How to Find Emeralds in Minecraft

Written by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: July 5, 2023

Emeralds are the rarest ore in Minecraft, even rarer than diamonds. You can use Emeralds to trade with villagers to get some cool and useful items. This wikiHow will help you find emeralds in Minecraft.

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1
Gather your resources. You will want at least a full set of iron tools and armor, torches, food, a water bucket, and a sword. If you have better items, take them on your journey, as they will speed up the process.
- If you have any pickaxes with fortune, bring them, as they will increase the amount of emeralds you get per ore.
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2

Head over to a mountains biome. This is the only biome where emeralds will be found. Mountain biomes are fairly common, so you won't have to go very far.

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3

Locate a cave that leads downward, or dig a staircase down to level 11. Don't dig straight down, or you may fall in lava. Emeralds can be found anywhere from levels 4-32, but level 11 is best. To see what level you are on, press F3 and look at the y-coordinate.
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4

Go down to a cave past y-level 32. If you can't find a cave, start digging in a straight line at y-level 11, placing torches for light as you go. You can also make "branches", or little tunnels branching off from the main tunnel.
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5
Find emeralds. Mine the emerald if there is no lava. Take your reward and either head out of your mine or continue looking for emeralds.
- If there is lava, place blocks around the emerald to prevent them from falling in.

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Question

Where do you find the Extreme Hills?

Community Answer

The Extreme Hills are basically those big mountains that have snow on them. So if you see a big mountain, it's probably an Extreme Hill.

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What kind of pickaxe do I need to mine emeralds?

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I'm pretty sure that you need iron or diamond. Use the fortune enchantment to get 2, 3, or 4, depending on the enchantment.

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What can I use emeralds for?

Community Answer

Emeralds can be used to trade with villagers and you can also craft them into blocks of emerald and use them as normal blocks.

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Tips

Villagers often will pay for commodities with emeralds. Visit the village to find out what commodities they will pay for and create/find/mine those commodities for trade.

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Emeralds can also be found in the chests in Mob Spawner rooms, Jungle Temples and Desert Temples.

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Villagers sometimes leave emeralds in their chests, so look there before you start mining.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Look for emeralds in Extreme Hills biomes, too. These biomes look a lot like mountains.
Don't forget to leave a trail to your house when you go mine emeralds.
Look for emeralds under waterfalls in caves.

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Warnings

Watch out for lava. Never dig straight down and always be careful.

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Don't try to steal emeralds from your friends. It won't end well.

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