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Guides / Mining Optimization
« on: 9 Jul 2013, 02:53:41 »
Hello,
On the server, I often get questions along the same vein as "what is the quickest way to find diamonds?". There is a very simple answer to this but there is also a slightly more complicated one, but this is depending on your goals.
The short answer: mine in a straight line in a 1x2 tunnel, with your y coordinate at y=11 (feet)
Why a 1x2 tunnel? We can equate the speed of finding ores as the rate of uncovered new blocks per block broken (Bpb). The absolute highest mathematically is 6, because by breaking a block you will uncover its 6 adjacent blocks. This of course is impossible because we cannot break blocks that cannot be seen and we could not see what new blocks would have been uncovered. So the next most realistic option is to break a straight line of blocks, with a rate of 5 Bpb. This works great until a point, because you do not have infinite reach. The best realistic option is to break a pair of blocks, one on top the other, so that you have the ability to keep walking as you break. Thus, the token 1x2 tunnel, with a discovery rate of 4 Bpb. I'm very sure that to most of you reading this is not news.
Why a straight line? Turning in any direction hurts your Bpb. This is because taking a corner means that your adjacent blocks are common in cross-sectional areas around the turn. A simple equation for Bpb that includes turning would be as follows:
Where B is the amount of blocks you've mined (or 2x the distance mined) and T is the amount of turns taken. It's clear to see that to maximize your Bpb, you need to keep your T value as low as possible. Ideally, 0.
Why at y=11? This is subjective to an extent, but this sits nicely within the range of diamonds, but is also above/at lava level. Really, most ranges between the diamond spawn band is sufficient.
If you want to mine every ore within a given area Then the rules change a bit. Instead of explaining the shape, I have pictures of cross sections for mining patterns. The tunnels of these pictures go into (and come out of) the screen. The black blocks are the blocks to be mined, and the green blocks are blocks visible to you.
Why are they different? All ores excluding coal, quartz, and emerald, spawn in blocks that are in the range of 2x2x2 to 2x2x3. The pictured pattern above will allow to mine as few blocks as possible without missing any* ores, as there are no 2x2x2 sections left within that mining pattern. This will be especially useful in V6, where the wilderness is off limits except within. Emeralds, however, spawn simply one block at a time. So in order to be thorough with your mining, you need to look at every single block. The mining pattern I have suggested here will be capable of looking at every block in a given volume without there being any overlap.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a reply. Thanks for reading.
On the server, I often get questions along the same vein as "what is the quickest way to find diamonds?". There is a very simple answer to this but there is also a slightly more complicated one, but this is depending on your goals.
The short answer: mine in a straight line in a 1x2 tunnel, with your y coordinate at y=11 (feet)
Why a 1x2 tunnel? We can equate the speed of finding ores as the rate of uncovered new blocks per block broken (Bpb). The absolute highest mathematically is 6, because by breaking a block you will uncover its 6 adjacent blocks. This of course is impossible because we cannot break blocks that cannot be seen and we could not see what new blocks would have been uncovered. So the next most realistic option is to break a straight line of blocks, with a rate of 5 Bpb. This works great until a point, because you do not have infinite reach. The best realistic option is to break a pair of blocks, one on top the other, so that you have the ability to keep walking as you break. Thus, the token 1x2 tunnel, with a discovery rate of 4 Bpb. I'm very sure that to most of you reading this is not news.
Why a straight line? Turning in any direction hurts your Bpb. This is because taking a corner means that your adjacent blocks are common in cross-sectional areas around the turn. A simple equation for Bpb that includes turning would be as follows:
Bpb = (4B - 2T)/B
Where B is the amount of blocks you've mined (or 2x the distance mined) and T is the amount of turns taken. It's clear to see that to maximize your Bpb, you need to keep your T value as low as possible. Ideally, 0.
Why at y=11? This is subjective to an extent, but this sits nicely within the range of diamonds, but is also above/at lava level. Really, most ranges between the diamond spawn band is sufficient.
If you want to mine every ore within a given area Then the rules change a bit. Instead of explaining the shape, I have pictures of cross sections for mining patterns. The tunnels of these pictures go into (and come out of) the screen. The black blocks are the blocks to be mined, and the green blocks are blocks visible to you.
For areas without emeralds
For areas with emeralds
Why are they different? All ores excluding coal, quartz, and emerald, spawn in blocks that are in the range of 2x2x2 to 2x2x3. The pictured pattern above will allow to mine as few blocks as possible without missing any* ores, as there are no 2x2x2 sections left within that mining pattern. This will be especially useful in V6, where the wilderness is off limits except within. Emeralds, however, spawn simply one block at a time. So in order to be thorough with your mining, you need to look at every single block. The mining pattern I have suggested here will be capable of looking at every block in a given volume without there being any overlap.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a reply. Thanks for reading.
= 825.57m