block

Obsidian in Minecraft | MinecraftBible

Obsidian is a block in Minecraft 1.21.4 that requires Diamond Pickaxe or better to mine, dropping Obsidian.

What is Obsidian?

Obsidian is a Minecraft block classified under the Requires better than wooden tool material group. It has a hardness of 50 and a blast resistance of 1200. It stacks up to 64 per inventory slot. It is a solid, opaque block. Obsidian does not emit light. Obsidian filters 15 levels of light passing through it, which is why it blocks skylight below it.

Namespaced identifier: minecraft:obsidian. Command: /give @p minecraft:obsidian 1.

How to mine Obsidian

Obsidian requires one of the following tools to drop its item — mining with a lower tier or by hand destroys it:

Break times (unenchanted, no Haste or Mining Fatigue):

  • With the correct tool: approximately 75 seconds
  • By hand (no tool): approximately 250 seconds

Using an Efficiency-enchanted tool, Haste beacons, or a Diamond/Netherite tier drastically reduces these times. Water and being airborne slow mining by 5×.

Obsidian drops

When broken, Obsidian drops:

Silk Touch preserves the block itself; Fortune increases quantity of ore-style drops but has no effect on ordinary blocks.

What Obsidian is used to craft

Obsidian appears as an ingredient in 3 known Minecraft recipes:

Block tags & properties

  • Opaque
  • Requires Tool
  • Crafting Material

Obsidian technical properties

  • Flammable: No
  • Burns from lava: No
  • Renewable: Yes
  • Emits light: No (luminance 0)

Values sourced from Minecraft Wiki: Obsidian (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Verified for Java Edition 1.21.4.

Obsidian natural generation

  • Generates in biomes / dimensions: Overworld, The End
  • World features & structures: End ship, End city

Technical properties

  • Namespaced ID: minecraft:obsidian
  • Material family: Requires better than wooden tool
  • Hardness: 50
  • Blast resistance: 1200
  • Stack size: 64
  • Transparent: No
  • Blocks light: 15
  • Emits light: 0
  • Diggable: Yes
  • Craftable: No
  • /give command: /give @p minecraft:obsidian 1

Overview

Obsidian is a block in Minecraft 1.21.4. This page covers mining requirements, real drop data, and crafting relevance.

Prerequisites and materials

  • Bring the correct tool tier before mining - breaking Obsidian with the wrong tool will destroy it without dropping anything.
  • Expect to collect Obsidian once it breaks.

Step-by-step walkthrough

  1. Bring the correct tool tier before mining - breaking Obsidian with the wrong tool will destroy it without dropping anything.
  2. Expect to collect Obsidian once it breaks.
  3. With the correct tool this takes about 75s to break (unenchanted); by hand it's roughly 250s.

Pro tips

  • Use /give @p minecraft:obsidian 1 in creative mode to prototype builds before committing resources.
  • Carry a spare tool of the correct tier - breaking with the wrong one wastes the drop.

Difficulty and time commitment

  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Estimated time per run: 5-20 min

Frequently Asked Questions

What tool do I need to mine Obsidian?

You need one of: Diamond Pickaxe, Netherite Pickaxe. Mining with a lower tier tool (or by hand) will break the block without dropping its item.

What does Obsidian drop when mined?

Breaking Obsidian drops Obsidian.

How hard is Obsidian to mine?

Obsidian has a hardness value of 50. That works out to roughly 75s with the correct tool or 250s by hand (unenchanted, no Haste/Mining Fatigue).

What is Obsidian used to craft?

Obsidian is used as an ingredient in 3 other recipes.

What is the internal Minecraft ID for Obsidian?

The namespaced ID is minecraft:obsidian, usable with /setblock, /fill, and /give.

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