How to Be a Good Miner in Minecraft

Do you dream of diamond tools but you don't want to risk dying in lava or getting suffocated with gravel? Before you know it, you'll be on the path to becoming a master miner! Here's your starter guide to becoming a good (or even better) miner!

1. Have many good quality pickaxes. There is no use in finding things like diamond and redstone and then mining them with a wooden pickaxe. You need an iron pickaxe to be able to mine those. Carry at least an iron pickaxe if you plan on mining very deep. If you are low on iron and do not have enough to make a plentiful supply of iron pickaxes, you can use a stone pickaxe to mine through the stone and the iron pickaxe to mine the ores you encounter.

2. Carry a stack of torches. It can get really dark underground, and you need torches to illuminate them. To place torches, right-click the ground or wall. Make sure there isn't any water around or the torch will be washed away.
- You can increase your gamma if you find it difficult to see in caves. Mac: Go to Finder. Open, go at the top of the screen and Press Go-Press alt/option. Then press Library, Application Support, Minecraft. Put the Minecraft folder in your hotbar. Go to options and open with Text Edit. Go to options find gamma and increase to 1000.0

3. Never dig straight down. If you dig straight down, you could fall into a pit of lava or a room filled with creepers, so always dig one in front of you, or in a staircase-like pattern downwards.

4. Don't dig gravel and dirt with pickaxes. This will wear down your pickaxe twice as quickly. Just punch the dirt or gravel, or make shovels.

5. Carry food and weapons. There are abandoned mine shafts and caves all throughout mining, and you'll most likely you'll find one while digging. You need to be prepared to fight your way out. If you plan to stay underground for a long time, you will need to carry a nice supply of food so that your hearts will stay replenished.

6. Explore the many ways to mine. Exploring caves can be interesting and easy, but some say it's generally ineffective (others say it's great for obtaining ores); "quarrying" (digging a large hole straight down) yields plenty of cobblestone, but very few ores; "Branch Mining," however, is an effective alternative offering maximum ores for minimal pick usage. Simple branch mining is basically a series of parallel tunnels every three blocks (two between each tunnel) branching out of a perpendicular hallway.

7. Know how to navigate. One of the best methods of navigating a cave or any place dark and winding is to put your torches on the right wall as you go deeper in. Once you finish, retrace your steps by following the torches on the left.