Cactus
| Renewable |
Yes |
|---|---|
| Stackable |
Yes (64) |
| Tool |
Any tool |
| Blast resistance |
0.4 |
| Hardness |
0.4 |
| Luminous |
No |
| Transparent |
Yes |
| Flammable |
No |
| Catches fire from lava |
No |
| Map color (JE) |
|
{
"title": "Cactus",
"rows": [
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"field": "Yes",
"label": "(link to Renewable resource article, displayed as Renewable)"
},
{
"field": "Yes (64)",
"label": "Stackable"
},
{
"field": "Any tool",
"label": "Tool"
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{
"field": "0.4",
"label": "(link to Explosion#Blast resistance article, displayed as Blast resistance)"
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{
"field": "0.4",
"label": "(link to Breaking#Blocks by hardness article, displayed as Hardness)"
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{
"field": "No",
"label": "(link to Light article, displayed as Luminous)"
},
{
"field": "Yes",
"label": "(link to Opacity article, displayed as Transparent)"
},
{
"field": "No",
"label": "(link to Flammable article, displayed as Flammable)"
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{
"field": "No",
"label": "Catches fire<br>from (link to lava article, displayed as lava)"
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{
"field": "<span style=\"display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(0, 124, 0); border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> 7 PLANT</span>",
"label": "(link to Map color article, displayed as Map color) <small>((link to Java Edition article, displayed as ''JE''))</small>"
}
],
"invimages": [
"Cactus"
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"images": [
"Cactus.png",
"Cactus BE.png"
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}
A cactus is a plant block found in deserts and badlands. It grows over time and can sprout cactus flowers. It damages mobs and destroys minecarts and dropped items that touch it.
Obtaining
Breaking
A cactus can be mined by hand without taking damage. The tool used to mine the cactus does not affect mining speed.[1]
| Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 0.4 | |
| Breaking time (secs) | ||
| Default | 0.6 | |
- incorrect tool, drops nothing
- correct tool, drops nothing or something other than the block itself
- correct tool, drops the block itself
- italicized can be instant mined
If a cactus becomes unsupported (e.g., due to a block being placed next to it or its base removed), it breaks and drops as an item.
A cactus also removes and drops itself as an item if a piston tries to push it, or moves a block into its space. Trying to pull it with a sticky piston does nothing.
Using a sign on the side of a cactus causes both the sign and the cactus to drop as items.
Natural generation
Cacti naturally occur in desert and badlands biomes (twice more common in desert than in badlands). They generate as one (11⁄18 chance), two (5⁄18 chance), or three (2⁄18 chance) blocks tall. Rarely taller cacti can be found if generation chooses to generate another on top of one already generated (although not as commonly as sugar cane).
A potted cactus can also be found in an igloo with a basement. Potted cacti and 3 block cactus can also be found in some desert village buildings.
Cacti also have a chance to generate in the entrance chamber of Trial Chambers.
Mob loot
Endermen can pick up cacti. If an enderman is holding a cactus when it dies, the cactus will be dropped.
Generated loot
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Desert house chest | 1–4 | 80.6%{ "item": "Cactus", "stacksize": "1–4", "chance": 0.8060478337988324, "structure": "Village", "container": "Desert house chest" }
| ||
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Chest | 1–2 | 60%{ "item": "Cactus", "stacksize": "1–2", "chance": 0.6, "structure": "Bonus Chest", "container": "Chest" }
| ||
| Desert house chest | 1–4 | 80.6%{ "item": "Cactus", "stacksize": "1–4", "chance": 0.8060478337988324, "structure": "Village", "container": "Desert house chest" }
| ||
Trading
Wandering traders can sell a cactus for three emeralds.
Usage
A cactus block may be placed only on sand, red sand, suspicious sand, or another cactus block. A cactus breaks itself (and drops as an item) if any block with a solid material, or lava, occupies any of the 4 horizontally adjacent blocks. It also breaks if on the sand and the block above is water or lava.
When most entities, including players and mobs, touch a cactus, it deals 1HP damage every tick (although damage immunity reduces this to once every half-second). Damage from touching a cactus is reduced by armor, but touching it also damages the armor. Mobs do not avoid cactus when they pathfind. Notably, armor stands are exempt from this.
A cactus destroys any items that come into contact with it, including other cactus in item form. Falling blocks such as sand and gravel are not destroyed when falling onto cactus; instead, they are transformed into item form (as happens when it falls into any block with a hitbox that has a height less than 1, such as slabs). The item created in this case is sometimes (though not always) destroyed by the cactus. The conversion to an item applies even when the falling block is a cactus (which is possible with /summon).
When a minecart hits a cactus block, the minecart drops as an item and is often destroyed, although a hopper can pick it up faster.
A cactus can also be placed in a flower pot, where it is rendered harmless.
A cactus (excluding its spikes) is 7⁄8 of a block in width (the same as chests) and a full block in height, however the collision box is 15⁄16 of a block high.
Farming
Cacti naturally grow to a height of three blocks, adding a block of height when the top cactus block has received 16 random ticks (i.e. on average every 18 minutes, but the actual rate can vary widely). Bone meal does not work on cacti to speed their growth.[2][3]A cactus does not need light to grow and is non-flammable. If a cactus has space directly above it, it grows even if the newly-grown block would immediately break due to adjacent blocks.
A cactus also has a chance to grow a cactus flower at any height. This happens after a cactus block has received exactly 9 random ticks (i.e. earlier than growing another cactus block). If the cactus is 1 or 2 blocks tall the chance is 10%, at 3 or more blocks tall the chance is 25%. A cactus flower can only grow if there are no blocks in any cardinal directly adjacent to it. A cactus with a cactus flower can no longer grow. When the cactus flower is broken by a player, the cactus may grow taller but can't generate another cactus flower until it has grown at least 1 cactus block.
Smelting ingredient
Cactus provides the highest smelting XP of any farmable block in Java Edition.
| Name | Ingredients | Smelting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Dye | + Any fuel |
1 XP[4] | |
| Green Dye | + Any fuel |
0.2 XP |
Breeding
Cacti can be used to breed camels and reduce the remaining growth duration of baby camels by 10%. Camels also follow a player holding a cactus.
Composting
Placing a cactus into a composter has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.
Sounds
wool sound type | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
| Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
| Something falls on a block | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | subtitles | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 | |
cloth sound type | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.35 | 0.5 | |
| Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.3 | 1.0 | |
| Blocks | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.12 | 1.0 | |
| Blocks | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.18 | 1.0 | |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Form | Block tags | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cactus | Block & Item | enderman_holdable | block |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Item ID[i 1] | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cactus | 81 | Block & Giveable Item[i 2] | Identical[i 3] | tile |
Block states
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| age | 0 | 0123456789101112131415 | A freshly-planted cactus – and a cactus that has just grown cactus above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cactus may try to grow more cactus above it. |
| Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| age | 0x10x20x40x8 | 0 | 0123456789101112131415 | 0123456789101112131415 | A freshly-planted cactus – and a cactus that has just grown cactus above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cactus may try to grow more cactus above it. |
History
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.6 | |||||||
| Player receives 1HP damage when punching them, right clicking on them, or walking on them. | |||||||
| v1.0.11 | Cacti can now be placed only on sand, and now have the requirement that the space around it has to be empty. Previously, cacti could be placed to form a damaging floor: both players and mobs would take half a heart of damage when they walk on a cactus block. This made it useful for traps, such as a hallway with a cactus block floor that would kill all mobs that walked on it. | ||||||
| Collecting cacti no longer hurts the player. | |||||||
| v1.0.14 | Cactus blocks now can grow to a height of three blocks, allowing for farming. Prior to this update, cacti would not grow. | ||||||
| v1.2.0 | preview | Cacti now only generates in the new desert biome, instead of anywhere with sand. | |||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||||
| 1.2 | Cacti can now be smelted, giving cactus green. | ||||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Cactus items are no longer slightly larger than other blocks when dropped. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w34a | The ability to place cacti in flower pots has been added. | |||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Cacti now generate in the new mesa biomes. | |||||
| 13w39a | Added red sand, which cacti can also grow on. | ||||||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | A potted cactus can now be found in the basement of the newly added igloo. | |||||
| 15w49a | Cacti now break if adjacent to lava, or if on any block except cactus and the block above is water or lava. | ||||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Banners and signs can be placed horizontally adjacent to cacti, immediately breaking the cactus. This action was historically disabled. | |||||
| 17w50a | Cacti now always break when the block is water, even if the cactus is placed on top of another cactus. | ||||||
| 18w06a | Cacti can no longer be smelted.[5] | ||||||
| 18w14b | Cacti can be smelted again, now yielding 1 experience instead of 0.2 per smelting operation.[4] | ||||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||||
| 18w44a | |||||||
| 18w50a | Potted cacti can now be found in desert villages. | ||||||
| Cactus items can now be found in chests in desert village houses. | |||||||
| 19w03a | Placing a cactus into the new composter has a 20% chance of raising the compost level by 1. | ||||||
| 19w05a | Cacti now have a 50% chance of increasing the compost level in a composter by 1. | ||||||
| Added wandering traders, which sell cacti. | |||||||
| 1.19.3 Experiment | 22w42a | Cacti can now be used to breed camels. | |||||
| 1.20 | 23w14a | Cacti can now be planted on suspicious sand. | |||||
| 1.20.3 Experiment | 23w45a | Cacti can now be found in trial chambers. | |||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||||
| v0.1.3 | |||||||
| v0.2.0 | |||||||
| v0.4.0 | |||||||
| Cacti now obey regular placement exceptions when being placed underwater or on snow. | |||||||
| v0.5.0 | Cacti are now available from the nether reactor. | ||||||
| v0.8.0 | build 1 | ||||||
| build 4 | |||||||
| v0.9.0 | build 1 | ||||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Cacti are no longer available from the nether reactor. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||||
| ? | Cacti no longer deal damage to entities on top of them. | ||||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Potted cacti now generate in the basements of igloos. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | Cacti are now found inside bonus chests. | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||||
| A 3 block tall cactus and potted cactus now generate in new desert village houses. | |||||||
| Cacti can now be bought from wandering traders. | |||||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Cacti can now be found desert village house chests. | |||||
| Cacti can now be used to fill composters. | |||||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.15.0.51 | Cacti once again deal damage to mobs and items standing on top of them. | |||||
| 1.19.50 Experiment | Preview 1.19.50.21 | Cacti can now be used to breed camels. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||||
| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Wii U | Switch | |
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | |
| TU5 | Cactus items are no longer slightly larger than other blocks when dropped. | ||||||
| TU14 | 1.04 | The ability to place cacti in flower pots has been added. | |||||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Cacti now generate in the new mesa biomes. | |
| Added red sand, which cacti can also grow on. | |||||||
| TU43 | CU33 | 1.36 | 1.36 | 1.36 | Patch 13 | A potted cactus can now be found in the basement of the newly added igloo. | |
| ? | Cacti no longer deal damage to entities on top of them. | ||||||
| 1.90 | |||||||
| 1.91 | Added wandering traders, which sell cacti. | ||||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||||
-

-
In older versions, endermen could place cacti on any block. -
![A cactus can survive in unusual locations using /setblock). However, this no longer works since 1.16.[verify]](./_assets_/c70faf512604ccba21515f815a727246.png)
Data history
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8 | 14w06a | Cactus now has a dedicated model json file (models/block/cactus.json); previously the geometry was defined in the game code itself. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 81. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Cactus" or "Cacti" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- Cacti can be placed in 1 block deep water, provided they are placed on sand, and they grow if they break the surface.
- Cacti can be placed next to saplings, but the cactus breaks when the tree grows.
- Endermen could move and place cacti. Thus, they can increase the cactus population in deserts by moving cactus blocks as they grow.
- Signs and paintings can be placed on the sides of cacti and behave as non-blocks, making them cause damage even though they are covering cacti.
- It is possible for cacti to generate on blocks other than sand due to terrain generation; refer to the gallery for examples.
- Cactus can be used in the desert to see if the player is in a newly generated area. If most of the cacti around the player is only one block high, then it is most likely new land.
- Dying from touching a cactus displays "[playername] was pricked to death" in the chat messages.
- Blocks can be placed on top of a cactus, including other cactus blocks.
- It is possible to place redstone next to a cactus block without destroying it.
- A 20 block tall cactus can be found on the seed 43931985876593125 at coordinates (-9711824 , ~ , 7726416) and more recently a 22 block tall one on seed 11343195073417814 at coordinates (14955936 , ~ , -3750655) and even a 23 block tall one on the seed 184693195438010998 and coordinates (16274576 ~ 10230656). All these seeds, found by the Minecraft@home research project, work on Java Edition 1.14.4.[6]
- Top snow can be placed next to cacti without breaking the cacti, no matter how many top snow layers stack.
Gallery
Screenshots
-
Naturally generated cacti. -
Naturally occurring cacti in a badlands biome. -
The bottom of a cactus seen with the "floating cactus" bug. -
Cacti floating in village garden. -
A village surrounded by cacti. -
A natural one block tall cactus. -
A natural two block tall cactus. -
A naturally occurring unusual four-block tall cactus. -
A natural five block tall cactus. -
Another five block cactus. -
A naturally occurring rare six-block tall cactus. -
A natural eight block tall cactus, extremely rare. -
A twelve-block tall cactus, extraordinarily rare. -
A natural nineteen-block tall cactus.[7] -
A natural twenty block tall cactus.[8] -
A natural twenty-two block tall cactus, the second tallest known cactus.[9]
References
- ↑ MC-175179 — Cactus blocks do not have an assigned tool
- ↑ MC-73963 — Can't use bone meal on cacti or sugar cane — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ MCPE-73214 — Cactus cannot be bone meal — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ a b MC-210211 — Smelting cactus gives too much experience since 1.13
- ↑ MC-124923 — Smelting a cactus to produce cactus green doesn't work
- ↑ https://twitter.com/minecraftathome/status/1275401340731232256
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/minecraftseeds/comments/g7u4ld/a_year_of_brute_force_work_to_find_a_19_tall/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/minecraftseeds/comments/henko3/recordbreaking_20_block_tall_cactus_found_by/
- ↑ https://minecraftathome.com/minecrafthome/forum_thread.php?id=4
External links
- Block of the Week: Cactus – Minecraft.net on February 10, 2017
| Environment | |
|---|---|
| Blocks | |
| Mobs | |

