Soul Sand

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.5
Hardness	0.5
Luminant	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No, but burns indefinitely on the top side as soul fire
Catches fire from lava	No

Soul sand is a block found naturally only in the Nether. Soul sand usually slows down the movement of mobs and players walking on it. It is also used for growing nether wart, for crafting items that emit soul fire, and for constructing a Wither.

Obtaining[]

Natural generation[]

Soul sand is found below Y=34 in the nether wastes, generally in four-block-deep layers. It is also found naturally in nether wart rooms of nether fortresses.

Soul sand also generates in hoglin stables and housing unit bastion remnants.

Soul sand also generates in soul sand valleys as part of the surface terrain.

Soul sand can generate in the Nether in the form of blobs. Soul sand attempts to generate 12 times per chunk in blobs of size 0-23, from altitudes 0 to 31, in soul sand valleys. It can replace only netherrack.

Breaking[]

Soul sand can be mined with any tool (or none), but shovels are the quickest.

Block	Soul Sand
Hardness	0.5
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	0.75
Wooden	0.4
Stone	0.2
Iron	0.15
Diamond	0.1
Netherite	0.1
Golden	0.1

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Chest loot[]

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Soul Sand	Bastion remnant	Hoglin stable chest	2–7	22.8%
Bedrock Edition
Soul Sand	Bastion remnant	Hoglin stable chest	2–7	22.8%

Bartering[]

Piglins may barter 2–8 soul sand when given a gold ingot‌.

Usage[]

Soul sand slows the movement of any mob or player by 50% and causes them to sink 2 pixels into the block while walking on it.

Most blocks that can be placed on full blocks can be placed on soul sand, with the notable exceptions of both types of fungi, both types of roots, and nether sprouts.^[1] In addition, gravel falling onto soul sand turns into an item, which prevents gravel from replacing lava if soul sand is underneath.

Soul sand cannot be used in place of regular sand as a falling block because it is not affected by gravity.

Crafting ingredient[]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Soul Campfire	Stick + Soul Sand + Any Log or Stem or Any Stripped Log or Stem or Any Wood or Hyphae or Any Stripped Wood or Hyphae
Soul Torch	Coal or Charcoal + Stick + Soul Sand	4

Growing nether wart[]

Soul sand is used for growing nether wart, a primary base ingredient for many varieties of potions. Nether warts can be placed on soul sand like seeds on farmland and over time they grow through four growth stages (placing the nether wart on soul sand grants the "A Seedy Place" advancement‌^{[Java Edition only]}). Nether warts can grow in any dimension and do not have any light-level requirements. Nether warts can also be placed only in soul sand (and cannot even be placed in soul soil).

Withers[]

The wither build configuration.

Four blocks of soul sand (or soul soil) are used in the construction of the wither. The four blocks are arranged in a "T"-like formation (similar to the summoning of an Iron Golem) and 3 wither skeleton skulls are placed in a row on top of the "T" to summon the wither.

Bubble columns[]

Placing soul sand under source water blocks creates a lifting bubble column, which causes items, entities, players, and mobs inside the column to rise to the surface. The bubble column extends upward through any number of empty water source blocks (not waterlogged blocks).

A player can restore breath by entering a soul sand's bubble column.

Note blocks[]

Soul sand can be placed under note blocks to produce cowbell sounds.

Fire[]

Fire lit on soul sand becomes soul fire, which burns indefinitely.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.soul_sand.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	?	?	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.soul_sand.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	?	?	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.soul_sand.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.55	?	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.soul_sand.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	?	?	16
Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	`block.soul_sand.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	?	?	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition: ^{[needs in-game testing]}

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
?	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.sand`	?	0.8
?	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.sand`	?	?
?	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.sand`	?	0.5
?	Blocks	Jumping from the block	`jump.sand`	?	?
?	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.sand`	?	?
?	Blocks	Walking on the block	`step.sand`	?	?
?	Blocks	When the block is placed	`use.sand`	?	0.8

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Resource location	Block tags (JE)	Item tags (JE)	Form	Translation key
Soul Sand	`soul_sand`	`soul_fire_base_blocks` `soul_speed_blocks` `wither_summon_base_blocks` `mineable/shovel`	`soul_fire_base_blocks`	Block & Item	`block.minecraft.soul_sand`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Resource location	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Soul Sand	`soul_sand`	`88`	Block & Item	`tile.soul_sand.name`

Achievements[]

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other platforms	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
		The Beginning?	Spawn the Wither	Be within a 100.9×100.9×103.5 cuboid centered on the Wither when it is spawned.	20G	Bronze

Advancements[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Withering Heights	Summon the Wither	Spooky Scary Skeleton	—	`nether/summon_wither`

History[]

Java Edition Alpha
October 8, 2010					Soul sand first appears on Notch's blog.
v1.2.0		preview			Added soul sand.
v1.2.0		preview			Soul sand generates in the newly added Nether dimension.
v1.2.0_01					Gravel now generates where soul sand should generate. Some soul sand can still generate.
v1.2.0_02					Soul sand now generates where some of the gravel would.
Java Edition Beta
1.6.6					The player can now get out of soul sand to another block while sneaking.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			Added nether warts, which can be grown on soul sand.
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6			Shovels now mine soul sand faster.
1.4.2		12w36a			Wither skeleton skulls can now be placed on a formation of soul sand to create a wither.
1.4.2		12w38a			Soul sand now has new sounds when being walked on.
1.5		13w02a			In texture packs, soul sand now uses /textures/blocks/hellsand.png.
1.8		14w17a			Silverfish and endermites now take damage if they walk on soul sand.
1.8		14w32b			One-way doorways can no longer be made with soul sand.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 88.
1.13		18w07a			Soul sand now produces upward bubble columns when under water.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of soul sand has been changed.
		18w46a			Soul sand has now lost the ability to support many blocks.^[2]
		18w47b			Soul sand can now support many blocks they could not due to the above bug.
		19w09a			Soul sand can now be used to play the cowbell, if they are under note blocks.
		19w13a			Soul sand can no longer support such blocks.^[3]
		19w14a			Soul sand and gravel now generate around lava sea level instead of between y level 60 and 65.^[4]
1.15		19w42a			Soul sand no longer has an increased slowing effect when placed above ice, packed ice, or slime blocks.^[5]^{[is this the correct version?]}
		Pre-Release 2			Soul sand now suffocates mobs.
		Pre-Release 3			Soul sand no longer suffocates mobs.
December 3, 2019					Maria Lemón confirms that fire set on soul sand does not become soul fire.
1.16		20w06a			Soul sand now generates in the soul sand valley biome.
		20w06a			New unique sounds have been added for soul sand.
		20w07a			Soul sand now has a ¹⁰⁄₁₀₉ (~9.17%) chance of being given by the new piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1–4, making it renewable.
		20w09a			Soul sand can no longer be obtained by bartering with piglins, making it no longer renewable.
		20w10a			Soul sand now has a ⁴⁰⁄₄₁₁ (~9.74%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 4–16, making it renewable, once again.
		20w11a			Soul sand can now support many blocks, once again.^[6]^[7]
		20w12a			Fire lit on top of soul sand now becomes soul fire.
		20w15a			Soul sand is now used to craft soul fire torches.
		20w16a			Soul sand can now generate in bastion remnants or be found in its chests.
1.16.2		20w28a			Now sea pickles can be placed on soul sand.
1.16.2		20w28a			Soul sand now has a ⁴⁰⁄₄₅₉ (~8.71%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 2–8.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1		build 1			Added soul sand.
v0.16.0		build 4			Soul sand can now be used to spawn the wither.
Bedrock Edition
1.5.0		beta 1.5.0.4			Soul sand now produces upward bubble columns when under water.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of soul sand has been changed.
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.9			Soul sand can now be used to play the cowbell, if they are under note blocks.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.51			Soul sand now generates in the soul sand valley.
		beta 1.16.0.57			Soul sand now has a ⁴⁰⁄₄₁₁ (~9.74%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 4–16, making it renewable.
					Soul sand is now used to craft soul fire torches.
					Soul sand can now generate in bastion remnants or be found in its chests.
					Soul sand now generate as a blob in soul sand valley.
					Soul sand now have their own unique sounds.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added soul sand.
TU19	CU7	1.12	Patch 1	1.0.1	Soul sand can now be used to build the wither.
TU69		1.76	Patch 38		Soul sand now produces upward bubble columns when under water.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90					The texture of soul sand has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added soul sand.

Video[]

Trivia[]

Because soul sand is not as high as a full block, standing near lava while on soul sand sets the player on fire. Standing near water while on soul sand extinguishes the player, though direct contact to fire sources still hurts them.‌^{[Java Edition only]}
Soul sand has inner collision boxes every eighth of a block. However, these collision boxes have an effect only if entities are clipped into soul sand.
If a water current is pushing the player diagonally against a wall and soul sand is the block adjacent to the player's head when the current ends, it causes the player to jump.
If snow or carpet is over soul sand, the effects of it being a partial block are avoided because the player walks on the cover block, not the soul sand.
Before Village & Pillage, soul sand used to generate in iconic four-block-deep layers between y levels 60 and 65. It also occasionally generated on the floor of caverns and coasts of lava oceans below, only if it generated in the same column at Y=60 or above. Toward the end of Village & Pillage development, the generation range of soul sand was reduced so that it exists only below y level 34, close to the lava sea level. As a result, soul sand is much harder to find in Nethers that were generated in the 1.14 and 1.15 versions.

Gallery[]

Naturally occurring soul sand.
The first image released by Notch of soul sand.

Issues[]

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

References[]

↑ MC-191255
↑ MC-139497
↑ MC-146928
↑ MC-152207 Resolved as "Works As Intended"
↑ MC-163952
↑ MC-146928
↑ MC-170836

[breakingtimenote-1] Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

[bugMC-177082-3] MC-177082

[2] MC-191255

[4] MC-139497

[5] MC-146928

[6] MC-152207 Resolved as "Works As Intended"

[7] MC-163952

[8] MC-146928

[9] MC-170836

[A]

[1]

[sound 1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]