Ladder

Ladders are solid blocks used for climbing walls either vertically or horizontally. They can be placed only on the sides of other blocks.

Obtaining[]

Breaking[]

Ladders can be broken using any tool, but an axe is the quickest.

Natural generation[]

Ladders occur naturally in library rooms of strongholds and in intersection rooms with a wooden ceiling. Ladders can also be found in village structures such as plains and taiga temples and many small or medium houses, as well as in churches. They may also be found leading to the basements of igloos, in end ships on the pillar leading up to the crow's nest, and in rail rooms of woodland mansions. Ladders also generate in ancient cities and in trail ruins.

Crafting[]

Usage[]

Ladders provide a way to cushion a player's impact after a free fall. Upon entering a ladder's area of effect, the player's speed is reduced instantly to normal ladder descent speed and no damage is taken. Falling onto the narrow top surface of the ladder incurs falling damage as normal.

Holding the sneak key while climbing a ladder causes the player to grab hold of the ladder and not fall off. While the player is holding on to a ladder, mining speed decreases.

Any mob can climb a ladder in the same way a player does: by pushing against it. Mobs are not smart enough to use ladders deliberately — they do not remain on a ladder to get somewhere, but a ladder directly in their path lets them climb up.

Placement[]

Ladders can be placed on any full solid block face.

Ladders displace lava blocks to create an air pocket and can be used instead of glass to let lava light shine through a ceiling. They also displace flowing water, but a ladder placed inside a water source block becomes waterlogged and does not create an air pocket.

Climbing[]

A ladder takes effect whenever the player's lower half is in the block occupied by a ladder. These effects are:

• If the player pushes against a wall, the player moves upward at about 2.35 blocks per second instead of horizontally. (Thus inside a 1×1 ladder shaft, the player can use any movement key to move upward.)
• If a player occupies the 1×1 ladder shaft, the player can ascend the ladder by holding jump instead of using a horizontal movement key.
• If a player moving perpendicular to the ladder block enters the ladder block, the player begins to move upward, but then falls off the ladder shortly afterward if the player continues to move horizontally.
• The player's maximum downward speed is reduced to a "descending ladder" speed, at about 3 blocks per second.
• The player's horizontal movement friction is the same as on ice. (That is, moving around in the tiny space the player is in while still hanging on the ladder at the same level.)

Additionally:

• In Bedrock Edition, a player can hold down the jump button while climbing a ladder to make the climbing speed faster.
• Also in Bedrock Edition, waterlogged ladders cannot be climbed.
• In Java Edition, when a trapdoor is placed directly above a ladder and opened, the trapdoor also becomes climbable.
• A player on a slab in front of the ladder must jump to get on the ladder despite being only 1/2 block down.
• Like vines, ladders slow the player down when walked through.
• Consuming food, blocking with a shield or pulling back a bow, do not slow the player down while climbing ladders (unlike when walking, sprinting and swimming).^[1]

Fuel[]

A ladder can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per ladder.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Block states[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

History[]

Java Edition Infdev
20100607					Added ladders. In an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Notch stated that he never originally wanted to add ladders because they are never fun, and that the fans convinced him to do it.[2]
					Ladders can be placed on every other block and still be climbable because the player can climb a ladder when any part of the body was on it, not just the lowest part.
					The crafting recipe of ladders produces one ladder per 7 sticks.
20100617-2					Ladders are no longer destroyed by water.
20100618					The texture of ladders has been darkened.
Java Edition Beta
1.4					Pressing the sneak key now stops the player from moving down the ladder.
1.5					The player can no longer climb ladders spaced every other block.
					The crafting recipe now produces 2 ladders, thus the changes do not change the number of sticks needed to make a ladder of a given height.
1.6		Test Build 3			Ladders can no longer be placed on glowstone.
Java Edition
1.1		12w01a			The collision boxes for ladders have now been removed.
1.2.1		12w03a			The collision boxes for ladders have now been re-added.
		1.2			The crafting recipe now produces 3 ladders per 7 sticks, as opposed to 1 from Infdev until Beta 1.4_01 and 2 from Beta 1.5 until 1.1.
1.4.2		12w38a			Added a sound for climbing up ladders.
1.5		13w02a			Added death messages for ladders: "Player fell off a ladder".
1.8		14w07a			Ladders with metadata values 0-1 and 6-15 now have no model.
		14w10a			The back faces of ladders now render.[3]
		14w31a			Ladders are now mined faster using axes.
1.9		15w31a			The ladder's bounding box is now 3⁄16 block (formerly 2⁄16).
		15w43a			A length of ladder generates as part of the shaft from igloos leading to their basements.
1.11		16w33a			Ladders can now be used to fuel furnaces.
		16w39a			Ladders now generate in woodland mansions.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 65.
		18w10d			Water can now be placed on the same block as ladders.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of ladders has been changed.
		19w13a			Ladders can now be placed on glowstone.
1.16		20w10a			Ladders can now be placed on blocks of redstone, observers and targets.[4]
1.17		21w13a			The model of the ladder has been changed so that the back texture is mirrored.
1.19		22w13a			Ladders now generate in ancient cities.
1.20		23w12a			Ladders now generate in trail ruins.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					Added ladders. Their back faces do not render.
v0.3.0					Survival players no longer start out with an infinite amount of ladders in the inventory.
v0.9.0		build 1			The back faces of ladders now render.
		build 10			The ladder collision box has been made slightly thinner.
v0.11.0		?			Mobs can now climb ladders.
v0.12.1		build 1			Added a sound for climbing up ladders.
					With sneaking added, it is now possible to sit on a ladder without moving.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			A length of ladder generates as part of the shaft from igloos leading to their basements.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Ladders now generate in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.14.2			Water can now be placed on the same block as ladders.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of ladders has been changed.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Added ladders.
TU12					The crafting recipe now yields 3 ladders instead of 2.
		1.90			The texture of ladders has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added ladders.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

• It is possible to use ladders one block apart in a corner by placing every other ladder on the alternating side of the corner. This method requires jumping and shifting sides constantly.
• By holding the jump key, players can still use water ladders that have ladders placed every other block.
• If the player stops on a ladder and places a sign, the player remains in midair without having to hold Shift, because the game is paused in singleplayer.‌^{[Java Edition only]} This does not work in multiplayer because the game is not paused.
• Attempting to place a ladder on a spot another ladder occupies may instead place the ladder somewhere nearby (because of the ladder's hitbox).
• It is possible to remove a ladder while standing on a ladder and holding the sneak key, but it can take a long time because the countdown for breaking the ladder often resets.
• In Java Edition, sticks can be crafted into ladders to gain a slight bonus in fuel efficiency. While 7 sticks can smelt 3.5 items, if they are crafted into 3 ladders, 4.5 items can be smelted.

Gallery[]

Renders[]

Screenshots[]

• 

  Opened ceiling on water.

• 

  Tunnel through water.

• 

  Ceiling lit by ladder-suspended lava.

• 

  Naturally occurring ladders in a stronghold.

• 

  An mineshaft has intersected with a stronghold resulting in floating ladders.

• 

  In versions prior to Beta 1.5, spacing ladders was a way to climb, without wasting ladders.

• 

  No air-pocket is made in Java Edition 1.13.

References[]