Boat

A boat is both an item and a vehicle entity.

Obtaining
Boats can be retrieved by repeatedly them until they drop as an item. Tools and Weapons with damage above 4 can instantly destroy a boat in one swipe.

Controls
Press the button on the boat to mount it.

A boat can be exited by pressing the key, pressing down the right analog stick, tapping on the "Leave Boat" button, or pressing the  key. When exiting a boat, the player is placed in the direction the player is facing, or, if facing directly up or down, the player is placed in front of the boat. The exiting player is placed on land if that is possible from the dismounting position.

With a keyboard or gamepad, boats are controlled using the, (turns left),  (turns right), and  keys. Using the key increases the field of vision, but does not increase speed as if sprinting.

With touchscreen controls, two buttons for steering appear. The right button or key steers to the left, and the left button or key steers to the right. Pressing both buttons moves the boat forward.

Unlike with beds, there is no message above the hotbar for attempting to enter a fully occupied boat.

Behavior


Boats move according to the player's control or water currents. Boats have the same speed as minecarts. If on land, a boat may still be controlled but extremely slowly. A boat does not turn with mouse-look. A player cannot both move (row) and use items at the same time.

Boats can be used to travel safely through water. Collisions do not damage boats, although the boat breaks when colliding with a lily pad.

As of update 1.13.2, a player sustains damage when falling from heights while riding a boat.

Boats effectively have just over (exactly 4 damage isn't quite enough to destroy it), and regenerate $1/10$ per tick. When on the ground, they have 0.455 the height of a block.

If a boat is pushed underwater, for instance, if moved under a waterfall, or if moved up or down into a current, it sinks. $$, a sunken boat must be broken and picked up to use it again.

Boats can support two riders, including mobs. Mobs can't exit a boat and are trapped until the boat gets destroyed, or until the player uses a fishing rod or lead to remove the mob. This can be utilized to safely drown mobs.

Riding a boat does not deplete hunger, making it an efficient way to travel.


 * Java / Legacy Console Editions
 * Boats move extremely fast while on ice, especially blue ice. When moving fast enough, a "water spray" visual effect represents the bow wake. Being in a boat limits the player's mouse-look to the forward 180 degree arc. A boat breaks snow layers that it runs into.
 * A sunken boat is sunk forever, unable to be retrieved until it is broken by the player.
 * For mobs to enter a boat, they must walk directly on top of it. A mob cannot control the boat.


 * Bedrock Edition
 * A sunken boat resumes floating when it emerges from the current or the waterfall that was keeping it down.
 * Boats emit smoke when destroyed.
 * Mobs can be 'picked up' by riding a boat near them, and a mob can drive the boat without the aid of the player.

Drops
When destroyed via attacking or other forms of damage such as fire, a boat drops its item form. A boat is not destroyed if it crashes against a block or lily pad, unlike in versions before Java Edition 1.9, but if it is killed from fall damage, it drops 3 corresponding planks of the boat's type.

Trading
Expert-level fisherman villagers have a $1/7$ chance to buy one of the six boat types for an emerald.

Master-level fisherman villagers always offer to buy an oak boat for an emerald.

Fuel
A boat can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 2 items in the Java and Legacy Console Editions, and 6 items in the Bedrock Edition per boat.

ID
In Bedrock Edition, boats use the following data values:

Entity data
Boats have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the entity.

Trivia

 * A chest is short enough that a boat falls onto it rather than crashes into it.
 * Sand, red sand, concrete powder, gravel, anvils and dragon eggs drop as items when they fall onto a boat that is in water.
 * Boats travel at fast speeds when on ice, packed ice, and frosted ice. They travel even faster on blue ice.
 * The crafting recipes for boats are the only recipes that can be unlocked in the recipe book without having any items.
 * If the player is standing on a floating boat and the boat is moved, the player's hunger bar decreases.


 * Boats can only turn in 10 degree increments. After releasing the turning controls, the boat will stop turning on the nearest degree multiple of 10, meaning they are effectively limited to 36 different directions of motion.