However, 1.4 or 1.5 fixed the bug exploitation, and I'm not sure why sand generators would make you lose valuable resources.
Taking a shovel to the thousands of deserts that spawn is not hard to do. If you don't like the grindy aspect, well, tough luck. Strip mining is repetitive too.
My advice is build an xp farm, get enough iron to make a beacon, and then go haywire in the desert with an Efficiency 5 shovel and Haste on the beacon. It'll take a while, yes, but the truth is that easy resources aren't going to be easy to get to.
Personally, I can see where you might need so much sand (Building a large sandstone castle for example), but I still don't advocate using a bug to do it. Complaining about a bug being fixed is actually pretty hilarious.
My advice is build an xp farm, get enough iron to make a beacon, and then go haywire in the desert with an Efficiency 5 shovel and Haste on the beacon. It'll take a while, yes, but the truth is that easy resources aren't going to be easy to get to.
You don't really need Eff 5 or a beacon; I mined a couple thousand sand blocks using stone shovels for my main base and while it may have taken a lot longer for the digging aspect, overall it took far less time because you have to get Wither skulls and all of that to make a beacon. As it is, a diamond shovel with Eff 4/5 is already so fast it is difficult to mine just one block at a time with it, and if you set difficulty to peaceful (somebody who would otherwise exploit the game shouldn't have a problem with this) you can just bring a shovel, with Unbreaking III added (increases durability to over 6,000 uses), and mine 35 stacks of sand per trip - and bring an Ender chest for 27 more stacks of sand (leave the chest behind and use a second one at your base to get the sand).
That's almost 4,000 sand per trip. You can also bring a chest, with an extra unenchanted shovel, and anvil so you can repair the shovel (repair it right as the durability bar appears empty; you still have a couple hundred uses left the moment it appears empty), which can then mine over 12,000 blocks over three trips, repairing it again before the fourth trip, bringing another shovel for repair, and so on (you can mine 24,000 blocks using just four diamonds, plus the XP needed for three repairs; 33 levels each if I calculated it right, for a renamed shovel with Eff 5 and Unb 3).
Guys
I can't use the piston trick for diamonds anymore
Nooooooo
Okay, I'll be nice.
However, 1.4 or 1.5 fixed the bug exploitation, and I'm not sure why sand generators would make you lose valuable resources.
Taking a shovel to the thousands of deserts that spawn is not hard to do. If you don't like the grindy aspect, well, tough luck. Strip mining is repetitive too.
My advice is build an xp farm, get enough iron to make a beacon, and then go haywire in the desert with an Efficiency 5 shovel and Haste on the beacon. It'll take a while, yes, but the truth is that easy resources aren't going to be easy to get to.
Enderdragon Roar in the Overworld
Rollercoaster
You don't really need Eff 5 or a beacon; I mined a couple thousand sand blocks using stone shovels for my main base and while it may have taken a lot longer for the digging aspect, overall it took far less time because you have to get Wither skulls and all of that to make a beacon. As it is, a diamond shovel with Eff 4/5 is already so fast it is difficult to mine just one block at a time with it, and if you set difficulty to peaceful (somebody who would otherwise exploit the game shouldn't have a problem with this) you can just bring a shovel, with Unbreaking III added (increases durability to over 6,000 uses), and mine 35 stacks of sand per trip - and bring an Ender chest for 27 more stacks of sand (leave the chest behind and use a second one at your base to get the sand).
That's almost 4,000 sand per trip. You can also bring a chest, with an extra unenchanted shovel, and anvil so you can repair the shovel (repair it right as the durability bar appears empty; you still have a couple hundred uses left the moment it appears empty), which can then mine over 12,000 blocks over three trips, repairing it again before the fourth trip, bringing another shovel for repair, and so on (you can mine 24,000 blocks using just four diamonds, plus the XP needed for three repairs; 33 levels each if I calculated it right, for a renamed shovel with Eff 5 and Unb 3).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?