Sugar Cane

Sugar Cane
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	0
Hardness	0
Luminous	No
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire; from lava	No
Map color	; 7 PLANT
Note block instrument	Default (Harp)

Sugar cane is a plant that can only be placed on plantable blocks adjacent to water. It grows up to three blocks tall over time, but will instead uproot itself if its water is removed. Sugar cane can be crafted into sugar and paper.

Obtaining

Breaking

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. When all adjacent water is removed, 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.

Block	Sugar Cane
Hardness	0
Breaking time (secs)
Default	10.05 (JE) 0.05 (BE)

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

Sugar cane generates in patches next to water, as columns two (11/18 chance), three (5/18) or four (2/18) blocks tall. A patch attempt places up to 20 columns within 4 blocks horizontally of a single point, all at the same height. A column is placed only where the block is air, the block below can support sugar cane (all types of dirt, sand, moss and mud), and at least one of the four blocks horizontally adjacent to that supporting block is water.

How often a patch is attempted depends on the biome:


biomes	frequency
desert	every chunk
swamp	1 chunk in 3
badlands, eroded badlands, wooded badlands	1 chunk in 5
most other biomes	1 chunk in 6

It does not generate in every Overworld biome. It is absent from cherry grove, meadow, grove, snowy slopes, frozen peaks, jagged peaks, stony peaks, mangrove swamp, and the cave biomes.

The placement point is pinned to the surface, so sugar cane cannot generate underground or in caves^[1].

Since all of a patch's placement attempts occur at the same height, a patch cannot grow sugar cane on top of another sugar cane in the same patch. However, if a neighboring chunk grows sugar cane at a lower height, the patch could theoretically grow sugar cane on top of it, since patches can bleed into adjacent chunks, which could lead to 5+ tall sugar canes. However, because of the soil and water requirements, this is extremely unlikely.

Trading

Wandering traders may sell sugar cane for 1 emerald.

Villager		Probability		Villager wants	Player receives	Trades in stock	Villager experience	Price multiplier
Villager		JE	BE	Villager wants	Player receives	Trades in stock	Villager experience	Price multiplier
Wandering Trader	Ordinary	6%	6%	Emerald	Sugar Cane	8	—	—

Mob loot

In Bedrock Edition, wandering traders have a chance of 25% (increased by 1% per level of Looting) to drop 1 sugar cane when killed while showing the item as trade offer, if the player holds an emerald.

Usage

Sugar cane may be placed only on grass blocks, dirt, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, podzol, mycelium, sand, red sand, suspicious sand, moss blocks, pale moss blocks, mud, or muddy mangrove roots that are directly adjacent to water, a 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.

Farming

Sugar cane can generate naturally up to any number of blocks tall, but grow only to a height of three blocks, adding a block of height when the top sugar cane block has received 16 random 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 grows regardless of light level, even in complete darkness.

In Bedrock Edition, a single application of bone meal grows sugar cane to three blocks. In Java Edition, bone meal cannot be used on sugar cane.^[2]

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Paper	Sugar Cane	3
Sugar	Sugar Cane

Composting

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

Piston interactivity

Sugar cane is destroyed when a piston tries to push it. It can not be pulled by pistons.

Color

The coloration of sugar cane is dependent on the biome they are in. A block always uses the color set to its location, regardless of how it was placed or of its source.

These values are generated by the biome dyeing algorithm, which depends on the biome's temperature and downfall. See biome colors for more information.

Biome	Color	Block
Badlands	#90814D
Eroded Badlands
Wooded Badlands
Modified Badlands Plateau‌^{[BE only]}
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau‌^{[BE only]}
Cherry Grove	#B6DB61
Desert	#BFB755
Savanna
Savanna Plateau
Windswept Savanna
Nether Wastes
Soul Sand Valley
Crimson Forest
Warped Forest
Basalt Deltas
Desert Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Desert Lakes‌^{[BE only]}
Badlands Plateau‌^{[BE only]}
Shattered Savanna Plateau‌^{[BE only]}	#82C245
Stony Peaks	#9ABE4B
Jungle	#59C93C
Bamboo Jungle
Jungle Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Modified Jungle‌^{[BE only]}
Bamboo Jungle Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Sparse Jungle	#64C73F
Modified Jungle Edge‌^{[BE only]}	#64C73F
Lush Caves‌^{[BE only]}	#B9B75B
Mushroom Fields	#55C93F
Mushroom Field Shore‌^{[BE only]}	#55C93F
Swamp	#6A7039^{[n 1]}
Mangrove Swamp	#6A7039^{[n 1]}
Mangrove Swamp	#4C763C^{[n 2]}
Swamp Hills‌^{[BE only]}	#4C763C^{[n 2]}
Plains	#91BD59
Sunflower Plains
Beach
Dripstone Caves‌^{[JE only]}
Deep Dark
Sulfur Caves	#ABA64F
Forest	#79C05A
Flower Forest
Wooded Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Tall Birch Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Dark Forest	#507A32
Dark Forest Hills‌^{[BE only]}	#507A32
Pale Garden	#878D76
Birch Forest	#88BB67
Old Growth Birch Forest
Birch Forest Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Dappled Forest	#df6827
Ocean	#8EB971
Deep Ocean
Warm Ocean
Deep Warm Ocean‌^{[BE only]}
Lukewarm Ocean
Deep Lukewarm Ocean
Cold Ocean
Deep Cold Ocean
Deep Frozen Ocean
River
Lush Caves‌^{[JE only]}
The End
Small End Islands‌^{[JE only]}
End Barrens‌^{[JE only]}
End Midlands‌^{[JE only]}
End Highlands‌^{[JE only]}
The Void‌^{[JE only]}
Meadow‌^{[JE only]}	#83BB6D
Meadow‌^{[BE only]}	#86B87F
Old Growth Pine Taiga
Giant Tree Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Giant Spruce Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Taiga	#86B783
Old Growth Spruce Taiga
Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Taiga Mountains‌^{[BE only]}
Dripstone Caves‌^{[BE only]}	#8DB58A
Windswept Hills	#8AB689
Windswept Gravelly Hills
Windswept Forest
Stony Shore
Gravelly Mountains+‌^{[BE only]}
Mountain Edge‌^{[BE only]}
Snowy Beach	#83B593
Snowy Plains	#80B497
Ice Spikes
Ice Caves^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]}
Snowy Taiga
Frozen Ocean
Frozen River
Grove
Snowy Slopes
Frozen Peaks
Jagged Peaks
Snowy Mountains‌^{[BE only]}
Legacy Frozen Ocean‌^{[BE only]}
Snowy Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]}
Snowy Taiga Mountains‌^{[BE only]}

↑ Above -0.1 temperature.
↑ Below -0.1 temperature.

[warm2-3] Above -0.1 temperature.

[cold2-4] Below -0.1 temperature.

[1]

[2]

[n 1]

[n 2]

`grass` sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	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
	Block placed^{[until: JE 26.4]}	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.grass.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	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
	Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.grass.fall`	`subtitles.block.generic.fall`	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.grass.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

`grass` sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	0.7	0.8–1.0
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`place.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	0.8	0.8–1.0
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.3	0.5
	Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.4	1.0
	Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	`step.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.3	1.0
	Shovel flattens	Blocks	When a shovel creates a dirt path	`use.grass`	`subtitles.item.shovel.flatten`	1.0	0.8
	Footsteps	Blocks	Jumping from the block	`jump.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.11	1.0
	Footsteps	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.grass`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.21	1.0

Sugar Cane	Identifier	Alias ID	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Sugar cane [sic]	`reeds`	None	`83`	Block & Ungiveable Item^{[i 2]}	`item.reeds`	`tile.reeds.name`
Sugar Cane	`sugar_cane`	`reeds`	`385`	Item	—	`item.reeds.name`

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11		Added reeds.
		Since no in-game name was indicated, they were referred to by names such as "bamboo" or "papyrus".
		Reeds can be used to craft paper.
Java Edition Beta
1.2		"Reeds" have been renamed to "Sugar Canes".
1.2		Sugar canes can now be crafted into sugar, included in the recipe for the cakes.
1.6	Test Build 3	Arrows no longer stick to sugar canes, 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 canes 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.
1.8	Pre-release	Sugar cane is now available in the creative inventory in both block and item forms.
Java Edition
1.0.0	Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6	The sugar cane block has been removed from the creative inventory.
1.7.2	13w36a	Sugar canes are now tinted depending on the biome they are in.
1.7.2	13w36a	The item texture remained unchanged and still used the color palette from before the update.^[3]
1.8	14w25a	Sugar canes are now affected by the same shading full blocks are.
1.8	14w26a	Sugar canes are no longer subject to shading.
1.9	15w43a	Sugar canes no longer breaks if its adjacent water is turned to frosted ice.
1.13	17w47a	"Sugar Canes" has been renamed to "Sugar Cane".
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.
	19w05a	Added wandering traders, which sell sugar cane.
1.16	20w13a	Sugar cane has been moved from the Miscellaneous tab to the Decoration Blocks tab in the Creative inventory.^[4]
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.^[3]
1.17	pre1	Sugar cane now generates in mushroom fields.^[5]
1.19	22w15a	Sugar cane can now be planted on mud.
1.20	23w14a	Sugar cane can now be planted on suspicious sand.

Pocket Edition Alpha
Demo		Added sugar canes.
v0.2.0		Despite being visible in the inventory, sugar canes 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 canes in the inventory.
v0.3.0		Sugar cane now drops its item form when mined.
v0.3.0		Survival players no longer start with an infinite stack of sugar canes in the inventory.
v0.5.0		Sugar canes can now be grown on sand.
v0.5.0		Sugar canes can now be obtained after activating the nether reactor.
v0.8.0	build 5	Bone meal can now grow sugar canes to maximum height.
v0.9.0	build 1	The color of sugar canes now changes depending on the biome they are in.
v0.9.0	build 1	Using bone meal on sugar canes is no longer able to break blocks above it.
v0.12.1	build 1	Sugar canes are no longer available from the nether reactor.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0	alpha 0.17.0.1	Sugar canes are no longer tinted depending on the biome.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.13	beta 1.2.13.5	Sugar canes are now tinted depending on the biome, once again.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	Sugar canes 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.
1.21.30	Preview 1.21.30.22	Changed name from "Sugar Canes" to "Sugar Cane" to match Java Edition.
1.21.60	Preview 1.21.60.21	The hitbox of sugar cane has been changed to match Java Edition.
1.21.60	Preview 1.21.60.23	Sugar canes no longer cut through other blocks when generating.

Sugar Cane

Obtaining

Breaking

Natural generation

Trading

Mob loot

Usage

Farming

Crafting ingredient

Composting

Piston interactivity

Color

Sounds

Data values

ID

Block states

Videos

History

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Legacy Console Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

Data history

Issues

Trivia

Gallery

Screenshots

References

More in Plants

Related mods

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 sugar canes.
TU1							Sugar canes are solid, making it useful for growable walls.
TU2							Sugar canes are no longer solid, and arrows pass through them.
TU46	CU36	1.47	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		The color of sugar canes now changes depending on the biome they're in.
TU57	CU49	1.57	1.56	1.56	Patch 27	1.0.7	The color of sugar canes no longer changes depending on the biome they're in.
TU60	CU51	1.64	1.64	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Sugar canes can now be grown with bonemeal.
			1.90				The texture of the sugar cane item has been changed.
			1.91				Sugar canes can now be bought from wandering traders.
			1.91				Sugar canes can now be used to fill up composters.

Java Edition
1.13	17w47a	The ID of sugar canes has been changed from `reeds` to `sugar_cane`.
1.13	17w47a	Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 83, and the item's 338.
1.17	21w19a	`minecraft:sugar_cane` has been added to the newly-implemented `#minecraft:mineable/axe` block tag. This, however, has no effect in-game, since the block breaks instantly anyway regardless of tool used or active effects. Prior to this update, sugar cane was hardcoded to have axes as the preferred tool.
1.21.5	25w10a	`minecraft:sugar_cane` has been removed from the block tags `#minecraft:mineable/axe` and `#minecraft:sword_efficient`.