Lava
| Transparent |
Yes |
|---|---|
| Luminance |
Yes, 15 |
| Blast resistance |
500 |
| Tool | |
| Renewable |
Yes[Legacy Console Edition only] |
| Stackable |
N/A |
| Flammable |
No |
| Sounds |
Ambient |
| Drops |
None |
| Data values |
|
| Name |
See § Data values |
|
“ |
|
„ |
| — Duncan Geere[1] |
Lava is a light-emitting fluid block that causes fire damage.
Contents
Obtaining[edit]
Lava cannot be obtained as an item,[Java and Legacy Console editions only] but can be retrieved with a bucket.
In the Bedrock Edition, it may be obtained as an item via inventory editing.[Bedrock Edition only]
Natural generation[edit]
During world generation, lava replaces air blocks generated in caves and ravines between levels 1 and 10. If the player creates a customized world without any caves or ravines, lava will not appear, and if lava lakes, strongholds and villages are disabled, it will not generate in the Overworld. Lava will not replace air blocks inside abandoned mineshafts, dungeons or strongholds between level 1 and 10.
Lava can also occur as lava rivers from a single spring block, pouring down walls into pools. The spring block can be on the side of a cave, ravine, mineshaft, or stone cliff above ground.
Lava also spawns as lakes, which can be found at any elevation within any biome.
Two blocks of lava can also be found in villages in blacksmiths' houses. 15 blocks of lava can be found in the End portal room of a stronghold: 3 along the left wall, 3 along the right wall, and 9 below the portal frame. Lava also generates in woodland mansions.
In the Nether, lava is extremely common, appearing more frequently than water in the Overworld. Seas of lava occur, with sea level at level 31, about a quarter of the total height of the Nether (as the Nether is 128 blocks tall). They extend down to about level 22 at the most. Lava also randomly appears in single blocks inside netherrack formations. In Legacy Console Edition, lava is a renewable resource, due to the fact that the player can reset the nether in the world options.
Usage[edit]
Burning[edit]
Most entities will take 4 (
) damage every half-second while in contact with lava, and will also be set on fire. When in contact with lava, 300 Fireticks will be added instantly to the Firetimer of the entity/player. For every further tick the player is in contact with lava, 2 Fireticks will be added to the Timer. For example: 10 seconds in lava will cause a total amount of 700 Fireticks (35 seconds) where the player burns (300 initially + 400 Fireticks for 200 ticks being in the lava) or rather 500 Fireticks (25 seconds) left to burn when they leave the lava source. If the victim touches water or rain falls on it, the fire will be extinguished, but the lava will continue to damage them directly.
Nether mobs (which are immune to fire), vexes, or players or mobs affected by a potion of fire resistance will not take damage from touching lava.
The “embers” or “fireballs” which fly out of lava are purely decorative and do not cause fires or damage to entities. When rain falls on lava, the black "ember" particles appear more frequently.
A player in lava will last the following time before dying, assuming the hunger bar is always full:
- 3.5 seconds with full leather armor, no enchantments
- 5 seconds with full gold armor, no enchantments
- 5.5 seconds with full chain armor, no enchantments
- 6.5 seconds with full iron armor, no enchantments
- 14 seconds with full diamond armor, no enchantments
Fire spread[edit]
Lava can cause fires by turning air blocks to fire blocks:
- in a 3×3 area right above the lava, and
- in a 5×5 area above that.
In order for air above lava to turn to fire, a block adjacent to the air has to be flammable, or one of the wood-constructed non-flammable blocks. Since catching fire depends on air blocks, even torches or lava itself can prevent a flammable block from catching fire. Additionally, not all flammable or wood-constructed blocks can be ignited by lava.
Lava of any depth can start fires this way, whether or not it appears to have a current.
Flow[edit]
Lava flows from "source blocks". Most streams or "lava-falls" come from a single source block, but lava lakes (including the "flood lava" in the bottom 10 layers) are composed entirely of source blocks. Only a source block can be captured with a bucket.
In the Overworld, lava travels 3 blocks in any horizontal direction from a source block. Lava flows far more slowly than water (1 block every 30 game ticks, or 2 blocks per 3 seconds), and sometimes sourceless lava flows will linger for a short time. In the Nether, lava travels 7 blocks horizontally and spreads 1 block every 5 game ticks, or 4 blocks per second, which is the same speed as water in the Overworld.
Flowing lava will destroy the following in its path: saplings, cobweb, tall grass, dead bush, wheat, flowers, mushrooms, snow on ground (but snow blocks are immune), lily pads, vines, levers, buttons, both types of torches, redstone, repeaters, end rods, and rails. Sugar canes hold back lava, but will disappear if the sugar cane's water source is destroyed by the lava.
Using redstone wire, a one-block lava flow can be redirected by supplying power to the source block, which will cause it to reset the flow towards the now-nearest terrain depression. It cannot, however, be reversed. This re-calculation is made because redstone wire when toggled changes the block from redstone(on), to redstone(off). Whenever a block updates on any side of lava, the lava re-calculates where to flow, but does not cut off its current direction of flow.
Flowing lava will not push entities, unlike flowing water.[2]
Lava and water[edit]
Water and lava can produce stone, cobblestone, or obsidian based on how they interact.
Light source[edit]
Lava blocks emit a light level of 15.
Cauldrons[edit]
In the Bedrock and PlayStation 4 editions, lava can be placed inside cauldrons and will hurt entity if the entity stands inside the cauldron, unless the entity is fire immune, though water flow on it will not emptied or extinguish lava cauldron.[Bedrock and PlayStation 4 editions only] [more information needed]
Trading[edit]
Lava buckets can be sold to Journeyman-level armorer villagers for an emerald as part of their trades.[upcoming: BE 1.11.0]
Other[edit]
Lava above a non-transparent block (does not include stairs, fences, and slabs) produces dripping particles on the underside of that block. These droplets are purely aesthetic, functioning identically to their water counterparts, except that they drip slower.
Flowing lava can set off tripwires, because it breaks placed string. It will only trigger it once.
Arrows shot by the player will only catch fire if shot in flowing lava and not still lava.
Lava Bucket[edit]
| Type |
Tools |
|---|---|
| Renewable |
No[Java and Bedrock editions only] |
| Stackable |
No |
| Sounds |
|
| Data values |
dec: 32510 hex: 14510 bin: 10100010110 |
| Name |
See § Data values |
Lava source blocks can be collected and replaced using a bucket, in much the same way as water can.
A lava bucket can be used as a very efficient fuel. It has the longest burning value of 1000 seconds, compared to 800 seconds for a coal block (a lava bucket smelts 100 items, and a coal block smelts 80). After smelting starts, the lava bucket turns into an empty bucket.
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
| Lava | Name ID |
|---|---|
| Block | lava
|
| Fluid | |
| Flowing fluid | flowing_lava
|
| Item | lava_bucket
|
| Lava | Name ID | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| Block | lava
|
11 |
| Updating block | flowing_lava
|
10 |
| Item | bucket
|
325 |
Lava spends most of its time as stationary, rather than 'flowing' – regardless of its level, or whether it contains a current downwards or to the side. When specifically triggered by a block update, lava will change to 'flowing', update its level, then change back to stationary. Lava springs are generated as flowing, and lava lakes are generated as stationary.
Item data[edit]
In Bedrock Edition buckets use data value to determine contents. Once used, each data value is set to 0 (Empty Bucket). If no data value is provided, data value is 0.
| Bucket | Data value |
|---|---|
| Bucket | 0 |
| Milk | 1 |
| Bucket of Cod | 2 |
| Bucket of Salmon | 3 |
| Bucket of Tropical Fish | 4 |
| Bucket of Pufferfish | 5 |
| Water Bucket | 8 |
| Lava bucket | 10 |
Block data[edit]
If bit 0x8 is set, this liquid is "falling" and only spreads downward. At this level, the lower bits are essentially ignored, since this block is then at its highest fluid level.
The lower three bits are the fluid block's level. 0x0 is the highest fluid level (not necessarily filling the block - this depends on the neighboring fluid blocks above each upper corner of the block). Data values increase as the fluid level of the block drops: 0x1 is next highest, 0x2 lower, on through 0x7, the lowest fluid level. Along a line on a flat plane, lava drops one level per meter in the nether and two everywhere else.
Block states[edit]
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| level | 0
| 0 | Lava source block. |
1234567 | The distance from a lava source or a falling lava. In the End and Overworld, only 2, 4 and 6 are used. | ||
89101112131415 | Falling lava. This level is equal to the falling lava above, and if it's non-falling, equal to 8 plus the level of the non-falling lava above it. |
Fluid states[edit]
Java Edition:
Lava
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| falling | false | truefalse | Always false. |
Flowing lava
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| falling | ? | falsetrue | True for falling lava, false for lava with a block below. |
| level | ? | 12345678 | Height of the lava, 8 when the lava is falling. |
Achievements[edit]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Availability | Xbox points earned | Trophy type (PS) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox | PS | Bedrock | Nintendo | ||||||
| Stayin' Frosty | Swim in lava while having the Fire Resistance effect. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 20G | Bronze | ||
| Super Fuel | Power a furnace with lava | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 20G | Bronze | ||
| Hotshot | Hit a Player with a Snowball while falling into the Lava. | Yes | Yes | No | Wii U, Switch | 40G | Silver | ||
| Snowplough | Push three Players into Lava using Snowballs in a single public round. | Yes | Yes | No | Wii U, Switch | 15G | Bronze | ||
Advancements[edit]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Internal ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Hot Stuff | Fill a bucket with lava | Acquire Hardware | Have a lava bucket in your inventory. | minecraft:story/lava_bucket |
History[edit]
| Java Edition Pre-classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rd-161348 | The texture for lava can now be found within the game. | ||||
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
| 0.0.12a |  Added lava. | ||||
| 0.0.19a |  The original texture was replaced. The old texture can still be found in the terrain.png file in the minecraft.jar
| ||||
| In Classic, lava spreads by duplicating itself to open horizontal and downwards squares like water. Lava is slower, though, and can be easily outrun. A quick player can block the flow of lava by building a dam. However, if the lava wave is large, a player may not be able to build fast enough. Also like water, lava slows down the player moving through it but it does so to a greater extent, and swimming through it causes greater damage. Lava is also more opaque than water and is harder to see through while you are submerged; you cannot see through lava from outside it. At the bottom of the map, lava can be found directly above bedrock in a different form, as it will trap the player and prevent the player from leaving unless water is let in and collides with it or if the player places a sand or gravel block, letting it drop into the lava. If water is let into the area where the lava is, the lava will form stone, allowing the stone block to be removed to expose bedrock underneath. | |||||
| Lava's texture became animated. | |||||
| August 25, 2009 | Lava now has been shown to deal damage. | ||||
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
| 0.31 | January 11, 2010, 1 | Lava now sets fire to flammable materials. | |||
| January 25, 2010, 1 | Now have particle effects. | ||||
| January 22, 2010 | Lava can now be found in the player's inventory.[4] | ||||
| Like water, lava will now flow, but more slowly than water.[3] | |||||
| ? | Lava can no longer be found in the player's inventory. | ||||
| Java Edition Infdev | |||||
| June 15, 2010 | Lava now flows. | ||||
| Added lava buckets. | |||||
| June 16, 2010 | Lava flows more realistically across surfaces but not as much as water does. Lava will flow for a total distance of 3 blocks "away" from the source block. Just like water, lava will flow in a single line towards the nearest terrain depression within four blocks. Items thrown into lava flows will disintegrate. All objects burn instantaneously when dropped into lava. Fired arrows will not disintegrate, but will appear to catch fire and can still be picked up. Magma is no longer present at the bottom of maps in this mode. Lava can melt ice and snow, despite these not existing until Alpha. Lava is luminous and a large lava flow is visible in the dark from quite a distance. | ||||
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
| v1.0.2_02 | Tweaked liquids slightly. | ||||
| v1.0.6_03 | Obsidian was readded after being removed in Indev. | ||||
| v1.0.15 | Lava now sets nearby blocks on fire. | ||||
| v1.1.0 | Buckets of lava can be used to fuel a furnace for 100 smelts, consuming the lava and the bucket. | ||||
| v1.2.0 | preview | Added the Nether, with lots of lava everywhere. | |||
| v1.2.2 | Lava now flows further in the Nether. | ||||
| v1.2.6 | Using a lava bucket on chests and other blocks with GUIs no longer places the lava. | ||||
| Lava lakes added. | |||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | ? | When lava is touched by rain, it emits smoke. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease | When lava flows above a block, its underside now emits dripping particles. | |||
| Lava blocks now form stone when falling directly onto water source blocks. | |||||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5 | Only in this version it was possible to create an infinite lava source using a plus-sign shaped arrangement of blocks with four lava source blocks flowing into a central empty block. | ||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w05a | Lava (as well as the embers that pop out of it) now makes sounds. These sounds were in the game files for a long time but they had not played in-game. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w15a | Lava can be fired out of dispensers. | |||
| 1.4.2 | 12w38a | Flowing lava now has a constant sound. | |||
| 1.5 | 13w02a | There is "hidden lava" in the Nether, and lava flows much more quickly in the Nether. | |||
| The texture of lava is now accessible. Before, the texture was hidden in the code and not accessible by any normal basis due to being based on a cellular automaton. | |||||
| Lava texture has been changed slightly. | |||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w37a | Lava, which previously could be destroyed by a few blocks of TNT, can no longer be destroyed by explosions. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w25a | The item forms of block IDs 10 (flowing lava) and 11 (still lava) were removed from the game. They can no longer exist in inventories, only as blocks in the world. | |||
| Now shows a lava bucket as the icon when lava is used as a layer in superflat. | |||||
| 1.11 | 16w39a | Lava now generates in woodland mansions. | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, these blocks' numeral IDs were 10 and 11, and the item's 327. | |||
| Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |  Changed the texture of lava buckets. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.1.0 |
Added lava. | ||||
| 0.3.3 | Lava no longer creates fire, due to a game breaking spreading bug. | ||||
| 0.7.0 | Lava now lights flammable blocks around it on fire. | ||||
| Lava now has a flowing animation.
| |||||
| Added lava buckets. | |||||
| 0.7.4 | Lava buckets can now be used as fuel in a furnace. | ||||
| Lava buckets no longer stack to 64. | |||||
| ? | Lava flowing directly into water will now actually spread out over it. | ||||
| 0.9.0 | build 1 | Underground ponds of lava can now be found, making lava much more easy to obtain. | |||
| Added lava dripping particles. | |||||
| Lava now generates in village blacksmiths and stronghold end portal rooms. | |||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Players are now able to swim in lava. | |||
| Lava now generates in the Nether. | |||||
| build 6 | Lava is now brighter. | ||||
| build 8 | Lava will now cancel all fall damage. | ||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Lava now generates in woodland mansions. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.9.0 | beta 1.9.0.2 | Lava can now be used to fill a cauldron. | |||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Changed the texture of lava buckets. | |||
| Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.4 | Lava buckets can now be sold to armorer villagers. | |||
| beta 1.11.0.5 | The texture for lava has now been changed. | ||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | Added lava. | |
| TU9 | Dispensers were given the ability to shoot out the liquids inside lava buckets. They could also suck up the liquids if activated again, but did not fill up the buckets with the liquid dropped due to a bug. | ||||
| TU12 | Lava (as well as the embers that pop out of it) now makes sounds. | ||||
| The texture for lava was changed. | |||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added lava. | ||||
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Lava" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[edit]
- The player can swim in lava without taking damage if they are under the effects of Fire Resistance, although the swimming speed is noticeably slower. Additionally, flowing lava doesn't move players/mobs.
- A water source block placed 1 block away upwards diagonally (but not through corners) from a lava block will first flow in the direction of the lava, then other directions facing away from the lava. This happens because water physics treat the lava block as empty, and try to flow to it. Once the water turns the lava into obsidian, the water physics update to flow in all directions. (The same thing happens with lava flowing over water.)
- Although lava is a liquid, it is not possible to drown in lava. This applies to all mobs.
- However, it is still possible to suffocate in lava. This applies to all mobs.[Bedrock Edition only][5]
- When the player is sleeping in a bed, they cannot be damaged by lava.
- In the Legacy Console Edition, lava near the spawn point won’t flow and a warning is shown when trying to place lava.
- If lava is changed to be transparent via a resource pack, it will not be transparent.
- Lava buckets can be used to break end portal blocks by placing the lava on the side of a block corresponding to a side of an end portal block.
- The lava texture used prior to Java Edition 1.5 is still being used in Bedrock Edition.[until BE 1.11.0]
Gallery[edit]
The default lava animation as it appears since the Redstone Update.
A lava lake found directly on the surface of the world.
Lava's melting pattern for snow and ice.
A natural lava spring near a waterfall.
A lava lake found in a large cavern.
A naturally-occurring stream of lava next to diamond, gold, and iron ore.
2 naturally-occurring lava lakes next to each other. Note the forest fire the lake on the left is starting.
A lava lake spawned naturally, note the forest fire nearby.
A thin piece of lava.
The warning in Legacy Console Edition when trying to place lava near the spawn point.
A running lava source (origin not seen) uncovered six blocks below the surface of desert terrain.
The inside view of lava with the night vision effect.
Ladders can stop lava from flowing.
A giant burning in a lava lake.
Lava found in a snowy ravine.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Block of the Week: Lava" – Minecraft.net, September 29, 2017
- ↑ MC-9994 resolved as "Works as Intended"
- ↑ wordofnotch:347976621
- ↑ wordofnotch:347976621
- ↑ MCPE-17073
External links[edit]
