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 only be placed on the sides of other blocks.

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

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.

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 won't stay on a ladder to get somewhere, but a ladder directly in their straight-line path (or if they turn in the process) lets them climb up.

Placement
In Java Edition, ladders displace water source blocks to create an air pocket. They also displace lava, and can be used instead of glass to let lava light shine through a ceiling. If the player places a ladder in lava or water just on the ground not near a wall, the air pocket is still present, but invisible.

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 moving perpendicular to the ladder block enters the ladder block, the player begins to move upwards, 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.

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 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 you stop yourself on a ladder and place a sign, you still stay in midair without having to hold Shift since the game is paused in singleplayer. This does not work in multiplayer since 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 you down while climbing ladders (unlike when walking, sprinting, and swimming).
 * Like vines, ladders slow you down when walked through.
 * A player on a slab in front of the ladder must jump to get on the ladder despite only being 1/2 block down.