Clay

For other uses, see Clay (disambiguation).

This article is about the block found in rivers. For the item, see Clay Ball.

Clay

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.6
Hardness	0.6
Luminous	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	9 CLAY
Note block instrument	Flute
Sulfur cube archetype	Regular

Clay is a block that can be found abundantly in lush caves, in patches in shallow surface water or converted from mud using pointed dripstone. It can be smelted into terracotta or broken into clay balls which are smeltable into bricks.

Obtaining

Breaking

Clay blocks can be mined with any item, but shovels are quickest. Destroying a clay block yields 4 clay balls. If broken with a tool enchanted with Silk Touch, it drops itself instead. Destroying a clay block with a tool enchanted with Fortune does not increase the amount of clay dropped.

Block	Clay
Hardness	0.6
Tool
Breaking time (sec)[A]
Default	10.9 (JE) 0.9 (BE)
Wooden	10.45 (JE) 0.45 (BE)
Stone	10.25 (JE) 0.25 (BE)
Copper	10.2 (JE) 0.2 (BE)
Iron	10.15 (JE) 0.15 (BE)
Diamond	10.15 (JE) 0.15 (BE)
Netherite	10.15 (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

Clay generates in large quantities on the floors of ponds in lush caves.

Clay can also generate in lush caves in the form of blobs. Clay attempts to generate 46 times per chunk in blobs of size 0–160, at any height. It can replace stone, granite, andesite, diorite, polished granite,‌^{[BE only]} polished andesite,‌^{[BE only]} polished diorite,‌^{[BE only]} tuff,‌^{[JE only]} and deepslate.‌^{[JE only]}

Clay is found underwater in shallow, crystal-shaped disks, replacing dirt that generates in shallow rivers, lakes, and oceans in most grassy biomes. Some blocks of the disk can also be generated above water or under other water sources than the sea level.

Clay generates in mason houses in plains, savanna, and desert villages, and under fisher cottages in taiga villages.

Clay generates in abandoned camps.

Mob loot

An enderman holding a clay block drops the block upon death.

Generated loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition and Bedrock Edition
Clay	Trail Ruins	Common suspicious gravel	1	4.4% { "item": "Clay", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.0444444444444444, "structure": "Trail Ruins", "container": "Common suspicious gravel" }

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Clay Ball

Villager gifts

In Java Edition, when the player has the Hero of the Village status effect, a mason villager might throw that player a clay block as a gift.

Post-generation

Placing mud above a block with a pointed dripstone hanging underneath the mud gives it a ⁴⁵⁄₂₅₆ (about 17.6%) chance per random tick to convert into clay, with an average conversion time of 388.4 seconds. Mud does not convert in the Nether.^{[note 1][1]} The dripstone does not deposit any water into a cauldron, despite the dripping animation.

Usage

Big dripleaves, small dripleaves, mangrove propagules, azaleas, and flowering azaleas are the only plants that can be placed on clay. Unlike most other blocks, clay supports small dripleaves even outside of water.

When an azalea or flowering azalea placed on a block of clay is grown into an azalea tree, the clay block turns into rooted dirt.

Smelting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Terracotta	Clay + Any fuel	0.35

Sounds

Java Edition:

gravel sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.gravel.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed​[until: JE 26.4]	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.gravel.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.gravel.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.gravel.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.gravel.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

gravel sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​ ?	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.gravel	​ ?	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.gravel	​ ?	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.gravel	​ ?	0.17	0.5
	​ ?	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.gravel	​ ?	0.4	1.0
	​ ?	Players	Walking on the block	step.gravel	​ ?	0.3	1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.gravel	​ ?	0.1	1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.gravel	​ ?	0.17	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Clay	clay	Block & Item	enderman_holdable lush_ground_replaceable small_dripleaf_placeable mineable/shovel	block.minecraft.clay

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Clay	clay	82	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.clay.name

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11							Added clay blocks.
							Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
Java Edition Beta
1.8			Pre-release				Clay is now found as disks underwater mostly on the bottom of rivers, beaches, and oceans and is common in the submerged area of swamps and shallow water lakes (1 and 2 meters deep) in large quantities.
Java Edition
1.6.1			13w17a				Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
1.9			15w31a				It is now possible to re-summon the ender dragon by placing clay in a creeper face pattern in the End.
			15w44a				Clay can no longer be used to re-summon the ender dragon, as end crystals now serve the purpose.
1.12			17w17a				Clay placed under note blocks now makes it produce flute sounds.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
			18w48a				Clay now generates in the updated plains villages.
			18w49a				Clay now generates in the updated savanna villages.
			18w50a				Clay now generates in the updated desert and taiga villages.
			19w13a				Mason villagers now give clay to players under the Hero of the Village effect, making clay renewable.
1.17			21w10a				Clay can now generate in the lush caves, though the biome doesn't generate outside of buffet or custom worlds yet.
1.18			Experimental Snapshot 1				Lush caves now generate naturally, making clay available from them in regular worlds.
1.19			22w14a				Mud now can be converted into clay by placing it above a block which has pointed dripstone underneath.
26.2			snap1				Added sulfur cubes, which have the ability to absorb clay blocks, providing the football/regular effect to the mob.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0							Added clay.
							Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
v0.3.2							Clay now drops 4 clay balls when broken.
							Clay can now be crafted from 4 clay balls.
v0.3.3							Clay is now available in the creative inventory.
v0.9.0			build 1				Clay is found in disks underwater.
			build 11				Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			beta 1.2.0.2				"Clay" has been renamed to "Clay Block"
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				Clay blocks now generate in village mason houses.
							The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
1.13.0			beta 1.13.0.9				Clay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.16.220			beta 1.16.220.52				Clay can now generate in lush caves, though the biome does not generate naturally yet.
1.17.0			beta 1.17.0.50				Lush caves now generate throughout the Overworld behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay available in vanilla worlds this way.
			release				Lush caves have been made inaccessible in the full release, making clay no longer obtainable from them.
1.17.10			release				Lush caves can now generate naturally outside of the beta versions behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay once again available from them.
1.18.0			beta 1.18.0.21				Clay blobs in lush caves now generate between Y=-64 and Y=256 instead of 120, and increased the number of blobs.
1.19.0			beta 1.19.0.24				Mud now can be converted into clay by placing it above a block which has pointed dripstone underneath making clay renewable.
1.21.30			Preview 1.21.30.22				Changed name from "Clay Block" back to "Clay" to match Java Edition.
26.20 Experiment Drop 2 of 2026			Preview 26.20.23				Added sulfur cubes, which have the ability to absorb clay, providing the football/regular effect to the mob.
26.30			Preview 26.30.20				Implemented all features from the "Drop 2 of 2026" experiment in vanilla gameplay.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU1	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added clay blocks.
TU53	CU43	1.49	1.50	1.49	Patch 23	1.0.3	Clay placed under note blocks now makes it produce flute sounds.
			1.90				The texture of clay blocks has been changed.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added clay blocks.

Data history

Issues

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

Trivia

• In real life, clay can actually be reddish-brown, not just gray, and can often be found under the surface and away from sand. This color is reflected in the appearance of terracotta, bricks, and flower pots.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  Naturally generated clay on the floor of lush caves
• 
  Naturally occurring clay blocks in a lake
• 
  Naturally occurring clay as seen on a dry surface
• 
  An artificially made clay floor with clay balls standing on it
• 
  Clay can appear on the surface out of water as long as the block it replaces is dirt or mycelium
• 
  Some clay that naturally spawned in a lake but replaced the dirt under a village farm
• 
  Clay generated outside of water
• 
  A large number of clay disks visible beneath shallow water
• 
  A clay blob with some clay balls before Java Edition Beta 1.8

See also

• Brick
• Terracotta

External links

• Block of the Week: Clay – Minecraft.net on June 2, 2017

References