Sponge

A sponge is a block that can be placed to remove water in an area around itself. This turns it into a wet sponge, which can be smelted or placed in the Nether to dry it to be reused. Sponges can only be found in ocean monuments.

Obtaining

Either type of sponge can be mined by hand, or with any tool, dropping itself as an item; however, hoes break sponges the fastest compared to other tools.

Block	Sponge Wet Sponge
Hardness	0.6
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	0.9
Wooden	0.45
Stone	0.25
Iron	0.15
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.1
Golden	0.1

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

Mob loot

Elder guardians

An elder guardian always drops one wet sponge when killed by the player.

Natural generation

Ocean monuments can generate "sponge rooms." Each room contains an average of 30 wet sponges. See Ocean Monument/Structure for details.

Smelting

A wet sponge can be dried in a furnace, making the sponge reusable.

Ingredients	Smelting recipe	Description
Wet sponge + any fuel	0.15	If a bucket is in the fuel slot at the time the sponge completes its drying, the water drains into the bucket, leaving a bucket of water in the fuel slot. Otherwise, the water just evaporates.

Drying

A wet sponge placed in the Nether dries out instantly with a puff of steam and turns into a normal sponge.

A wet sponge placed in any dry biome in the Overworld dries out after a few minutes and turns into a normal sponge.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

If a normal sponge comes into contact with water in a dry biome, it absorbs the water and immediately dries out with a puff of steam.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Usage

A sponge can be used to turn water into air by "absorbing" the water. A sponge instantly absorbs nearby water when it is placed next to water or when water comes into contact with it. Sponges immediately turn wet upon absorption and do not absorb any more water afterwards. Wet sponges drip small water particles. Sponges in item form do not absorb water or become wet.

A sponge absorbs both flowing and source blocks of water up to 7 blocks away (taken as a taxicab distance) in all six directions around itself. Instead of a cube or a sphere, this effectively encloses the volume of an octahedron with vertices placed 7 units away from the center in each direction due to the game's extensive use of taxicab distance. A sponge does not absorb more than 65 blocks of water however, and water closest to the sponge is absorbed first. The absorption propagates only between adjacent water blocks and does not "jump over" non-water blocks, including air.

Sounds

Generic

Sponge

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.sponge.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.sponge.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.sponge.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.2	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.sponge.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.sponge.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.grass`	0.7	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.grass`	0.8	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.grass`	0.3	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.grass`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.grass`	0.3	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.grass`	0.11	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.grass`	0.21	1.0

Wet sponge

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.wet_sponge.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.wet_sponge.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.wet_sponge.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.wet_sponge.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.wet_sponge.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.grass`	0.7	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.grass`	0.8	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.grass`	0.3	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.grass`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.grass`	0.3	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.grass`	0.11	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.grass`	0.21	1.0

Unique

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Fire extinguished^{[sound 1]}	Blocks	When a wet sponge is dried in the Nether	`block.fire.extinguish`^{[sound 1]}	`subtitles.block.fire.extinguish`^{[sound 1]}	1.0	0.7-0.84	16
	Sponge sucks	Blocks	When a sponge sucks up water	`block.sponge.absorb`	`subtitles.block.sponge.absorb`	0.8	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b ^c MC-98316 — Wrong subtitles caused by missing distinction

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	When a wet sponge is dried in the Nether or dry biome	`random.fizz`	1.0^[verify]	0.6-0.8^[verify]
	Blocks	When a sponge sucks up water	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Sponge	`sponge`	Block & Item	`mineable/hoe`	`block.minecraft.sponge`
Wet Sponge	`wet_sponge`	Block & Item	`mineable/hoe`	`block.minecraft.wet_sponge`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Sponge	`sponge`	`19`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.sponge.dry.name` `tile.sponge.wet.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

In Bedrock Edition, sponges use the following block states:

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
sponge_type	`0x1`	`dry`	`dry`	`0`	Sponge
sponge_type	`0x1`	`dry`	`wet`	`1`	Wet Sponge

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)
		Dry Spell	Dry a sponge in a furnace	—	15G	Bronze

History

Java Edition Classic
May 24, 2009					Sponge was suggested on the TIGSource forums. Notch later approved this suggestion.
June 16, 2009					Sponges were tested by Notch.
0.0.19a					Added sponges.
					The sponge is a temporary fix to stop water from flooding until finite water is implemented.^[1]
					Sponges soak up water in a 5×5×5 volume around it, and would decay.
0.0.19a_01					Sponges no longer decay.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100201-2			Sponges now soak up infinite water sources and infinite lava sources. This is despite the fact that they do not delete normal lava.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1					Due to Notch reworking many parts of the game to allow for infinite terrain generation the whole liquid system from Indev including sponges becomes non-functional. A new system for liquids was added in a later version of Infdev, sponges weren't touched though as they were no longer required.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Sponges have now become available in Creative mode.
Java Edition
1.2.1		12w07a			Prior to this version, sponges could be used in redstone builds for updating blocks, in conjunction with BUDs (block update detectors): if a sponge was placed and then removed, all blocks within a 7×7×7 range would be updated.^[2] The cause of this was some remaining code for the sponge's water removing property.
1.8		June 8, 2014			Jeb tweeted that the ability to erase water blocks would be returned to the sponge. The linked video revealed that the sponge would becomes wet once it absorbs water.
		14w25a			Added wet sponges. Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
					The texture of sponge has been changed.
					Sponges have now become obtainable in Survival mode.
		14w25b			A wet sponge, when smelted, fills an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
1.9		15w43a			Elder guardians now drop dry sponges instead of wet ones.
1.11		16w33a			Elder guardians now drop wet sponges on player kills, rather than dry sponges.^[3]
1.14		18w43a			The textures of sponges have been changed.
1.15		19w36a			Wet Sponges now dry out when placed in the Nether.
1.16		20w12a			Sponges and wet sponges can now be broken faster using hoes.
1.20.2		23w33a			Added unique sounds for dry and wet sponges, and sponges absorbing water.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.8.0		build 1			Added sponges.
v0.8.0		build 1			Sponges are currently available only in creative mode.
v0.16.0		build 1			Added wet sponges. Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
					The texture of sponge has been changed.
					Sponges have now become obtainable in Survival mode.
					A wet sponge, when smelted, fills an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
Unknown
?					Sponges dry out in hot biomes.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.13.8			Added drowned, which rarely drop sponges.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Drowned no longer drop sponge.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Sponges now immediately dry out when placed in the Nether.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of sponges have been changed.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.57			Sponges and wet sponges can now be broken faster using hoes.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added sponges.
TU5	CU1	1.0			Sponges are currently available only in creative mode.
TU28	CU16	1.19			Added wet sponges.
TU28	CU16	1.19			The texture of sponge has been changed.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Sponges are now obtainable in Survival mode.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
		1.90			The textures of sponges have been changed.
		1.90			Sponges now dry out when placed in the Nether and warm biomes after some time.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added sponges.
1.3.12					Added wet sponges.
					The texture of sponge has been changed.
					Sponges have now become obtainable in Survival mode.
					Sponges now soak up contiguous water source blocks out to a taxicab distance of 7 when placed, thereupon turning into the new wet sponge.
					A wet sponge, when smelted, fills an empty bucket in the fuel slot with water.
?					Moved sponge from the Decorations tab to the Building Blocks tab in the Creative inventory.^{[more information needed]}

Data history

Java Edition
1.13		17w47a			The two different `wet` block state values for the `sponge` ID have been split up into their own IDs.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 19.