How to make obsidian in Minecraft (2024 guide)

Water and lava have really important uses in Minecraft. Water is not only an important ingredient for growing crops, but it can also be used to brew potions by filling glass bottles or making mud from soil. Lava, on the other hand, is the most efficient fuel source in Minecraft and is fully renewable and farmable thanks to sharp drip stones. Therefore, the super smelter will never run out of fuel. Interestingly, the interaction of water and lava introduces a rather useful mechanism. You can create stone blocks, cobblestone blocks, or obsidian depending on your current state. However, in this article we will focus on how to create obsidian in Minecraft, where it naturally spawns and how to use it in the game.

What is obsidian in Minecraft

Obsidian is a block found in all three dimensions of Minecraft. It also has some important characteristics. First of all, it is almost completely bombproof, meaning it cannot be destroyed by TNT or most other explosives. This includes attacks by the ender dragon, but excludes contact with the wither’s blue wither skull or its body. The wither in Minecraft is the only mob that can destroy obsidian.

If you want to learn more about blast resistance, check out our guide on how to make TNT in Minecraft. This wonderful mechanism is explained in detail. Obsidian also has unique interactions with pistons. Pistons and sticky pistons cannot push or pull obsidian blocks in-game. Due to the extremely high hardness of obsidian, only diamond and netherite pickaxes can destroy these blocks. Learn the levels where you can find diamonds in Minecraft via the linked guide.

How to make obsidian in Minecraft

Obsidian is relatively easy to make in Minecraft. All you need is flowing water and a stationary lava source. When a flowing water block comes into contact with a lava source, it will directly turn into obsidian and destroy the lava source. This means that you will need a lava source for each obsidian block you want to obtain. The process looks like this:

Step 1: Get water in Minecraft

The water flow part of this process is easy. You can easily find water sources in your world and dig canals to bring them to the lava. However, this is a very tedious task and is not required. The best way to transport running water is with a bucket .

To make a bucket, you need 3 iron ingots. To create a bucket in Minecraft, follow the creation recipe below. With the bucket selected, you can scoop water by right-clicking on the water source. You can then place it anywhere you like to create a block of easily flowing water.

Step 2: Find the lava source in Minecraft

The difficult part of creating obsidian is finding lava . This dangerous liquid block can be encountered in various locations in the overworld. Lava pits and pools can form on the surface of the earth that is directly exposed to the sky. These surface lava pools are a great choice for collecting obsidian in the early game . Desert biomes are the easiest to find because they are fairly flat.

In addition, lava pools also generate in the underground parts of the Minecraft world and can be discovered by exploring caves and searching for diamonds at the highest Y level. Lone lava sources also occasionally generate in caves, but your time is not consumed very efficiently if you choose to collect obsidian that way.

Step 3: Minecraft Obsidian Crafting Recipe

Once you find a lava pool, craft obsidian in Minecraft. First, place a water source one block away (horizontally or vertically) from the edge of the lava pool. Water then begins to flow, covering multiple lava sources and turning them into obsidian.

Once you have created an obsidian block, you can mine it. Note that to mine obsidian in Minecraft , you will need at least a diamond pickaxe . It also takes much more time than other blocks.

Note : If you are using a lava pool to collect obsidian, there will almost certainly be more lava source blocks directly below the obsidian you generate. To avoid burning all obsidian items that have been mined for a long time in lava, place the water source block used to create the obsidian on the same level as the obsidian platform so that it flows towards the block you are mining. Flowing water instantly turns exposed lava sources into obsidian, much faster than falling items. Therefore, all your obsidian will be safe.

Other ways to get obsidian in Minecraft

Besides making your own from scratch, there are other ways to obtain obsidian. These include both early and late game options. Which method do you prefer? Let me know in the comments! Naturally occurring obsidian is not uncommon. Sometimes you’ll only find a few obsidian blocks, but other times you’ll be able to fill dozens of shulker boxes.

cave obsidian

In the world of Minecraft, flowing water and lava can interact naturally. This usually spawns in caves. Water sources can generate above lava pools, so when the water starts flowing, it can generate obsidian below.

Obsidian in structures

Obsidian occurs naturally as part of some structures. They include:

• Ruined Nether Portals – Ruined Nether Portals exist in both the Overworld and the Nether. They are made up of blocks of obsidian and weeping obsidian, with some additional lava sources around them that can be turned into netherrack, magma blocks, and even obsidian. This structure is intended to represent a hint of the existence of a Nether dimension.

• Forest Mansion – If you are very lucky, you will find Obsidian in the Forest Mansion. They only spawn in secret rooms, inside of which there is also an entire diamond block hidden.
• Marine Ruins – Some obsidian blocks can be found as part of structures in marine ruins.

Obsidian Pillar at the End

The best place to get Obsidian in Minecraft for late-game players is the End Dimension. On the main island where you fight the Ender Dragon, 10 large, solid obsidian pillars will spawn. According to Minecraft Wiki , there are approximately 40,499 obsidian blocks in total .

Not only that, but the pillars will regenerate every time you respawn the Ender Dragon in Minecraft. This essentially means that if you can defeat the Ender Dragon many times, you will have an unlimited supply of Obsidian.

chest booty

Obsidian block items can be generated inside chests in some structures. Their structures include:

• Bastion Remnant – A typical chest in this giant blackstone structure can contain between 4 and 6 obsidian blocks.
• Nether Fortress – A chest in a Nether Fortress contains 2-4 obsidian blocks.
• Ruined Nether Portal – There is a high chance of finding 1-2 Obsidian blocks inside the chest of the Ruined Portal.
• Village – Weaponsmith building has a chance to spawn a chest containing 3-7 obsidian blocks.

Bartering with piglins

One of the various items and blocks that can be obtained through Piglin Bartering is Obsidian. All piglins given gold ingots have an approximately 8.71% chance of throwing an obsidian block at the player.

How to use obsidian in Minecraft

Obsidian is one of the most important blocks for Minecraft progression. However, apart from these uses, there are also other related features that players should know about. So without further ado, let’s go over all the uses of obsidian.

explosion resistant block

Therefore, as mentioned above, obsidian is a highly blast-resistant block. This can be quite important in some cases. For example, if you are building a farm that includes TNT dupers, such as a tree farm or a cobblestone generator, it is essential to protect the surrounding area from the effects of an explosion. Therefore, you can use obsidian to surround the blast area and only the selected blocks will be destroyed. Learn how to make TNT in Minecraft via the linked guide.

In addition, Obsidian allows you to protect yourself from ghast fireballs and TNT explosions while trying out bed techniques against the Ender Dragon while searching for netherite and bed explosions in The End (Ender Dragon Eggs). (Learn how to hatch them here). Obsidian is the number one block that can be collected in large quantities and protects you from almost all explosive damage.

Blocks cannot be pushed or pulled

This is a fairly useful feature of obsidian blocks. For certain farm designs, such as slime and honey block flying machines, it’s important to be able to stop and disable them. Although other blocks with similar properties are available, obsidian is used quite often.

craft materials

Obsidian is part of three very related crafting recipes in Minecraft. They are:

• Beacon: Beacons are functional and expensive blocks that provide buffs to players. There’s a lot to say about this amazing block. If you want to learn more about beacons in Minecraft, check out the linked guide. To create a beacon, follow the creation recipe shown in the image below.

• Enchantment Table : The Enchantment Table allows you to upgrade your equipment to make it even stronger, more durable, and even enhanced with different abilities. We also have a Minecraft Enchantment Guide that explains everything you need to know about enchantments, so be sure to check it out. To create an enchantment table you will need:
  • 1 book
  • 2 diamonds
  • 4 Obsidian

• Ender Chest : This is a must-have item in every player’s inventory late in the game. This is a chest that gives you access to unique content that all ender chests share. This way, the inside of the ender chest will always be safe, as no items can get out unless you pull them out. Additionally, on multiplayer servers, players typically use the Ender Chest as a wallet, since only they can access the contents of the Ender Chest. If you need more help, check out our guide on how to make and use an Ender Chest.

nether portal frame block

To advance in Minecraft and win the game, you must enter the Nether, a terrifying fiery dimension. The only way to do this in Survival is with Nether Portals. If you are not familiar with this structure, read our dedicated guide on how to create a nether portal in Minecraft.

Note block interactions

Place an obsidian block under a note block and right-click on the note block to make a bass drum sound.