iron or better pickaxe
Lapis Lazuli ore	Layers 1-34	Layers 14-22	Layer 18	Stone or better pickaxe
Lava	Layers 1-91	Layers 5-10	Layer 9	Bucket
Obsidian	Layers 2-61	Layer 10	Layer 10	Diamond pickaxe
Diamond ore	Layers 1-19	Layers 5-17	Layer 16	Iron or better pickaxe
Redstone ore[3]	Layers 1-19	Layers 5-17	Layer 16	Iron or better pickaxe
Bedrock	Layers 0-4	Layers 0-2	Layer 0	n/a