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This article is about the block found in rivers. For the item, see Clay Ball. For other uses, see Clay (disambiguation).

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[A]
Default 0.9
Wooden 0.45
Stone 0.25
Iron 0.15
Diamond 0.15
Netherite 0.1
Golden 0.1
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

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 swamps, beaches, oceans, and at the bottoms of rivers and lakes in shallow, crystal-shaped disks, disregarding adjacency to other types of blocks.

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

Mob loot[]

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

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[]

If mud is placed above any block with a pointed dripstone underneath, the mud eventually turns into clay, although the dripstone does not deposit any water into a cauldron. This conversion does not happen in the Nether.[1]

Usage[]

Smelting ingredient[]

Name Ingredients Smelting recipe
Terracotta Clay +
Any fuel


0.35

Note block[]

Clay can be placed under note blocks to produce flute sounds.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Block brokenBlocksOnce the block has brokenblock.gravel.breaksubtitles.block.generic.break1.00.816
Block placedBlocksWhen the block is placedblock.gravel.placesubtitles.block.generic.place1.00.816
Block breakingBlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenblock.gravel.hitsubtitles.block.generic.hit0.250.516
None[sound 1]Entity-DependentFalling on the block with fall damageblock.gravel.fallNone[sound 1]0.50.7516
FootstepsEntity-DependentWalking on the blockblock.gravel.stepsubtitles.block.generic.footsteps0.151.016
  1. a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.gravel1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placeddig.gravel1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.gravel0.170.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.gravel0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.gravel0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.gravel0.11.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.gravel0.171.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormBlock tagsTranslation key
ClayclayBlock & Itemenderman_holdable
lush_ground_replaceable‌
small_dripleaf_placeable‌
mineable/shovel
block.minecraft.clay

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormItem ID[i 1]Translation key
Clay Blockclay82Block & Giveable Item[i 2]Identical[i 3]tile.clay.name
  1. ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
  2. Available with /give command.
  3. The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.

Video[]

History[]

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11Clay JE1 BE1 Added clay blocks.
Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
Java Edition Beta
1.8Pre-releaseClay 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 "lakes" (1 and 2 meters deep) in large quantities.
Java Edition
1.6.113w17aClay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
1.7.213w36aClay is no longer found on the ocean floor.
1.915w31aIt is now possible to re-summon the ender dragon by placing clay in a creeper face pattern in the End.
15w44aClay can no longer be used to re-summon the ender dragon, as end crystals now serve the purpose.
1.1217w17aClay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 82.
?Clay can be found in oceans once again.
1.1418w43aClay JE2 BE2 The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
18w48aClay now generates in the updated plains villages.
18w49aClay now generates in the updated savanna villages.
18w50aClay now generates in the updated desert and taiga villages.
19w13aMason villagers now give clay to players under the Hero of the Village effect, making clay renewable.
1.1721w10aClay can now generate in the lush caves, though the biome doesn't generate outside of buffet or custom worlds yet.
1.18Experimental Snapshot 1Lush caves now generate naturally, making clay available from them in regular worlds.
1.1922w14aMud now can be converted into clay by placing it above a block which has pointed dripstone underneath.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0Clay JE1 BE1 Added clay blocks.
Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
v0.3.2Clay blocks now drop 4 clay balls when broken.
Clay blocks can now be crafted from 4 clay balls.
v0.3.3Clay blocks are now available in the creative inventory.
v0.9.0build 1Clay blocks are found in disks underwater.
build 11Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Clay blocks now generate in village mason houses.
Clay JE2 BE2 The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
1.13.0beta 1.13.0.9Clay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.16.220beta 1.16.220.52Clay can now generate in lush caves, though the biome does not generate naturally yet.
1.17.0beta 1.17.0.50Lush caves now generate throughout the Overworld behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay available in vanilla worlds this way.
releaseLush caves have been made inaccessible in the full release, making clay no longer obtainable from them.
1.17.10releaseLush caves can now generate naturally outside of the beta versions behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay once again available from them.
1.18.0beta 1.18.0.21Clay blobs in lush caves now generate between Y=-64 and Y=256 instead of 120, and increased the number of blobs.
1.19.0beta 1.19.0.24Mud now can be converted into clay by placing it above a block which has pointed dripstone underneath making clay renewable.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 1Clay JE1 BE1 Added clay blocks.
1.90 Clay JE2 BE2 The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Clay JE1 BE1 Added clay blocks.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Clay" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

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

Gallery[]

See also[]

External Links[]

  1. MC-264720 — "Mud does not convert to clay in Nether with dripstone" — resolved as "Works As Intended".
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