Soul Sand

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 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 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.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

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 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 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`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.soul_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.soul_sand.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.1375	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.soul_sand.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.soul_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.soul_sand`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.soul_sand`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.soul_sand`	0.21	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.soul_sand`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.soul_sand`	0.15	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.soul_sand`	0.12	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.soul_sand`	0.14	1.0

Data values

ID