| “ |
|
„ | |
| — Tom Stone[1] |
A sponge is a block that can be used to remove water around itself when placed, turning into a wet sponge in the process.
Obtaining
Either type of sponge can be mined by hand, or with any tool, dropping itself as an item. Mining time is not affected by the tool used.
| Block | Sponge Wet Sponge | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 0.6 | |
| Breaking time (secs) | ||
| Default | 0.9 | |
Drops
An elder guardian drops one wet sponge[Java Edition only] or dry sponge[Bedrock Edition only] when killed by the player. Since elder guardians do not respawn, this does not make sponges renewable.
Natural generation
Ocean monuments have a chance of generating one or more rooms containing wet sponges. Each room contains an average of 30 sponges.
Drying
| “ |
|
„ | |
| — Searge[2] |
A wet sponge can be dried in a furnace, making the sponge reusable.
| Ingredients | Smelting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wet sponge + any fuel | If a bucket is in the fuel slot at the time the sponge completes its drying, the water will drain into the bucket, leaving a bucket of water in the fuel slot[Java and Bedrock editions only]. Otherwise, the water just evaporates. |
Wet sponge placed in the Nether will instantly dry out. In the PlayStation 4 Edition, wet sponges will dry out “after some time”.[PlayStation 4 Edition only]
Usage
A sponge absorbing water in a lake.
A sponge can be used to turn water into air (it "absorbs" the water). To place a sponge, use a sponge item while pointing at a surface facing the space the sponge should occupy.
A sponge instantly absorbs nearby water when it is placed next to water or when water comes into contact with it (by being placed next to the sponge, or by flowing towards it). A sponge absorbs water around itself (water source blocks or flowing water) out to a taxicab distance of 7 in all directions (including up and down), but won't absorb more than 65 blocks of water (water closest to the sponge will be absorbed first). The absorption only propagates from water to water and won't "jump over" non-water blocks (including air). Sponges cannot absorb water sources that are adjacent to a conduit.
When a sponge absorbs water, it turns into a wet sponge, and will be incapable of absorbing more water in this state.
Sponges in item form will not absorb water or become wet.
Data values
ID
Sponge/ID
Block data
In Bedrock Edition, sponges use the following data values:
| DV | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Sponge | |
| 1 | Wet Sponge |
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Dry Spell | Dry a sponge in a furnace | — | 15G | Bronze | ||
Video
History
| May 24, 2009 | Sponge was suggested on the TIGSource forums. Notch later approved this suggestion. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | |||||
| 0.0.19a | File:Sponge Revision 1.png Added sponge. The sponge was a temporary fix to stop water from flooding until finite water was implemented.[3] It soaked up water in a 5×5×5 volume around it, and would decay. | ||||
| 0.0.19a_06 | Sponges no longer decay. | ||||
| infdev | |||||
| February 27, 2010 | Due to Notch reworking many parts of the game to allow for infinite terrain generation the whole liquid system from Indev including sponges becomes non-functional. A new system for liquids was added in a later version of Infdev, sponges weren't touched though as they were no longer required. Therefore they stayed in their non-functional state until release Java Edition 1.8. | ||||
| beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Sponges become available in Creative mode. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w07a | Prior to this version, sponge could be used in redstone builds for updating blocks, in conjunction with BUDs (block update detectors): if a sponge was placed and then removed, all blocks within a 7×7×7 range would be updated.[4] The cause of this was some remaining code for the sponge's water removing property. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w22a | Inventory sprites for blocks were flipped from left to right, changing to . | |||
| 1.8 | June 8, 2014 | Jeb tweeted that the ability to erase water blocks would be returned to the sponge. The linked image revealed that the sponge would have a new texture which becomes darker once it absorbs water. | |||
| 14w25a | |||||
| 14w25b | Wet sponges, when smelted, will fill an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water. | ||||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Elder guardians will now drop dry sponges instead of wet ones. | |||
| 1.11 | 16w33a | Elder guardians now drop wet sponges on player kills, rather than dry sponges.[5] | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | The two different wet block state values for the sponge ID have been split up into their own IDs.
| |||
| Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 19. | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | File:Sponge Texture Update.png File:Wet Sponge Texture Update.png Changed the texture of sponge. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.8.0 | build 2 | File:Sponge Revision 1.png Added sponges to Creative mode. | |||
| 0.16.0 | build 1 | ||||
| Wet sponges, when smelted, will fill an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.13.8 | Added Drowned, which rarely drop sponge. | |||
| beta 1.2.20.1 | Drowned no longer drop sponge. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Now immediately dries out when placed in the Nether. | |||
| File:Sponge Texture Update.png File:Wet Sponge Texture Update.png Changed the texture of sponge. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU5 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | File:Sponge Revision 1.png Added sponges to Creative mode. |
| TU28 | CU16 | 1.19 | |||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Sponges are now obtainable in Survival Mode, and now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge. | |
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | Now dries out when placed in the Nether and warm biomes after some time. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added sponge. | ||||
| 1.3.12 | Added wet sponge. | ||||
| Wet sponges, when smelted, will fill an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Sponge" or "Wet Sponge" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery
- Picture 2.png
An example of sponges keeping an area dry in Minecraft Classic.
Sponges in the creative inventory in the Adventure Update.
The old sponge and gravel textures




