How to make Obsidian in Minecraft

Aakrit Sharma
A Nether Portal made of Obsidian in Minecraft

Obsidian is one of the most important resources in Minecraft as it is used to make a Nether Portal. In this guide, we’ll teach you where to find Obsidian in the Overworld and how to make it naturally with lava and water.

If your goal is to beat Minecraft and the Ender Dragon, you’ll want to gather a bunch of Obsidian and head into the Nether. From Netherite Armor to Netherrack, it is the source of many end-game materials.

Obsidian also has multiple uses in combat. It is one of the best defensive blocks in the game and even the Ender Dragon cannot destroy it. Moreover, while making your next Minecraft house, you can use Obsidian for protection against griefers.

Now that we know about its significance, let’s learn how to make Obsidian in Minecraft.

Water and lava flowing together in MinecraftWater and lava can be found in caves flowing together.

Items needed to make Obsidian in Minecraft

You’ll need the following items to make Obsidian in Minecraft:

  • Lava source block
  • Bucket
  • Water

It is important to note that a lava source block is different from flowing lava. It is easy to distinguish between them because a source block of lava doesn’t move/animate while the flowing lava block moves in a certain direction.

Another way to determine the status of a lava block is to use a bucket. Right-click on a block of lava with a bucket in your hand. If the bucket picks up lava, it’s a source block, and if it doesn’t, it’s a flowing lava block.

We already have a guide on how to make a bucket in Minecraft, and the information to get lava and water for making Obsidian is provided below.

Water and Obsidian blocks in MinecraftA bucket is a basic yet very important item in Minecraft.

Where to get lava in Minecraft

Lava in Minecraft generates naturally in caves and canyons between Y = -55 and Y = -63. This means that you’ll need to do a lot of digging and get into the deepest areas of your Overworld. Upon reaching the end, look for source lava blocks and right-click on them with a bucket to have a lava bucket.

Lava also generates in small lava lakes that can be found in all Minecraft biomes above Y= 0. In case you’re yet to turn on coordinates, make sure to check out this guide on how to turn on coordinates in Minecraft.

Where to get water in Minecraft

Luckily, water is abundantly found in the Minecraft overworld. There are oceans, springs, and rivers everywhere and all you need to do is equip a bucket and right-click on a water source block to get a water bucket.

How to make Obsidian in Minecraft

You can make Obsidian in Minecraft by putting water on a lava source block. If you put water on a running lava block, you’ll get cobblestones instead. This is why it’s important to know the difference between both types of lava blocks in the game.

Assuming you have lava and water buckets, follow these steps to easily get Obsidian:

  1. Equip the lava bucket and place it on the ground. Make sure that the lava block that spawns is a source, and not flowing.
  2. Equip the water bucket and place it above the source lava block in a manner that the water starts flowing above the lava.
  3. If you’ve followed the first two steps correctly, blocks of Obsidian should automatically generate.
Crying Obsidian in MinecraftCrying Obsidian is a shiny variant of Obsidian in Minecraft.

Where to get Obsidian in Minecraft

You can find Obsidian in Minecraft’s woodland mansions, deep ravines and caves, ocean ruins, ruined portals (in the Nether), and end ships. However, you’ll need a Diamond or Netherite Pickaxe to mine it directly.

Making a Diamond Pickaxe is a long and gradual process altogether and finding Obsidian naturally is a matter of luck. Hence, to save time and effort, it is better to make your own Obsidian through lava and water.


That was everything you need to know about making Obsidian in Minecraft with water and lava. For similar content, you can check out our crafting guides for a compostera booka mapBlast Furnacespyglassfireworkscakeboat, and TNT.

Image Credits: Mojang

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