Sugar Cane

Sugar Cane

Transparent	Yes
Luminance	0
Blast resistance	0
Tool	Any tool
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Drops	Itself
Data values	See § Data values
Namespaced ID	See § Data values

Sugar cane is a block found as 1–4-block-tall plants near water in the Overworld. As an item, it is an important crafting ingredient.

Natural generation

Naturally-occurring sugar cane near a pond.

Sugar cane can generate naturally near water, as two (¹¹⁄₁₈ chance), three (⁵⁄₁₈ chance), or four (²⁄₁₈ chance) blocks tall. Rare taller sugar canes can be found if generation chooses to generate another on top of one already generated.

Sugar canes are five times more likely to generate in desert biome variants than in other biomes.

Obtaining

Sugar cane can be mined instantly with anything.

When the spot a sugar cane block is placed in becomes unsuitable, such as when the supporting block is removed, the sugar cane block uproots and drops as an item. Sugar cane does not immediately uproot when all adjacent water is removed, but does so when it next receives a block update or random tick. In Bedrock Edition, sugar cane uproots immediately after all adjacent water is removed.

A sugar cane block drops itself as an item if a piston tries to push it (trying to pull it does nothing) or moves a block into its space.

Trading

Wandering traders can sell sugar cane for an emerald.

Usage

Due to its water-displacing properties, sugar cane can interestingly be used to create underwater paths, allowing players to move at normal speed and breathe if it is two blocks in height.

Sugar cane takes on a different shade of green depending on the biome in which it is placed.

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Paper	Sugar Cane	3
Sugar	Sugar Cane

Farming

Main article: Tutorials/Sugar cane farming

An underground sugar cane farm

Sugar cane can generate naturally up to four blocks tall, but short plants grow only to a height of three blocks, adding a block of height when the top sugar cane block has received 16 random ticks (i.e. on average every 18 minutes, but the actual rate can vary widely). In Bedrock Edition, bone meal can be used to grow sugar canes to the maximum height.

Sugar cane must be planted on a grass block, dirt, sand, podzol, coarse dirt or red sand that is directly adjacent to water or frosted ice (not merely above or diagonal to water), or on top of another sugar cane block. The adjacent water block can be covered with another block, whether opaque or transparent, and sugar cane can still be placed and grow next to it. Sugar cane grows regardless of light level, even in complete darkness.

Composting

Placing sugar cane into a composter has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.

List of colors

Java Edition

These values are generated by the biome dyeing algorithm. See Biome colors for more information.

Biome	Category	Rainfall	Grass Color	Temperature Affects	Render
Badlands	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Badlands Plateau	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Beach	Beach	Rain	#91bd59
Birch Forest	Forest	Rain	#88bb67
Birch Forest Hills	Forest	Rain	#88bb67
Cold Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Dark Forest	Forest	Rain	#507a32
Dark Forest Hills	Forest	Rain	#507a32
Deep Cold Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Frozen Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Lukewarm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Warm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Desert	Desert	No	#bfb755
Desert Hills	Desert	No	#bfb755
Desert Lakes	Desert	No	#bfb755
End Barrens	The End	No	#8eb971
End Highlands	The End	No	#8eb971
End Midlands	The End	No	#8eb971
Eroded Badlands	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Flower Forest	Forest	Rain	#79c05a
Forest	Forest	Rain	#79c05a
Frozen Ocean	Ocean	Snow	#80b497
Frozen River	River	Snow	#80b497
Giant Spruce Taiga	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Giant Spruce Taiga Hills	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Giant Tree Taiga	Taiga	Rain	#86b87f
Giant Tree Taiga Hills	Taiga	Rain	#86b87f
Gravelly Mountains	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689
Gravelly Mountains+	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689
Ice Spikes	Icy	Snow	#80b497
Jungle	Jungle	Rain	#59c93c
Jungle Edge	Jungle	Rain	#64c73f
Jungle Hills	Jungle	Rain	#59c93c
Lukewarm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Modified Badlands Plateau	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Modified Jungle	Jungle	Rain	#59c93c
Modified Jungle Edge	Jungle	Rain	#64c73f
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Mountain Edge	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689
Mountains	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689
Mushroom Fields	Mushroom	Rain	#55c93f
Mushroom Field Shore	Mushroom	Rain	#55c93f
Nether	Nether	No	#bfb755
Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Plains	Plains	Rain	#91bd59
River	River	Rain	#8eb971
Savanna	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Savanna Plateau	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Shattered Savanna	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Shattered Savanna Plateau	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Small End Islands	The End	No	#8eb971
Snowy Beach	Beach	Snow	#83b593
Snowy Mountains	Icy	Snow	#80b497
Snowy Taiga	Taiga	Snow	#80b497
Snowy Taiga Hills	Taiga	Snow	#80b497
Snowy Taiga Mountains	Taiga	Snow	#80b497
Snowy Tundra	Icy	Snow	#80b497
Stone Shore	None	Rain	#8ab689
Sunflower Plains	Plains	Rain	#91bd59
Swamp	Swamp	Rain	#6A7039	If temperature below -0.1, used #4C763C.	/
Swamp Hills	Swamp	Rain	#6A7039	If temperature below -0.1, used #4C763C.	/
Taiga	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Taiga Hills	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Taiga Mountains	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Tall Birch Forest	Forest	Rain	#88bb67
Tall Birch Hills	Forest	Rain	#88bb67
The End	The End	No	#8eb971
The Void	None	No	#8eb971
Warm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Wooded Badlands Plateau	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Wooded Hills	Forest	Rain	#79c05a
Wooded Mountains	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689

Sounds

Sound	Subtitle	Namespaced ID	Subtitle ID	Source	Pitch	Volume	Attenuation distance
	Block breaking	block.grass.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	Blocks	0.5	0.25	16
	Block broken	block.grass.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	Blocks	0.8	1.0	16
	Block placed	block.grass.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	Blocks	0.8	1.0	16
	Footsteps	block.grass.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	Blocks	1.0	0.15	16
	No subtitle	block.grass.fall	(Plays when fallen on from a height)	Blocks	0.75	0.5	16

Video

Note: This video was made before sugar cane had a different shade of green depending on the biome.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Sugar Cane	Namespaced ID
Sugar Cane	sugar_cane

Bedrock Edition:

Sugar Cane	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID
Block	reeds	83
Item		338

Block data

See also: Data values

In Bedrock Edition, sugar cane uses the following data values:

Value	Meaning
0	Freshly planted sugar cane.
1 to 15	The data value is incremented at random intervals. When it becomes 15, a new sugar cane block is created on top as long as the total height does not exceed 3.

Block states

See also: Block states

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
age	0	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15	A freshly-planted cane – and a cane which has just grown cane above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cane may try to grow more cane above it.

History

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11					Reeds, (the previous name used for sugar cane(s)) were added in the Seecret Friday Update 6 and informally referred to as bamboo or papyrus by many players. Since reeds could be washed away with water currents or instantly destroyed by removing the water adjacent to them, automated reed farms could be made. They can be used to craft paper.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Notch retconned reeds into sugar cane so that it can now be crafted into sugar, included in the recipe for the cakes.
1.6		?			Arrows no longer stick to sugar cane(s), and instead, they pass through. However, snowballs still come into contact with any sugar cane blocks, as if they are solid.
1.8		Pre-release			Sugar cane can now grow and be placed onto sand as long as they are adjacent to water. This update allows sugar canes to appear next to water ponds in desert biomes.
					Sugar cane's block form (Sugar cane) and item form (Sugar Canes) are now both available in the Creative inventory.
Java Edition
1.7.2		13w36a			The color of sugar cane now changes depending on the biome they're in.
		13w37a			The item form of block ID 83 (sugar cane) has now been removed from the game. It can no longer exist in inventories, only as a block in the world.
1.9		15w43a			Sugar cane no longer breaks if its adjacent water is turned to frosted ice.
1.13		17w47a			The ID has now been been changed from reeds to sugar_cane.
					Renamed to sugar cane.
					Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 83, and the item's 338.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of the sugar cane item has now been changed.
		19w03a			Placing sugarcane into a composter has a 20% chance of raising the compost level by 1.
		19w05a			Sugar cane now has a 50% chance of increasing the compost level in a composter by 1.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0					Added sugar cane. It is not known if this or Sugar Canes was their initial name. They are available in the inventory in the now-unobtainable block form, as opposed to the item, and it is not known when this changed.
0.5.0					Sugar cane can now be grown on sand.
					Sugar cane can now be obtained after activating the Nether reactor. However, player can obtain its block form from it.
0.6.0					Player can now obtain sugar cane's item form correctly from the Nether reactor rather than its block form.
0.9.0		build 1			Sugar cane color now changes depending on the biome they're in.
0.12.1		build 1			Sugar cane is no longer available from the Nether reactor.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Due to a bug, sugar canes no longer change color depending on the biome.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.13		beta 1.2.13.5			The color of sugar canes will again change depending on the biome.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of the sugar cane item has now been changed.
					Sugar cane can now be bought from wandering traders.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			Sugar canes can now be used to fill up composters.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Sugar canes added. They are solid, making it useful for growable walls. It is not known if or when they were renamed to "Sugar Cane".
TU2					Sugar canes are no longer solid, and arrows pass through them.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		The color of sugar cane now changes depending on the biome they're in.
		1.90			The texture of the sugar cane item has now been changed.

Issues

Issues relating to "Sugar Cane" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• When a sugar cane is broken at the second level, the time resets (for example, if a two-block high sugar cane is broken, but is just about to grow to the third stage, it would reset that time).
• By placing more sugar canes on top of a sugar cane plant, it is possible to create very tall sugar canes (up to y=255, the maximum height for building), although they do not naturally grow this high.
• Sugar canes usually try to spawn more often in Legacy Console Edition to ensure that the limited world have some sugar canes to find.
• Before sugar cane received an official name, they were sometimes referred to as bamboo, a block added 9 years later. Other names were "reeds" and "papyrus".

Gallery

• 

  A large sugar cane farm using 2×2 water holes.

• 

  Water flowing over sugar cane.

• 

  Naturally generated sugar cane found underwater.

• 

  A cactus and sugar cane stalk generated next to each other.

• 

  A sugar cane spawning naturally in a cave underground.

• 

  Another underground sugar cane spawn.

• 

  Sugar cane found at the bottom of a ravine.

• 

  Reeds generated in the winter mode.

• 

  Sugar cane growing between biomes.

• 

  Sugar cane growing on red sand in a badlands biome.

• 

  Sugar cane generated without a water source.

• 

  Sugar cane generated in a forest from a water pond.

• 

  Sugar cane generated in a swamp biome.

• 

  Sugar cane growing in a savanna biome.

Heights

• 

  Four-block tall sugar cane.

• 

  Four-block tall sugar cane.

Blocks

View at: Template:Blocks/content [edit]

Items

View at: Template:Items/content [edit]