Digging Down and Elevation?

[Nebula]

OK i was told you had to go at least -60 in elevation to have a safe spot from the zombies.
I have dug down like 38 blocks and the map shows my elevation at +3. So am am a bit confused of how i am to get to -60 elevation when i can only dig down 38 blocks with an elevation of +3. and is 38 blocks enough to put enough distance between me and the surface while being undetected by the zombies, or is that even possible anymore?

I kind of remember being able to dig down deeper. And lastly does the mining still cause collapse if you did further then 7 blocks because i remember this happening where i had to have a support block to the bedrock every 7 blocks.

[Amanoob105]

From what I understand you can no longer do this. Besides zombies now being able to dig downwards if you are on the map (or under it) they can find you and will try to get to you.
Being underground just makes it a matter of time until they reach you. So, no, it's no longer possible in the current versions of the game.

[Crater Creator]

The way height is measured changed. A height of 0 m used to be some approximation of ‘ground level,’ so your height would go negative when you were underground. Now bedrock is defined as 0 m, so your height will always be positive. The height range you have to work with, from bedrock to skybox, hasn’t changed.

[Nebula]

Originally posted by Crater Creator:

The way height is measured changed. A height of 0 m used to be some approximation of ‘ground level,’ so your height would go negative when you were underground. Now bedrock is defined as 0 m, so your height will always be positive. The height range you have to work with, from bedrock to skybox, hasn’t changed.

Does the collapsing still happen if you dig further then 7 blocks square? Because i remember this happening where i had to have a support block to the bedrock every 7 blocks.

[Crater Creator]

Originally posted by Nebula:

Originally posted by Crater Creator:

The way height is measured changed. A height of 0 m used to be some approximation of ‘ground level,’ so your height would go negative when you were underground. Now bedrock is defined as 0 m, so your height will always be positive. The height range you have to work with, from bedrock to skybox, hasn’t changed.

Does the collapsing still happen if you dig further then 7 blocks square? Because i remember this happening where i had to have a support block to the bedrock every 7 blocks.

If you’re digging an open pit, go nuts. If you’re digging out a cavern, cave ins are definitely possible. There’s information out there on how structural integrity works. It hasn’t fundamentally changed anytime recently. Putting a support pillar in every 7 blocks sounds like an excellent idea. Sorry I can’t give you an exact number - the game seems to start not doing the full calculation past a certain point, allowing tons of dirt and rock above you when it seems like, by the numbers, it should collapse.

TL;DR: keep putting in supports to be safe.