In vanilla Minecraft survival, mine deep underground with an iron pickaxe or better for diamonds, use villager trades for a repeatable source of emeralds, and smelt mined raw gold into ingots. The details below follow the Minecraft Wiki pages checked on 11 October 2026. They concern modern Overworld generation introduced in Java 1.18 and Bedrock 1.18.0, with later changes: diamond generation increased in Java 1.20.2 and Bedrock 1.20.30. Old terrain and mod packs can differ.
Diamonds
The Minecraft Wiki diamond ore guide says diamond ore generates deep underground and needs an iron pickaxe or better. In the current distribution it can generate from Y=16 down to Y=-63, and the wiki notes deepslate diamond ore is most commonly found around Y=-58 and Y=-59. That is a current-version mining target, not an all-version rule. Use Fortune when you want more diamond drops; use Silk Touch if you want to keep the ore block, for example to mine later with Fortune. Smelting a diamond ore block gives one diamond, so it does not provide Fortune’s extra drops.
Emeralds
If “gems” means emeralds, trading is usually more practical than mining. The Minecraft Wiki emerald item guide describes emeralds as trading currency and says trading is typically faster than mining. Real examples: the Minecraft Wiki fletcher guide lists a base trade of 32 sticks for one emerald. The trade’s availability differs by edition and displayed prices can change, so inspect the villager’s actual offer. The Minecraft Wiki farmer guide lists farmer trades for crops such as wheat, potatoes, carrots and beetroots.
If you still want ore, the Minecraft Wiki emerald ore guide says emerald ore appears in mountain and windswept biomes from Y=-16 to Y=320, with the generation distribution peaking near Y=232. You still need actual terrain at that height: empty sky contains no ore. Bring an iron pickaxe or better, but expect trading to be steadier for most survival players.
Gold
For Overworld gold, the Minecraft Wiki gold ore guide says gold ore drops raw gold when mined with an iron pickaxe or better, and Fortune can increase raw-gold drops. Smelt raw gold into gold ingots. The modern main Overworld gold distribution peaks near Y=-16. Badlands have an additional batch between Y=32 and Y=256, making exposed high terrain there worth checking.
For Nether gold, the Minecraft Wiki Nether gold ore guide says Nether gold ore drops gold nuggets when mined with a pickaxe. Nine nuggets craft into one gold ingot. Fortune can increase nuggets, but the wiki notes Silk Touch plus smelting can be slightly more efficient for Nether gold ore because smelting the ore block yields an ingot. Mining gold in the Nether can anger nearby piglins even if you wear gold armour. If you only need a few ingots early on, Overworld mining avoids that particular risk.
If you find ore but get no item
Check your tool before breaking another block. Stone, wooden and gold pickaxes do not harvest diamond, emerald or Overworld gold ore; those need iron, diamond or netherite. Nether gold ore is the exception here and can be harvested with any pickaxe. If you got an ore block rather than a gem or raw gold, check for Silk Touch.
“Gems” is not a single vanilla item. Emeralds are the green trading currency, diamonds are blue crafting materials, and amethyst shards come from geodes. If a server has rubies or another named gem, use that server or mod’s recipe and generation rules rather than applying emerald advice to it.