Sugar Cane


| Renewable |
Yes |
|---|---|
| Stackable |
Yes (64) |
| Tool |
Any tool |
| Blast resistance |
0 |
| Hardness |
0 |
| Luminous |
No |
| Transparent |
Yes |
| Flammable |
No |
| Catches fire from lava |
No |
| Map color (JE) |
|
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Sugar cane is a plant block that generates near water. It is used to craft sugar and paper, making it an essential resource for making books, maps, and firework rockets.
Obtaining
Breaking
Sugar cane can be mined instantly with anything.
When the spot a sugar cane block is placed in becomes unsuitable, such as when the supporting block is removed, the sugar cane block uproots and drops as an item. When all adjacent water is removed, sugar cane uproots on the next block update or random tick.
A sugar cane block drops itself as an item if a piston tries to push it (trying to pull it does nothing) or moves a block into its space.
| Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 0 | |
| Breaking time (secs) | ||
| Default | 0.05 | |
- 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
Natural generation

Sugar cane can generate naturally near water and ice, as two (11⁄18 chance), three (5⁄18 chance), or four (2⁄18 chance) blocks tall. Rare taller sugar canes can be found if the world generator places two smaller canes on top of each other. It generates in approximately 0.8 sugar cane per chunk seeing as how they only generate near bodies of water.
Sugar canes attempt to generate 10 times in any Overworld biome, which requires water. An extra 10 attempts are made in swamp biomes, and 50 in desert biomes, which makes sugar cane twice as frequent in swamps and six times as frequent in desert biomes, making the banks of rivers that cut through deserts lined with sugar canes.
Sugar cane cannot generate in caves.[1][2]
Trading
Wandering traders can sell sugar cane for 1 emerald.
Usage
Sugar cane may be placed only on a grass block, dirt, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, podzol, mycelium, sand, red sand, suspicious sand, moss block, pale moss block or mud that is directly adjacent to water, a waterlogged block, or frosted ice (not merely above or diagonal to water), or on top of another sugar cane block. The adjacent water block can be covered with another block, whether opaque or transparent, and sugar cane can still be placed and grow next to it.
Farming

Sugar cane can generate naturally up to any number of blocks tall, but grow only to a height of three blocks, adding a block of height when the top sugar cane block has received 16 random block ticks (i.e. on average every 18 minutes on Java Edition or 54 minutes on Bedrock Edition, but the actual rate can vary widely). Sugar cane grows regardless of light level, even in complete darkness.

In Bedrock Edition, bone meal can be used to instantly grow sugar cane to three blocks. Only one bone meal is consumed. In Java Edition, bone meal cannot be used on sugar cane.[3]
Crafting ingredient
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | ||
| Sugar |
Composting
Placing sugar cane into a composter has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.
Biome colors
Java Edition
These values are generated by the biome dyeing algorithm.
| Biome | Category | Rainfall | Sugarcane Color | Temperature Affects | Render |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa | No | #90814d |
No | ||
| Beach | Rain | #91bd59 |
|||
| Forest | Rain | #88bb67 |
|||
| Forest | Rain | #B6DB61 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Forest | Rain | #507a32 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Desert | No | #bfb755 |
|||
| The End | No | #8eb971 |
|||
| The End | No | #8eb971 |
|||
| The End | No | #8eb971 |
|||
| Mesa | No | #90814d |
No | ||
| Forest | Rain | #79c05a |
|||
| Forest | Rain | #79c05a |
|||
| Ocean | Snow | #80b497 |
|||
| River | Snow | #80b497 |
|||
| Taiga | Rain | #86b783 |
|||
| Taiga | Rain | #86b87f |
|||
| Icy | Snow | #80b497 |
|||
| Jungle | Rain | #59c93c |
|||
| Jungle | Rain | #64c73f |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Extreme Hills | Rain | #8ab689 |
|||
| Mushroom | Rain | #55c93f |
|||
| Nether | No | #bfb755 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Plains | Rain | #91bd59 |
|||
| River | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Savanna | No | #bfb755 |
|||
| Savanna | No | #bfb755 |
|||
| Savanna | No | #bfb755 |
|||
| The End | No | #8eb971 |
|||
| Beach | Snow | #83b593 |
|||
| Taiga | Snow | #80b497 |
|||
| Icy | Snow | #80b497 |
|||
| None | Rain | #8ab689 |
|||
| Plains | Rain | #91bd59 |
|||
| Swamp | Rain | #6a7039 |
If temperature below -0.1, used #4c763c. |
||
| Taiga | Rain | #86b783 |
|||
| Forest | Rain | #88bb67 |
|||
| The End | No | #8eb971 |
|||
| None | No | #8eb971 |
|||
| Ocean | Rain | #8eb971 |
|||
| Mesa | No | #90814d |
No | ||
| Extreme Hills | Rain | #8ab689 |
Bedrock Edition
Sounds
grass 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 | |
grass sound type | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 0.7 | 0.8–1.0 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | use | 0.8 | 0.8–1.0 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.3 | 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 | 0.11 | 1.0 | |
| Blocks | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.21 | 1.0 | |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
sugar_cane | Block & Item | block |
| Sugar Cane | Identifier | Alias ID | Numeric ID | Form | Item ID[i 1] | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
reeds | None | 83 | Block & Ungiveable Item[i 2] | item.reeds | tile | |
sugar_cane | reeds | 385 | Item | — | item |
Block states
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| age | 0 | 0123456789101112131415 | A freshly planted cane – and a cane that has just grown cane above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cane may try to grow more cane above it. |
| Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| age | 0x10x20x40x8 | 0 | 0123456789101112131415 | 0123456789101112131415 | A freshly planted cane – and a cane that has just grown cane above it – each have an age of 0. The age is incremented at random intervals. At age 15, a cane may try to grow more cane above it. |
Video
History
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.11 | |||||||
| Since no in-game name was indicated, they were referred to by names such as "bamboo" or "papyrus". | |||||||
| Since reeds can be washed away with water currents or instantly destroyed by removing the water adjacent to them, automated reed farms can be made. | |||||||
| Reeds can be used to craft paper. | |||||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||||
| 1.2 | "Reeds" have been renamed to "Sugar Canes". | ||||||
| Sugar canes can now be crafted into sugar, included in the recipe for the cakes. | |||||||
| 1.6 | Test Build 3 | Arrows no longer stick to sugar canes, and instead, they pass through. However, snowballs still come into contact with any sugar cane blocks, as if they are solid. | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Sugar canes can now grow and be placed onto sand as long as they are adjacent to water. This update allows sugar canes to appear next to water ponds in desert biomes. | |||||
| Sugar cane is now available in the creative inventory in both block and item forms. | |||||||
| Java Edition | |||||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6 | The sugar cane block has been removed from the creative inventory. | |||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | ||||||
| The item texture remained unchanged and still used the color palette from before the update.[4] | |||||||
| 1.8 | 14w25a | ||||||
| 14w26a | |||||||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Sugar canes no longer breaks if its adjacent water is turned to frosted ice. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | "Sugar Canes" has been renamed to "Sugar Cane". | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||||
| 19w03a | Placing sugar cane into a composter has a 20% chance of raising the compost level by 1. | ||||||
| 19w05a | Sugar cane now has a 50% chance of increasing the compost level in a composter by 1. | ||||||
| Added wandering traders, which sell sugar cane. | |||||||
| 1.16 | 20w13a | Sugar cane has been moved from the Miscellaneous tab to the Decoration Blocks tab in the Creative inventory.[5] | |||||
| 1.17 | 21w11a | ||||||
| Pre-release 1 | Sugar cane now generates in mushroom fields.[6] | ||||||
| 1.19 | 22w15a | Sugar cane can now be planted on mud. | |||||
| 1.20 | 23w14a | Sugar cane can now be planted on suspicious sand. | |||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||||
| Pre-release | |||||||
| v0.2.0 | Despite being visible in the inventory, sugar canes does not drop anything when mined, making it unobtainable in Survival mode. | ||||||
| v0.2.1 | Survival players now start with an infinite stack of sugar canes in the inventory. | ||||||
| v0.3.0 | Sugar cane now drops its item form when mined. | ||||||
| Survival players no longer start with an infinite stack of sugar canes in the inventory. | |||||||
| v0.5.0 | Sugar canes can now be grown on sand. | ||||||
| Sugar canes can now be obtained after activating the nether reactor. | |||||||
| v0.8.0 | build 5 | Bone meal can now grow sugar canes to maximum height. | |||||
| v0.9.0 | build 1 | ||||||
| Using bone meal on sugar canes is no longer able to break blocks above it. | |||||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Sugar canes are no longer available from the nether reactor. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | ||||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.2.13 | beta 1.2.13.5 | ||||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||||
| Sugar canes can now be bought from wandering traders. | |||||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Sugar canes can now be used to fill up composters. | |||||
| 1.17.0 | beta 1.17.0.50 | ||||||
| 1.21.30 | Preview 1.21.30.22 | Changed name from "Sugar Canes" to "Sugar Cane" to match Java Edition. | |||||
| 1.21.60 | Preview 1.21.60.21 | The hitbox of sugar cane has been changed to match Java Edition. | |||||
| Preview 1.21.60.23 | Sugar canes no longer cut through other blocks when generating. | ||||||
| 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 | |
| Sugar canes are solid, making it useful for growable walls. | |||||||
| TU2 | Sugar canes are no longer solid, and arrows pass through them. | ||||||
| TU46 | CU36 | 1.47 | 1.38 | 1.38 | Patch 15 | ||
| TU57 | CU49 | 1.57 | 1.56 | 1.56 | Patch 27 | 1.0.7 | |
| TU60 | CU51 | 1.64 | 1.64 | 1.64 | Patch 30 | 1.0.11 | Sugar canes can now be grown with bonemeal. |
| 1.90 | |||||||
| 1.91 | Sugar canes can now be bought from wandering traders. | ||||||
| Sugar canes can now be used to fill up composters. | |||||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||||
Data history
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.13 | 17w47a | The ID of sugar canes has been changed from reeds to sugar_cane.
| |||||
| Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 83, and the item's 338. | |||||||
| 1.17 | 21w19a | minecraft:sugar_cane has been added to the newly-implemented #minecraft:mineable/axe block tag. This, however, has no effect in-game, since the block breaks instantly anyway regardless of tool used or active effects. | |||||
| 1.21.5 | 25w10a | minecraft:sugar_cane has been removed from the block tags #minecraft:mineable/axe and #minecraft:sword_efficient. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Sugar Cane" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- When a sugar cane is broken at the second level, the time resets (for example, if a two-block high sugar cane is broken, but is just about to grow to the third stage, it would reset that time).
- By placing more sugar canes on top of a sugar cane plant, it is possible to create tall sugar canes (up to the maximum building height), although they do not naturally grow this high.
- Before sugar cane received an official name, they were sometimes referred to as bamboo, a block added 9 years later. Other names were "reeds" and "papyrus".
- Due to its water-displacing properties, sugar cane can interestingly be used to create underwater paths, allowing players to move at normal speed and breathe if it is two blocks in height.[7]
Gallery
Renders
-
Plains -
Taiga -
Snowy plains -
Jungle -
Desert -
Swamp (cold) -
Swamp -
Badlands
Screenshots
-
A large sugar cane farm using 2×2 water holes. -
Water flowing over sugar cane. -
Naturally generated sugar cane found underwater. -
A cactus and sugar cane stalk generated next to each other. -
Sugar cane found in the ravine. -
Reeds generated in the winter mode. -
Sugar cane growing between biomes. -

-
Sugar cane generated without a water source. -
Sugar cane generated in a swamp biome. -
Sugar cane growing in a savanna biome. -
Sugar cane growing in a forest biome. -
Sugar cane growing with lava flowing around it. -
Sugar canes few seconds before breaking because the water is frozen. -
A sugar cane plant that generated in an underground water lake. -
Another example. -
Four-block tall sugar cane. -
Four-block tall sugar cane. -
Four-block tall sugar cane in a plains biome.
References
- ↑ MC-214959 — Sugar cane generated in cave — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MCPE-135812 — Sugar canes can generate in caves — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-73963 — Can't use bone meal on cacti or sugar cane — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ a b MC-216227
- ↑ MC-174434
- ↑ MC-226683
- ↑ MC-929 — Sugar cane can be placed underwater — resolved as "Works As Intended".