Clay

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.

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[]

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[]

Note block[]

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

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Video[]

History[]

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11					Added clay blocks.
					Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Clay 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
1.6.1		13w17a			Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
1.7.2		13w36a			Clay is no longer found on the ocean floor.
1.9		15w31a			It is now possible to re-summon the ender dragon by placing clay in a creeper face pattern in the End.
		15w44a			Clay can no longer be used to re-summon the ender dragon, as end crystals now serve the purpose.
1.12		17w17a			Clay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 82.
		?			Clay can be found in oceans once again.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
		18w48a			Clay now generates in the updated plains villages.
		18w49a			Clay now generates in the updated savanna villages.
		18w50a			Clay now generates in the updated desert and taiga villages.
		19w13a			Mason villagers now give clay to players under the Hero of the Village effect, making clay renewable.
1.17		21w10a			Clay can now generate in the lush caves, though the biome doesn't generate outside of buffet or custom worlds yet.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Lush caves now generate naturally, making clay available from them in regular worlds.
1.19		22w14a			Mud now can be converted into clay by placing it above a block which has pointed dripstone underneath.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					Added clay blocks.
					Clay generates naturally as clay blobs.
v0.3.2					Clay blocks now drop 4 clay balls when broken.
					Clay blocks can now be crafted from 4 clay balls.
v0.3.3					Clay blocks are now available in the creative inventory.
v0.9.0		build 1			Clay blocks are found in disks underwater.
		build 11			Clay can now be smelted into hardened clay.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Clay blocks now generate in village mason houses.
					The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.9			Clay placed under note blocks now make it produce flute sounds.
1.16.220		beta 1.16.220.52			Clay can now generate in lush caves, though the biome does not generate naturally yet.
1.17.0		beta 1.17.0.50			Lush caves now generate throughout the Overworld behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay available in vanilla worlds this way.
		release			Lush caves have been made inaccessible in the full release, making clay no longer obtainable from them.
1.17.10		release			Lush caves can now generate naturally outside of the beta versions behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle, making clay once again available from them.
1.18.0		beta 1.18.0.21			Clay blobs in lush caves now generate between Y=-64 and Y=256 instead of 120, and increased the number of blobs.
1.19.0		beta 1.19.0.24			Mud now can be converted into clay by placing it above a block which has pointed dripstone underneath making clay renewable.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Added clay blocks.
		1.90			The texture of clay blocks has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added clay blocks.

• 

  Naturally occurring clay as seen on a dry surface.

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[]

• 

  Naturally occurring clay blocks in a lake.

• 

  An artificially made clay floor with clay balls standing on it.

• 

  Clay can appear on the surface out of water as long as the block it replaces is dirt or mycelium.

• 

  Some clay that naturally spawned in a lake but replaced the dirt under a village farm.

• 

  Clay generated outside of water.

• 

  A large number of clay disks visible beneath shallow water.

See also[]

• Brick
• Terracotta

External Links[]

• Block of the Week: Clay – Minecraft.net on June 2, 2017