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.

Precipitation varies by biome. Rain never falls in deserts though the sky still darkens, and in winter biomes snow falls instead of rain. If you are between a biome that produces rain and another that produces snow, you can see both snow and rain.

Rain and snow

 * Rain and snowfall are temporary but global occurrences.
 * During rain and snow, thunderstorms become possible.
 * 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.
 * Fish are more abundant during rain.
 * Wolves get wet in the rain, farmland is watered and crops will grow at a more rapid rate.
 * Hostile mobs will spawn in rain if a thunderstorm is nearby.

Trivia

 * 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 can 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.
 * In the code snow and rain are classified the same.
 * When it is raining during a sunrise, there will be an afterglow for up to two minutes after the sun is meant to be up, to symbolize the position of the sun.
 * When the player uses a Bed, the rain stops when they wake up.

Open

 * 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.
 * If you are in a cloud, the rain will let you "see" through the cloud.
 * If you are underwater exposed to the sky you can still see rain falling "through" the surface of the water.
 * Rain falls through water and lava.
 * When you open your inventory, the sun, moon and stars re-appear.
 * If you start to break glass with rain in front of it, the rain will disappear.
 * Rain doesn't pass through signs.

Fixed

 * Before Beta 1.5_01 rain would fall through all transparent blocks, including glass and stairs