Minecraft wiki entry for Diamond, associated text: Diamond ore can be mined using an iron pickaxe or stronger. An ore drops a single diamond. If mined by any other tool, it drops nothing. If the pickaxe is enchanted with Fortune, it can drop an extra diamond per level of Fortune, allowing for a maximum of 4 diamonds with Fortune III. If the ore is mined using a pickaxe enchanted with Silk Touch, it drops an ore block rather than a diamond. The ore is found at level 15 or lower, most commonly between -50 and -64. levels -59 and -58 are the preferred levels to mine at as they don't contain bedrock, as it starts spawning at -60.