Obsidian

For other uses, see Obsidian (disambiguation).

Obsidian

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	1,200
Hardness	JE: 50 BE: 35
Luminous	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	29 COLOR_BLACK
Note block instrument	Bass Drum
Sulfur cube archetype	Slow Bouncy

Obsidian is a block found naturally in all dimensions. It is created when water flows over a lava source, or as part of structures. It has high hardness and blast resistance, making it immune to normal explosions. Obsidian can be used to craft beacons, enchanting tables, and ender chests, and build the frame of a Nether portal. Obsidian is only obtainable with a diamond or netherite pickaxe.

Obtaining

Breaking

The breaking times listed below refer to Java Edition.

The suitable tool to break obsidian is the pickaxe. Obsidian needs to be broken using a diamond pickaxe or better, otherwise the breaking time will increase and the block drops nothing.

Block	Obsidian
Hardness	50
Tool
Breaking time (sec)[A]
Default	1250.05 (JE) 250 (BE)
Wooden	1125.05 (JE) 125 (BE)
Stone	162.55 (JE) 62.5 (BE)
Copper	150 (JE) 50 (BE)
Iron	141.7 (JE) 41.7 (BE)
Diamond	19.4 (JE) 9.4 (BE)
Netherite	18.35 (JE) 8.35 (BE)
Golden	120.85 (JE) 20.85 (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

Ender chest

8 obsidian blocks are dropped by an ender chest when broken without a tool enchanted with Silk Touch.

Post-generation

Obsidian is formed when flowing water touches a lava source block, and it can be found naturally where water from a spring or aquifer has flowed over a nearby lava pool. This provides a renewable way of obtaining obsidian, as lava can be farmed via cauldrons under pointed dripstone.

Obsidian is created when a Nether portal is generated in the Nether or the Overworld. This portal can then be mined, providing another way of obtaining obsidian renewably. In Java Edition, if a Nether portal is generated midair, 4 extra obsidian is generated at the bottom of the portal.

When an entity enters the End via an End portal, it always spawns on a platform consisting of 25 obsidian. This platform can then be mined, and regenerates whenever an entity enters the End, providing another way of obtaining obsidian renewably. Obsidian pillars also regenerate when the ender dragon respawns.

Natural generation

Obsidian generates naturally in all dimensions:

• Overworld:
  • Obsidian generates as part of ruined portals.
  • A single obsidian block generates in some types of cold ocean ruin buildings.
  • Obsidian generates in woodland mansions with a diamond block concealed by it. These are found in the secret "obsidian room" and "lava room", on the 2nd or 3rd floors.
• The Nether:
  • Obsidian generates as part of ruined portals.
• The End:
  • Solid End spikes can be found on the End's main island, generating all the way down to Y=0.
  • 26 blocks of obsidian generate as a part of the End ship in an End city.

Generated loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Obsidian	Bastion Remnant	Generic chest	4–6	24.4% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "4–6", "chance": 0.24372395924512447, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Generic chest" }
	Nether Fortress	Chest	2–4	7.5% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "2–4", "chance": 0.07475948885952421, "structure": "Nether Fortress", "container": "Chest" }
	Ruined Portal	Chest	1–2	46.4% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "1–2", "chance": 0.46437576826185156, "structure": "Ruined Portal", "container": "Chest" }
	Village	Weaponsmith's chest	3–7	22.9% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "3–7", "chance": 0.22884863260948196, "structure": "Village", "container": "Weaponsmith's chest" }
Bedrock Edition
Obsidian	Bastion Remnant	Generic chest	4–6	27.2% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "4–6", "chance": 0.2724236654071044, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Generic chest" }
	Nether Fortress	Chest	2–4	7.5% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "2–4", "chance": 0.07475948885952421, "structure": "Nether Fortress", "container": "Chest" }
	Ruined Portal	Chest	1–2	46.4% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "1–2", "chance": 0.46437576826185156, "structure": "Ruined Portal", "container": "Chest" }
	Village	Weaponsmith's chest	3–7	22.9% { "item": "Obsidian", "stacksize": "3–7", "chance": 0.22884863260948196, "structure": "Village", "container": "Weaponsmith's chest" }

Bartering

Piglins may barter a block of obsidian when given a gold ingot with a chance of ~8.53% (⁴⁰⁄₄₆₉).

Usage

Obsidian is useful for building explosion-resistant structures as it has a blast resistance of 1,200, the highest of all blocks obtainable in Survival mode (tied with crying obsidian, anvils, and netherite blocks). Obsidian also cannot be destroyed by the ender dragon. These qualities make obsidian an extremely effective defensive block, and it is commonly used in many bases in multiplayer servers as protection from griefers.

Obsidian is, however, not immune to the wither. Although black wither skulls have merely the explosive power of a ghast fireball, blue wither skulls ignore blast resistance, which means they can destroy obsidian. The wither's body can also destroy obsidian, either through block-breaking behavior upon taking damage, or its dash attack‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}. The wither is the only mob in the game that can break obsidian.

Obsidian is one of the two blocks an End crystal can be placed on; the other is bedrock.

Nether portals

Obsidian is used to create a Nether portal frame, which is then ignited using fire. The frame must be a vertical rectangle any size from 4×5 to 23×23. The corners of the frame are not required for an operational portal.

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Beacon	Glass + Nether Star + Obsidian
Enchanting Table	Book + Diamond + Obsidian
Ender Chest	Obsidian + Eye of Ender

Piston interactivity

Obsidian cannot be pushed by pistons. It also cannot be pushed nor pulled by sticky pistons.

Sounds

Java Edition:

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

Bedrock Edition:

stone sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	place.stone	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.37	0.5
	​Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.4	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.3	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.12	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Obsidian	obsidian	Block & Item	dragon_immune mineable/pickaxe needs_diamond_tool	block.minecraft.obsidian

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Obsidian	obsidian	49	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.obsidian.name

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Enchanter	Construct an Enchanting Table.	Pick up an enchanting table from a crafting table output.	20	Bronze
		Into The Nether	Entered the Nether. [sic]	Enter a Nether portal.	30	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Ice Bucket Challenge	Obtain a block of Obsidian	Have a block of obsidian in the inventory.
	We Need to Go Deeper	Build, light, and enter a Nether Portal	Enter the Nether dimension.
	Enchanter	Enchant an item at an Enchanting Table	Insert an item in an enchanting table, then apply an enchantment.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition Classic
0.28							Added obsidian.
							Obsidian is extremely tough to break and drops one cobblestone block when broken.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1414							Added the obsidian wall, which marks the X and Z axis, intersecting at 0,0. This creates two intersecting planes extending just above the surface of the solid material that surrounds them.
20100313							The obsidian wall has been removed.
20100617-1531							Obsidian is now created when water touches a lava source.
20100618							Obsidian now drops itself when broken.
							Obsidian's blast resistance has been increased. Before this, obsidian had the same blast resistance as stone.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.14							Obsidian's blast resistance has been changed to 1,200, making TNT unable to destroy it.
v1.2.0			preview				Introduced the Nether portal, made using obsidian, which also makes obsidian renewable.
							However, since diamond pickaxes are not yet renewable, obsidian is currently only renewable as a block.
Java Edition Beta
1.8			Pre-release				Obsidian can be moved by endermen.
Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease				Obsidian can no longer be moved by endermen.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3				The enchantment table has been introduced, which is crafted using obsidian.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4				Introduced the End, with obsidian platform and obsidian pillars.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6				Obsidian mining time has been decreased from 15 to 2.5 seconds.
			RC1				Obsidian mining time has been increased from 2.5 to 9.4 seconds.
1.1			12w01a				Obsidian can now be found in village blacksmith chests.
1.3.1			12w21a				The ender chest has been introduced, which is crafted using obsidian.
							As diamond pickaxes can now be purchased from blacksmith villagers, obsidian is now renewable.
			12w24a				Breaking ender chest now drops obsidian, unless mined with silk touch enchantment
1.4.2			12w36a				The beacon block has now received a crafting recipe, which uses obsidian.
			12w38a				The wither's blue wither skull projectile has been introduced, which produces a special explosion that can destroy obsidian.
1.7.2			13w36a				Obsidian can now be destroyed with explosives by summoning a fireball with custom data.
1.8			14w25a				An infinite obsidian glitch (MC-4239, allowing conversion of redstone into obsidian) has been fixed during the implementation of the new block metadata format.
			14w30a				Obsidian can now be found inside chests in Nether fortresses.
1.9			15w31a				Obsidian now generates as part of the End cities.
			15w43a				The obsidian yield from Nether fortress chests has been slightly decreased.
1.11			16w39a				Obsidian now generates in woodland mansions.
July 18, 2017							Jeb tweets an image of an updated obsidian texture.
July 19, 2017							Jeb tweets an image of an updated obsidian texture.
July 11, 2018							Jasper Boerstra tweets an image of an updated obsidian texture.
?							This texture of obsidian was shown at some point (not in game).
1.13			18w09a				Obsidian now generates in some underwater ruins.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of obsidian has been changed.
			18w44a				The texture of obsidian has been changed, once again.
1.16			20w07a				Obsidian has a 1⁄109 (~0.92%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
			20w09a				Obsidian now has a 10⁄113 (~8.85%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1–5.
			20w10a				Obsidian now has a 40⁄411 (~9.73%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
			20w11a				Obsidian now has a 40⁄417 (~9.59%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
			20w13a				Obsidian now has a 40⁄424 (~9.43%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
			20w16a				Obsidian now generates in bastion remnants chests.
							Obsidian can now spawn as part of ruined portals or be found in its chests.
			20w20a				Obsidian now has a 40⁄423 (~9.46%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
1.16.2			20w28a				Obsidian now has a 40⁄459 (~8.71%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
			20w30a				The chance of finding obsidian in bastion remnant chests has been decreased from 31.5% to 24.4%.
26.2			snap1				Added sulfur cubes, which have the ability to absorb obsidian, providing the football/regular effect to the mob.
			snap6				Changed effect from football/regular to slow bouncy.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
Demo							Added obsidian.
v0.2.0							In Survival mode, obsidian drops itself when mined with any pickaxe.
v0.3.0							Obsidian now only drops itself when mined with a diamond pickaxe. This makes obsidian's item form unobtainable as diamond pickaxes are not legitimately obtainable in this version.
v0.3.2							Diamond pickaxes are now legitimately obtainable, making the obsidian item obtainable once again.
v0.5.0							Glowing obsidian has been added, which drops a block of regular obsidian when mined.
							The newly added Nether reactor structure generates a "spire" of obsidian when activated.
v0.6.0							The "spires" generated by Nether reactors are now made of netherrack, instead of obsidian.
v0.9.0			build 1				Obsidian can now be found in villages within blacksmith chests.
v0.12.1			build 1				Obsidian can now be used to form Nether portals.
							Obsidian is now used to craft enchantment tables.
v0.13.0			build 2				Obsidian now requires 6.5 seconds to mine, rather than 3.
v0.16.0			build 4				Obsidian is now used to craft beacons.
							The wither's "blue wither skull" projectile has been introduced, which produces a special explosion that can destroy obsidian.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0			alpha 0.17.0.1				Obsidian is now used to craft ender chests and End crystals.
							Obsidian now generates naturally in the End as obsidian platforms, obsidian pillars and some parts of End ships in End cities.
1.1.0			alpha 1.1.0.0				Obsidian now generates in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0			beta 1.2.20.1				Obsidian now generates in some underwater ruins.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of obsidian has been changed.
							Obsidian can now be found in village weaponsmith chests.
1.16.0			beta 1.16.0.51				Obsidian can now be obtained from bartering.
			beta 1.16.0.57				Obsidian now has a 10⁄106 (9.43%) chance of being offered by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1.
							Obsidian now be found in bastion remnants chests.
							Obsidian can now generate as part of ruined portals and can be found in its chests.
26.20 Experiment Drop 2 of 2026			Preview 26.20.23				Added sulfur cubes, which have the ability to absorb obsidian, 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.
			Preview 26.30.27				Obsidian's sulfur cube archetype has been changed from regular to slow bouncy.

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 obsidian.
TU7							The enchantment table has been introduced, which is crafted using obsidian.
TU9							Introduced the End, with obsidian platform and obsidian pillars.
TU14		1.04					The ender chest has been introduced, which is crafted using obsidian.
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12			Obsidian can now be used to craft beacons.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Obsidian can now be found inside chests in Nether fortresses.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Obsidian now generates as part of the End cities.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Obsidian now generates in woodland mansions.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Obsidian now generates in some underwater ruins.
			1.90				The texture of obsidian has been changed.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added obsidian.

• 
  The first released screenshot of the End, featuring obsidian in obsidian pillars.
• 
  The brightened version of the first image featuring obsidian.
• 
  A naturally generated obsidian wall from Infdev.
• 
  A comparison between glowing obsidian (left), crying obsidian (middle), and regular obsidian (right).

Data history

Issues

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

Trivia

• Obsidian is one of the hardest blocks to destroy in Minecraft. In reality, obsidian has characteristics similar to glass, being a brittle material.
• Geologically, obsidian is a volcanic glass that forms when lava is flash-cooled. It is the only igneous rock that's glassy.
  • Other volcanic rocks in the game are andesite, basalt, and tuff.
• 71.25 times the explosive power of TNT would be required to destroy a block of obsidian; however, additional TNT increases the blast radius, not explosive power. It is possible to /summon an explosion strong enough to destroy obsidian.
• While working on the Texture Update, Jasper Boerstra expressed great difficulty over redesigning obsidian.^[1]
• During the writing of Minecraft: The Lost Journals, Mur Lafferty unknowingly made obsidian too easy to break, and had to rewrite several important scenes to correct this.^[2]

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  Naturally generated obsidian as found in a snowy biome
• 
  More naturally generated obsidian pillars as seen in the End
• 
  Obsidian as used to shield from explosions
• 
  Makena failing to make a cobblestone generator, getting obsidian instead

In other media

• 
  Obsidian as it appeared in Minecraft Earth
• 
  A bowl of candies, with obsidian
• 
  Obsidian as it appeared in the 2022 Mob Vote Event
• 
  Eve in a cage made of obsidian
• 
  Obsidian as it appears in A Minecraft Movie
• 
  A gamerpic of obsidian
• 
  Cubeez of obsidian
• 
  Obsidian as seen in Choose Your Mode
• 

See also

• Obsidian Wall
• Crying Obsidian
• Glowing Obsidian
• Nether Portal

References

External links

• "Block of the Week: Obsidian" by Alex Wiltshire – Minecraft.net, January 27, 2017.