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Obsidian is a dark purple block known for its high blast resistance and strength, most commonly found when water flows over lava.

Obtaining

Obsidian drops itself only when mined with a diamond pickaxe or netherite pickaxe; otherwise, it drops nothing.

Block Obsidian
Hardness 50
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default 250
Wooden 125
Stone 62.5
Iron 41.7
Diamond 9.4
Netherite 8.35
Golden 20.85
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Enchanting a pickaxe with "Efficiency" and using a beacon with Haste both drastically decrease the mining time. See the obsidian farming tutorial for more information.

Natural generation

Natural Obsidian

Naturally occurring obsidian.

Obsidian Creation

Water pouring onto lava springs, forming obsidian.

Solid obsidian pillars can be found on the End’s main island, generating all the way down to Y=0.

Obsidian also generates as a part of the end ship in end cities.

Obsidian also generates in woodland mansions with a diamond block concealed by it. These are found in the secret "obsidian room" and "lava room", on the 2nd or 3rd floors.

Obsidian also generates in sufficiently low underwater ravines and underwater caves.

In 1.16,‌[upcoming] obsidian generates as part of ruined portals.

Post-generation

Obsidian occurs naturally where underwater springs flow onto lava, often at layer 10 or lower.

Obsidian is created when a Nether portal is generated in the Nether or the Overworld. This portal can then be mined, providing a way of obtaining obsidian renewably.

When a player enters the End, a platform of 25 obsidian blocks is generated for the player to spawn on. This platform can then be mined, and gets regenerated when an entity(needs java testing) enters the End. Obsidian pillars also regenerate when the ender dragon respawns.

Obsidian Spring

Using a water spring to mine obsidian.

Obsidian is formed when flowing water hits a lava source block, and can be found naturally where water from a spring or lake has flowed over a nearby lava pool.

Chest loot

Item Structure Container Quantity Chance
Java Edition
Obsidian Bastion remnant Generic chest 4–6 24.4%
Nether fortress Chest 2–4 8%
Ruined portal Chest 1–2 46.4%
Village Weaponsmith's chest 3–7 25.6%
Bedrock Edition
Obsidian Bastion remnant Generic chest 4–6 24.4%
Nether fortress Chest 2–4 8%
Ruined portal Chest 1–2 46.4%
Village Weaponsmith's chest 3–7 25.6%

Bartering

‌In Java Edition 1.16 and Bedrock Edition 1.16.0[upcoming], Piglins may barter 1 obsidian when given a gold ingot with a chance of 9.43%

Usage

Obsidian is useful for building explosion resistant structures, as along with anvils, it has a blast resistance of 1,200; the highest of all blocks obtainable in survival mode. Obsidian also cannot be pushed by pistons, and also cannot be destroyed by the ender dragon.

These qualities make obsidian an extremely effective defensive block, and it is commonly used in many bases in multiplayer servers as protection from griefers.

End crystals can be placed on top of obsidian, which can be useful in PvP combat, or just as decoration.

Nether portals

Obsidian can be used to create a nether portal frame, which can then be ignited using fire. The frame must be a vertical rectangle any size from 4×5 to 23×23. Note that the corners of the frame are not required.

Crafting ingredient

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe
Beacon Glass +
Nether Star +
Obsidian
Nether Star
Enchanting Table Book +
Diamond +
Obsidian

Ender Chest Obsidian +
Eye of Ender

Sounds

Java Edition:

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

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.stone1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placeddig.stone1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.stone0.370.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.stone0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.stone0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.stone0.121.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.stone0.221.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierTranslation key
Obsidianobsidianblock.minecraft.obsidian

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
Obsidianobsidian49tile.obsidian.name

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
EnchanterConstruct an Enchantment Table.Pick up an enchantment table from a crafting table output.20GBronze

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawIce Bucket Challenge
Obtain a block of Obsidian Hot StuffHave a block of obsidian in your inventory.story/form_obsidian
Advancement-plain-rawInvicon Enchanted BookEnchanter
Enchant an item at an Enchanting Table Diamonds!Insert an item in an enchanting table, then apply an enchantment.story/enchant_item

History

classic
0.28Obsidian JE1 BE1 Added obsidian.
Obsidian is extremely tough to break and drops one cobblestone block when broken.
infdev
20100227Obsidian can now be used to mark the positions of the cardinal directions. This creates two intersecting planes extending just above the surface of the solid material that surrounds them.
20100313The two obsidian intersecting planes have been removed.
alpha
v1.2.0previewIntroduced the nether portal, made using obsidian.
beta
1.8Pre-releaseObsidian can now be mined with an iron pickaxe (has since been removed) or moved by endermen.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3The enchantment table has been introduced, which is crafted using obsidian.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6Obsidian mining time has been decreased from 15 to 2.5 seconds.
?Obsidian mining time has been increased from 2.5 to 9.4 seconds.
1.112w01aObsidian can now be found in village chests.
1.3.112w21aThe ender chest has been introduced, which is crafted using obsidian.
1.4.212w36aThe beacon block has now received a crafting recipe, which uses obsidian.
12w38aThe wither's blue wither skull projectile has been introduced, which produces a special explosion that can destroy obsidian.
1.7.213w36aObsidian can now be destroyed with explosives by summoning a fireball with custom data.
1.814w25aAn infinite obsidian glitch (allowing conversion of redstone into obsidian) has been fixed during the implementation of the new block metadata format.
14w30aObsidian can now be found inside chests in nether fortresses.
1.915w31aObsidian now generates as part of the end cities.
15w43aThe obsidian yield from nether fortress chests has been slightly decreased.
1.1116w39aObsidian now generates in woodland mansions.
July 18, 2017Obsidian (Texture Update pre-release 1) Jeb tweets an image of an updated obsidian texture.
July 19, 2017Obsidian (Texture Update pre-release 2) Jeb tweets an image of an updated obsidian texture.
July 11, 2018Obsidian (Texture Update pre-release 3) Jasper Boerstra tweets an image of an updated obsidian texture.
?Obsidian TextureUpdate Revision Something This texture of obsidian was shown at some point (not in game).
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 49.
18w09aObsidian now generates in some underwater ruins.
1.1418w43aObsidian JE2 The texture of obsidian has been changed.
18w44aObsidian JE3 BE2 The texture of obisidan has been changed, once again.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.1620w07aObsidian has a 1109 (~0.92%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
20w09aObsidian now has a 10113 (~8.84%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1–5.
20w16aObsidian now generates in bastion remnants chests.
Obsidian can now spawn as part of ruined portals or be found in its chests.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0Obsidian JE1 BE1 Added obsidian.
0.5.0Glowing obsidian has been added, which drops a block of regular obsidian when mined.
The newly added nether reactor structure generates a "spire" of obsidian when activated.
0.6.0The "spires" generated by nether reactors are now made of netherrack, instead of obsidian.
0.9.0build 1Obsidian can now be found in villages within blacksmith chests.
0.12.1build 1Obsidian can now be used to form nether portals.
Obsidian is now used to craft enchantment tables.
0.13.0build 2Obsidian now requires 6.5 seconds to mine, rather than 3.
0.16.0build 4Obsidian is now used to craft beacons.
The wither's "blue wither skull" projectile has been introduced, which produces a special explosion that can destroy obsidian.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0alpha 0.17.0.1Obsidian is now used to craft ender chests and end crystals.
Obsidian now generates naturally in the End as obsidian platforms, obsidian pillars and some parts of end ships in end cities.
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.0Obsidian now generates in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0beta 1.2.20.1Obsidian now generates in some underwater ruins.
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Obsidian JE3 BE2 The texture of obsidian has been changed.
Obsidian can now be found in village weaponsmith chests.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.16.0beta 1.16.0.51Obsidian can now be obtained from bartering.
beta 1.16.0.57Obsidian now has a 10106 (9.43%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
Obsidian now be found in bastion remnants chests.
Obsidian can now generate as part of ruined portals and can be found in its chests.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 1Obsidian JE1 BE1 Added obsidian.
1.90 Obsidian JE3 BE2 The texture of obsidian has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Obsidian JE1 BE1 Added obsidian.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • Obsidian is one of the hardest blocks to destroy in Minecraft. In reality, obsidian is glass-like in texture and quite fragile.
  • In real life, obsidian is an extrusive igneous rock like andesite, meaning that they are both formed from lava that has cooled down.
  • Destroying an obsidian block with a diamond pickaxe, while underwater, without standing on solid ground would take 3 minutes and 54 seconds (without the pickaxe, it takes 4 minutes and 10 seconds). Either way, the player runs out of air long before the block is mined (unless a potion of water breathing is used).
  • Destroying an obsidian block without a pickaxe, while underwater, without standing on solid ground, while under Mining Fatigue 3 from an Elder Guardian takes 50*5*5*5*370, or 2312500 seconds, or 26 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes, and 40 seconds. The derivation is from hardness times 5 (from not using a tool that can harvest the obsidian block) times 5 (from being underwater) times 5 (from not standing on solid ground) times 370 (from mining fatigue).
  • It is sometimes thought that enough TNT can destroy obsidian. Although though its explosion resistance rating is finite, additional TNT or other explosives has no additional effect on an obsidian block. It would otherwise take 71.25 times the explosive power of TNT to destroy a block of obsidian. It is, however, possible to /summon an explosion strong enough to destroy obsidian.

Gallery

Java Edition

See also

External links

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