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This page would benefit from the addition of isometric renders. 
Please remove this notice once you've added suitable isometric renders to the article.
The specific instructions are: Isometric render of glow lichen in Bedrock Edition prior to 1.18.10.
For the generated feature, see Glow lichen (feature).

A glow lichen is a non-solid, light-emitting block. It can generate, or be placed, on any side of a solid block.

Obtaining[]

Natural generation[]

Glow lichen generates naturally in the interior of caves (at any height) on the surface of stone, andesite, diorite, granite, calcite, tuff, deepslate, and dripstone blocks that are exposed to air or water sources.[more information needed] It can be found underwater, but cannot generate in the deep dark biome.

Post-generation[]

Using bone meal causes glow lichen to spread to a random adjacent block if possible, otherwise the bone meal is not consumed. By fertilizing one lichen with bone meal, it is possible to cover the sides and the top of an adjacent block, but not the back. Otherwise, glow lichen does not spread naturally.

Breaking[]

Glow lichen can be destroyed with anything, most efficiently with an axe. However, using shears is the only way to obtain glow lichen. Enchanting shears with Efficiency II allows for instant mining.

Block Glow Lichen
Hardness 0.2
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default 0.3
Wooden 0.15
Stone 0.1
Iron 0.05
Diamond 0.05
Netherite 0.05
Golden 0.05
Shears 0.3
Sword 0.2
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Usage[]

Light[]

Glow lichen emits a light level of 7.

Placement[]

Multiple glow lichens can be placed in the area of one solid block, such as covering three sides of a corner. When such glow lichens are mined, all glow lichens occupying the same block are also mined. Mining with shears causes all glow lichens in the block to drop.

Glow lichens cannot be broken by flowing water or lava,[1][2] similar to signs. Therefore, they may be used to control the flow of these fluids.

Composting[]

Placing a glow lichen into a composter has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Block brokenBlocksOnce the block has brokenblock.grass.breaksubtitles.block.generic.break1.00.816
Block placedBlocksWhen the block is placedblock.grass.placesubtitles.block.generic.place1.00.816
Block breakingBlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenblock.grass.hitsubtitles.block.generic.hit0.250.516
None[sound 1]Entity-DependentFalling on the block with fall damageblock.grass.fallNone[sound 1]0.50.7516
FootstepsEntity-DependentWalking on the blockblock.vine.stepsubtitles.block.generic.footsteps0.151.016
  1. a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.grass0.70.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placeddig.grass0.80.8-1.0
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.grass0.30.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.grass0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.grass0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.grass0.111.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.grass0.211.0

Data values[]

ID[]

NameIdentifierFormTranslation key
Glow Lichenglow_lichenBlock & Itemblock.minecraft.glow_lichen

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormItem ID[i 1]Translation key
Glow Lichenglow_lichen666Block & Giveable Item[i 2]Identical[i 3]tile.glow_lichen.name
  1. ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
  2. Available with /give command.
  3. The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.

Block states[]

See also: Block state

Java Edition:

Name Default value Allowed values Description
downfalsefalse
true
When true, a glow lichen texture is displayed on the bottom.
eastfalsefalse
true
When true, a glow lichen texture is displayed on the east.
northfalsefalse
true
When true, a glow lichen texture is displayed on the north.
southfalsefalse
true
When true, a glow lichen texture is displayed on the south.
upfalsefalse
true
When true, a glow lichen texture is displayed on the top.
waterloggedfalsefalse
true
Whether or not there's water in the same place as this glow lichen.
westfalsefalse
true
When true, a glow lichen texture is displayed on the west.

Bedrock Edition:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
multi_face_direction_bits0x1
0x2
0x4
0x8
0x10
0x20
00 to 630 to 63The directions the glow lichen exists. Each bit determines one direction:
  • 0x1: Down
  • 0x2: Up
  • 0x4: South
  • 0x8: West
  • 0x10: North
  • 0x20: East
0 is unused and it behaves like 63.

History[]

This section is missing information about Verify if the models are correct - particularly check the mirroring. 
Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.
Java Edition
1.1721w03aGlow Lichen (D) JE1 Glow Lichen (texture) JE1 Added glow lichen.
Glow lichen placed inside lava converts the lava into waterlogged lichen, even in the Nether.[3]
21w05aGlow Lichen (D) JE2 Changed model of glow lichen. Moved model from 0.01 to 0.1 up.
Waterlogged glow lichen no longer forms when placed in lava.
February 9, 2021Glow Lichen (pre-release) Showed early design of glow lichen.
21w07aGlow lichen can now be naturally generated on deepslate.
21w08aGlow lichen now generates almost twice as often.
21w11aBone meal can no longer be used on glow lichen if it has no blocks to spread to.
Glow lichen can now be used on a composter.
21w13aThe model of glow lichen has been tweaked so that the backside texture is mirrored.
21w20aGlow Lichen now drops the correct amount if there's more than one on a block.
1.1922w15aCan now be placed on the top and sides of soul sand, mud and maximum height snow.
1.19.322w44aGlow Lichen now makes a sound when being walked on.[4]
Bedrock Edition
1.17.0beta 1.16.230.50Glow Lichen (D) BE1 Added glow lichen.
beta 1.16.230.54Glow lichen can now appear on the walls of underground water lakes.
beta 1.17.0.50Glow lichen no longer available only through Experimental Gameplay.
Caves & Cliffs (experimental)beta 1.17.20.22Glow lichen can now generate between Y=-64 and Y=63.
beta 1.17.40.20The maximum Y-level that glow lichen can generate has been increased to Y=120.
1.18.0beta 1.18.0.22Glow lichen is no longer able to generate anywhere outside of caves.[5][6]
1.18.10beta 1.18.10.26Glow lichen now emits a light level of 7, matching Java Edition.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

  • This block was hinted at by Henrik Kniberg, who explained that the glowing ores at Minecraft Live 2020 were prototypes for this. [7][8]
  • If the player removes all directional states using a debug stick, the block becomes invisible, but the light emission remains, unless another block is placed there.
  • In real life, the lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungus species in a symbiotic relationship.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

References[]

  1. MC-212116 — "Flowing water cannot break glow lichen" — resolved as "Works As Intended".
  2. MCPE-133803 — "Glow Lichen interrupts water flow" — resolved as "Works As Intended".
  3. MC-212117 — resolved as "Fixed in 21w05a".
  4. MC-171621 — resolved as "Fixed".
  5. MCPE-125198 — "Glow Lichen generates on the bottom of the ocean" — resolved as "Fixed".
  6. MCPE-141412 — "Glow Lichens generates on the surface" — resolved as "Fixed".
  7. "And yes, Glow Lichen is the new cave light source I mentioned in the cave prototype video a while back. We made them mainly for the not-yet-released larger caves. Glow Lichen generate naturally, but you can also grow it yourself and make eerie glowing cave paths :)"@henrikkniberg on X, January 20, 2021
  8. "Once Upon a Time in the Underground (Minecraft cave prototype) @ 0:27" – Henrik Kniberg on YouTube, October 8, 2020
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