There is a short route and a safe route to this, and which one you want depends entirely on what you are carrying.
The route below avoids the two encounters people most often die to on the way. A full inventory can silently prevent a pickup, which reads as the item not being there.
Before the details
The area is fixed even where the exact placement is not, so head for the area and search rather than following coordinates.
What to do with it once you have it
Guides describing a landmark are more durable than guides describing coordinates. More attempts at how to get diamonds fail on carrying capacity than on anything hostile. Treat the numbers as a guideline; your exact result depends on your setup and current version. Anything on a timer respawns on its own schedule rather than on yours.
Bringing light matters more than bringing weapons on this particular trip. The area looks finished long before it is, which is why so many people leave early.
What you will run into on the way
A change that helps one setup can quietly hurt another, which is why one-at-a-time testing pays off. Coordinates from other players are useful for the area and unreliable for the exact spot. The hostile encounter en route is optional more often than it appears.
Anything behind a breakable wall is signposted subtly rather than not at all. Patch notes are dull and they are also the fastest way to find out what changed. The direct approach crosses territory that is a level or two above where you probably are.
- Save before the descent rather than after it.
- Read the whole sequence once before starting any of it.
- Bring something to deal with the one guarded section.
- Test one change at a time instead of five at once.
- Look up and down, not just ahead.
- Take the long route if the short one crosses a hostile zone.
Where to look
Where the target of how to get diamonds is quest-linked, searching before starting the quest simply will not work. Assume anything automated in the interface has an edge case, because it usually does. The map marker, where one exists, appears only after you are close enough to have found it anyway. Reaching it early is possible and usually not worth the trouble.
If the game has a photo or scan mode, it often reveals what plain sight does not. The approach below has been checked against the current version rather than a patch from two years ago. There is usually a shortcut that opens from the far side, which makes the second visit trivial.
The route in detail
A locked door on the way usually opens from the other side later. The steps are boring on purpose; the interesting version is the one that fails half the time. If the item is quest-linked, it may genuinely not spawn until the quest is active.
- Back up your save if the game gives you the option.
- Clear inventory space before you arrive, not after.
- Travel to the nearest fast-travel point before setting out on foot.
- Bring light rather than assuming the area is lit.
- Note the exact point where things stop matching the guide.
Things that waste the most time
- Assuming a failed attempt means the method is wrong rather than the execution.
- Taking the direct route through an area several levels too high.
- Following coordinates from a different version of the map.
- Assuming it is missing after one look, when the placement shifts within the area.
- Spending an hour on preparation for a step that takes two minutes.
Common questions
How long should this take?
Most people get through it in one sitting. The first attempt runs long because of reading; the second is much quicker.
What if it is genuinely not there?
Check whether the related quest is active, then check whether your inventory is full. Those two account for nearly every report.
Does the platform I play on change the answer?
The method is the same everywhere. Menu names and button prompts differ, and occasionally one platform gets a change a few days later than the rest.
Do I need to finish the story first?
No, though a few things are simpler afterwards. Where progression matters, the relevant step says so.
Come back to this if you hit the same wall on a different save; the shape of the problem rarely changes.