Basalt

This article is about the block. For other uses, see Basalt (disambiguation).

Basalt

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	4.2
Hardness	1.25
Luminant	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

Basalt is an igneous rock found in the Nether.

Polished basalt is the polished version of basalt.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Basalt generates naturally as basalt pillars, which are found in the soul sand valley biome. They also generate in basalt deltas biomes as regular terrain and as part of basalt columns.

Both basalt and polished basalt can be found naturally as part of bastion remnants.

Breaking

Basalt drops as an item if mined by any pickaxe. If mined by any other tool, it drops nothing.

Block	Basalt Polished Basalt
Hardness	1.25
Tool
Breaking time
Default	6.25
Wooden	0.95
Stone	0.5
Iron	0.35
Diamond	0.25
Netherite	0.25
Golden	0.2

Crafting

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Polished Basalt	Basalt	4

Stonecutting

Name	Ingredients	Cutting recipe
Polished Basalt	Basalt

Post-generation

A simple basalt generator.

Basalt can also be made by lava flowing into a space that is on top of soul soil and adjacent to blue ice. The flowing lava is then replaced with basalt.

Usage

Basalt's only current use is as building material. 4 polished basalt blocks can be crafted using 4 basalt blocks. Like logs and quartz pillars, basalt points perpendicular to whatever block face it's placed on.

Thanks to its high blast resistance, inflammability, and ready availability, basalt is an excellent material for building bridges and shelters in the Nether, as ghast fireballs can't destroy it. Polished basalt can also be helpful for leaving identifiable breadcrumb trails.

Note Blocks

Basalt and polished basalt can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sound.

Smelting ingredient

Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Basalt + Any fuel	0.1

Sounds

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

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Block tags (JE)	Form	Translation key
Basalt	basalt	base_stone_nether mineable/pickaxe	Block & Item	block.minecraft.basalt
Polished Basalt	polished_basalt	mineable/pickaxe	Block & Item	block.minecraft.polished_basalt

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Basalt	basalt	489	Block & Item	tile.basalt.name
Polished Basalt	polished_basalt	490	Block & Item	tile.polished_basalt.name

Metadata

See also: Data values

In Bedrock Edition, basalt uses the following data values:

	DV	Description
	0	Basalt is oriented vertically
	1	Basalt is oriented north-south
	2	Basalt is oriented east-west

Block states

See also: Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
axis	y	x	The basalt is oriented east–west.
		y	The basalt is oriented vertically.
		z	The basalt is oriented north–south.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
pillar_axis	y	x	The basalt is oriented east–west.
		y	The basalt is oriented vertically.
		z	The basalt is oriented north–south.

History

January 12, 2014					On Reddit, Jeb says that he was considering adding basalt, but did not want to add yet another black block.
September 28, 2019					Basalt is shown unnamed as part of basalt pillars in a clip at MINECON Live 2019.
Java Edition
1.16		20w06a			Added basalt.
		20w12a			Added polished basalt.
					Polished basalt can currently be obtained only by smelting the normal basalt block.
		20w13a			Basalt can now be formed when lava flows over soul soil next to blue ice, making it renewable.
					Basalt can no longer be smelted into polished basalt.
					Polished basalt can now be obtained by crafting 4 blocks of basalt in a 2×2 grid or stonecutting it, similar to other polished stones.
		20w15a			Added the Basalt Deltas, a biome in which basalt is abundant.
		20w16a			Basalt and polished basalt now generate as part of bastion remnants.
					Basalt can now generate as part of ruined portals.
1.17		21w08a			Basalt can now be smelted to yield Smooth Basalt.
Bedrock Edition
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.51			Added basalt and polished basalt.
		beta 1.16.0.57			Basalt can now be formed when lava flows over soul soil next to blue ice, making it renewable.
					Added the Basalt Deltas, a biome in which basalt is abundant.
					Basalt and polished basalt now generate as part of bastion remnants.
		beta 1.16.0.59			Crafting polished Basalt now gives the correct amount of blocks in return.
					Polished basalt can now be crafted using a stonecutter.
1.16.100		beta 1.16.100.51			Basalt now takes longer to break.
					Basalt is said to be immune from ghast fireballs, but is still broken by them.
1.16.200		beta 1.16.200.56			Basalt blocks now take slightly more time to destroy again.
					Basalt is now immune to ghast fireballs.
1.17.0		beta 1.17.0.50			Basalt can now be smelted to yield Smooth Basalt.

Issues

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

Trivia

• Geologically, basalt is a volcanic rock that cools from mafic lava flows. Mafic lava is runny, much like Nether lava, and under the right conditions it can cool into the stacks of basalt columns seen in basalt deltas.
  • Basalt makes up most of Earth's sea floor, as well as Iceland and the Hawaiian Islands.
• Despite being an extrusive igneous rock, basalt has a lower mining time than granite and diorite, which are intrusive.
• Basalt is the only rock-like block to have both a polished and smooth variant.