How do you get Sponge in Minecraft?

Sponge is obtained through found in ocean monuments, Sponge from dropped by elder guardians, and Sponge from drying a wet sponge in a furnace. It has no recipe at all: a hoe is the whole tool list.

How long does Sponge take to break?

Sponge answers to 0.6 hardness, and it answers to 0.6 when something explodes. Identical values are the game's way of saying Sponge was not designed to stop anything hitting it. The game files it under a hoe, without a minimum tier attached to Sponge. Java 26.2 lists Sponge exactly this way, which is how it is printed here.

When was Sponge added to Minecraft?

Sponge was added in the early Alpha development period.

How many Sponge can you stack?

Sponge stacks in 64s: a double chest is 3,456, a shulker box 1,728, and your own 36 slots 2,304. A full backpack of 36 inventory slots carries 2,304 at once.

How do you cook Sponge?

Put Wet Sponge in a furnace and out comes Sponge. It needs 10 seconds in the furnace. Each Sponge hands back 0.15 experience, and 64 Sponge make 9.6.

Utility Blocks

Sponge

A block that absorbs water in the area around it and generates in ocean monuments. After soaking up water it becomes a wet sponge that must be dried before reuse.

Stack Size

Durability

N/A

Sponge at a glance

Sponge, a block out of found in ocean monuments, dropped by elder guardians, and drying a wet sponge in a furnace, sits under Utility Blocks. Carrying Sponge is cheap: 64 to a slot, 576 across the hotbar, 1728 in a chest.

Hardness 0.6 is what Sponge is worth in the block data. The game files it under a hoe, without a minimum tier attached to Sponge. Its blast resistance repeats that 0.6, so Sponge offers no shelter. It sits between Soul Torch and Spruce Door in Utility Blocks, number 294 of 340 there.

How to obtain

Found in ocean monuments
Dropped by elder guardians
Drying a wet sponge in a furnace

Cooking

Put Wet Sponge in a furnace and out comes Sponge. Sponge needs 10 seconds in the furnace. Each Sponge hands back 0.15 experience, and 64 Sponge make 9.6.

Notes

Absorbs water in up to a 7x7x7 area, turning into a wet sponge. Smelting a wet sponge returns a dry sponge.

Frequently asked questions about Sponge

How do you get Sponge in Minecraft?
Sponge is obtained through found in ocean monuments, Sponge from dropped by elder guardians, and Sponge from drying a wet sponge in a furnace. It has no recipe at all: a hoe is the whole tool list.
How long does Sponge take to break?
Sponge answers to 0.6 hardness, and it answers to 0.6 when something explodes. Identical values are the game's way of saying Sponge was not designed to stop anything hitting it. The game files it under a hoe, without a minimum tier attached to Sponge. Java 26.2 lists Sponge exactly this way, which is how it is printed here.
When was Sponge added to Minecraft?
Sponge was added in the early Alpha development period.
How many Sponge can you stack?
Sponge stacks in 64s: a double chest is 3,456, a shulker box 1,728, and your own 36 slots 2,304. A full backpack of 36 inventory slots carries 2,304 at once.
How do you cook Sponge?
Put Wet Sponge in a furnace and out comes Sponge. It needs 10 seconds in the furnace. Each Sponge hands back 0.15 experience, and 64 Sponge make 9.6.
What is Sponge used for?
A block that absorbs water in the area around it and generates in ocean monuments. After soaking up water it becomes a wet sponge that must be dried before reuse.

Building with it

A wet sponge from an ocean monument, dried in a furnace, gives a sponge that absorbs water in a large radius around it. That is the only practical way to drain a room underwater, so a monument trip is really a sponge trip for most players.

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