Sponge

Transparent	No
Luminant	No
Blast resistance	0.6
Tool
Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

	“	Just like in real life, sponges in Minecraft have handy absorbant powers. Once placed, the sponge block will slurp up surrounding water and any more water that's foolish enough to cross its path. Impressively, this thirsty block can drink up to 65 water blocks before becoming a wet sponge. Sadly, a wet sponge can't absorb any more H2O, its glory days now long behind it.	„
		— Tom Stone^[1]

A sponge is a block that can be used to remove water around itself when placed, turning into a wet sponge in the process.

Natural generation[edit]

Ocean monuments have a chance of generating one or more rooms containing wet sponges. Each room contains an average of 30 sponges.

Obtaining[edit]

Either type of sponge can be mined by hand, or with any tool, dropping itself as an item. ‌In Java Edition 1.16, hoes break sponges faster than other tools.

Block	Sponge Wet Sponge
Hardness	0.6
Tool
Breaking time^{[note 1]}
Default	0.9
Wooden	0.45
Stone	0.25
Iron	0.15
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.1
Golden	0.1

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds. For more information, see Haste § Instant mining.

Drops[edit]

An elder guardian drops one wet sponge when killed by the player.

Smelting ingredient[edit]

	“	So you used a sponge and it's wet now? How about applying some heat to dry it, you might be able to reuse it. #CookMeASponge	„
		— Searge^[2]

A wet sponge can be dried in a furnace, making the sponge reusable.

Ingredients	Smelting recipe	Description
Wet sponge + any fuel	0.15	If a bucket is in the fuel slot at the time the sponge completes its drying, the water drains into the bucket, leaving a bucket of water in the fuel slot. Otherwise, the water just evaporates.

A wet sponge placed in the Nether dries out instantly.

Usage[edit]

A sponge absorbing water in a lake.

A sponge can be used to turn water into air (it "absorbs" the water). To place a sponge, use a sponge item while pointing at a surface facing the space the sponge should occupy.

A sponge instantly absorbs nearby water when it is placed next to water or when water comes into contact with it (by being placed next to the sponge, or by flowing toward it). A sponge absorbs water around itself (water source blocks or flowing water) out to a taxicab distance of 7 in all directions (including up and down), but does not absorb more than 65 blocks of water (water closest to the sponge is absorbed first). The absorption propagates only between adjacent water blocks and does not "jump over" non-water blocks (including air).

When a sponge absorbs water, it turns into a wet sponge, and cannot absorb more water in this state. Wet sponges emit small water particles on their surface, similar to how some blocks drip when water or lava is above them.

Sponges in item form do not absorb water or become wet.

Loot[edit]

Sponges and wet sponges always drop themselves.

Namespaced ID	Source	Default
`blocks/sponge`	Sponge	(100%)
`blocks/wet_sponge`	Wet Sponge	(100%)

Sounds[edit]

This page would benefit from the addition of more sounds.

Please remove this notice once you've added suitable sounds to the article. The specific instructions are: Sound event played in java when water is removed

Java Edition:

Subtitle	Source	Description	Namespaced ID	Subtitle key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Breaking the block	`block.grass.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
None	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.grass.fall`	`None`	0.5	0.75	16
Block breaking	Blocks	Mining the block	`block.grass.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
Block placed	Blocks	Placing the block	`block.grass.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	`block.grass.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16
Fire extinguished	Blocks	Wet block placed in the Nether	`block.fire.extinguish`	`subtitles.block.fire.extinguish`	?	?	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Description	Namespaced ID	Volume	Pitch
?	Breaking the block	`dig.grass`	?	0.8
?	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.grass`	?	?
?	Mining the block	`hit.grass`	?	0.5
?	Jumping from the block	`jump.grass`	?	?
?	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.grass`	?	?
?	Walking on the block	`step.grass`	?	?
?	Placing the block	`use.grass`	?	0.8

Data values[edit]

ID[edit]

Java Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Translation key
Sponge	`sponge`	`block.minecraft.sponge`
Wet Sponge	`wet_sponge`	`block.minecraft.wet_sponge`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID	Translation key
Sponge	`sponge`	`19`	`?`

Block data[edit]

Block states[edit]

Achievements[edit]

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
	Dry Spell	Dry a sponge in a furnace	—	15G	Bronze

Video[edit]

History[edit]

Java Edition Classic
May 24, 2009					Sponge was suggested on the TIGSource forums. Notch later approved this suggestion.
June 16, 2009					Sponges were tested by Notch.
0.0.19a					Added sponges.
					The sponge is a temporary fix to stop water from flooding until finite water is implemented.^[3]
					Sponges soak up water in a 5×5×5 volume around it, and would decay.
0.0.19a_06					Sponges no longer decay.
Java Edition Infdev
February 27, 2010					Due to Notch reworking many parts of the game to allow for infinite terrain generation the whole liquid system from Indev including sponges becomes non-functional. A new system for liquids was added in a later version of Infdev, sponges weren't touched though as they were no longer required.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Sponges have now become available in creative mode.
Java Edition
1.2.1		12w07a			Prior to this version, sponges could be used in redstone builds for updating blocks, in conjunction with BUDs (block update detectors): if a sponge was placed and then removed, all blocks within a 7×7×7 range would be updated.^[4] The cause of this was some remaining code for the sponge's water removing property.
1.3.1		12w22a			Inventory sprites for blocks have been flipped from left to right, changing to .
1.8		June 8, 2014			Jeb tweeted that the ability to erase water blocks would be returned to the sponge. The linked image revealed that the sponge would have a new texture that becomes darker once it absorbs water.
		14w25a			The textures of sponges have been changed.
					Sponges have now become obtainable in survival mode.
					Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
		14w25b			A wet sponge, when smelted, fills an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
1.9		15w43a			Elder guardians now drop dry sponges instead of wet ones.
1.11		16w33a			Elder guardians now drop wet sponges on player kills, rather than dry sponges.^[5]
1.13		17w47a			The two different `wet` block state values for the `sponge` ID have been split up into their own IDs.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 19.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of sponges have been changed.
1.15		19w36a			Sponges now dry out when placed in the Nether.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.16		20w12a			Sponges and wet sponges can now be broken faster using hoes.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.8.0		build 2			Added sponges
0.8.0		build 2			Sponges are currently only available in creative mode.
0.16.0		build 1			The textures of sponges have been changed.
					Sponges have now become obtainable in survival mode.
					Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
					A wet sponge, when smelted, fills an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.13.8			Added drowned, which rarely drop sponges.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Drowned no longer drop sponge.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Sponges now immediately dry out when placed in the Nether.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of sponges have been changed.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added sponges.
TU5	CU1	1.0			Sponges are currently only available in creative mode.
TU28	CU16	1.19			The textures of sponges have been changed.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Sponges are now obtainable in survival mode.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
		1.90			The textures of sponges have been changed.
		1.90			Sponges now dry out when placed in the Nether and warm biomes after some time.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added sponges.
1.3.12					Added wet sponges.
					The textures of sponges have been changed.
					Sponges have now become obtainable in survival mode.
					Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
					A wet sponge, when smelted, fills an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.