Water

Water is a natural fluid.

Obtaining
Water does not exist as an item, but can be collected by using a bucket on a water source block.

Natural generation


Water naturally generates in the Overworld to make oceans, lakes, rivers, springs, and village and desert wells.

Behavior
Players in water take 5 times the normal amount of time to mine blocks while grounded, or 25 times ungrounded.

Spreading
The complete discussion of spreading is now in

Spreading water will extinguish fire and wash out plants, snow, torches, carpets, tripwire, rails, redstone and cobweb it flows into, dropping them as items.

Source blocks
A water source block will be created from a flowing blocks that is next to 2 or more other source blocks, and sitting on top of a solid block or another water source block. This is the rule that makes infinite water sources work.

Dispensers loaded with a filled bucket will place a water source block in an empty block in front of them when activated. A Dispenser loaded with an empty bucket and a water source just in front of it will suck the source into the bucket when activated. It works the same with lava source blocks also.

In snowy biomes, water source blocks have a chance to turn into ice. They also appear when ice melts (except in the Nether). Ice will revert to water when broken if there is a block underneath the ice block.

It is possible to create pools of still water by placing water source blocks in a confined area. It is not possible to do this with lava as lava source blocks cannot be created by this rule.

A flowing water block will converted into a source block if there are at least 2 other water source blocks in its surrounding four blocks, and the block underneath it is a solid or a water source block.

This means that the smallest sizes of pools that can be infinite sources of water for filling buckets and cauldrons are a 3X1 block trough, or a 2X2 block hole. Place two water sources in the end blocks of the trough or the opposing corners of the square hole.

To make a pool of still water in any large confined area start by placing water sources along the space's longest diagonal, and then filling in around any rough edges that are left.

Current
The current in a water block determines both what direction it will appear from its texture to be flowing, and what direction an entity such as a player or boat will float from that block.

The horizontal current in a water block is based on a vector sum of the flows to and from that block from its 4 horizontal neighbors. For example, if a block receives water from the north and sends it both south and east, but borders a solid block on its west edge, then the current in that block will be south-southeast, because 2 southward flows (in and out) are combined with only 1 eastward flow (out). Thus, 16 horizontal directions are possible. If a branch in a channel is 2 blocks wide at its entrance, then entities will float into it rather than continuing in a straight line.

Water with a current pushes mobs at a speed of about 1.39 meters per second, or 25 blocks every 18 seconds.

Light


Water reduces light by 2 for every block, in addition to normal dispersion, so visibility lowers as the water gets deeper.

There are three ways of increasing underwater visibility; using a helmet with Respiration enchantment, or using potions of Night Vision or Water Breathing.

Water buckets
Water bucket is a variation of buckets that is filled with water.

To fill a bucket with water, it on a water source block. The block is consumed in the process. the full bucket on a solid block will place a water source against to its pressed side. In the Nether, however, the water will evaporate.

When activated, dispensers can let water flow out of water buckets (making a water source block), turning them into empty buckets.

Cauldrons are filled from water buckets.

ID
Water spends most of its time as stationary, rather than 'flowing' – regardless of its level, or whether it contains a current downwards or to the side. When specifically triggered by a block update, water will change to 'flowing', update its level, then change back to stationary. Water springs are generated as flowing, and oceans, lakes and rivers are generated as stationary. This happens before most types of generated structure are created, and the main cause of water "glitches" is that generated structures do not trigger a block update to let water flow into them.

Block data
If bit 0x8 is set, this liquid is "falling" and only spreads downward. At this level, the lower bits are essentially ignored, since this block is then at its highest fluid level.

The lower three bits are the fluid block's level. 0x0 is the highest fluid level (not necessarily filling the block - this depends on the neighboring fluid blocks above each upper corner of the block). Data values increase as the fluid level of the block drops: 0x1 is next highest, 0x2 lower, on through 0x7, the lowest fluid level. Along a line on a flat plane, water drops one level per meter from the source.

Trivia

 * While underwater, the player's FOV (field of vision) is lowered by 10 to simulate light refraction.
 * The old water texture can still be found in the assets and is used in the game if you are underwater.