Block of Diamond

Overview

Block of Diamond is one of the 9 variants of this shape in the game. What changes between them is the material, and with it the hardness, the drops, the durability and the recipe — so every figure on this page is this variant's own. Block of Amethyst is the same shape in a different material.

In Minecraft 1.21.4, Block of Diamond is a building block. Block of Diamond has a crafting recipe, so it is renewable as long as you can source its ingredients. At hardness 5 this is one of the tougher blocks in the game.

It needs at least an iron pickaxe to drop anything; a weaker tool destroys it for nothing. Mining it returns the block itself, so it is safe to relocate. A full stack holds 64.

It is crafted from Diamond. Nothing on the crafting grid is made from it.

How long it takes to break

Hardness 5 puts Block of Diamond at 25 seconds a block bare-handed, or 0.85 seconds with the right tool at netherite tier.

Iron takes 1.3 seconds against diamond's 0.95, so the upgrade worth making for this block is the one to diamond.

A weaker tool still breaks it, but anything under iron returns nothing — you spend the time and lose the drop, which is how most veins get wasted.

Efficiency adds its level squared plus one to the tool speed, so Efficiency V is about 3.4 times faster than the same tool unenchanted.

* breaks the block but yields no drop
Tool	No enchantment	Efficiency III	Efficiency V
Hand *	25 s	25 s	25 s
Wooden *	13 s	2.1 s	0.9 s
Stone *	6.3 s	1.8 s	0.85 s
Iron	1.3 s	0.5 s	0.25 s
Diamond	0.95 s	0.45 s	0.25 s
Netherite	0.85 s	0.4 s	0.25 s
Golden *	2.1 s	1.2 s	0.7 s

Properties

Block of Diamond has a blast resistance of 6, so a nearby explosion will usually destroy it. It blocks light completely and emits no light of its own. One inventory slot holds 64, the normal full stack. A pickaxe is fastest here; any other class mines it at bare-hand speed, because the bonus only applies to the class the block is tagged for.

Transparent: No
Required tool: Iron Pickaxe