Barrel

Barrel

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	2.5
Hardness	2.5
Luminant	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	Yes

A barrel is a fisherman's job site block, used to store items. It functions like a single chest although it requires no air space above it to be opened.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Empty barrels can generate naturally in fisher cottages in villages. Up to 3 barrels can generate in a village fisher cottage.

Breaking

Barrels can be mined with or without any tool, but axes are the quickest.

Block	Barrel
Hardness	2.5
Tool
Breaking time
Default	3.75
Wooden	1.9
Stone	0.95
Iron	0.65
Diamond	0.5
Netherite	0.45
Golden	0.35

Chest loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Barrel	Village	Fisherman's chest	1–3	24.2%

Crafting

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Barrel	Any Planks + Any wood Slab		‌[Java Edition only]
Barrel	Stick + Any wood Slab		‌[Bedrock Edition only]

Usage

Barrels can be moved by pistons,‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} water and lava flow around barrels without affecting them. Lava can create fire in air blocks next to barrels as if the barrel was flammable, but the barrel does not actually catch fire and can't be burned.

Container

The GUI of the barrel.

Barrels have a container inventory with 27 slots, which is the same as a single chest. Unlike chests, a barrel can be placed below a solid block and still be able to be opened. They can be filled by droppers and both filled and emptied by hoppers. When broken, barrels drop the contents of the container and the barrel item itself.

To open the barrel GUI, use the Use Item control. To move items between the barrel inventory and the player inventory or hotbar while the barrel GUI is open, drag or shift-click the items. Holding Alt and double-clicking while holding an item moves all items of the type clicked on in or out of the barrel to the extent that space is available for them.‌^{[Java Edition only]} To exit the barrel GUI, use the Esc control.

By default, the GUI of a barrel is labeled "Barrel". A barrel's GUI label can be changed by naming the barrel in an anvil before placing it or by using the /data command‌^{[Java Edition only]} (for example, to label a chest at (0,64,0) as "Bonus Barrel!", use /data merge block 0 64 0 {CustomName:'"Bonus Barrel!"'}).

In Java Edition, a barrel can be "locked" by setting its Lock tag using the /data command. If a barrel's Lock tag is not blank, the barrel cannot be opened unless the player is holding an item with the same name as the Lock tag's text. For example, to lock a barrel at (0,64,0) so that the barrel cannot be opened unless the player is holding an item named "Barrel Key", use /data merge block 0 64 0 {Lock:"Barrel Key"}.

Changing profession

If a village has a barrel that has not been claimed by a villager, any villager who does not have a chosen job site block has a chance to change their profession into a fisherman.‌

Fuel

Barrels can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per block.

Note Blocks

Barrels can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass" sound.

Piglins

Piglins become hostile toward players who open or break barrels.

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.wood.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	None	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.wood.fall	None	0.5	0.75	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.wood.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.wood.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	block.wood.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
?	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.wood	1.0	0.8
?	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.wood	0.4	1.0
?	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.wood	0.23	0.5
?	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.wood	0.12	1.0
?	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.wood	0.18	1.0
?	Blocks	Walking on the block	step.wood	0.3	1.0
?	Blocks	When the block is placed	use.wood	1.0	0.8

Unique

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Barrel closes	Blocks	Closing the barrel	block.barrel.close	subtitles.block.barrel.close	1.0	1.0	16
	Barrel opens	Blocks	Opening the barrel	block.barrel.open	subtitles.block.barrel.open	1.0	1.0	16

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Barrel	barrel	Block & Item	guarded_by_piglins	block.minecraft.barrel

Name	Identifier
Block entity	barrel

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID	Translation key
Barrel	barrel	458	Block & Giveable Item	Identical	tile.barrel.name

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	Barrel

Block states

See also: Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
facing	north	down east north south up west	The direction the barrel is facing.
open	false	false true	Whether the barrel is currently being looked at by a player; changes the texture on the top face.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
facing_direction	0x1 0x2 0x4	0	0 1 2 3 4 5	0 1 2 3 4 5	The direction the barrel is facing. 0:Down facing barrel 1:Up facing barrel 2:East facing barrel 3:West facing barrel 4:South facing barrel 5:North facing barrel
open_bit	0x8	0	0 1	0 1	Whether the barrel is currently being looked at by a player; changes the texture on the top face.

Block data

A barrel has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

See also: Block entity format

• Block entity data
  • Tags common to all block entities
  •  CustomName: Optional. The name of this container in JSON text component, which appears in its GUI where the default name ordinarily appears.
  •  Items: List of items in the container.
    • : An item, including the slot tag. Barrel slots are numbered 0-26, 0 starts in the top left corner.
      • Tags common to all items
  •  Lock: Optional. When not blank, prevents the container from being opened unless the opener is holding an item whose name matches this string.
  •  LootTable: Optional. Loot table to be used to fill the barrel when it is next opened, or the items are otherwise interacted with.
  •  LootTableSeed: Optional. Seed for generating the loot table. 0 or omitted uses a random seed.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

History

Java Edition
1.14		18w44a			Added barrels.
					Barrels have been added to creative inventory.
					Barrels currently have the inventory of a chest.
					Barrels can currently be filled only by hoppers and droppers.
					Barrels can currently be emptied only by hoppers.
					Barrels currently do not drop the items they contain when broken.
		18w47b			The facing=south block state texture of barrels has been changed.[more information needed]
		18w48a			Barrel items are now found in chests in village fisher cottages.
					Barrels can now generate naturally in plains villages.
		18w49a			Barrels can now generate naturally in savanna and snowy villages.
		18w50a			Barrels can now generate naturally in desert and taiga villages.
					Barrels now act as a storage unit.
					Barrels can now be used in tight spaces, even if there is a block above it, unlike a chest.
					Barrels can now be crafted using 6 wood planks and 2 wood slabs.
		19w03a			Sounds have been added for barrels.
		19w07a			An open block state has been added to barrels.
		19w11a			Barrels now serve as fisherman villagers' job site block.
1.16		20w15a			Piglins now become hostile toward players who open or break barrels.
1.18		Pre-release 5			Bottom texture was changed.
Bedrock Edition
1.9.0		beta 1.9.0.2			[verify] Added barrels.
					Barrels have unused textures titled "fish barrel."
					Barrels have unused textures titled "empty barrel."
					A barrel can be used to smelt 1.5 items in a furnace.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			A crafting recipe has been added to barrels, which is different compared from Java Edition's crafting recipe.
					Barrels now generate in fisher cottages in villages.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			The functionality of barrels has been added.
1.18.10		beta 1.18.10.22			Changed the bottom texture to match the spruce planks.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.91					Added barrels.

Issues

Issues relating to "Barrel" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• In the 2022's April Fool's update, a barrel can be thrown onto a player and make them appear as if they were "wearing" or "hiding" under the block.
  • While wearing a barrel, the player's vision becomes largely obstructed and they can see only through a narrow window; when sneaking, it will disguise the player as a barrel block, showing resemblance to the popular online game Prop Hunt.

Gallery

• 

  LadyAgnes tweets a screenshot of an updated savanna village, which features some barrels.

• 

  A close up of the barrels in the previous image.

• 

  Something similar to the unused fish barrel in the camp in Minecraft Dungeons.

• 

  Player's vision while hiding inside a barrel in the April Fool's update 2022.