Obsidian is one of the most versatile blocks in the Minecraft world, and can be used to progress into later stages of the game. It’s perfect for fortifying structures, crafting enchantment tables, creating Nether portals, and much more. In any case, it is a really useful block to have and this guide will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to make obsidian in Minecraft.
Steps to Making Obsidian
Step 1: Crafting a Bucket
The first step to creating obsidian is gathering the resources you need to create a bucket:
- 1x Bucket (3 iron ingots)
Buckets are necessary for collecting water. To craft a bucket, you’ll need three iron ingots. These can be obtained by mining iron ore, which can be found underground. Once you’ve collected the ore, smelt it in a furnace to produce iron ingots. Finally, place the ingots on a crafting table in this pattern:

Step 2: Finding a Water Source and Collecting It
Water can be found in oceans, swamps, lakes, or any area with water. When you get close to the water source, hold out your bucket, and right-click the water to collect it. You should now have a water bucket.

Step 3: Finding a Lava Source
Lava sources are mainly found in underground caves in the form of lava pools. You can occasionally find lava above ground, but they are harder to find. If you want to have a higher chance of finding lava sources, head underground! You can collect lava with buckets by right-clicking the lava sources.

Step 4: Pour Water on Lava
After you have found your lava source, pour the water bucket over stationary lava source blocks. Keep in mind that only stationary lava will be converted into obsidian.

Make sure that the lava you want to convert to obsidian is not flowing lava before pouring water. If the lava is a flowing source block, it will turn into cobblestone instead. Below are pictures of a stationary and flowing lava:

The difference is that the stationary lava (left of picture) is a full block while a flowing lava block (right of picture) is not.
Step 5: Mining the Obsidian
To break obsidian, make sure you have at least a diamond pickaxe or netherite pickaxe. Any other pickaxes will end up destroying the obsidian block after you mine it. Since obsidian is really durable, it takes a while to mine it. You can give your pickaxe efficient enchantments to hasten the process.

Be careful when you mine because there still might be lava underneath the obsidian!
Alternative Lava Sources
While the underground has a lot of lava pools and lava sources, it might not be the most efficient when it comes to collecting lava. There are a few alternatives when it comes to collecting lava buckets.
#1 The Nether
The Nether has pretty much infinite lava source. There are many lava pools and lava lakes in the Nether making it the best place to farm lava. The hardest part about getting to the Nether is that you need to create a Nether portal first, which requires obsidian to build. However, if you want to get lava buckets more efficiently, going underground and collecting ten obsidian blocks to create a Nether portal would give you access to an infinite source of lava. Keep in mind that you cannot directly create obsidian in the Nether, because water immediately evaporates when placed inside the Nether.

#2 Dripstone
If you don’t want to go through the Nether every time to get lava, you can use a dripstone to make an automatic lava farm. The materials required to make an infinite lava farm are:
- 1x Cauldron (7 iron ingots)
- 1x Lava bucket
- 1x Pointed dristone
- 1x Dripstone block
To make a cauldron, you are going to need seven iron ingots. Once you obtain your seven iron ingots, put the ingots on the crafting table in this pattern:

Dripstone related blocks can be found in Dripstone caves, which can appear at any altitude. To get a pointed dripstone and a dripstone block, you will need to venture into the underground or into caves. If you don’t want to bother searching for dripstone related blocks, you can alternatively trade with a Journey-level stone mason villager.

Once you have gotten all the materials, you can build an infinite and automatic lava farm. Below are steps to make a simple mechanism:
Step 1:
Place down the cauldron at the place where you want to collect your lava.

Step 2:
Place the dripstone block two blocks or more above the cauldron. Then place the pointed dripstone on the dripstone block. Make sure the pointed part of the pointed dripstone block is pointing down and towards the cauldron.

Step 3:
Place a few blocks above the dripstone block to create a hole that will contain the lava. Then place the lava between these blocks.

You have now finished building an infinite and automatic lava farm! The pointed dripstone will slowly drip lava droplets into the cauldron. Once the cauldron has filled up with lava, you can collect the lava in the cauldron with a bucket.

Other Methods of Obtaining Obsidian
While finding lava sources and creating your own obsidian is the most efficient way to get obsidian, you can also find obsidian else where.
#1 Ruined Portals
A ruined portal is a broken portal that is naturally generated in the overworld. These portals are quite rare, but if you can find one, there is also a possibility of finding loot chests near them. These loot chests have a chance of containing obsidian blocks. You can also mine the obsidian structure of the ruined portals.

#2 Woodland Mansions
The woodland mansion is a very rare building that can be found in the dark forest biomes. These buildings are typically very massive and dangerous. While venturing inside the building, there is a possibility of finding chests containing obsidian. However, you should be careful because the mansion will be heavily guarded by Evokers and Vindicators.

#3 The End
The end is one of the best source for collecting obsidian blocks that you don’t need to create yourself. When you first enter the end portal, you will be spawned onto a small island away from the main island. If you have enough building blocks, you can build a bridge all the way to the main building. On the main building, you should see a lot of obsidian pillars. These pillars are all mineable, giving you a plentiful source for obsidian blocks. Beware of the ender dragon that is flying in the end. If you want to have a peaceful time mining the obsidian blocks, you will have to kill the ender dragon first.

#4 The Nether
There are a few ways to obtain obsidian in the Nether. The first way is to find the Nether fortress. Inside the Nether fortress, there contains loot chests that you can find. These loot chests have a chance of containing obsidian blocks inside them. The second way would be trading with a piglin. If you give a piglin a gold ingot to trade, there is a small chance of them dropping an obsidian block.

What You Can Do With Obsidian?
Obsidian is the block you want when it comes to entering the late stages of the game. But what can you use obsidian for? There are a few main reasons you would want obsidian:
#1 Building the Nether Portal
The nether portal is needed to enter the Nether. To craft a Nether portal, you are going to need:
- 10x Obsidian
Once you have collected the obsidian that you need, find an open space to build your nether portal. Then, place your two of your obsidian at the top, two at the bottom, and three obsidian on each side. The portal should look like this:

After you have finished building the portal, light the portal up by using flint and steel and right-clicking the inside part of the portal. Your portal should activate, showing a swirling purple light. Step into the portal and wait a few seconds to be transported to the Nether.

#2 Crafting an Enchantment Table
The enchantment table is essential when it comes to defeating bosses and making your life easier against mobs. Enchantment tables can upgrade and enhance your armor and weapons, making it easier to kill harder mobs and live longer. To craft an enchantment table, you are going to need:
- 1x Book
- 2x Diamond
- 4x Obsidian
Once you have gathered these resources, place your materials on the crafting table in this pattern:

You can now enchant your equipment by placing your equipment in the right slot of the enchantment table and lapis lazuli in the left slot. Make sure that you have enough levels to enchant, or else you won’t be able to enchant.

There are many things you can do with obsidian, but the only hard part is getting them. Once you have a farm and a lava source, it makes it very easy to create obsidian. If you still don’t know how to create obsidian, you can also check out GuideRealm‘s video “How To Make Obsidian In Minecraft – Full Guide“ on YouTube.
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Alex is a gaming enthusiast with a passion in content creation and social media. In his free time,
he enjoys playing golf, building keyboards, and cooking.
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