Prismarine

Prismarine is a type of stone that appears underwater in ruins and ocean monuments. It periodically changes color between blue and green.

Prismarine bricks are cyan bricks with chiseled patterns.

Dark prismarine is dark cyan, with a tight grid pattern.

Obtaining

Breaking

Prismarine only drops itself when mined with a pickaxe. If mined by any other tool, it drops nothing.

Block	Prismarine	Dark Prismarine	Prismarine Bricks
Hardness	1.5	1.5	1.5
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	7.5	7.5	7.5
Wooden	1.15	1.15	1.15
Stone	0.6	0.6	0.6
Iron	0.4	0.4	0.4
Diamond	0.3	0.3	0.3
Netherite	0.25	0.25	0.25
Golden	0.2	0.2	0.2

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

Natural generation

All types of prismarine naturally generate as the main blocks making up ocean monuments. Normal prismarine and prismarine bricks are found in large amounts due to the size of the structure. Prismarine bricks make up the 23 pillars below the monument, and appear decoratively throughout the structure. Dark prismarine encases the 8 gold blocks of the dungeon, and appears in fewer decorative features. Normal prismarine can also be found in underwater ruins.

Crafting

Each type of prismarine can be crafted using varying amounts of prismarine shards (and an ink sac‌^{[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only]} or black dye in the case of dark prismarine). All of these resources can be obtained from underwater mobs.

Name	Ingredients	Description
Prismarine	Prismarine Shard
Prismarine Bricks	Prismarine Shard
Dark Prismarine	Prismarine Shard + Black Dye
Dark Prismarine	Prismarine Shard + Ink Sac	‌^{[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only]}

Usage

Prismarine can be used for decoration or as a high blast resistance building block.

The normal prismarine is uniquely useful for decoration as it has an animated texture. The cracks in prismarine slowly cycle in color through light blue, green, purple, and dark blue. The full animation for the prismarine texture changes color 22 times in an irregular sequence before the whole pattern repeats; this takes 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

Conduit power

Prismarine, dark prismarine and prismarine bricks can be used to activate a conduit by building a structure around it. By doing this, the conduit emits the "Conduit Power" effect in a certain radius, depending on how many blocks are used to power it. Sea lanterns can also be used for this purpose.

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Prismarine Slab or Prismarine Brick Slab or Dark Prismarine Slab	Prismarine or Prismarine Bricks or Dark Prismarine	666
Prismarine Stairs or Prismarine Brick Stairs or Dark Prismarine Stairs	Prismarine or Prismarine Bricks or Dark Prismarine	444
Prismarine Wall	Prismarine	6
Smithing Template	Diamond + Matching Smithing Template + Prismarine	22222222222222222
Tide Armor Trim Smithing Template	Diamond + Tide Armor Trim Smithing Template + Prismarine	2

Stonecutting

Name	Ingredients	Cutting recipe
Prismarine Slab or Prismarine Stairs or Prismarine Wall	Prismarine	2
Prismarine Brick Slab or Prismarine Brick Stairs	Prismarine Bricks	2
Dark Prismarine Slab or Dark Prismarine Stairs	Dark Prismarine	2

Note Blocks

All types of prismarine can be placed under note blocks to produce a "bass drum" sound.

Sounds

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

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Prismarine	`prismarine`	Block & Item	`block.minecraft.prismarine`
Prismarine Bricks	`prismarine_bricks`	Block & Item	`block.minecraft.prismarine_bricks`
Dark Prismarine	`dark_prismarine`	Block & Item	`block.minecraft.dark_prismarine`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Prismarine	`prismarine`	`168`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.prismarine.rough.name` `tile.prismarine.dark.name` `tile.prismarine.bricks.name`

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

Block states

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
prismarine_block_type	`0x1` `0x2`	`default`	`bricks`	`2`	Prismarine Bricks
			`dark`	`1`	Dark Prismarine
			`default`	`0`	Prismarine

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
		Moskstraumen	Activate a Conduit	Place a conduit in a valid prismarine/sea lantern structure to activate it.	50G	Gold

Video

Embedded media: //www.youtube.com/embed/xZrwTe1ZWhk?

History

Java Edition
May 17, 2014					The first images of prismarine are previewed by Jeb on his Instagram page.
May 27, 2014					Jeb creates a contest to name the new block. A clearer image of the block texture is also revealed. Jeb also reveals that there's several varieties.
May 28, 2014					Jeb names the new block "prismarine".^[1]
1.8		14w25a			Prismarine added, along with its variants.
1.13		17w47a			Different block states of `prismarine` have been separated into `prismarine`, `prismarine_bricks` and `dark_prismarine` for those respective blocks.
		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 168.
		18w09a			Prismarine now generates in underwater ruins.
		18w15a			Prismarine and prismarine bricks can now be used to activate conduits.
		18w20c			Dark prismarine can now be used to activate conduits.
1.14		18w43a			Prismarine can now be used to craft prismarine walls.
1.14		18w43a			The textures for prismarine have been changed.
1.15		Pre-release 1			Dark prismarine is now crafted with black dye instead of ink sacs.
1.20 (Experimental)		23w04a			Prismarine can now be used to craft tide armor trims.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.16.0		build 1			Added prismarine and its variants.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Prismarine now generates in underwater ruins.
1.5.0		beta 1.5.0.1			Prismarine and prismarine bricks can now be used to activate conduits.
1.5.0		?			Dark prismarine can now be used to active conduits.
1.9.0		beta 1.9.0.0			Prismarine can now be used to craft prismarine walls.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures for prismarine have been changed.
Next Major Update (Experimental)		beta 1.19.80.21			Prismarine can now be used to craft tide armor trims.
Legacy Console Edition
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	1.0.1	Added prismarine and its variants.
		1.90			The textures for prismarine have been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
1.3.12					Added prismarine, along with its variants.

Issues

Issues relating to "Prismarine", "Prismarine Bricks", or "Dark Prismarine" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

	“	I picked Prismarine because 1) it sounds good, 2) it references water with "marine", 3) it references its "shimmering effect" I hinted at with "prism", and 4) it doesn't really mean anything in the real world.	„
		— Jeb about the name^[1]

The name "prismarine" was created by the now-deleted Reddit user AjaxGb during a naming contest, where Jeb was looking for a name for the block.^[2]
The tiling created by prismarine bricks somewhat resembles the prismatic pentagonal tiling, although with most pentagons skewed.

Gallery

Screenshots

A tunnel made with prismarine blocks.

Development images

The first picture of ocean monument, featuring prismarine and sea lanterns.
The prismarine texture as revealed by Jeb on reddit.

References

External Links

Block of the Week: Prismarine – Minecraft.net on January 20, 2017

[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

[bedrock-item-id-3] ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.

[bedrock-give-available-4] Available with /give command.

[bedrock-item-form-5] The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.

[Jeb_on_Reddit-6] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/26op99/twitter_jeb_with_the_help_of_reddit_and/cht13ys?context=1

[7] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/26m30u/help_me_name_this_block/chsjfb6?context=1

[A]

[sound 1]

[i 1]

[i 2]

[i 3]

[1]

[2]