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This article is about the mob. For the Minecraft Dungeons mob, see MCD:Magma Cube. For the block, see Magma Block.

A magma cube is a hostile mob found in the Nether. A magma cube behaves similarly to a slime, but is fireproof, jumps higher and less often, and deals more damage.

Spawning[]

Magma cubes spawn in areas of the Nether at all light levels. The space they spawn in must be clear of solid obstructions and liquids. Due to being inherently fireproof, magma cubes can spawn on magma blocks.

Only sizes 1, 2 and 4 (NBT Size tag values 0, 1 and 3 respectively) spawn naturally. With use of /summon, magma cubes can potentially range from size 1 to 127 (NBT Size tag 0–126).[verify]

MagmaCubeSpawn

This large magma cube attempts to spawn on the basalt, but because there is a piece of iron bar intersecting its hitbox, it is unable to spawn. This check is performed before the size of the magma cube is determined, meaning no magma cubes can spawn at that location.

A magma cube needs roughly a 3×2.1x3 free space to spawn. The area in which they spawn must be clear of solid or liquid obstructions. When a magma cube attempts to spawn, the game checks for the space requirement of a large magma cube, and the size is determined later. Therefore, since large magma cubes are slightly taller than 2 blocks, no magma cubes, regardless of size, are able to spawn at all in 2-block-high areas. Also, since large magma cubes are slightly wider than 2 blocks, and mobs spawn at the center of a block, having any block within the 3×2.1x3 area, even as thin as a glass pane, can prevent a magma cube of any size from spawning.

Magma cubes' size is affected by regional difficulty: chances range from 33% for each size at the low difficulty to 16% small, 33% medium, and 50% big with higher difficulty.

Nether Wastes[]

Magma cubes spawn uncommonly in nether wastes in groups of 1 to 4.

Nether Fortresses[]

Magma cubes spawn commonly in nether fortresses in groups of 4.

Basalt Deltas[]

Magma cubes spawn commonly in basalt deltas, in groups of 2 to 5.

Spawners[]

Magma cube monster spawners generate in the treasure room of bastions.

Drops[]

The maximum of magma cream can be increased by 1 per level of Looting. Looting 1 averages 0.5 per kill, Looting 2 averages ~0.81 per kill, and Looting 3 averages ~1.21 per kill. Unlike a lot of common loot which picks a random number between 0 and 1 for its drop, the magma cube's drop ranges between -2 and 1 instead. This leads to the 25% drop chance from an unenchanted kill, as well as the relatively low averages with the Looting enchantment since a negative base roll can cancel out the bonus roll made by Looting.

Behavior[]

Magma Cube jumping

Magma cube jumping.

A magma cube seeks out any player or an iron golem within a spherical distance of 16 blocks. If it finds no enemy, it changes direction every 40 to 100 ticks (2 to 5 seconds) and jumps forward every 40 to 120 ticks (2 to 6 seconds). If it finds a target, the delay before jumping is 13 as long (13 to 40 ticks), and the magma cube changes direction directly toward the target before jumping.

Magma cubes cannot be hurt by fall damage or burning, and are not slowed down by lava. They can swim upward in lava and leap above its surface.

Their jump height depends on their size. Their forward speed is twice that of most other mobs. They always make a distinct sound upon jumping up and landing, but no idle sounds.

When a magma cube is killed, it splits into 2-4 smaller magma cubes. Tiny magma cubes disappear when killed, like other mobs.

They can swim in water and attempt to stay on the surface. Like slimes, magma cubes starts taking drowning damage if submerged in water for 15 seconds, splitting into smaller cubes if possible.

Magma cubes take extra damage from powder snow, taking 5♥♥♥ every two seconds, unlike 1♥ for other mobs.

Unlike most mobs, magma cubes have no pathfinding ability, meaning that they do not avoid falling off cliffs and cannot go around walls, even when chasing a player. This behavior is shared by slimes.

When they are in lava, they hover and try to move to nearby land.

Combat[]

Magma cubes attack by jumping and attempting to land on the player, and cause damage when touched anywhere. As their jump rate is random, magma cubes can be hard to fight.

The health of a magma cube is its size squared; the attack strength is its size + 2, and the armor points are its size tripled.

A magma cube jumps a distance of approximately its length times 1.5 and a height equivalent to its size in blocks. This means that a large magma cube jumps 4 blocks in height and moves significantly quicker than a small magma cube, which jumps 2 blocks in height; while a tiny magma cube moves slowly and jumps 1 block in height.

Magma cubes continuously damage all players and iron golems‌[JE only] they collide with (although damage immunity reduces the actual damage to 2 attacks per second), unlike other mobs that damage only those targets they specifically attack.[1] This means that a large magma cube deals 12♥ × 6 of damage per second on normal difficulty. Unlike slimes, tiny magma cubes can deal damage to the player.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Magma cubes use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Slime attacks [sound 1]Hostile CreaturesWhen a magma cube attacks somethingentity.slime.attack[sound 1]subtitles.entity.slime.attack[sound 1]1.00.8-1.216
Magma Cube diesHostile CreaturesWhen a non-small magma cube diesentity.magma_cube.deathsubtitles.magma_cube.deathLarge: 1.2
Medium: 0.4
0.64-0.9616
Magma Cube diesHostile CreaturesWhen a small magma cube diesentity.magma_cube.death_smallsubtitles.magma_cube.death0.01.12-1.6816
Magma Cube hurtsHostile CreaturesWhen a non-small magma cube is damagedentity.magma_cube.hurtsubtitles.magma_cube.hurtLarge: 1.2
Medium: 0.4
0.64-0.9616
Magma Cube hurtsHostile CreaturesWhen a small magma cube is damagedentity.magma_cube.hurt_smallsubtitles.magma_cube.hurt0.01.12-1.6816
Magma Cube squishesHostile CreaturesWhen a magma cube jumpsentity.magma_cube.jumpsubtitles.magma_cube.squishLarge: 1.2
Medium: 0.4
Small:0.0
Non-small: 0.64-0.96
Small: 1.12-1.68
16
Magma Cube squishesHostile CreaturesWhen a non-small magma cube landsentity.magma_cube.squishsubtitles.magma_cube.squishLarge: 1.2
Medium: 0.4
1.0-1.516
Magma Cube squishesHostile CreaturesWhen a small magma cube landsentity.magma_cube.squish_smallsubtitles.magma_cube.squish0.01.0-1.516
  1. a b c MC-98316 — Wrong subtitles caused by missing distinction

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
Hostile CreaturesWhen a magma cube diesmob.magmacube.small1.00.8-1.2
Hostile CreaturesWhen a magma cube is damagedmob.magmacube.small1.00.8-1.2
Hostile CreaturesWhen a non-small magma cube jumps or landsmob.magmacube.big1.00.64-0.96
Hostile CreaturesWhen a small magma cube jumps or landsmob.magmacube.small1.00.64-0.96
NoneNoneWhen a magma cube attacks somethingmob.attack1.00.8-1.2
Hostile CreaturesUnused sound eventmob.slime.attack1.01.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierTranslation key
Magma Cubemagma_cubeentity.minecraft.magma_cube

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
Magma Cubemagma_cube42entity.magma_cube.name

Entity data[]

Magma cubes have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Java Edition:

Main article: Entity format
  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all mobs
    •  Size: The size of the magma cube. Note that this value is zero-based, so 0 is the smallest magma cube, 1 is the next larger, etc. The sizes that spawn naturally are 0, 1, and 3.
    •  wasOnGround: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the magma cube is touching the ground.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements[]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Monster HunterAttack and destroy a monster.Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: an enderman, a piglin, a zombified piglin, a spider, or a cave spider.15GBronze

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawAdventure
Adventure, exploration and combat Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity.adventure/root
Advancement-plain-rawMonster Hunter
Kill any hostile monster AdventureKill one of these 34 mobs: Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.adventure/kill_a_mob
Advancement-fancy-rawIt Spreads
Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst Monster HunterKill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst: Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
Advancement-fancy-rawMonsters Hunted
Kill one of every hostile monster Monster HunterKill each of these 34 mobs: Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement.adventure/kill_all_mobs

History[]

Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 PrereleaseMagma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Added magma cubes.
“It started out as a retexturing of the Slime for the Nether - it was just going to be a Lava Slime. But then when I named it that, I felt it was a bit lazy to retexture a mob. I wanted to make it more unique. I can’t really remember how I came up with the idea to have a layered block, but it’s one of my favourite mobs now. It really intrigues me. It doesn’t stand out in any particular way - I just really like it! You can use Magma Cream [an item Magma cubes drop] to brew Fire Resistance potions.” -Jeb[2]
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2Magma cubes have been made quite rare. Here are the current spawning rules for magma cubes. Big magma cubes require a 3×2½×3 space to spawn, small magma cubes require a 3×2×3 space, and tiny magma cubes require a 1×2×1 space (or 1×1×1 if the upper block is not opaque).[3]
RC1Magma cubes have been given sounds.
1.1releaseLarge and small magma cubes now drop magma cream.
1.3.112w18aMagma cubes no longer show their animation in singleplayer, due to singleplayer being a local server.
12w23aMagma cubes now show their animation in multiplayer.
1.814w06bMagma cubes can now swim as a result of the update to the new AI.
Magma cubes now randomly change direction every so often, reducing the chance of them getting stuck at walls or corners.
Magma cubes now randomly despawn over time if no player is within a 32 meter range.
The jumping mechanics of magma cubes have been changed. How far they jump now corresponds to the length of their size; they jump approximately 1.5 times their current length. For example, a tiny size 1 magma cube jumps slowly, while a large size 4 magma cube jumps farther. Also, when attacking, magma cubes turn their whole body to face the player.
1.1016w20aMagma cubes now spawn almost twice as often in the general Nether (rate is now 2153, was 1151).
1.1116w32aThe entity ID has been changed from LavaSlime to magma_cube.
1.1418w43aMagma Cube Magma Cube Magma Cube The textures of magma cubes have been changed.
18w44aMagmacube texture change 18w43a to 18w44a The texture of magma cubes have now slightly tweaked. The color channel of transparent pixels are now filled to black.
19w12aMagma cubes now hop on the surface of the lava instead of swim.
1.14.31.14.3-pre4Magma cubes now hover over the surface of the lava.
1.1620w06aSmall cubes now have moving sounds again.[4]
20w15aMagma cubes now spawn in basalt deltas biome.
20w16aMagma cube spawners now generate in bastion remnants structure.
?Their spawning rules were changed.
1.1721w13aMagma cubes now take extra damage when freezing.
Pre-release 1Magma cubes no longer interact with the player.[5]
Pre-release 2Magma cubes now interact with the player again.[5]
1.1922w11aMagma cubes now drop froglights when killed by a frog.
1.2023w18aMagma cubes are now affected by the Jump Boost effect.[6]
1.20.223w33aThe sounds of magma cubes are now controlled by the "Hostile Creatures" instead of the "Friendly Creatures" sound slider.[7]
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.11.0build 1Magma Cube Revision 1 Added magma cubes.
Magma cubes are currently unobtainable in-game without hacking.
build 8Magma cubes can now be spawned using spawn eggs.
v0.12.1build 1Magma cubes now spawn naturally.
Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma cubes now split into smaller cubes when killed.
v0.14.0build 1Magma cube cores now glow from Magma Cube (inner) Revison 1 BE to Magma Cube (inner) Revison 2 BE.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.0The entity ID has been changed from lavaslime to magma_cube.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Magma Cube Magma Cube Magma Cube The textures of magma cubes have been changed.
1.16.0beta 1.16.0.57Magma cubes now spawn in basalt deltas.
beta 1.16.0.59Magma cube spawners now generate in bastion remnants.
1.17.0beta 1.16.230.54Magma Cubes now take extra damage when freezing.
1.17.30beta 1.17.30.20Medium magma cubes hitboxes now corrected and matches Slime.[8]
1.18.10beta 1.18.10.26Pearlescent Froglight BE1 Verdant Froglight BE1 Ochre Froglight BE1 Magma cubes now drop froglights when killed by a frog behind the "Wild Update" experimental toggle.
1.20.10beta 1.20.10.20Magma cubes are now affected by the Jump Boost effect.
Legacy Console Edition
TU7CU1 1.0 Patch 1Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Added magma cubes.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Magma Cube Revision 1 Added magma cubes.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

  • The large magma cube is the non-boss mob that contains the most exp, killing the large one and its spitted versions all drop exp. PLEASE VERIFY THIS.
  • When a larger magma cube that has a name dies, the smaller magma cubes it spawns also have the same name, just like slimes.
  • According the the article "visit the nether" magma cubes are not aggressive but their heat is dangerous when close.
  • Magma cube is the only mob native to the Nether that can truly swim in water.
    • Zombified piglins, skeletons, and wither skeletons sink in water.
    • Piglins, piglin brutes and hoglins sink in water and drown.
    • Endermen, blazes, and striders take damage in water immediately.
    • Ghasts ignore water while floating around.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

In other media[]

References[]

  1. MC-131426
  2. https://minecraft.net/en-us/article/meet-magma-cube
  3. http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/385523-slime-spawning/
  4. MC-97958
  5. a b MCPE-116741
  6. MC-48923 — "Slime/magma cubes not affected by jump boost potion effect" — resolved as "Fixed".
  7. MC-118616 — "The sounds of magma cubes and slimes aren't controlled by the "Hostile Creatures" sound slider" — resolved as "Fixed".
  8. MCPE-132159

External Links[]

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