Choosing the Site
There were several caves nearby that do extend pretty far down but I prefer one in the base. I like the convenience of being able to just drop down and have quick access to the mine whenever we choose. This also helps when playing with kids because it’s easier to find the entrance and when they come up they have easy access to the storage room. We considered converting a room to be the mine entrance but decided the area right behind the stairs would be perfect. That area joins to the room with the dungeons and we’ll be taking those out soon anyway.
Digging the Mine
I dig a 2×1 shaft going straight down. Stand on one side and dig down as far as you can reach. Then drop down and dig out the blocks you were standing on and continue down again. I place the ladders as I go down because I’ve gotten ahead of myself before and dug down several blocks only to realize I was out of ladders.
We’ll use ladders for getting started and then replace those with a pair of water elevators once we have the soul sand from the nether.
Minecraft Mining Depth
How deep to mine is different for everyone. Most of the advice I’ve seen says to start branch mining at Y=11. I go to Y=9 which does increase the chances of running into lava but keeping a water bucket handy isn’t difficult. The only time I’ve died from lava while mining was when I mined the block below me and fell into it, which was my own fault for not paying attention.
Tunnel size is also up to your own preference. I use a 2×3 tunnel with 2 block spacing between.
We may have gotten a little carried away since this was supposed to just be the start. With the extra Iron picks from the village all three of us were able to dig at the same time and it went quickly. We scored plenty of ores and diamonds which gives us the tools we need for the next adventure.
Next up for the Minecraft Mansion
Now that we have the diamond pickaxe we can mine obsidian to build the enchantment table and first Nether portal! To do proper enchanting we’ll need an easy way to level everyone up, time to head back to that ravine (found it in this post) and make a quick spawner mob farm.
