Sugar Cane

Sugar Cane

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	0
Hardness	0
Luminant	No
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

Sugar cane is a block found as 1–4-block-tall plants near water in the Overworld. As an item, it is an important crafting ingredient.

Obtaining

Sugar cane can be mined instantly with anything.

When the spot a sugar cane block is placed in becomes unsuitable, such as when the supporting block is removed, the sugar cane block uproots and drops as an item. In Bedrock Edition, sugar cane uproots immediately after all adjacent water is removed. In Java Edition, sugar cane uproots on the next block update or random tick.

A sugar cane block drops itself as an item if a piston tries to push it (trying to pull it does nothing) or moves a block into its space.

Natural generation

Naturally-occurring sugar cane near a river.

Sugar cane can generate naturally near water, as two (¹¹⁄₁₈ chance), three (⁵⁄₁₈ chance), or four (²⁄₁₈ chance) blocks tall. Rare taller sugar canes can be found if the world generator places two smaller canes on top of each other. It generates in approximately 0.8 sugar cane per chunk seeing as how they only generate near bodies of water.

Sugar canes attempt to generate 10 times in any overworld biome, which requires water. An extra 10 attempts are made in swamp biomes, and 50 in desert biomes, which makes sugar cane twice as frequent in swamps and six times as frequent in desert biomes, but water is more rare in the desert, except in desert lakes.

Sugar cane cannot generate in caves in Java Edition.

Trading

Wandering traders can sell sugar cane for an emerald.

Usage

Due to its water-displacing properties, sugar cane can interestingly be used to create underwater paths, allowing players to move at normal speed and breathe if it is two blocks in height.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Sugar cane takes on a different shade of green depending on the biome in which it is placed.

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Paper	Sugar Cane	3
Sugar	Sugar Cane

Farming

Main article: Tutorials/Sugar cane farming

An underground sugar cane farm

Sugar cane can generate naturally up to four blocks tall, but short plants grow only to a height of three blocks, adding a block of height when the top sugar cane block has received 16 random block ticks (i.e. on average every 18 minutes on Java Edition or 54 minutes on Bedrock Edition, but the actual rate can vary widely). Sugar cane must be planted on a grass block, dirt, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, podzol, sand, moss block, mycelium, red sand or mud‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.19]} that is directly adjacent to water, waterlogged block, or frosted ice (not merely above or diagonal to water), or on top of another sugar cane block. The adjacent water block can be covered with another block, whether opaque or transparent, and sugar cane can still be placed and grow next to it. Sugar cane grows regardless of light level, even in complete darkness.

In Bedrock Edition, bone meal can be used to instantly grow sugar cane to three blocks. Only one bone meal is consumed. In Java Edition, bone meal cannot be used on sugar cane.

Composting

Placing sugar cane into a composter has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.

List of colors

Java Edition

These values are generated by the biome dyeing algorithm. See Biome colors for more information.

Biome	Category	Rainfall	Sugarcane Color	Temperature Affects	Render
Badlands	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Beach	Beach	Rain	#91bd59
Birch Forest	Forest	Rain	#88bb67
Cold Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Dark Forest	Forest	Rain	#507a32
Deep Cold Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Frozen Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Lukewarm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Deep Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Desert	Desert	No	#bfb755
End Barrens	The End	No	#8eb971
End Highlands	The End	No	#8eb971
End Midlands	The End	No	#8eb971
Eroded Badlands	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Flower Forest	Forest	Rain	#79c05a
Forest	Forest	Rain	#79c05a
Frozen Ocean	Ocean	Snow	#80b497
Frozen River	River	Snow	#80b497
Old Growth Spruce Taiga	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Old Growth Pine Taiga	Taiga	Rain	#86b87f
Ice Spikes	Icy	Snow	#80b497
Jungle	Jungle	Rain	#59c93c
Sparse Jungle	Jungle	Rain	#64c73f
Lukewarm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Windswept Hills	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689
Mushroom Fields	Mushroom	Rain	#55c93f
Nether	Nether	No	#bfb755
Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Plains	Plains	Rain	#91bd59
River	River	Rain	#8eb971
Savanna	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Savanna Plateau	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Windswept Savanna	Savanna	No	#bfb755
Small End Islands	The End	No	#8eb971
Snowy Beach	Beach	Snow	#83b593
Snowy Taiga	Taiga	Snow	#80b497
Snowy Plains	Icy	Snow	#80b497
Stony Shore	None	Rain	#8ab689
Sunflower Plains	Plains	Rain	#91bd59
Swamp	Swamp	Rain	#6A7039	If temperature below -0.1, used #4C763C.	/
Taiga	Taiga	Rain	#86b783
Old Growth Birch Forest	Forest	Rain	#88bb67
The End	The End	No	#8eb971
The Void	None	No	#8eb971
Warm Ocean	Ocean	Rain	#8eb971
Wooded Badlands	Mesa	No	#90814d	No
Windswept Forest	Extreme Hills	Rain	#8ab689

Sounds

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.grass.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	None	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.grass.fall	None	0.5	0.75	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.grass.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.grass.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	block.grass.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
?	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.grass	0.7	0.8
?	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.grass	0.4	1.0
?	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.grass	0.3	0.5
?	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.grass	0.11	1.0
?	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.grass	0.21	1.0
?	Blocks	Walking on the block	step.grass	0.3	1.0
?	Blocks	When the block is placed	use.grass	0.8	0.8

Video

Note: This video was made before sugar cane had a different shade of green depending on the biome.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Sugar Cane	sugar_cane	Block & Item	block.minecraft.sugar_cane

Bedrock Edition:

Sugar Cane	Identifier	Alias ID	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID	Translation key
Block	reeds	None	83	Block & Ungiveable Item	item.reeds	tile.reeds.name
Item	sugar_cane	reeds	385	Item	—	item.reeds.name

Block states

See also: Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
age	0	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15	A freshly planted cane – and a cane that has just grown cane above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cane may try to grow more cane above it.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
age	0x1 0x2 0x4 0x8	0	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15	A freshly planted cane – and a cane that has just grown cane above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cane may try to grow more cane above it.

History

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11					Added reeds in the Seecret Friday Update 6.
					Reeds are informally referred to as "bamboo" or "papyrus" by many players.
					Since reeds can be washed away with water currents or instantly destroyed by removing the water adjacent to them, automated reed farms can be made.
					Reeds can be used to craft paper.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Notch has retconned reeds into sugar cane so that it can now be crafted into sugar, included in the recipe for the cakes.
1.6		Test Build 3			Arrows no longer stick to sugar cane, and instead, they pass through. However, snowballs still come into contact with any sugar cane blocks, as if they are solid.
1.8		Pre-release			Sugar cane can now grow and be placed onto sand as long as they are adjacent to water. This update allows sugar canes to appear next to water ponds in desert biomes.
					Sugar cane is now available in the creative inventory.
Java Edition
1.7.2		13w36a			Sugar cane is now tinted depending on the biome it's in.
					The item texture remained unchanged, however, and still used the color palette from Alpha to 1.6.4.
1.9		15w43a			Sugar cane no longer breaks if its adjacent water is turned to frosted ice.
1.13		17w47a			The ID of sugar cane has now been changed from reeds to sugar_cane.
					"Sugar Canes" have now been renamed to "Sugar Cane".
					Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 83, and the item's 338.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed.
		19w03a			Placing sugar cane into a composter has a 20% chance of raising the compost level by 1.
		19w05a			Sugar cane now has a 50% chance of increasing the compost level in a composter by 1.
					Added wandering traders, which sell sugar cane.
1.17		21w11a			The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed, so that it actually matches the color it uses when placed again.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.19		22w15a			Sugar cane now can be plant on mud.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					Added sugar cane.
v0.2.0					Despite being visible in the inventory, sugar cane does not drop anything when mined, making it unobtainable in Survival mode.
v0.2.1					Survival players now start with an infinite stack of sugar cane in the inventory.
v0.3.0					Sugar cane now drops its item form when mined.
					Survival players no longer start with an infinite stack of sugar cane in the inventory.
v0.5.0					Sugar cane can now be grown on sand.
					Sugar cane can now be obtained after activating the nether reactor.
v0.9.0		build 1			The color of sugar cane now changes depending on the biome they're in.
v0.12.1		build 1			Sugar cane is no longer available from the nether reactor.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Due to a bug, sugar canes no longer change color depending on the biome.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.13		beta 1.2.13.5			The color of sugar canes now changes depending on the biome, once again.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed.
					Sugar cane can now be bought from wandering traders.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			Sugar canes can now be used to fill up composters.
1.17.0		beta 1.17.0.50			The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed, so that it actually matches the color it uses when placed again.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added sugar canes.
					Sugar canes are solid, making it useful for growable walls. It is not known if or when they were renamed to "Sugar Cane".
TU2					Sugar canes are no longer solid, and arrows pass through them.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		The color of sugar cane now changes depending on the biome they're in.
TU60	CU51	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Sugar cane can now be grown with bonemeal.
		1.90			The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed.
		1.91			Sugar cane can now be bought from wandering traders.
					Sugar canes can now be used to fill up composters.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added sugar cane.

Sugar cane "item"

The following content is transcluded from Technical blocks/Sugar Cane.

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11					Sugar cane has an extra, unobtainable item form corresponding to its block ID. It can be obtained via inventory editors with numeric item ID 83.
Java Edition Beta
1.6		Test Build 3			Sugar cane items can be obtained from the newly added debug chests, mainly from the 25th slot of the 3rd chest from the left, and the 9th slot of the 7th chest from the left.
		release			Debug chests no longer spawn, preventing sugar cane items from being obtained this way.
1.8		Pre-release			The block form of sugar cane is available in the Creative inventory, alongside its usually-obtainable item form.
		Pre-release 2 ;)			Added pick block functionality. This will change the currently selected slot to any containing this otherwise-unobtainable sugar cane item, but will not allow it to be obtained if not already in the hotbar.
Java Edition
?					The direct block form of sugar cane is no longer available in the Creative inventory.
1.2.5		pre			Pick Block now returns the actually obtainable sugar cane item.
1.3.1		12w15a			Sugar cane items can now be obtained via Pick Block in creative.
		12w16a			Pick Block once again returns the actually obtainable sugar cane item. Sugar cane items can now be obtained in singleplayer worlds via the /give command using the respective numeric ID.
1.7.2		13w37a			The direct item form of sugar cane has been removed from the game. It can no longer exist as an item in any way, only as a placed block.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					Sugar cane exists as an item.
					The sugar cane block item is currently available in the Creative inventory.
v0.2.1					Survival players now start out with an infinite stack of the sugar cane block item in their inventory.
v0.3.0					Survival players no longer start out with an infinite stack of the sugar cane block item in their inventory.
v0.5.0					The sugar cane block item is given by the Nether reactor.
v0.6.0					The correct sugar cane item is now given by the nether reactor and the creative inventory, making the block item no longer obtainable without inventory editing.

Appearances

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11					The sugar cane item uses this texture in inventories, when held in first person view, or as a dropped item.
?					The sugar cane item uses the aforementioned texture when held in third person.
Java Edition
1.4.2		12w34a			The sugar cane item uses the aforementioned texture when in an item frame.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					The sugar cane item uses this texture in inventories, when held in first person view, or as a dropped item.
v0.6.0					The sugar cane block item now renders with a red background in the inventory.
v0.6.1					The sugar cane block item no longer renders with a red background in the inventory.

Names

Java Edition

Item names did not exist prior to Beta 1.0.

• Beta 1.0 - Beta 1.6 Test Build 3: Reeds
• Beta 1.6 - ?: Sugar cane

Bedrock Edition

Uncraftable items did not have visible displayed names prior to v0.5.0 alpha.

• v0.5.0 alpha - ?: Sugar cane

Issues

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

Trivia

• When a sugar cane is broken at the second level, the time resets (for example, if a two-block high sugar cane is broken, but is just about to grow to the third stage, it would reset that time).
• By placing more sugar canes on top of a sugar cane plant, it is possible to create tall sugar canes (up to y=255, the maximum height for building), although they do not naturally grow this high.
• Before sugar cane received an official name, they were sometimes referred to as bamboo, a block added 9 years later. Other names were "reeds" and "papyrus".

Gallery

• 

  A large sugar cane farm using 2×2 water holes.

• 

  Water flowing over sugar cane.

• 

  Naturally generated sugar cane found underwater.

• 

  A cactus and sugar cane stalk generated next to each other.

• 

  Sugar cane found in the ravine.

• 

  Reeds generated in the winter mode.

• 

  Sugar cane growing between biomes.

• 

  Sugar cane growing on red sand in a badlands biome.

• 

  Sugar cane generated without a water source.

• 

  Sugar cane generated in a swamp biome.

• 

  Sugar cane growing in a savanna biome.

• 

  Sugar cane growing with lava flowing around it.

• 

  Sugar canes few seconds before breaking because the water is frozen.

• 

  A sugar cane plant that generated in an underground water lake.

• 

  Another example.

Heights

• 

  Four-block tall sugar cane.

• 

  Four-block tall sugar cane.

• 

  Four-block tall sugar cane in a plains biome.

References

Items

View at: Template:Items/content [edit]