Obsidian

Obsidian is a block found in all dimensions or created when water flows over a lava source. It has high hardness and blast resistance, rendering it immune to normal explosions. Obsidian is used for crafting and to make the frame for a nether portal. It can only be obtained by mining it with a Diamond or Netherite Pickaxe.

Obtaining
Obsidian drops itself only when mined with a diamond or netherite pickaxe; otherwise, it drops nothing.

Enchanting a pickaxe with Efficiency and using a beacon with Haste both drastically decrease the mining time. See the obsidian farming tutorial for more information.

8 obsidian are dropped by an ender chest when broken without Silk Touch.

Obsidian is one of the two blocks an end crystal can be placed on; the other is bedrock.

Natural generation
Obsidian generates naturally in all dimensions:
 * Overworld:
 * Obsidian generates in woodland mansions with a diamond block concealed by it. These are found in the secret "obsidian room" and "lava room", on the 2nd or 3rd floors.
 * Obsidian generates as part of ruined portals.
 * Obsidian generates in sufficiently deep ravines and caves where water meets lava source blocks.
 * A single obsidian block generates in some types of ocean ruin buildings.
 * The Nether: Obsidian generates as part of ruined portals.
 * The End:
 * Solid obsidian pillars can be found on the End's main island, generating all the way down to Y=0.
 * Obsidian generates as a part of the end ship in end cities.

Post-generation
Obsidian is created when a nether portal is generated in the Nether or the Overworld. This portal can then be mined, providing a way of obtaining obsidian renewably.

In Java Edition, if the nether portal generated floating in the air, then 4 extra obsidian are created at the bottom of the portal.

When a player enters the End, it will always spawn on a platform of 25 obsidian blocks. This platform can then be mined, and gets regenerated when an entity (only in pre-1.9/1.16) enters the End, which provides another way of obtaining obsidian renewably. Obsidian pillars also regenerate when the ender dragon respawns.

Obsidian is formed when flowing water touches a lava source block, and can be found naturally where water from a spring or lake has flowed over a nearby lava pool.

Bartering
Piglins may barter a block of obsidian when given a gold ingot with a chance of 8.71%.

Usage
Obsidian is useful for building explosion-resistant structures as it has, along with anvils and netherite blocks, a blast resistance of 1,200; the highest of all blocks obtainable in Survival mode (together with crying obsidian and block of netherite). Obsidian also cannot be destroyed by the ender dragon. However, ender dragons can traverse obsidian blocks without destroying them.

These qualities make obsidian an extremely effective defensive block, and it is commonly used in many bases in multiplayer servers as protection from griefers.

Obsidian is, however, not immune to the wither. Although black wither skulls has merely the explosive power of a ghast fireball, blue wither skulls ignore blast resistance, which means they can destroy obsidian. The wither's body can also destroy obsidian, either through block-breaking behavior upon taking damage, or its dash attack. The wither is the only mob in the game that can break obsidian.

End crystals can be placed on top of obsidian, which can be useful in PvP combat, or just as decoration.

Nether portals
Obsidian is used to create a nether portal frame, which is then ignited using fire. The frame must be a vertical rectangle any size from 4×5 to 23×23. The corners of the frame are not required for an operational portal.

Note Blocks
Obsidian can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sounds.

Piston interactivity
Obsidian cannot be pushed by pistons. It also cannot be pushed nor pulled by sticky pistons.

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Trivia

 * Obsidian is one of the hardest blocks to destroy in Minecraft. In reality, obsidian has characteristics similar to glass, being a brittle material.
 * Geologically, obsidian is a volcanic glass that forms when lava is flash-cooled. It is the only igneous rock that's glassy.
 * Other volcanic rocks in the game are andesite, basalt, and tuff.
 * 71.25 times the explosive power of TNT would be required to destroy a block of obsidian; however, additional TNT increases the blast radius, not explosive power. It is possible to an explosion strong enough to destroy obsidian.