Obsidian



Obsidian is a deep purple and black block. Obsidian may be found naturally on rare occasions, when there is flowing water and source lava blocks nearby. Obsidian is formed when flowing water hits a lava source block. When water and runoff lava collide, cobblestone is created. In the Overworld, Obsidian never actually spawns with the chunk, but is created by the environment. In The End, solid pillars of obsidian can be found on the surface as well as in the obsidian platform. Obsidian can only be successfully mined with a diamond pickaxe. Obsidian can be used for not only building blocks, but also as a decor for things like pillars, arches, Nether Portals and more.

Each obsidian block takes 10 seconds to mine (around 15 seconds on the Xbox 360 Edition) when using a diamond pickaxe, taking 76 consecutive strikes, otherwise, it takes 4 minutes and 10 seconds to break it.

Obsidian found naturally is somewhat rare and difficult to mine since it usually rests on top of a Lava block. Obsidian farming is thus the preferred way to acquire large quantities. A basic Obsidian farm is composed of a trough seven blocks long into which seven blocks of Lava are poured using a Bucket. A water block is then placed on top of one end of the trough so that it flows onto the lava and converts it into Obsidian.

As of the Halloween Update, Obsidian can be used to create portals to The Nether. This requires 10 to 14 blocks of Obsidian and a Flint and Steel or Fire Charge. The portal must be four blocks wide and five blocks tall (with 10 blocks, it would be the same dimensions, only with no corner blocks).

Usage

 * Setting a 4x5 vertical rectangle made of Obsidian on fire will create a Nether Portal.
 * Obsidian is often used as a griefing block due to its long mining time and contrasting appearance against most other blocks.
 * On the opposite end, it is a good material to make a home or other structure out of if you want your building protected on a multiplayer server. This will deter most griefers since obsidian can only be mined with a diamond pickaxe.
 * Obsidian can be used to build explosion resistant shelters. At 6,000, Obsidian's explosion resistance rating is second only to Bedrock, End Portal Frame, and End Portal, with the same resistance as an Ender Chest. It is therefore an exceptionally desirable construction material for making defensive structures, in both SSP or SMP, as it is effectively impervious to lava, explosions, and Ender Dragons.
 * Building and testing of structures used to set off explosives, such as a TNT cannon, or an explosive defense.
 * In Beta 1.8.1, Endermen could still pick up and move Obsidian, allowing them to create holes in defenses made of Obsidian. This is no longer the case in version 1.0.0.
 * Obsidian is used to craft Enchantment Tables.
 * In 12w21a and above, Obsidian has another use for crafting; it can be crafted with an Eye of Ender to make an Ender chest.

Farming and casting
On the 16th of March 2011, a new way to farm obsidian involving redstone as the only irretrievable source (rather than lava) was discovered. The process involves having a row of running water with a line of redstone next to it and pouring the lava onto the redstone, in-turn, replacing it with obsidian. It is, however, important to note that only unpowered redstone will become obsidian; powered redstone transforms into cobblestone. This method still works in 1.2.5 and 12w23b, even though Notch knows about it.


 * Redstone-to-Obsidian Converter basic tutorial
 * Obsidian generator different building method
 * Obsidian house with Redstone-to-Obsidian (no generator/digging required)

Obsidian can also be easily farmed through the creation of nether portals. Since a portal is created in the Nether to mimic the Overworld, by creating pairs of portals one can destroy the first portal and run back through the second.

Another easy way to obtain Obsidian involves pouring a bucket of water on a lava block. The lava block will be replaced with a water block and all adjacent lava blocks on the same level will become Obsidian. The water can be re-obtained with the bucket to repeat the process as many times as preferred.

You can also create a Nether portal in the Overworld, travel to the Nether using your portal and then get back again. When in the Overworld again, destroy the first portal and re-build it about 10 blocks away. Travel with it to the Nether, and when you will return a new portal will be generated in the underworld at the same position of the first one. (video-tutorial coming soon)

A more brutal farming method only requires a single portal pair; travel to the nether side and de-activate the portal (break the frame/Ghast's fireball). Stash all your items in chest (or Ender Chest) and kill yourself. You'll re-spawn in the Overworld. Re-enter your portal and a new frame of 14 obsidian will be created next to your broken one.

Furthermore, using an end portal creates an obsidian spawn platform, which regenerates every time the portal is used.

Basic Obsidian Farm

Structures can be constructed out of Obsidian without the use of a diamond pickaxe by creating a mold and placing the lava source within it, then running water over the lava. This will form the obsidian in place, but without diamonds it is quite hard to get rid of. Casting is recommended over mining when having a lot of buckets and still lava is nearby.

A much faster form of obsidian creation for large structures can be made by building "scaffolding" to create a frame two away from the desired location of the Obsidian and using this to create an artificial waterfall a square away from where Obsidian is wanted. It is then possible to "float" inside of the waterfall and create large amounts of obsidian by placing buckets of lava next to it. This has the advantages of not needing to be built up and have the water moved with every new row, and allows the maximum of 36 buckets of lava to be converted at once. Care should be taken to remain clear of the row where obsidian is being created, however, as the solid block created can hurl the player through the air and cause a large amount of fall damage.

Obsidian Scaffolding Guide

The scaffolding method can also be combined with the Infiniobsidian bug to great effect, this is currently the fastest method for creating large obsidian structures.

Infinobsidian using Obsidian Scaffolding

SMP duplication
It is possible to duplicate obsidian using nether portals. It is recommended to have at least two people with diamond pickaxes, or else this process may be very slow.

The process starts off with one player making a portal in the Overworld and going through the nether. This will create a corresponding gate in the nether automatically, ensuring he has a way back. The other player will then break one of the blocks in the gate built in the Overworld. This will destroy the gate, leaving you with an odd obsidian structure. The player still in the nether will then reenter the portal and go back to the Overworld. Just as when first entering the nether, the game will create a corresponding gate in the Overworld to link the two portals. Thus, a new gate will appear near the old destroyed one.

This process can be repeated indefinitely to produce a potentially unlimited amount of obsidian.

Xbox 360 duplication
It is not necessary to mine a piece of obsidian to break the portal. If you place water near the overworld portal it will douse the portal. Then when the person who is in the nether comes back through it will still spawn a new portal with new obsidian.

Additionally, If you are alone and wish to take advantage of this you can create two nether portals a distance away from each other. They will both come out the same portal, if you douse the portal you came out it will spawn a new portal again. (Needs verification as to how far the second portal needs to be away, My second portal was a good 50+ meters away)

Safer mining technique
Obsidian, if found in nature, is typically directly above a lava source block, making it dangerous and difficult to mine. This can be overcome, however by placing a water spring block directly over the block you are currently mining. This will convert any lava around the obsidian block into more obsidian, so it's less likely to fall into lava.

An equally effective way is to find the edge of the obsidian "lake", dig a one block deep hole under which there is no lava, and place the water source in this hole. Then, start mining the obsidian bordering the water spring. When it breaks, the fast-moving water will fill the void faster than the liberated obsidian block can drop into the lava. The player can continue mining outward from the spring as far as the water will travel. This method relies on the same properties of water as the first strategy, but does not require the player to battle against running water while mining.

There is however, another way of creating obsidian if you have a still lava source nearby, that is the safest way. Here is how you do it:

1. Make two pools, both of them ONE block deep.

(NOTE: Make the pools one block away from each other.)

2. Fill one pool with lava, and the other with water.

3. Break one block to connect the two pools, and obsidian will form. Sometimes, however, Cobblestone will form. Break the Cobblestone, making the water flow into the lava without the lava moving yet, and obsidian will form.

A way similar to the one above is to:

1. Take some lava in a bucket.

2. Dig a huge pool, yet one block deep.

3. Put some water near the pool, and have the flow into the pool.

4. Mine your obsidian.

Shelf mining
A bit more dangerous technique but one that works equally well and probably somewhat faster than the above when you have some practice is simply to use your water bucket as you work. You most likely have noticed that if you act quickly or even if you don't, you can place a block directly next to the source cutting it off. This works in your favor as water buckets can do this too, just place them directly next to the source, you can even override lava if it's already in the block.

If you find a lava pool that is more than 1 deep, simply start on the top in a shelf pattern, making sure to work the upper levels first moving down to the bottom. If you stand directly up against the block without moving while mining, you will collect the block before it burns if there is lava below at least 95% of the time, though it occasionally does burn up.

If a lava block is below the obsidian you just mined, then quickly use the water bucket against the face of the block above it and then just as quickly scoop it back up. With practice you will end up only causing the block below to turn to obsidian and just continue mining.

When working a very large and deep lava pool you may not want to go one block at a time as it will slow you down. Try to keep your shelf going in as long a line as possible and once you expose a line of lava and are ready to move down, just drop water on that level of the shelf and then move down, in this manner you will have a long line of obsidian all waiting to be mined and easily contained.

As a final reminder: make sure to have an infinite source nearby as you will occasionally place the water incorrectly and be unable to scoop it back up. It's also preferable to have a backup bucket in case you panic and place the water incorrectly and find yourself in lava.

History


Obsidian was available for use since Classic mode. It is generally used for making dark things, or the black lines of Pixel Art.

In Survival Test mode, Obsidian was extremely tough to break and would drop one or two Cobblestone blocks when broken.

Obsidian was removed in Indev and brought back in Infdev. Obsidian was used to mark the positions of the cardinal directions. This created two intersecting planes extending just above the surface of the solid material that surrounds them. This has since been removed. Obsidian is now currently used for defense (in shelters) and for building materials. Obsidian can be made by placing Water on top of stationary (i.e. non-flowing) Lava

In Pre-release 6, Obsidian broke much faster, taking about 2.5 seconds to be successfully mined. In Beta 1.8.1, a block of obsidian could be mined with a iron pickaxe, but this ability was removed.

Trivia

 * Notch once planned to make floating masses of land require Obsidian veins to stay afloat. However, he later stated on Twitter that he didn't like the idea anymore, so it's unlikely that this will be implemented.
 * Even though Obsidian is the second hardest block to destroy in Minecraft, in reality obsidian is glasslike (When it comes to material, not color. It is actually black, but glossy). Its main component is quartz (SiO2); however it has no crystal structure. It is made when lava cools quickly (usually in water) and is actually quite fragile. The misconception is probably due to obsidian being able to reach a sharpness comparable to diamond while being easier to produce, therefore being a favored material during the Stone Age for use as blades and arrow tips.
 * Although in the real world, obsidian (being an extrusive igneous rock) is found above ground, in Minecraft, it is rarely found above ground.
 * Obsidian portals created by the game always have corner blocks, so you can make portals without corner blocks to get four free blocks of obsidian once you enter the Nether. If an exit portal is floating in midair, the game will add two blocks of obsidian to each side along the bottom row, increasing the free obsidian from a new portal to eight.
 * Destroying an underwater obsidian block off the ground with a diamond pickaxe takes 3 minutes and 54 seconds. Without it, it takes 4 minutes and 10 seconds, like normal. This is impossible, because the player will run out of air long before.
 * It is a common misconception that enough TNT will destroy Obsidian. Even though its explosion resistance rating is finite, additional TNT or other explosives will have no more effect on an individual block than the first.
 * Obsidian, unlike most other blocks, cannot be moved by Pistons (normal or sticky).
 * Obsidian is one of the three blocks that cannot be broken by Ender Dragons. The other blocks are End Stone and Bedrock.
 * Obsidian is one of only three solid blocks that can appear naturally in more than one dimension, the others being Bedrock and Gravel. It is also the only block found naturally in all three dimensions.
 * If you switch your language setting to Pirate English, it will name the obsidian block: "Rock o' Tears", referring to the Crying Obsidian.
 * Obsidian can be found in groups of 3-7 in chests in NPC Villages.
 * Here is how the number of seconds works: Obsidian takes 75 seconds to mine. However, the diamond pickaxe makes it 8 times faster. Without a diamond pickaxe, mining takes 3 1/3 times longer, which is 4 minutes and 10 seconds. (See Digging)
 * Obsidian can commonly be found on layer 10, where environmental water flows onto natural lava lakes.
 * It takes 285 times the explosive power of a single block of TNT to destroy a block of obsidian.