Clay

This article is about the block found in rivers. For the item, see Clay Ball. For other uses, see Clay (disambiguation).

Clay

Renewable	Yes‌[JE only] No‌[BE only]
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.6
Hardness	0.6
Luminant	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

Clay is a block that can be smelted to form terracotta and is usually found in locations where sand or dirt and water are present, most commonly appearing in shallow water, especially along the coast of island groups. When mined, four clay balls will drop; those can be smelted into bricks.

Obtaining

Breaking

Clay blocks can be mined with anything, but shovels are quickest. Destroying a clay block yields 4 clay balls. If broken with a tool enchanted with Silk Touch, it drops itself instead. Destroying a clay block with a tool enchanted with Fortune does not increase the amount of clay dropped.

Block	Clay
Hardness	0.6
Tool
Breaking time
Default	0.9
Wooden	0.45
Stone	0.25
Iron	0.15
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.1
Golden	0.1

Natural generation

Clay is most commonly found underwater in swamps, beaches, oceans, and at the bottoms of rivers and lakes in shallow, crystal-shaped disks, disregarding adjacency to other types of blocks.

Clay generates in mason houses in plains, savanna, and desert villages, and under fisher cottages in taiga villages.

Clay generates in large quantities on the floors of ponds in lush caves, which can only generate using the buffet or custom world type in Java Edition, or if the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle is enabled in Bedrock Edition.

Clay can also generate in lush caves in the form of mineral veins. Clay attempts to generate 15 times per chunk in veins of size 0-160, from elevations 0 to 60. Clay can replace stone, diorite, andesite, and granite.

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Clay Ball

Villager gifts

See also: Tutorials/Raid farming

In Java Edition, when the player has the Hero of the Village status effect, a mason villager might throw that player a clay block as a gift. This is the only renewable way of obtaining clay, clay balls, and uncolored terracotta.

Usage

Smelting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Terracotta	Clay + Any fuel	0.35

Note block

Clay can be placed under note blocks to produce flute sounds.

Sounds

Java Edition:

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

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Resource location	Block tags (JE)	Form	Translation key
Clay	clay	enderman_holdable lush_ground_replaceable‌ small_dripleaf_placeable‌ mineable/shovel	Block & Item	block.minecraft.clay

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Resource location	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Clay	clay	82	Block & Item	tile.clay.name

History

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11					Added clay blocks.
					Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Clay is now found as disks underwater mostly on the bottom of rivers, beaches, and oceans and is common in the submerged area of swamps and shallow "lakes" (1 and 2 meters deep) in large quantities.
Java Edition
1.6.1		13w17a			Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
1.7.2		13w36a			Clay is no longer found on the ocean floor.
1.12		17w17a			Clay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 82.
		?			Clay can be found in oceans once again.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
		18w48a			Clay now generates in the updated plains villages.
		18w49a			Clay now generates in the updated savanna villages.
		18w50a			Clay now generates in the updated desert and taiga villages.
		19w13a			Mason villagers now give clay to players under the Hero of the Village effect, making clay renewable.
1.17		21w10a			Clay can now generate in the lush caves, though the biome doesn't generate outside of buffet or custom worlds yet.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Lush caves now generate naturally, making clay available from them in regular worlds.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					Added clay blocks.
					Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
v0.3.2					Clay blocks now drop 4 clay balls when broken.
					Clay blocks can now be crafted from 4 clay balls.
v0.3.3					Clay blocks are now available in the creative inventory.
v0.9.0		build 1			Clay blocks are found in disks underwater.
		build 11			Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Clay blocks now generate in village mason houses.
					The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.9			Clay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.16.220		beta 1.16.220.52			Clay can now generate in lush caves, though the biome does not generate naturally yet.
1.17.0		beta 1.17.0.50			Lush caves now generate throughout the Overworld behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay available in vanilla worlds this way.
		release			Lush caves have been made inaccessible in the full release, making clay no longer obtainable from them.
1.17.10		release			Lush caves can now generate naturally outside of the beta versions behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay once again available from them.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Added clay blocks.
		1.90			The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added clay blocks.

• 

  Naturally occurring clay as seen on a dry surface.

Issues

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

Trivia

• In real life, clay can actually be reddish-brown, not just gray, and can be often found under the surface and away from sand. This color is reflected in the appearance of terracotta, bricks, and flower pots.

Gallery

• 

  Naturally occurring clay blocks in a lake.

• 

  An artificially made clay floor with clay balls standing on it.

• 

  Clay can appear on the surface out of water as long as the block it replaces is dirt or mycelium.

• 

  Some clay that naturally spawned in a lake but replaced the dirt under a village farm.

See also

• Brick
• Terracotta