Sponge

Transparent	No
Luminance	0
Blast resistance	3
Tool	Any tool
Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Drops	Itself
Data value	dec: 19 hex: 13 bin: 10011
Namespaced ID	See Data values

	“	Just like in real life, sponges in Minecraft have handy absorbent 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. Mining time is not affected by the tool used.

Block	Sponge Wet Sponge
Hardness	0.6
Breaking time
Hand	0.9

Drops[edit]

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

Drying[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		If a bucket is in the fuel slot at the time the sponge completes its drying, the water will drain into the bucket, leaving a bucket of water in the fuel slot‌^{[Java and Bedrock editions only]}. Otherwise, the water just evaporates.

This recipe awards 0.15 experience.

A wet sponge placed in the Nether will instantly dry out.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.15]} Wet sponges will dry out after some time.‌^{[PlayStation 4 Edition only]}

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 towards 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 won't absorb more than 65 blocks of water (water closest to the sponge will be absorbed first). The absorption only propagates from water to water and won't "jump over" non-water blocks (including air).

When a sponge absorbs water, it turns into a wet sponge, and will be incapable of absorbing more water in this state.

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

Data values[edit]

ID[edit]

Java Edition:

Block	Namespaced ID
Sponge	`sponge`
Wet Sponge	`wet_sponge`

Bedrock Edition:

Block	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID
Sponge	`sponge`	19

Block data[edit]

Block states[edit]

Achievements[edit]

Main article: Achievements

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

Video[edit]

History[edit]

Java Edition Classic
May 24, 2009					Sponge was suggested on the TIGSource forums. Notch later approved this suggestion.
0.0.19a					Added sponge. The sponge was a temporary fix to stop water from flooding until finite water was implemented.^[3] It soaked 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. Therefore they stayed in their non-functional state until release Java Edition 1.8.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Sponges become available in Creative mode.
Java Edition
1.2.1		12w07a			Prior to this version, sponge 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 were 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 which becomes darker once it absorbs water.
		14w25a			Sponges were retextured, became obtainable in Survival Mode, and now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
		14w25b			Wet sponges, when smelted, will fill an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
1.9		15w43a			Elder guardians will 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			Changed the texture of sponge.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.15		19w36a			Sponges now dry out when placed in the Nether.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.8.0		build 2			Added sponges to Creative mode.
0.16.0		build 1			Sponges were retextured, became obtainable in Survival Mode, and now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
0.16.0		build 1			Wet sponges, when smelted, will fill an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.13.8			Added drowned, which rarely drop sponge.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Drowned no longer drop sponge.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Now immediately dries out when placed in the Nether.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Changed the texture of sponge.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added sponges to Creative mode.
TU28	CU16	1.19	Patch 1		Updated texture.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Sponges are now obtainable in Survival Mode, and now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90					Changed the texture of sponge.
1.90					Now dries out when placed in the Nether and warm biomes after some time.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added sponge.
1.3.12					Added wet sponge.
					Sponges have now been retextured, became obtainable in Survival Mode, and now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
					Wet sponges, when smelted, will fill an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.