Lapis Lazuli Ore

Lapis lazuli ore is the ore block from which lapis lazuli is obtained.

Deepslate lapis lazuli ore is a variant of lapis lazuli ore that generates in deepslate layers.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Lapis lazuli ore generates in the Overworld in the form of ore features. It generates in two batches per chunk:

The first batch attempts to generate 2 times per chunk, in sizes of 0-10, from levels -32 to 32. It is most common around level 0 and becomes less common towards either end of the range.
The second batch attempts to generate 4 times per chunk, in sizes of 0-10, evenly from levels -64 to 64. Lapis lazuli ore in this second batch cannot be exposed to air; any ore blocks that would generate exposed do not generate.

Lapis lazuli ore can replace stone, andesite, diorite, granite, tuff‌^{[JE only]}, and deepslate. Any lapis lazuli ore that replaces tuff or deepslate becomes deepslate variant.

Breaking

Lapis lazuli ore can be mined with a stone pickaxe or higher. To obtain the block itself, the player must use Silk Touch; otherwise, the block drops 4–9 lapis lazuli. When mined with a Fortune enchanted pickaxe, there is a chance for the drops to be multiplied by between 2 and the level plus 1, up to a maximum of 2 to 4 at level III (for a maximum of 36 lapis lazuli dropped). This means at Fortune III there is a chance to get a minimum of 4 lapis lazuli or 36 lapis lazuli. See the chart "The drops per fortune level are as follows:" below.

Block	Lapis Lazuli Ore	Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore
Hardness	3	4.5
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	15	22.5
Wooden	7.5	11.25
Stone	1.15	1.7
Iron	0.75	1.15
Diamond	0.6	0.85
Netherite	0.5	0.75
Golden	1.25	1.9

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

The drops per fortune level are as follows:

Drops/Fortune level	0	1	2	3
4	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₉	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
5	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₉	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
6	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₉	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
7	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₉	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
8	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₈	¹⁄₁₀
9	¹⁄₆	¹⁄₉	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
10	0	¹⁄₁₈	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₃₀
12	0	¹⁄₁₈	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
14	0	¹⁄₁₈	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₃₀
15	0	0	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₃₀
16	0	¹⁄₁₈	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₁₅
18	0	¹⁄₁₈	¹⁄₁₂	¹⁄₁₅
20	0	0	0	¹⁄₃₀
21	0	0	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₃₀
24	0	0	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₁₅
27	0	0	¹⁄₂₄	¹⁄₃₀
28	0	0	0	¹⁄₃₀
32	0	0	0	¹⁄₃₀
36	0	0	0	¹⁄₃₀
Average	6 ¹⁄₂	8 ²⁄₃	11 ³⁄₈	14 ³⁄₁₀

Lapis ore also drops 2–5 when broken without Fortune.

Usage

Smelting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Lapis Lazuli	Lapis Lazuli Ore or Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore + Any fuel	0.2

Note Blocks

Lapis lazuli ore can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sounds.

Sounds

Lapis lazuli ore

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.stone.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.stone.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.stone.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.stone.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.stone.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.stone`	0.37	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.stone`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.stone`	0.3	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.stone`	0.12	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.stone`	0.22	1.0

Deepslate lapis lazuli ore

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.deepslate.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.deepslate.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.deepslate.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.deepslate.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.deepslate.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.deepslate`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`place.deepslate`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.deepslate`	0.3	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.deepslate`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.deepslate`	0.3	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.deepslate`	0.12	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.deepslate`	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Lapis Lazuli Ore	`lapis_ore`	Block & Item	`lapis_ores` `mineable/pickaxe` `needs_stone_tool`	`block.minecraft.lapis_ore`
Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore	`deepslate_lapis_ore`	Block & Item	`lapis_ores` `mineable/pickaxe` `needs_stone_tool`	`block.minecraft.deepslate_lapis_ore`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Lapis Lazuli Ore	`lapis_ore`	`21`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.lapis_ore.name`
Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore	`deepslate_lapis_ore`	`655`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.deepslate_lapis_ore.name`

↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
↑ ^a ^b Available with /give command.
↑ ^a ^b The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.

History

Java Edition Beta
1.2					Added lapis lazuli ore.
1.2					Lapis lazuli ore currently drops only one shard per block.
1.2_02					Jeb acknowledged that the ore was too rare^[1] and has now increased the drop rate to 4-8.
1.2_02					Lapis lazuli ore can now be found at bedrock level.
Unknown
?					Lapis lazuli ore now drops 4-9 lapis lazuli. Whether this was the case in Beta 1.2_02 or a subsequent change is unknown.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Enchanting has now been added. Mining of lapis lazuli ore is now possible using a pickaxe with the Silk Touch enchantment.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Lapis lazuli ore can now be smelted to obtain lapis blocks.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6			Lapis lazuli ore can now be smelted to obtain blue dye.
1.3.1		12w22a			Smelting and mining lapis lazuli ore, along with other ores, blocks and items, gives the player experience orbs. One stack of lapis ore gives the player approximately the experience needed to go from level 0 to level 13.
Texture Update		?			A new texture for lapis lazuli ore has been proposed.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of lapis lazuli ore has now been changed.
1.17		21w07a			Lapis lazuli ore generation has been changed to generate in two different groups. The first group generates as a triangle spread between Y=-32 and Y=32. The second group generates evenly between Y=-64 and Y=64, and is never exposed to air.
		February 17, 2021			Henrik Kniberg shows grimstone variant of lapis lazuli ore.
		February 18, 2021			JAPPA shows new texture of lapis lazuli ore and grimstone variant of lapis lazuli ore.
		February 22, 2021			JAPPA shows new texture of grimstone variant of lapis lazuli ore.
		21w08a			The texture of lapis lazuli ore has been changed again. The deepslate lapis lazuli ore has been added.
		21w08a			Increased frequency of buried lapis.
		21w10a			The texture of deepslate lapis lazuli ore has been changed.
					Lapis lazuli ore generates more frequently.
					Normal lapis lazuli ore no longer generates in deepslate.^[2]
		21w15a			The texture of lapis lazuli ore and the deepslate variant has been changed.
		21w15a			The lapis lazuli ore generation changes in the previous 1.17 snapshots have reverted, though they can still accessed using the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			The previous lapis lazuli ore generation changes are once again available without the use of a data pack.
1.18		21w38a			Buried lapis lazuli ore generates in ore blobs similarly to other ores.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					Added lapis lazuli ore.
v0.3.0					Lapis lazuli ore now drops lapis lazuli.
v0.3.2					Lapis lazuli ore is now available in the creative inventory.
v0.12.1		build 1			Mining lapis lazuli ore now drops experience orbs.
					Lapis lazuli ore can now be collected with Silk Touch, dropping the block itself.
					Lapis lazuli ore can now be smelted to obtain the lapis lazuli item.
					Lapis Lazuli ore now drops extra shards with the Fortune enchantment.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of lapis lazuli ore has now been changed.
1.16.220		beta 1.16.220.50			The texture of lapis lazuli ore has been changed.
1.17.0		beta 1.16.230.52			Added deepslate lapis lazuli ore behind the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
		beta 1.16.230.54			The texture of lapis lazuli ore has been changed.
		beta 1.16.230.56			In the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay, lapis lazuli ore generation has been changed to generate in two different groups. The first group generates as a triangle spread between Y=-31 and Y=31. The second group generates evenly between Y=-63 and Y=63.
		beta 1.17.0.50			The texture of the deepslate variant has been changed.
		beta 1.17.0.52			Deepslate variant now generates without the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay.
1.18.0		beta 1.18.0.20			Removed “Caves and Cliffs” experimental toggle. New lapis ore generation are now available through normal gameplay.
		beta 1.18.0.20			Lapis lazuli ore generation has now been tweaked.
		beta 1.18.0.22			Lapis ore generation height has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added lapis lazuli ore.
		1.90			The texture of lapis lazuli ore has now been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added lapis lazuli ore.

Data history

Java Edition
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 21.
1.13		21w08a			Added `lapis_ores` block tag.

Issues

Issues relating to "Lapis Lazuli Ore" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

Lapis lazuli is based on the real stone for which it is named, which has historically been a prized and rare stone used in jewelry and as a dye.

Gallery

Lapis lazuli ore can generate as a single block.
An isolated ore feature of lapis lazuli ore.
Lapis lazuli ore exposed to sunlight in deep ravine.
Naturaly generated diamond ore, redstone ore and lapis lazuli ore found in a canyon. Check the image for seed and cords.

References

[breakingtimenote-1] Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

[bugMC-177082-2] MC-177082

[bugMC-177082-3] MC-177082

[bedrock-item-id-4] ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.

[bedrock-give-available-5] Available with /give command.

[bedrock-item-form-6] The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.

[7] ttp://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/f3gvo/lapis_lazuli_is_far_too_rare/

[8] Stone Lapis Ore generating in Deepslate

[A]

[sound 1]

[sound 1]

[i 1]

[i 2]

[i 3]

[1]

[2]