In Minecraft 1.18, the way ore generation works in Minecraft drastically changed. This affected a lot of ores, but one of the major ones was Lapis Lazuli, which went from being very easy to find to much more difficult.
In Minecraft versions 1.18 and beyond, Lapis Lazuli ore will spawn in two batches. The first is between levels -32 to 30, in chunks of 10 blocks. The second is between levels -64 to 64 in smaller collections of blocks with no exposure to blank space or air. Lapis will not spawn outside of the -64 to 64 range.
This makes mining Lapis far more complicated to find than previous versions but also gives you a much more focused area of where you can mine it. Additionally, as of 1.18 there are two varieties of Lapis Lazuli ore—the traditional Lapis Lazuli ore in stone and a Deepslate Lapis Lazuli variant. Obviously, the Deepslate Lapis Lazuli is only found in Deepslate deposits.
The current best method of mining Lapis Lazuli is to dig horizontal shafts every two levels at 64 to -64, using a standard strip mining approach. Lapis Lazuli ore will be more concentrated between 30 to -32 because of the two spawn batches.
When mining Lapis Lazuli, you need to use at least a stone pickaxe so no wood or gold. When mined, Lapis Lazuli Ore will break into Lapis Lazuli items. Alternatively, if harvested with a Silktouch pickaxe, Lapis Lazuli ore can be smelted in a furnace into Lapis Lazuli.
For more Minecraft guides, check out Where to find iron ore in Minecraft 1.18 on Pro Game Guides.
