Talk:Lava/Archive 1

Data value
According to this wiki page it's 35. In Cartograph is use the "only" feature to find lava on my world but shows cloth instead. So what is the data value for lava? --Dr. Weir 20:07, 29 September 2010 (UTC)


 * You could always check Data values. And yes the template has a few bugs.Toadbert

Lava as ultimate weapon.
I would add this to the article.

Having a bucket with lava is ultimate weapon.

By quickly putting it in front of any mob and then gathering it you are able to kill it instantly without wasting the loot. ReiseReise 22:05, 16 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Bad idea. As the items will burn up before you can even collect them, i say that it is a really, really stupid idea to do. And please say who you are when youre done. (type in this letter -> ~ <- four times in the end) Altair 19:57, 29 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, it worked at the time I was testing this. You could literally put the lava on the ground and quickly collect it. Loot would survive. ReiseReise 22:05, 16 February 2011 (UTC)


 * If you picked up the lava before it spreads sure it is a valid weapon.

Getting lava to reproduce itself
I have been able to make lava reproduce - one bucket of source lava into the top square of a hole two deep, can then be collected back out again a number of times - collecting only the top square of lava, and waiting for it to regrow.

If some more people can reproduce this, we can put it in the article. I can do this on Alpha v1.1.2_01

W 16:44, 13 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I've also seen claims of infinite lava in a Youtube video detailing an infinite obsidian farm. This is done by placing a lava source block hovering above a half-step block. Reproducable? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gyl1MNfZSU MrMatthew 16:53, 13 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I tried, but I couldn't find the actual construction. The infinite lava machine was kinda skipped over in the description, and I couldn't get a few designs to work. Jaeil 02:47, 14 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I just tried to reproduce both of these methods and neither correctly produces infinite lava in single player. Additionally, the linked video looks like it was made in multiplayer since there's chat messages and there's a known issue with water/lava in multiplayer acting buggy. That's likely the real culprit for the infinite lava tricks, not half-blocks or special holes. RestfulMonad 23:57, 13 October 2010 (CDT)


 * Yep, my behaviour fits the bug listed, and occurs only in multiplayer W 04:07, 16 October 2010 (CDT)


 * I'm seeing lava source blocks created when three lava source blocks flow into each other. Has anyone else seen this? --WolfKit 18:49, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Lava DOES NOT reproduce. Confirmed fact. Period. -- TheKax 16:35, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

lava flow diraction
Lava placed on a flat section of grown flows in all 4 dirations but if you place a hole in the ground up to 5 squares it will only flow towards the cloest hole (even if it will not get there as lava only flows 4 squares)

This can be used to limit the diration of the flow but you can not remove flow by digging a hole it only limits new flow. (this is the same as water) --Tnarg 18:25, 21 October 2010 (CDT)

Lava as lighting
Lava makes for some cool lighting for ones home. Just add lava, cover the exposed surface with glass, and you got a perfectly viable lighting source! Great for the upcoming Halloween Update. -Funkadacious

I have a question on that regarding wood. Will the wood burn if i place a lava source between stone and then above a layer of wood with glass directly above the lava? -DerGraph

Ok, i have tested this now and it seems that, if builded as said, the wood will not burn but if only one block is not placed (even it is one of the wood diagonal above the lava) then it will catch fire. Also i would like to see this use of lava in the article. I would write it by myself but i think that on the one hand my english is not that enough and on the other i am totally unexperienced with any kind of wiki. -DerGraph

Spring
In the spring section it states that lava removed with a bucket will not be refilled by the lava around it, but upon removing a bucket of lava from the corner of a still pool of lava in Alpha, both adjacent still lava blocks became flowing lava blocks in the direction of the hole, and the removed lava block was filled with a diagonally flowing lava block. It seems pretty logical, is this abnormal behavior? --NewEvolution 16:36, 25 November 2010 (CST)
 * But it won't create a lava source block like it would with water. Metalhannes 22:42, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
 * OK, that makes sense. I think I'll reword that section so that it's more clear, as right now it says the space "won't be refilled" which isn't entirely true. NewEvolution 22:47, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed, that comment didn't make sense -- there's a difference between not creating another spring and leaving a hole. I've cleaned that section up a bit to make it clear that lava springs don't duplicate like water but without that confusing 'leaving a hole' bit. --Lordebon 22:51, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Lava surface
I have noticed that all natural caves (except pools) are filled by lava at level 11 or lower, yet i did not see this written in the article. Should i add this? Edit: forgit signature --Melzardust 18:24, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Lava as protection
You can use lava to protect your buildings. Should this be in trivia or not? Altair 20:00, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
 * That's kind of obvious. I don't think we need to include this in the trivia. That's like saying you can use air to make windows :| --Flippeh 20:07, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Why didn't someone tell me this earlier!? All this time I've been using glass to make my windows, like a sucker. Now I just need to find me some of them air blocks. – ultradude25 ( T at 22:31, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Captain Obvious is obvious. Yeah, you can but its really unsafe, as fluid as lava will go through it, as with the other fluids. Last time i used air as bloody windows, it costed me a house, together with alot of diamond. At least its a better idea than having it as a weapon of massdestruction, as it is rather of selfdestruction. Altair 15:16, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Mixing Lava with water
Is it possible for Lava to mix with water? and if so, what happens? does one overwhelm the other?
 * 1. Yes, it's possible. 2. It's ON THE LAVA PAGE what happens. 3. TRY IT next time. 4. Sign your posts. Darkid 14:52, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Difference between Lava and Stationary Lava
Lava has two IDs, 10 for "Lava" and 11 for "Stationary/Still Lava". Exporting a test case (flowing lava, falling lava, single-block lava pool) using WorldEdit and then looking into the shematics file, I noticed that all blocks seem to be stationary blocks, even the flowing ones. So, what's the difference between lava and stationary lava? Does non-stationary lava even exist in-world? Klaue 18:39, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The flowing liquids generate after world, chunk updates. Calinou 18:52, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Lava vs TNT page about "embers"
On the Lava page it is said that the "embers" flying out from lava are "purely decorative and do not directly cause fires". But on the TNT page it is said "Embers from lava will set off TNT" which sounds like they do have some kind of effect to the nearby blocks.

So they effect is limited to TNTs, or maybe they do have a small effect on any flamable blocks? MaLakai 16:08, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

I wrote that text — it was a common myth that embers cause fire, but lava just causes fire randomly around flammable blocks independently of the embers. I just tested the behavior of TNT: it appears to be triggered by being set on fire. —KPReid 12:14, 4 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree, this has happened to me. --R ocĸetor talk  12:26, 4 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Ok then. :) MaLakai 16:08, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Can somebody who has seen the code for this behaviour please clarify? I have noticed since I started playing (Beta 1.2_02) that I catch fire simply by standing around lava in a cave (No flammable blocks, disproving KPReid's statement) - but only if there's an ember nearby. I have observed this many times, and can post a video if requested. I only play SMP, by the way. Razish 09:40, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Hi guys, I need a bit of help. made a house out of wood, stone and glass and put lava in the middle. all the lava on the bottom floors is concealed but the top is not, i use it to throw items i don't need into it. I figured the lava burnt my top floor so i made my top floor with my lava completly concealed. it still burnt my top floor down.


 * If you put lava in the middle, i assume you put glass around it, and it goes down each level, right? Well, I suggest you use stone instead of wood for your floors. Lava catches wood on fire. In my world, I have an entire room make of stone with an iron door, and there's a lava stream in which i use to deposit my waste items. In a nutshell: Only use wooden floors far away from lava.

Also, this talk page is about the article itself not about help, so i suggest you go on the Minecraft Forums to ask about this. If you want you can go to my talkpage if you want help from me, though. Cheers, --R ocĸetor talk  02:46, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

What I don't understand is that there were no openings for the lava and my top floor still burnt down, there was glass all over my lava and there was no way for lava to get out.

Transparency
I'm pretty sure lava isn't transparent. I set up a floating ball of it above a base a while back, and it cast a shadow. Has this changed in the past few months? --Theothersteve7 18:56, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Infinite Lava Bug (Singleplayer)
Just found that by accident, but there's a way to reproduce lava sources as of Beta 1.5_01, to reproduce the bug, fill a hole with lava, press escape to bring up the menu, wait for the message "Saving Level" to go away, press escape again, pick up the source with a bucket, and then Alt+F4 out of the game, relaunch the game, the level hasn't been saved and the lava is still in the hole, but the bucket is in your inventory, full of lava, I didn't try for anything else but this might work for any item in the game. Can anyone confirm? Doriphor 22:50, 21 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The map isn't saved when java crashes (or you end its process), only the inventory is. This can be done with anything. – ultradude25 ( T at 04:54, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Issue with the page
Noticed this was a bit wrong - I am going to fix it and post a vid for a tutorial showing that the edit I am making is correct in the citations at the bottom. Later this week I will make a much shorter video with just the facts and no off color commentary, but it is finals week, so this is it for now. I am not a wiki-er but I use this enough I thought it might be nice to help! :) User:TheCakeisAlive 20:14, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Nice thing you are doing something, but letting us know what would be great too. What "this"? -- TheKax 16:40, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Burning Pattern
Could someone add to the page detailing lava's burn distance/patern? meaning how far away a wood block has to be to be safe from being ignited by nearby lava

Low-level lava?
If water and flowing lava collide, you get cobblestone. When sitting/non flowing lava and water collide you get obsidian. If the lava streams aren't big enough (under half a block in height i imagine) it looks like the lava just disappears instead of spawning cobblestone. Didn't edit the page as i wanted other people to confirm this and that it's not just me.


 * Yup. Happened to me. the smaller lava flows didn't turn into cobblestone. PurpleKiwi 00:04, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Can we get a confim on this? Darkid 01:25, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Clarification
Playing Alpha, I routed flowing water into a Lava spring. What happened was the spring block turned into Obsidian and the rest of the Lava flow slowly died out from the top to the bottom. Made exploration easier, but I actually liked having a workshop right next to the lava. Felt like Lord of the Rings.

The main article states that obsidian only forms if water contacts a spring, but doesn't it also yeild obsidian if the flow is still, as in filling up the area it is in? Wanted confirmation before updating the article. -- MrMatthew 10/5/10 13:06 PST

Obsidian is only generated by water flowing and touching a lava spring. It makes Cobblestone if it touches a lava flow. PurpleKiwi 00:04, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

Gathering Lava
Q: I'm trying to gather lava with a bucket, but its not working. Any tips?

A: You sure can collect it but cannot collect it again like water.

A#2: If you're trying to gather lava from a lava flow, you need to take it from its source block.

Is it 100 smelts or 128?Toadbert


 * I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be 128. Most games use binary values and Notch uses them all the time e.g. snowballs stacking 16, everything else stacking 64, chunks saving in 16x16 areas, coal smelting 8 items... the list goes on and on. --Moxxy 20:58, 11 September 2010 (CDT)
 * Sadly, it is indeed 100 smelts. Looking at the code has confirmed this. The burn time is 1000 seconds, and it smelts an item every 10 seconds. CyborgDragon 00:11, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Degredation?
According to the article, "Lava pools without a source will degrade to dirt after a given time period." Does this mean that if I, for example, decide to make a lava pond near my house, get some lava from elsewhere and pour it in, it will eventually "degrade to dirt"? If not, what is considered a "source"?
 * This is not the case. The author *may* have been referring to a glitched state where the lava will remain on the ground even if the source is removed. Darkid 01:25, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
 * The “source” in question is the block of lava you poured out of your bucket. The rest of the pool that expands out from it is not considered “source”. If you remove (with a bucket) or destroy (by filling with a solid block) the source block, the rest of the pool will then gradually disappear. As long as you leave the source block in place, there will be no degradation because the source is still present. Hawk777 21:38, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Arrows
I noticed recently that arrows won't disintegrate in lava- they just appear to catch fire and dissapear after a while like they would anywhere else. Of course, you can't retrieve them without almost dying... masternoj

Lava as fuel
When you use your lava bucket as fuel, the lava bucket in the fuel space will be replaced with a empty bucket, so it does not actually cost the bucket to use it as fuel. --Toroquin 10:51, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

Did you used a mod ? Post a video as proof ! C ali nou - talk × contribs » 11:48, 7 May 2011 (UTC)


 * That's a mod. – ultradude25 ( T at 13:54, 7 May 2011 (UTC)
 * In vanilla it disappears. -- TheKax 16:43, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Buckets don't disappear for me, and I only have a mini-map mod. I only play single player, but I play v 1.5.01. I dont know how to post a video, but I would if I could. --Syrahl 9:51, 14 May 2011 (UTC)


 * So is this true or not? The page seems to be going through an edit war saying one way or the other...  --Warlock 17:58, 23 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Finally got around to testing this myself - yeah, bucket still consumed. Don't know why people were claiming it wasn't (probably a mod) --Warlock 04:22, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Destruction of items?
If you die from falling in lava and you lose items, e.g. gold ingots, are they destroyed by the lava or is there some way to recover them? --J-wad 08:14, 18 June 2011 (UTC)