Soul Sand

	“	Only in the fiery caverns of the Nether, amid columns of lava and flame-belching Ghasts, will you find this creepy material in abundance. At a quick glance, it might look like a ruddier version of cobblestone, but then you look a little closer - are those screaming faces etched into its surface? Eep!	„
		— Marsh Davies^[1]

Soul sand is a block found naturally only in the Nether. Soul sand slows down the movement of mobs and players standing on it. It is also used for growing nether wart and for constructing a Wither.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Soul sand is found below Y=65 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 generate in bastion remnants.‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.16 & BE 1.16.0]}

Soul sand also generates in soul sand valleys.‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.16 & BE 1.16.0]}

‌In Bedrock Edition 1.16.0‌^[upcoming] Soul sand can generate in the Nether in the form of mineral veins. Soul sand attempts to generate 12 times per chunk in veins of size 12, from altitudes 0 to 32, in soul sand valley.

Breaking

Soul sand can be mined with any tool, or without a tool, 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.

Block loot

Soul sand can be mined with any tool, or without a tool, but shovels are the quickest.

Template:Loot table

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 4–16 soul sand when given a gold ingot.‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.16 & BE 1.16.0]}

Usage

Soul sand slows the movement of any mob or player and causes them to sink 2 pixels into the block while walking on it. Its slowing effect is increased when placed above ice, packed ice, or slime blocks.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Soul Torch	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 wart is planted on soul sand (like seeds on farmland), and at full maturity produces multiple nether warts when harvested.

Withers

The wither build configuration.

4 blocks of soul sand (or soul soil) are used in the construction of a wither.

Bubble columns

Placing soul sand under source water blocks creates a lifting bubble column, which causes items, 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).

Note blocks

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

Fire

You cannot light fire on soul sand without commands..

Sounds

The sound table below should be split into multiple sections.

Java Edition:‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.16]}

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

‌^{[until JE 1.16]} Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.sand.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.sand.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.sand.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.sand.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.sand.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.sand`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.sand`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.sand`	0.23	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.sand`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.sand`	0.15	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.sand`	0.05	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.sand`	0.14	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Translation key
?	`?`	`?`