Ladder

"Sometimes the fans are right, too. Like ladders. I did not want ladders in Minecraft at all. Ladders are never fun. They’re not fun in Minecraft either. But they’re a very good utility. It’s an easy way to get straight up without having stairs going back and forth. So I added them anyway because the fans convinced me."

- Notch

Ladders are wooden blocks used for climbing walls either vertically or horizontally. They can be placed only on the sides of other blocks.

Natural generation
Ladders occur naturally in library rooms of strongholds and in intersection rooms with a wooden ceiling. Ladders can also be found in villages structures such as a plains and taiga temples, a plains small house, a desert fletcher house, and a desert medium house. They may also be found in igloos, leading to the basement, end ships on the pillar leading up to the crows nest and woodland mansions rail room.

Obtaining
Ladders can be broken using any tool, but an axe is the quickest.

Usage
Ladders provide a way to cushion a player's impact after a free fall. Upon entering a ladder's area of effect, the player's speed is reduced instantly to normal ladder descent speed and no damage is taken. Falling onto the narrow top surface of the ladder incurs falling damage as normal.

Holding the key while climbing a ladder causes the player to grab hold of the ladder and not fall off. While the player is holding on to a ladder, mining speed decreases.

Any mob can climb a ladder in the same way a player does: by pushing against it. Mobs are not smart enough to use ladders deliberately — they do not remain on a ladder to get somewhere, but a ladder directly in their path lets them climb up.

Placement
Ladders can be placed on any full solid block face, with the unaccountable exceptions of the block of redstone and the observer.

In Java Edition, ladders displace lava blocks to create an air pocket and can be used instead of glass to let lava light shine through a ceiling. They also displace flowing water, but a ladder placed inside a water source block becomes waterlogged and does not create an air pocket.

In Bedrock Edition, ladders displace only flowing liquids. A ladder placed inside a block of non-flowing liquid (like a water source block) becomes waterlogged and does not create an air pocket.

How ladders work
A ladder takes effect whenever the player's lower half is in the block occupied by a ladder. These effects are:
 * If the player pushes against a wall, the player moves upward at about 5/2 meters per second instead of horizontally. (Thus inside a 1×1 ladder shaft, the player can use any movement key to move upward.)
 * If a player occupies the 1x1 ladder shaft, the player can ascend the ladder by holding jump instead of using a horizontal movement key.
 * If a player moving perpendicular to the ladder block enters the ladder block, the player begins to move upward, but then falls off the ladder shortly afterward if the player continues to move horizontally.
 * The player's maximum downward speed is reduced to a "descending ladder" speed.
 * The player's horizontal movement friction is the same as on ice. (That is, moving around in the tiny space the player is in while still hanging on the ladder at the same level.)

Fuel
A ladder can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per ladder.

Sounds
Java Edition:

Block data
In Bedrock Edition, ladders use the following data values:

Trivia

 * It is possible to use ladders one block apart in a corner by placing every other ladder on the alternating side of the corner. This method requires jumping and shifting sides constantly.
 * By holding the jump key, players can still use water ladders that have ladders placed every other block.
 * If the player stops on a ladder and places a sign, the player remains in midair without having to hold Shift, because the game is paused in singleplayer. This does not work in multiplayer because the game is not paused.
 * Attempting to place a ladder on a spot another ladder occupies may instead place the ladder somewhere nearby (because of the ladder's hitbox).
 * It is possible to remove a ladder while standing on a ladder and holding the sneak key, but it can take a long time because the countdown for breaking the ladder often resets.
 * Consuming food, blocking with a shield or pulling back a bow, do not slow the player down while climbing ladders (unlike when walking, sprinting and swimming).
 * Like vines, ladders slow the player down when walked through.
 * A player on a slab in front of the ladder must jump to get on the ladder despite being only 1/2 block down.
 * Players can hold down the jump button while climbing a ladder to make the climbing speed faster.