Is Netherite rarer than diamonds in Minecraft?

Diamonds, diamonds ore, ancient debris, Netherite scrap, and Netherite ingots (Image via Minecraft)
Diamonds, diamonds ore, ancient debris, Netherite scrap, and Netherite ingots (Image via Minecraft)

Over the last decade, Minecraft has established what an ideal sandbox survival game should look like. From a near-infinite world to mobs and structures, this game never fails to surprise even the most experienced of players.

While it is true that the game has a ton of content, much of its survival progression is based on mining resources out of the world’s surface. This article will talk about two of the most valuable resources in the game and how rare they are: Netherite and diamond.


Minecraft’s rarest ores: Netherite vs diamond

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Let’s talk about both the aforementioned Minecraft ores, starting with diamonds and diamond ore. Let it be known that both of these resources are pretty rare.

Diamonds are resources found at the deepest levels of the Overworld dimension in the game. They are used to craft gear like high-tier weapons, tools, armor sets, and other items like enchanting tables, firework stars, jukeboxes, and blocks of diamond. Diamonds can generate naturally or inside chests that spawn in various structures throughout the map.

In terms of rarity, however, the ore block of the diamond resource has to be considered. Diamond ore can generate as a regular ore block and deepslate or tuff ore block.

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It can also generate anywhere below Y level 16, with the most profitable levels for diamonds being from Y level -50 to Y level -64. Finally, the ore has an approximate chance of 0.0846% to generate anywhere below Y level 16 (especially between Y levels 16 and 5), which means that 1 in every 1200 blocks under Y level 16 is bound to be a diamond ore block.

Now, let us compare these statistics to Netherite and Ancient debris in Minecraft.

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Netherite is a precious resource mined from a source called Ancient Debris, which is found only in the Nether dimension. As many players know, it is used to upgrade diamond gear into Netherite gear.

One of the most significant advantages Netherite gear has over all other resources in the game is that it is fire-resistant and durable. This means that it does not burn up or get destroyed by fire or lava.

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In terms of rarity, the ore block for Netherite, Ancient Debris, will have to be considered. Ancient debris generates in two blobs between Y levels 8-22 and 22-119.

The highest amount of Ancient Debris can be found at Y level -15. As for spawn rates, ancient debris has a 0.004% chance to spawn in a chunk, making it a 1 in 25000 chance for an Ancient debris block to spawn in a chunk.


The analysis mentioned above will allow players to determine which resource is rarer in Minecraft. Since we are comparing a 1 in 1200 chance for diamonds to a 1 in 25000 chance for ancient debris (and subsequently Netherite), players can conclude that Netherite is officially rarer than diamond by a large margin.

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