Talk:Lava/Archive 1

Data value
According to this wiki page it's 35. In Cartograph is use the "only" feature to find lava on my world but shows cloth instead. So what is the data value for lava? --Dr. Weir 20:07, 29 September 2010 (UTC)


 * You could always check Data values. And yes the template has a few bugs.Toadbert

Lava as ultimate weapon.
I would add this to the article.

Having a bucket with lava is ultimate weapon.

By quickly putting it in front of any mob and then gathering it you are able to kill it instantly without wasting the loot. ReiseReise 22:05, 16 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Bad idea. As the items will burn up before you can even collect them, i say that it is a really, really stupid idea to do. And please say who you are when youre done. (type in this letter -> ~ <- four times in the end) Altair 19:57, 29 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, it worked at the time I was testing this. You could literally put the lava on the ground and quickly collect it. Loot would survive. ReiseReise 22:05, 16 February 2011 (UTC)


 * If you picked up the lava before it spreads sure it is a valid weapon.

Getting lava to reproduce itself
I have been able to make lava reproduce - one bucket of source lava into the top square of a hole two deep, can then be collected back out again a number of times - collecting only the top square of lava, and waiting for it to regrow.

If some more people can reproduce this, we can put it in the article. I can do this on Alpha v1.1.2_01

W 16:44, 13 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I've also seen claims of infinite lava in a Youtube video detailing an infinite obsidian farm. This is done by placing a lava source block hovering above a half-step block. Reproducable? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gyl1MNfZSU MrMatthew 16:53, 13 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I tried, but I couldn't find the actual construction. The infinite lava machine was kinda skipped over in the description, and I couldn't get a few designs to work. Jaeil 02:47, 14 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I just tried to reproduce both of these methods and neither correctly produces infinite lava in single player. Additionally, the linked video looks like it was made in multiplayer since there's chat messages and there's a known issue with water/lava in multiplayer acting buggy. That's likely the real culprit for the infinite lava tricks, not half-blocks or special holes. RestfulMonad 23:57, 13 October 2010 (CDT)


 * Yep, my behaviour fits the bug listed, and occurs only in multiplayer W 04:07, 16 October 2010 (CDT)


 * I'm seeing lava source blocks created when three lava source blocks flow into each other. Has anyone else seen this? --WolfKit 18:49, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Lava DOES NOT reproduce. Confirmed fact. Period. -- TheKax 16:35, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Lava Flow Direction
Lava placed on a flat section of ground flows in all 4 directions, but if you place a hole in the ground up to 5 squares it will only flow towards the closest hole (even if it will not get there as lava only flows 4 squares)

This can be used to limit the direction of the flow but you can not remove flow by digging a hole it only limits new flow. (this is the same as water) --Tnarg 18:25, 21 October 2010 (CDT)

Although lava doesn't reproduce naturally, using a duplication glitch still working in 1.8.1, it CAN be duplicated. Here's how: Fill a bucket with lava. Throw the bucket of lava on the ground (Q). Click esc. and Save and Quit to title. Click single player and go back into the game. Collect the bucket of lava. Click esc. again and wait for the game to save, then close out of the window. Log back into minecraft and there should now be two buckets of lava. Now, throw BOTH of them on the ground and repeat the proccess until you have as much lava as you need. This works with any miniblock (not just buckets of lava).

-Chase

Lava as lighting
Lava makes for some cool lighting for ones home. Just add lava, cover the exposed surface with glass, and you got a perfectly viable lighting source! Great for the upcoming Halloween Update. -Funkadacious

I have a question on that regarding wood. Will the wood burn if i place a lava source between stone and then above a layer of wood with glass directly above the lava? -DerGraph

Ok, i have tested this now and it seems that, if builded as said, the wood will not burn but if only one block is not placed (even it is one of the wood diagonal above the lava) then it will catch fire. Also i would like to see this use of lava in the article. I would write it by myself but i think that on the one hand my english is not that enough and on the other i am totally unexperienced with any kind of wiki. -DerGraph

Spring
In the spring section it states that lava removed with a bucket will not be refilled by the lava around it, but upon removing a bucket of lava from the corner of a still pool of lava in Alpha, both adjacent still lava blocks became flowing lava blocks in the direction of the hole, and the removed lava block was filled with a diagonally flowing lava block. It seems pretty logical, is this abnormal behavior? --NewEvolution 16:36, 25 November 2010 (CST)
 * But it won't create a lava source block like it would with water. Metalhannes 22:42, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
 * OK, that makes sense. I think I'll reword that section so that it's more clear, as right now it says the space "won't be refilled" which isn't entirely true. NewEvolution 22:47, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed, that comment didn't make sense -- there's a difference between not creating another spring and leaving a hole. I've cleaned that section up a bit to make it clear that lava springs don't duplicate like water but without that confusing 'leaving a hole' bit. --Lordebon 22:51, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Lava surface
I have noticed that all natural caves (except pools) are filled by lava at level 11 or lower, yet i did not see this written in the article. Should i add this? Edit: forgit signature --Melzardust 18:24, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure that's true, but you probably know better than I. Add it and see if anyone contests you. Euridicus 20:01, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

Lava as protection
You can use lava to protect your buildings. Should this be in trivia or not? Altair 20:00, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
 * That's kind of obvious. I don't think we need to include this in the trivia. That's like saying you can use air to make windows :| --Flippeh 20:07, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Why didn't someone tell me this earlier!? All this time I've been using glass to make my windows, like a sucker. Now I just need to find me some of them air blocks. – ultradude25 ( T at 22:31, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Captain Obvious is obvious. Yeah, you can but its really unsafe, as fluid as lava will go through it, as with the other fluids. Last time i used air as bloody windows, it costed me a house, together with alot of diamond. At least its a better idea than having it as a weapon of massdestruction, as it is rather of selfdestruction. Altair 15:16, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Mixing Lava with water
Is it possible for Lava to mix with water? and if so, what happens? does one overwhelm the other?
 * 1. Yes, it's possible. 2. It's ON THE LAVA PAGE what happens. 3. TRY IT next time. 4. Sign your posts. Darkid 14:52, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Difference between Lava and Stationary Lava
Lava has two IDs, 10 for "Lava" and 11 for "Stationary/Still Lava". Exporting a test case (flowing lava, falling lava, single-block lava pool) using WorldEdit and then looking into the shematics file, I noticed that all blocks seem to be stationary blocks, even the flowing ones. So, what's the difference between lava and stationary lava? Does non-stationary lava even exist in-world? Klaue 18:39, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The flowing liquids generate after world, chunk updates. Calinou 18:52, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Lava vs TNT page about "embers"
On the Lava page it is said that the "embers" flying out from lava are "purely decorative and do not directly cause fires". But on the TNT page it is said "Embers from lava will set off TNT" which sounds like they do have some kind of effect to the nearby blocks.

So they effect is limited to TNTs, or maybe they do have a small effect on any flamable blocks? MaLakai 16:08, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

I wrote that text — it was a common myth that embers cause fire, but lava just causes fire randomly around flammable blocks independently of the embers. I just tested the behavior of TNT: it appears to be triggered by being set on fire. —KPReid 12:14, 4 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree, this has happened to me. --R ocĸetor talk  12:26, 4 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Ok then. :) MaLakai 16:08, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Can somebody who has seen the code for this behaviour please clarify? I have noticed since I started playing (Beta 1.2_02) that I catch fire simply by standing around lava in a cave (No flammable blocks, disproving KPReid's statement) - but only if there's an ember nearby. I have observed this many times, and can post a video if requested. I only play SMP, by the way. Razish 09:40, 6 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Know about the South/West rule and corner lava glitches? --HexZyle 05:00, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Hi guys, I need a bit of help. made a house out of wood, stone and glass and put lava in the middle. all the lava on the bottom floors is concealed but the top is not, i use it to throw items i don't need into it. I figured the lava burnt my top floor so i made my top floor with my lava completly concealed. it still burnt my top floor down.


 * If you put lava in the middle, i assume you put glass around it, and it goes down each level, right? Well, I suggest you use stone instead of wood for your floors. Lava catches wood on fire. In my world, I have an entire room make of stone with an iron door, and there's a lava stream in which i use to deposit my waste items. In a nutshell: Only use wooden floors far away from lava.

Also, this talk page is about the article itself not about help, so i suggest you go on the Minecraft Forums to ask about this. If you want you can go to my talkpage if you want help from me, though. Cheers, --R ocĸetor talk  02:46, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

What I don't understand is that there were no openings for the lava and my top floor still burnt down, there was glass all over my lava and there was no way for lava to get out.
 * I'm assuming the code doesn't check for blocks inbetween Lava and the flammable blocks, just distance. --HexZyle 05:00, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Transparency
I'm pretty sure lava isn't transparent. I set up a floating ball of it above a base a while back, and it cast a shadow. Has this changed in the past few months? --Theothersteve7 18:56, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Swim in it. then you will see. (no pun intended) --HexZyle 05:01, 20 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Ghasts can see through it, too, but they cannot see through glass. -- baryon, 24.87.81.128 07:41, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Infinite Lava Bug (Singleplayer)
Just found that by accident, but there's a way to reproduce lava sources as of Beta 1.5_01, to reproduce the bug, fill a hole with lava, press escape to bring up the menu, wait for the message "Saving Level" to go away, press escape again, pick up the source with a bucket, and then Alt+F4 out of the game, relaunch the game, the level hasn't been saved and the lava is still in the hole, but the bucket is in your inventory, full of lava, I didn't try for anything else but this might work for any item in the game. Can anyone confirm? Doriphor 22:50, 21 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The map isn't saved when java crashes (or you end its process), only the inventory is. This can be done with anything. – ultradude25 ( T at 04:54, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Issue with the page
Noticed this was a bit wrong - I am going to fix it and post a vid for a tutorial showing that the edit I am making is correct in the citations at the bottom. Later this week I will make a much shorter video with just the facts and no off color commentary, but it is finals week, so this is it for now. I am not a wiki-er but I use this enough I thought it might be nice to help! :) User:TheCakeisAlive 20:14, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Nice thing you are doing something, but letting us know what would be great too. What "this"? -- TheKax 16:40, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Burning Pattern
Could someone add to the page detailing lava's burn distance/patern? meaning how far away a wood block has to be to be safe from being ignited by nearby lava

Low-level lava?
If water and flowing lava collide, you get cobblestone. When sitting/non flowing lava and water collide you get obsidian. If the lava streams aren't big enough (under half a block in height i imagine) it looks like the lava just disappears instead of spawning cobblestone. Didn't edit the page as i wanted other people to confirm this and that it's not just me.


 * Yup. Happened to me. the smaller lava flows didn't turn into cobblestone. PurpleKiwi 00:04, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Can we get a confim on this? Darkid 01:25, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Clarification
Playing Alpha, I routed flowing water into a Lava spring. What happened was the spring block turned into Obsidian and the rest of the Lava flow slowly died out from the top to the bottom. Made exploration easier, but I actually liked having a workshop right next to the lava. Felt like Lord of the Rings.

The main article states that obsidian only forms if water contacts a spring, but doesn't it also yeild obsidian if the flow is still, as in filling up the area it is in? Wanted confirmation before updating the article. -- MrMatthew 10/5/10 13:06 PST

Obsidian is only generated by water flowing and touching a lava spring. It makes Cobblestone if it touches a lava flow. PurpleKiwi 00:04, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

Gathering Lava
Q: I'm trying to gather lava with a bucket, but its not working. Any tips?

A: You sure can collect it but cannot collect it again like water.

A#2: If you're trying to gather lava from a lava flow, you need to take it from its source block.

100 Smelts
Is it 100 smelts or 128?Toadbert


 * I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be 128. Most games use binary values and Notch uses them all the time e.g. snowballs stacking 16, everything else stacking 64, chunks saving in 16x16 areas, coal smelting 8 items... the list goes on and on. --Moxxy 20:58, 11 September 2010 (CDT)
 * Sadly, it is indeed 100 smelts. Looking at the code has confirmed this. The burn time is 1000 seconds, and it smelts an item every 10 seconds. CyborgDragon 00:11, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * No, every item is smelted in 9.25 seconds. So: 100 / 9.25 ≈ 108. CosmoConsole 	 my page! my talk! my contributions! 16:26, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Degredation?
According to the article, "Lava pools without a source will degrade to dirt after a given time period." Does this mean that if I, for example, decide to make a lava pond near my house, get some lava from elsewhere and pour it in, it will eventually "degrade to dirt"? If not, what is considered a "source"?
 * This is not the case. The author *may* have been referring to a glitched state where the lava will remain on the ground even if the source is removed. Darkid 01:25, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
 * The “source” in question is the block of lava you poured out of your bucket. The rest of the pool that expands out from it is not considered “source”. If you remove (with a bucket) or destroy (by filling with a solid block) the source block, the rest of the pool will then gradually disappear. As long as you leave the source block in place, there will be no degradation because the source is still present. Hawk777 21:38, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
 * If there was only one source, you couldn't call it a lake, really...

Arrows
I noticed recently that arrows won't disintegrate in lava- they just appear to catch fire and dissapear after a while like they would anywhere else. Of course, you can't retrieve them without almost dying... masternoj

Lava as fuel
When you use your lava bucket as fuel, the lava bucket in the fuel space will be replaced with a empty bucket, so it does not actually cost the bucket to use it as fuel. --Toroquin 10:51, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

Did you used a mod ? Post a video as proof ! C ali nou - talk × contribs » 11:48, 7 May 2011 (UTC)


 * That's a mod. – ultradude25 ( T at 13:54, 7 May 2011 (UTC)
 * In vanilla it disappears. -- TheKax 16:43, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Buckets don't disappear for me, and I only have a mini-map mod. I only play single player, but I play v 1.5.01. I dont know how to post a video, but I would if I could. --Syrahl 9:51, 14 May 2011 (UTC)


 * So is this true or not? The page seems to be going through an edit war saying one way or the other...  --Warlock 17:58, 23 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Finally got around to testing this myself - yeah, bucket still consumed. Don't know why people were claiming it wasn't (probably a mod) --Warlock 04:22, 25 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Someone has changed it to bucket not consumed again due to recent patch. can someone please verify which patch this is or if its true or not --HexZyle 20:00, 23 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I've noticed that the bucket is consumed in my vanilla SMP server but not in singleplayer. Can someone please double check this? --HexZyle 01:58, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Destruction of items?
If you die from falling in lava and you lose items, e.g. gold ingots, are they destroyed by the lava or is there some way to recover them? --J-wad 08:14, 18 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Items, which lands in lava, burns. However, items scatters when you die, so it's possible for some of them to land on stone or similar MiiNiPaa 10:05, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Interesting...cooked porkchop from lava...
So...I don't know if you know this, but you can actually get cooked porchops from lava if, by some lucky reason, the burning meat doesn't land in lava or completely burn, and hits water.
 * Are you sure this isn't from pigs burning and dieing, or did you throw a raw porkchop in
 * and then quickly got it back? And if anyone could get rid of this wierd box, thanks. (216.175.99.87 15:21, 22 October 2011 (UTC))
 * Indent your text with a colon : instead of using spaces. It does actually happen. A dropped item is an entity, and acts just like a mob, in the fact that it can be ignited and if it drops into water, the fire gets extinguished before it can deal any damage to the item. If an item gets damaged, it disappears. Throwing a raw porkchop into fire will not cook it. However, if a pig is killed by fire, it will drop a cooked porkchop instead of a raw one. --HexZyle 05:55, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Lava used to make self repairing objects
Somehow it was left out but lava is one of the key ingredients to making self repairing structures (i.e. bridges, walls, etc)--Kodiak42 21:23, 5 August 2011 (UTC)

Gallery
Is it really necessary to have all the pictures of above ground lava lakes? There are four pictures when one would do. Timberdoodle 14:02, 23 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree it could do with a good trim. Barefootguru 09:49, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Old lava texture
Should we include this as history part? Tom.K 15:26, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Sure! Definitely seems relevant. Possibly in the trivia, like the old texture for Wooden Planks is?  Verhalthur (talk)(contribs) 15:40, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I can possibly create a cube out of that picture... can I try? CosmoConsole 	 my page! my talk! my contributions! 15:45, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * No need to rely on the picture! The texture is available in the bottom right corner of the terrain.png image in any version of Minecraft.  Verhalthur (talk)(contribs) 15:46, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Though, if you do feel like extracting textures from pictures, there's a job over at Talk:Leaves just waiting for you :T Verhalthur (talk)(contribs) 15:58, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Here's my very awful block render:




 * Okay, about the leaves. Don't know however how fine it will go, probably I won't succeed getting the old leaves texture out from the image.
 * Didn't go very well. CosmoConsole 	 my page! my talk! my contributions! 15:59, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Did you use the terrain.png image for that render? Verhalthur (talk)(contribs) 16:00, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes. CosmoConsole 	 my page! my talk! my contributions! 16:03, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Just making sure. ^^  Hard to tell because it's blurred a bit.  Verhalthur (talk)(contribs) 16:05, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Found a good render in the File:Lava.png history, and changed this one to that render :) now implementing info on history section--Yurisho 21:31, 30 August 2011 (UTC)


 * [[File:Leaves.png]] <<- follow this picture link. i think this has the old version of the leaves in it. interesting what you find when you fiddle around with the URL. --HexZyle 03:30, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

3 Feet???
And how much is "3 feet" supposed to be??? It's not even true, it's an obscure way that lava puts items on fire, on some sides it does and on others it doesn't, it does through some objects and through others it doesn't, and besides that it has a higher range towards the Y axis, upwards and not downwards -llVIU


 * 3 feet is (approximately) 1 metre, and thus is one block in distance. DreadLindwyrm 15:33, 22 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Then it's alot smarter and more accurate to use meters, don't you think? 95.96.128.2 02:03, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Lava Reproduction in Prerelease 5
Since this is a highly contraversial topic, please discuss all instances of reproduction of lava here before adding to the page

But then I can't explain to myself how it happened that I found an underground lava lake, and could get lava buckets from the *same* location twice. (Took the first, lava from adjacent reflown there, then again. But didn't work everywhere, only in a few places.)(beta1.8) Hoemaco 07:27, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Your lava lake was more than 1 block deep, just took lava from a lower level. Swpe(T 08:54, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * How can I do that if the top block was re-flown from the nearby lava sources?Hoemaco 15:59, 28 October 2011 (UTC)
 * You can click through flowing lava to target the blocks below. The space where you removed the original lava will be flowing lava. DreadLindwyrm 02:05, 29 October 2011 (UTC)
 * So, now that this feature is in the change list, it's been essentially confirmed? Cb14 11:17, 29 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Yep. Can duplicate, too. also, the central space where lava is generated does not have to be on a solid block. --HexZyle 23:17, 29 October 2011 (UTC)
 * That last statement hinted at a possibility of spring duplication over depths greater than 1, so I decided to test it out. Turns out it really works, which contradicts the article - namely, the "Source blocks cannot be duplicated over an area deeper than 1 block" part. (On a side note, this seems to work with water too.) Cb14 10:26, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Inflammable vs Flammable
In the Behavior section one point under burning describes certain items which can catch on fire "TNT, bookshelves... ...and wooden stairs are inflammable(able to be "inflamed")." I intended to edit this section to use the less confusing word "flammable". While yes inflammable does mean able to catch on fire, it's too easily confused for non-flammable.

While editing this section someone had posted a comment that asserted the correctness of the word and asked that it not be changed. By why not make the sentence less ambiguous? Skier51907 09:05, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
 * I totally agree. While inflammable is correct, flammable is also correct and much less confusing.  This should be changed for the sake of making the document more clear. Lemmons 09:12, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Well... of course it will come to this. The word is only confusing if you do not know that the "in" in inflame is NOT a prefix (they should change the word to enflamable to prevent confusion instead of using flammable). Why use the word flammable when you can use the word inflammable and also teach many people about the correct meaning in the process? It's part of the word itself (in this case, inflamare, which is very close to the spanish, french, italian, other romance language spellings and usage). It was only through popular/federal usage that the word flammable became a word for inflammable. By using flammable instead of inflammable, the word gets corrupted. Just because using the "wrong", popular term is for contiguity, doesn't mean that you shouldn't use the correct word. I don't see a problem if we include the note to give the reason and teach readers about the term. Or we could use a synonym instead. - Asterick6 11:30, 4 November 2011 (UTC)\
 * Flammable is perfect English and is much less confusing. Having some sort of grammar-vocabulary superiority complex is no reason to unnecessarily obfuscate an article. 116.102.19.7 10:20, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Lol, ok we'll use flammable since it won't be confusing. That was the whole reason the govs pushed for flammable anyways. And I'm guessing this is some sort of pedantic behavior?which means I won't be doing this kind of stuff anymore. But you have to realize, it's better to let kids know about the terms than have them confuse/misuse them later on. idk whatever - Asterick6 08:21, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

Sigh...classic pedants on Wiki
No one calls lava "magma" in Minecraft. No one will understand what a "Magma lake" is. Wikis are designed for the players. If no one understands what the hell you are saying, then don't put it in a Wiki.

You don't scoop out "magma buckets" -- it's lava buckets. Yes, it's incorrect since the lava isn't from a volcanic eruption, but get over it. Minecraft has enchantments, slimes, and magical mob spawners. It isn't about being realistic.

You're just hindering your communication by doing this. The previous revision of the article read as if there were two types of blocks, a "lava block" and a "magma block", but that's clearly not true. 69.141.37.196 18:14, 15 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Lawl, you could have given links to explain why this type of behavior isn't good. that would've been more helpful. Anyways, I dont think the text says anything about magma buckets; you came to that conclusion on your own. But you're right about the communication part. Go ahead and make it sound less confusing. I need a break anyways. Too much time here, screwing with judgement and shit. - Asterick6 08:58, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

Do ores have a higher probability to be generated close to pools of lava?
it happened to me multiple of times where i find more lapis lazuli and gold and etc... in mass quantities close to lava pools.


 * This is the same as finding ores in caves as opposed to mining them. I believe the greater surface area exposed reveals more ores and produces the illusion that more spawn there than other places.  Can someone provide evidence for or against(through decompiled generator code, perhaps)? (69.9.87.172 21:37, 28 November 2011 (UTC))


 * Testing just now in creative mode, I'd say I'm pretty sure this is a positive. Found three deposits of gold, two of lapis, and several coal and iron around one mediumish lava lake (three lava deep). Far more than I'd usually find in the same area mining. Wouldn't like to try it on survival tho', have a nasty habit of dying around lava lakes... [Afterthought] actually, it says lots of high-value ores are generated around lava lakes here... http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Caves#Lava_Lakes

Lava above the top layer
I ran into this glitch on the server i'm running, where lava is the only block I can get to spawn at the highest layer of the map. Running most up to date release of both the server and minecraft itself.

--Xiaden

flow time in ticks
i was experimenting in 12w03a and i found that the downward flow time for lava is approximately 16 ticks, or 1.6 seconds. just a neat APPROXIMATE fact. Quietsamurai1998 22:34, 21 January 2012 (UTC)