Brittle Ice

Not to be confused with Frosted Ice, the block formed by walking on water with boots enchanted with Frost Walker.

This article describes content that is currently in development.

This content has appeared in development versions for Fourth Drop 2026, but the full update adding it has not been released yet.

Brittle Ice

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.5
Hardness	0.5
Luminous	No
Transparent	JE: Partial (-1 to light) BE: Partial (diffuses sky light, -2 to light)
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	5 ICE
Note block instrument	Chime

Brittle ice is a variant of ice that cracks and breaks when stepped or stood on. It is naturally found as part of crevasses in ice caves.

Obtaining

Breaking

Brittle ice can be destroyed easily without tools, but the use of a pickaxe speeds up the process. Brittle ice will only drop itself when mined with a tool enchanted with Silk Touch, otherwise it will drop nothing. Unlike frosted ice, brittle ice does not create a water source block when broken without Silk Touch.

Block	Brittle Ice
Hardness	0.5
Tool
Breaking time (sec)[A]
Default	10.75 (JE) 0.75 (BE)
Wooden	10.4 (JE) 0.4 (BE)
Stone	10.2 (JE) 0.2 (BE)
Copper	10.15 (JE) 0.15 (BE)
Iron	10.15 (JE) 0.15 (BE)
Diamond	10.1 (JE) 0.1 (BE)
Netherite	10.1 (JE) 0.1 (BE)
Golden	10.1 (JE) 0.1 (BE)
Options
Efficiency	000
Haste	001 1JEBE

Legend

• incorrect tool, drops nothing
• correct tool, drops nothing or something other than the block itself
• correct tool, drops the block itself
• italicized can be instant mined

Natural generation

Brittle ice generates in ice caves, covering its crevasses.

Post-generation

When water touches a block of blue ice horizontally, the water is replaced with brittle ice. This does not happen during world generation.^[1]

Usage

Brittle ice breaks after being stood on by a player, mob (excluding frostbites and strays), armor stand, or mannequin‌^{[Java Edition only]} for 3.6 seconds. It advances its breaking stage every 1.2 seconds (24 game ticks) when stood on. If the entity standing on the brittle ice gets off, it will retain its breaking stage, but it will not crack further until an entity stands on it again. When an entity initially gets onto a brittle ice block, it advances its first stage immediately before the 1.2 second cooldown is applied between the other stages. This is also true if the ice is not on its first stage. If it has been pre-cracked to its final stage, for example, then the next entity to walk on it will cause it to instantly break.

Entities will still cause brittle ice beneath them to break if they are standing on a block that is less that a quarter of a block tall (such as a carpet, 1-2 snow layers or a trapdoor).

Any other entity such as boats, minecarts, cushions, item frames, projectiles and dropped items do not cause brittle ice beneath them to crack. This is also true if there is a player in the boat or minecart or on the cushion.

Once brittle ice is fully broken, any adjacent brittle ice blocks will progress one stage of cracking.

Mobs standing on top of brittle ice will still cause it to break even if the mob_griefing‌^{[JE only]} or mobgriefing‌^{[BE only]} game rule is false. Entities summoned without gravity using commands will also be unable to break the ice.

Unlike frosted ice, brittle ice does not create a water source block when it breaks fully. It also does not melt when near a light source.

Speed

Boats can travel on brittle ice with a top speed of 40 m/s, the same as ice, packed ice and frosted ice.

Piston interactivity

Brittle ice is destroyed when pushed by pistons. It does not stick to sticky pistons, slime blocks or honey blocks.

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

brittle_ice sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.brittle_ice.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block is placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.brittle_ice.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.brittle_ice.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.brittle_ice.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.brittle_ice.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

brittle_ice sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.brittle_ice.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	0.8	1.0
	​Something falls on a block	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.brittle_ice.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.brittle_ice.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.brittle_ice.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5
	​Jumping	Blocks	Jumping from the block	block.brittle_ice.jump	subtitles.block.generic.jump​	0.15	1.0
	​Landing	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	block.brittle_ice.land	subtitles.block.generic.land​	0.15	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	block.brittle_ice.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0

Unique

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Brittle Ice	brittle_ice	Block & Item	block.minecraft.brittle_ice

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Brittle Ice	brittle_ice	1504	Block & Ungiveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3] (Numeric: -1249)	tile.brittle_ice.name

Block states

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Models

Model definition

Name	Parent	Assigned textures
block/brittle_ice_0	block/cube_all		all = block/brittle_ice_0
block/brittle_ice_1	block/cube_all		all = block/brittle_ice_1
block/brittle_ice_2	block/cube_all		all = block/brittle_ice_2
block/brittle_ice_3	block/cube_all		all = block/brittle_ice_3

Block states definition

State combinations

All distinct block states^{[note 1]}

Appearance	When
	age	=	0
	age	=	1
	age	=	2
	age	=	3

Item definition

History

Java Edition

Upcoming Java Edition
26.4			snap4				Added brittle ice.
			snap6				Brittle ice no longer cracks when stood on by strays.

Bedrock Edition

Upcoming Bedrock Edition
26.70			Preview 26.70.20				Added brittle ice.
			Preview 26.70.21				Now uses generic land and jump subtitles instead of non-existent subtitles.
			Preview 26.70.22				Brittle ice no longer cracks when stood on by strays.

Issues

Issues relating to "Brittle Ice" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  Brittle ice can withold the weight of anvils, while a chicken will break it
• 
  A player had fallen through some brittle ice
• 
  A side-by-side comparison of frosted ice and brittle ice

Mojang screenshots

• 
  Ari walking over brittle ice
• 
  Brittle ice surrounding a hole

See also

• Frosted Ice

Notes

Navigation