How to Make Obsidian in Minecraft

Here’s how to make obsidian in Minecraft: pour water onto a lava source block, then mine the result with a diamond or netherite pickaxe. You can’t craft it at a crafting table.

Obsidian is the near-unbreakable black block behind Nether portals, enchanting tables and ender chests, according to the Minecraft Wiki (checked October 2026).

Mojang’s Block of the Week post on obsidian (January 2017) says the in-game block is based

on volcanic glass, which forms when lava cools very fast, such as on contact with water.

This guide applies to Minecraft Java Edition 26.3 (released September 15, 2026) and the

current Bedrock Edition on PC, console and mobile.

Mojang’s 26.3 patch notes mention no change to obsidian, lava or water.

How to make obsidian in Minecraft, step by step

Pour a water bucket onto a lava source block and it turns into obsidian instantly. Then mine it with a diamond or netherite pickaxe, or it drops nothing.

Bedrock Edition uses the same rule, so these steps work on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and mobile.

1. Craft a diamond pickaxe. Put three diamonds in the top row of a crafting table and two sticks in the middle and bottom-middle slots (recipe per Prima Games).

2. Get a water bucket. A bucket takes three iron ingots. Fill it at any water source.

3. Find lava. Lava pools show up in caves, in ravines and deep underground.

4. Check that it’s a source block. Source lava sits in a full, still pool. Flowing lava runs

downhill in thinner layers.

5. Pour the water. Place it on or next to the lava source. The lava turns into obsidian on contact.

6. Mine it. Hold the mine button until the block breaks. A diamond pickaxe takes about 9.4

seconds in Java Edition, per the Minecraft Wiki.

7. Pick the water back up. Scoop it with your empty bucket and move to the next lava source.

Why do you get cobblestone instead of obsidian?

You poured water on flowing lava, not a lava source block. The Minecraft Wiki says obsidian forms when flowing water touches a lava source, and flowing lava hardens into cobblestone instead.

Find the still pool at the start of the flow and pour your water there.

Which pickaxe can mine obsidian?

Only a diamond or netherite pickaxe collects obsidian. Every other pickaxe breaks it slowly and drops nothing, according to the Minecraft Wiki (Java Edition values, no enchantments, checked October 2026).

Pickaxe	Mining time (Java)	Drops obsidian?
Wooden	about 125 seconds	No
Stone	about 62.5 seconds	No
Copper	about 50 seconds	No
Iron	about 41.7 seconds	No
Golden	about 20.85 seconds	No
Diamond	about 9.4 seconds	Yes
Netherite	about 8.35 seconds	Yes

The copper pickaxe is a newer tool, and it still can’t collect obsidian. Efficiency and Haste cut the mining time a lot.

Don’t let go of the mine button halfway. Obsidian resets its progress if you release early.

How do you mine obsidian without falling into lava?

Mine from inside water, and look below the block before you break it. The block you mine often sits right on top of the lava it replaced.

• Stand in a water source next to the obsidian. When the block breaks, water flows in and cools exposed lava.

• Wall off nearby lava with spare blocks so nothing spills while you work.

• Drink a Fire Resistance potion first if you have one.

• Pick up your water last, not first.

How much obsidian do you need?

A Nether portal needs at least 10 obsidian, an enchanting table needs 4 and an ender chest needs 8. These figures come from the Minecraft Wiki (checked October 2026).

Item	Obsidian needed	Also needs
Nether portal frame	10 (14 with corners)	Flint and steel to light it
Enchanting table	4	1 book, 2 diamonds
Ender chest	8	1 Eye of Ender

A portal frame can be any rectangle from 4 by 5 up to 23 by 23, and the corners aren’t required.

Can you build a Nether portal without a diamond pickaxe?

Yes. You can “cast” the portal: place lava in the shape of the frame, then pour water over it so it hardens in place.

The Minecraft Wiki’s obsidian farming tutorial describes this approach.

Layouts vary and take practice, because the lava has to stay in frame-shaped spots until the water hits. We’ll cover a full cast-portal walkthrough in a separate guide.

Where can you find obsidian instead of making it?

You can loot it from chests, trade for it with Piglins, break an ender chest, or mine structures in the Nether and the End.

The numbers below are from the Minecraft Wiki (checked October 2026).

Source	Amount	Chance
Ruined Portal chest	1 to 2	46.4%
Village weaponsmith’s chest	3 to 7	22.9%
Bastion Remnant generic chest	4 to 6	24.4% (Java), 27.2% (Bedrock)
Nether Fortress chest	2 to 4	7.5%
Piglin bartering (gold ingot)	1	about 8.5% per trade
Ender chest broken without Silk Touch	8	Always

Some blocks come ready-made. Ruined portals contain obsidian in their frames, and each End ship in an End city has 26 blocks of it.

Every entity that enters the End lands on a 25-block obsidian platform that regenerates. Woodland mansions hide obsidian rooms that conceal a diamond block.

Guides don’t agree on the chest odds. fdaytalk’s June 2026 guide lists 25.4% for village chests and 8.71% for Piglin trades, so we used the wiki’s figures instead.

Which obsidian claims in other guides are wrong?

We checked four claims from CraftLands Hosting’s guide (updated July 28, 2026) against the Minecraft Wiki and Prima Games. Each one fails.

Claim	What’s true	Source
The Ender Dragon can destroy obsidian	It can’t. The Wither is the only mob that breaks obsidian.	Minecraft Wiki
Charged creepers destroy obsidian	Obsidian’s blast resistance (1,200) makes it immune to normal explosions.	Minecraft Wiki
Strongholds have an obsidian room	The wiki lists woodland mansions for obsidian rooms, not strongholds.	Minecraft Wiki
A diamond pickaxe needs two iron ingots	It needs two sticks and three diamonds.	Prima Games

How do you farm obsidian in Minecraft?

Three methods are renewable: a Nether portal loop, the End platform and a dripstone lava farm. The Minecraft Wiki (checked October 2026) covers all three.

Method	Yield	Notes
Nether portal loop	14 per cycle (Java: 4 extra if the portal generates midair)	Fast, needs no lava
End platform	25 per visit	Regenerates whenever an entity enters the End
Dripstone lava farm	1 lava bucket per fill, then water turns it to obsidian	Slow, but fully automatic once built

Here is the Nether portal loop, step by step:

1. Build and light a Nether portal in the Overworld, then walk through it.

2. In the Nether, build and light a second portal at least 16 blocks from the first.

3. Step through the second portal. A new portal generates in the Overworld.

4. Mine that generated portal frame with a diamond pickaxe. It gives 14 obsidian.

5. Go back through your first portal, walk to the second one and repeat from step 3.

For the dripstone farm, the wiki says lava can be farmed with cauldrons under pointed dripstone. Before 1.17 lava wasn’t renewable, so this method only exists in newer versions.

Check the wiki’s farm tutorial for exact block distances before you build one.

What changed for obsidian in Minecraft 26.x?

Nothing about how obsidian forms. The new thing is a mob that eats it.

Java Edition 26.2 (Chaos Cubed, June 16, 2026) added the sulfur cube.

Per Mojang’s patch notes, it absorbs a block when you interact with it while holding one.

The Minecraft Wiki says obsidian gives the cube a “Slow Bouncy” effect.

The same wiki page lists the sulfur cube arriving in Bedrock vanilla gameplay with 26.30. Java also switched to year-based version numbers, and 26.1 (March 24, 2026) was the first.

Can you make crying obsidian?

No. Crying obsidian can’t be crafted or made with water and lava. GamesRadar’s Respawn Anchor guide says you find it in ruined portals and bastion remnant chests, or get it from Piglin bartering.

PCGamesN notes it can’t be used in a working Nether portal frame.

Obsidian FAQ

Can you craft obsidian in Minecraft?

No. Obsidian has no crafting recipe. In Creative mode you can search your inventory for it, or run /give @s obsidian 64 if commands are on.

Can you make obsidian without lava?

Not by creating it. Loot chests, Piglin bartering, ender chests and the End platform all give obsidian without touching lava, per the Minecraft Wiki.

How many obsidian blocks do you need for a Nether portal?

You need 10 at minimum, or 14 with the corners filled in. The corners aren’t required for the portal to work.

Can you mine obsidian with an iron pickaxe?

No. An iron pickaxe takes about 41.7 seconds in Java Edition and the block drops nothing. Only diamond and netherite pickaxes collect it.

Is obsidian renewable in Survival mode?

Yes. The Minecraft Wiki lists it as renewable, through Nether portal loops, the End platform and dripstone lava farms.