A cauldron is a block that can hold water, lava, and powder snow.[upcoming: JE 1.17] In Bedrock Edition, they can also hold potions and dyed water. It is also a job site block used by leatherworkers in villages, however if the cauldron is filled, it will not be recognized as a Workstation.[upcoming: JE 1.17][1]
Obtaining
Cauldrons can be mined using any pickaxe. If mined without a pickaxe, it drops nothing. When a cauldron is destroyed, its contents are lost.
Natural generation
A naturally occurring cauldron inside of a witch hut.
A single empty cauldron is generated in each swamp hut. In Bedrock Edition, the cauldrons generated there are 1⁄3 to 2⁄3 full of a random potion.
A cauldron 2⁄3 full of water is generated in each igloo basement.
Cauldrons can be found in a few rooms inside of woodland mansions.
Two filled cauldrons can be found inside savanna, taiga, snowy taiga, and snowy tundra village tannery houses.
A single filled cauldron can be found in plains village and desert village tannery houses.
In Java Edition, three filled cauldrons can be found in plains village tannery houses.
Crafting
A cauldron can be crafted from iron ingots.
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Iron Ingot |
Usage
Storage for substances
Cauldrons can hold a variety of substances. Fluids they cannot hold include milk, honey and any food items which exist in bowls; namely mushroom stew, beetroot soup, rabbit stew and suspicious stew.
Holding water
A cauldron can be filled with water by using a water bucket on the cauldron. Once completely filled, a cauldron can be used to fill a water bucket by using an empty bucket on the cauldron; this empties the cauldron. Despite containing water, using a fish bucket on a cauldron does not fill it with water, but places water against it.[2]
One level of water can be added to a cauldron by using a water bottle on it. One level of water can be removed from a cauldron, filling a water bottle, by using a glass bottle on it.
A cauldron slowly fills with water when rained upon, if starting empty or with some water. This happens randomly, at 5% of the rate in which snow accumulates on the ground during snowfall.
Water can be stored in a cauldron even in the Nether.
Water in a cauldron does not absorb explosion damage, make sounds and particles, absorb fall damage, does not damage an enderman, strider or blaze, and fish act as if there is no water inside it. Cauldrons do not deal drowning damage to mobs inside of them.
A cauldron placed below a down-facing pointed dripstone that has water placed a block above it will slowly fill up with water.[upcoming: JE 1.17]
Applying dye to cauldron water
Since In Bedrock Edition, leather armor is dyed through a cauldron, a cauldron can hold dyed water. Using a dye on a cauldron filled with water colors the water, consuming the dye. Different dyes may be added to produce mixed colors. Using leather armor or leather horse armor on the cauldron dyes that item the color of the water, reducing the water in the cauldron by one level for each item dyed.
Attempting to add water or potion to dyed water empties the cauldron.
Holding lava
Cauldron filled with lava[BE & edu only][upcoming: JE 1.17]
In Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education and in Java Edition 1.17[upcoming], cauldrons can be used to hold lava. In Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education, when a cauldron is already filled with water, it empties the cauldron and makes an extinguishing sound. A cauldron filled with lava emits a light level of 15, similar to lava, and burns any entity inside of it; in Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education, this includes mobs that do not take damage from lava like zombified piglins.
Lava inside a cauldron does not interact with water outside of the cauldron. The lava disappears upon putting water in the cauldron.
A redstone comparator with a lava cauldron behind it outputs redstone signal strength of 1 in Java Edition 1.17[upcoming][3] or 3 in Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education.[4]
A cauldron placed below a down-facing pointed dripstone that has lava placed a block above it will slowly fill up with lava.
Holding powder snow
Powder snow is currently the only solid material which can be stored in a cauldron. A cauldron slowly fills with powder snow during snowfall, if starting empty or with layers of powder snow already inside. Up to three layers can be filled. When the cauldron is full, interacting using a bucket, will create a powder snow bucket and empty the cauldron. Entities standing in the cauldron will not take freeze damage, and entities wearing leather boots will still fall through the powder snow.
A redstone comparator with a powder snow cauldron behind it outputs a redstone signal strength proportional to the fill level, up to 3.
Contrary to a cauldron filled with water, a powder snow cauldron, which is not full, cannot be filled up with a powder snow bucket, using the bucket on the cauldron instead places powder snow against it.
Filling cauldrons with potions
File:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Fire Resistance).png


File:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Harming).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Poison).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Regeneration).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Strength).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Weakness).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Decay).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of the Turtle Master).pngFile:Cauldron (filled with Potion of Slow Falling).pngIn Bedrock Edition, a cauldron can hold normal potions, splash potions and lingering potions. Using a potion on a cauldron empties the potion and increases the level of the potion in the cauldron by one level. A glass bottle can then be used on a cauldron with a potion in it, filling the bottle with that potion. The potion can be a normal potion, a splash potion, or a lingering potion, depending on what type was initially put into the cauldron. This reduces the potion in the cauldron by one level.
Using an arrow on a cauldron that has potion transforms the arrow into a tipped arrow with that potion effect, and reduce the potion in the cauldron by one level. Tipping multiple arrows at once can be more efficient, and it may use more than one level at once. 1 level of potion tips up to 16 arrows, 2 levels up to 32, and a full cauldron can tip a full stack of arrows, resulting in 21.33 tipped arrows per potion.
Attempting to put water or a different potion into a cauldron with a potion causes an explosion sound, and the cauldron is emptied.
An entity that stands in a cauldron filled to any level with any potion does not receive the effect of the potion.
Removing dye from items
A cauldron with water can wash the dye off of leather armor and shulker boxes, and can remove the top-most pattern layer of a banner, by pressing use on the cauldron with the leather armor, shulker box, or banner in hand. Each wash reduces the water in the cauldron by one level. The water does not become dyed while removing dye from objects.
Extinguishing fire
A cauldron with water or powder snow extinguishes entities on fire that fall into it. This includes mobs, players, items (if they land in the cauldron before burning up), and flaming arrows. Flaming arrows stuck into the side are also extinguished. Entities must reach the water or powder snow in it. Each entity extinguished causes the water or powder snow in the cauldron to decrease by one level.
Redstone component
An example of a cauldron used in a redstone circuit.
A cauldron can act as a power source for a redstone comparator. With a cauldron behind it (either directly, or separated by an unpowered solid block), a comparator outputs a signal strength proportional to how full the cauldron is: 0 for empty, 1 for one-third full or filled with lava[upcoming: JE 1.17], 2 for two-thirds full, and 3 for completely full. However, if there is a block between the cauldron and the comparator, the comparator does not immediately update.
As a profession block
If a village has a cauldron that has not been claimed by a villager, any villager that does not already have a profession or job site block may change their profession to leatherworker.
Sounds
The specific instructions are: all interaction sounds, e.g. bottle filling
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
| None[sound 1] | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | None[sound 1] | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.37 | 0.5 | |
| Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.3 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.12 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.22 | 1.0 |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Block tags (JE) | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cauldron | cauldron | cauldrons[upcoming: JE 1.17] | block.minecraft.cauldron |
| Lava Cauldron[upcoming: JE 1.17] | lava_cauldron | cauldrons | block.minecraft.lava_cauldron |
| Powder Snow Cauldron[upcoming: JE 1.17] | powder_snow_cauldron | cauldrons | block.minecraft.powder_snow_cauldron |
| Water Cauldron[upcoming: JE 1.17] | water_cauldron | cauldrons | block.minecraft.water_cauldron |
| Cauldron | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block | cauldron | 118 | tile.cauldron.name |
| Block with lava | lava_cauldron | 463 | tile.lava_cauldron.name |
| Item | cauldron | 380 | item.cauldron.name |
| Name | Savegame ID |
|---|---|
| Block entity | Cauldron |
Block data
In Bedrock Edition, cauldrons use the following data values:
| DV | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | Empty |
| 1 | ⅓ filled |
| 2 | ⅔ filled |
| 3 | Fully filled |
Block states
Java Edition:
Water cauldron and powder snow cauldron:
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| level | 0 | 0123 | Fullness of a cauldron, 0 is empty and 3 is full. |
Bedrock Edition:
Cauldron and brighting cauldron:
| Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fill_level | 0x10x20x4 | 0 | 0123456 | 0123456 | Fullness of a cauldron, 0 is empty and 6 is full. |
| cauldron_liquid | 0x8 | water | water | 0 | The cauldron contains water |
lava | 1 | The cauldron contains lava | |||
powder_snow | Unsupported [sic] | The cauldron contains powder snow. |
Block entity
In Bedrock Edition, a cauldron has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.
Cauldron/BE
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Tie Dye Outfit | Use a cauldron to dye all 4 unique pieces of leather armor. | — | 15G | Bronze | ||
History
Issues
Issues relating to "Cauldron" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
- Arrows "stick" to the water in a cauldron.
- The inside of a cauldron is 0.25 (1⁄4) blocks tall.
- A cauldron holding water is the only way to have water in the Nether without the use of commands.
- The water within does not work like water in the physical terms; the player cannot float/swim in it, and no bubble/water particles are produced.
- The player can still 'use' the cauldron without a bottle or water bucket. However, it has no effect on the cauldron or the player.
Gallery
How potions were brewed in Beta 1.9 Pre-Release 2 if enabled through a mod.
References
- ↑ MC-204430
- ↑ MC-129109 — resolved as "Works as Intended".
- ↑ MC-204393
- ↑ MCPE-104824
- ↑ https://twitter.com/jeb_/status/119466949708222465
- ↑ https://twitter.com/jeb_/status/119710836469149697
- ↑ https://twitter.com/jeb_/status/119762786619359232
- ↑ MC-6772
- ↑ MC-44990
- ↑ MC-128253
- ↑ MC-128558
- ↑ MC-129205
- ↑ MC-204430

















![All potions in cauldrons (including the base potion).[BE only]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/minecraft_gamepedia/images/8/81/Cauldrons_potion.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/120?cb=20210208130434)
![All cauldron water colors possible with one dye.[BE only]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/minecraft_gamepedia/images/9/9c/Cauldrons_DyeWater.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/120?cb=20210208130814)
