Rain

Rain is an element in the game. Much like snowfall, it is a type of weather. It currently exists in Classic and Beta versions of the game.

Rain in Classic
Rain is a feature activated by pressing F5 in-game in Classic. Rain can also fall on Multiplayer, but cannot be seen by other players. It will only fall where the sky isn't blocked and has no effect on gameplay. Rain is a single moving sprite. When it falls on a block it makes a splashing effect. To improve frame rate, rain isn't replicated all throughout a map. It is instead one sprite on all sides of the player. When the player goes inside and far away from the falling rain it disappears but reappears when you move close to outside again. Water does not stop rain like a solid block. Instead, it falls through as if there was air. The same applies to lava and small plants.

Rain in Beta 1.5
Rain and falling snow were included in Beta 1.5. Rain looks identical to the rain in Classic, but also plays two different sound files.

Rain and snow

 * Rain and snowfall are temporary but global occurrences.
 * During rain and snow, thunderstorms become possible.
 * Water does not stop rain and snow like a solid block.
 * Rain and snow used to fall through certain blocks like glass, stairs and slabs. This was fixed a day after the release of 1.5.
 * Rain and snowfalls decrease the light level by 3, to light level 12 in full daylight.

Rain

 * It does not solidify lava or put out torches, but it does put out fires except those on netherrack.
 * Rain prevents monsters from burning, unless the lighting is adequate and shelter from the rain is provided.
 * Rain doesn't fall in a desert biome. If it is raining and you enter a desert biome, there will be no rainfall on the sand blocks. Rain will fall on the sand on non-desert beaches.
 * Fish are more abundant during rain.
 * Wolves get wet in the rain, farmland is watered and crops will grow at a more rapid rate.
 * Saplings get uprooted.
 * Hostile mobs will spawn in rain if a thunderstorm is nearby.

Trivia

 * When under water the rain can be seen going all the way down to ground level as if the water was not there.
 * Rain does not occur in the Desert Biome
 * However, when you open your inventory, the sun, moon and stars re-appear.
 * Rain is a single moving sprite.
 * The sound of rain does not play when the graphics setting is set to Fast, nor does the particles associated with rain hitting solid blocks show.
 * Rain falls only in the two middle lines of a block, therefore it looks like it is not raining directly above you, but actually the "square" in the sky is shifted half a block in each direction.
 * Thunder has the sound of TNT exploding with an echo.
 * Even when far underground, you could still hear thunder outside.
 * Sometimes when creating a new world, rain appears immediately causing mobs to appear without giving you a chance to get to safety.
 * If you start to break glass with rain in front of it, the rain will disappear.
 * Rain doesn't pass through signs.
 * It appears that when you use a Bed, the rain stops when you wake up.
 * If it is raining and you are in a lava pool, the rain will fall through the pool.

Bugs

 * When going down a ladder exposed to the sky, rain moves slower than it should, and moves at the same pace as if one were normally falling. This makes the rain appear to freeze and the player fall faster than it.