Everything we need to know about Boat in Minecraft

Minecraft is a popular sandbox game that allows players to create and explore a virtual world made of blocks. One of the features of Minecraft is the ability to craft and use different types of vehicles, such as minecarts, horses, and boats. In this article, we will focus on boats, which are useful for traveling across water.

1. Obtaining

Boats can be made with any kind of planks that are found in the Overworld, but not with planks that are from the Nether. To take your boat back, you have to strike it many times until it drops as an item.

Tools and weapons that deal more than 4 () damage will instantly destroy a boat in one hit.‌ [Java Edition only]

1.1 Crafting

1.2 Trading

Villagers with a master-level in fishing skills consistently propose trading an emerald in exchange for a boat. The specific boat variant they request is contingent upon their corresponding biome outfit: plains villagers request oak boats, taiga and snowy biome villagers seek spruce boats, savanna villagers are interested in acacia boats, desert and jungle villagers prefer jungle boats, while swamp villagers are inclined to trade for dark oak boats.

1.3 Fuel

When utilized as fuel in a furnace, a boat has a burn time of 60 seconds, allowing it to smelt a maximum of 6 items during its combustion.

1.4 Entering

A player can embark on a boat by simply using it, provided the boat is not already accommodating its maximum capacity of two entities. In contrast to beds, there is no notification displayed above the hotbar when attempting to board a boat that is already fully occupied.

1.5 Exiting

Exiting a boat can be accomplished by either sneaking, or in the Bedrock Edition, by pressing down the right analog stick on a controller, tapping the “Leave Boat” button with touch controls, or by jumping. Upon exiting a boat, the player’s placement is determined by their facing direction; if facing directly up or down, the player will be positioned in front of the boat. Whenever feasible, the player will be placed on land from their dismounting position.

2. Behavior

2.1 Floatation

A boat will naturally float on top of both still and flowing water. However, in the Java Edition, a boat will sink if it enters a waterfall. In contrast, in the Bedrock Edition, a boat does not sink when submerged but instead rises to the surface. This unique behavior in Bedrock Edition allows players to engineer uphill water flows to propel a boat uphill solely using flowing water.

When a boat traverses a bubble column, it starts to shake. If the bubbles are generated by a magma block, all passengers are ejected from the boat, and the boat sinks.

In the Java Edition, once a boat has sunk, it cannot be resurfaced until a bubble column pushes it up or the player breaks it. On the other hand, in the Bedrock Edition, a sunken boat regains its buoyancy when it emerges from the currents that were keeping it submerged, or when the bubble column is obstructed or removed.

Dolphins in pursuit of players riding a moving boat will occasionally bump into the boat, causing it to momentarily shake.

2.2 Destruction

Boats, being entities, possess a health attribute. Boats effectively have slightly over 4 hearts (), with exactly 4 damage not being sufficient to completely destroy a boat. They regenerate 1/10 of their health per game tick.

Boats can be destroyed by various means, including explosions, fire, lava (except for magma blocks), contact with cacti, and being physically attacked by mobs like Drowned. If boats are made invulnerable using commands, they become impervious to damage from these sources, but they still cannot be used to traverse lava because they will sink.

When a boat is destroyed under normal circumstances, it drops as an item of itself. However, in specific conditions, such as when it falls from a height of exactly 12, 13, 49, 51, 111, 114, 198, 202, 310, or 315 blocks, it yields two sticks and three planks as drops upon destruction.

2.3 Passengers

Boats are designed to accommodate two riders, including various mobs. In most cases, mobs cannot exit a boat once they are aboard, and they remain trapped until the boat is destroyed, or the player employs a fishing rod or lead to remove the mob. This feature can be utilized for transporting mobs, although hostile mobs can still attack while inside a boat. Mobs riding in a boat do not despawn in the Java Edition and do not contribute to the mob cap.

When a player is in a boat, they cannot simultaneously row (move the boat) and use items. However, it is possible to initiate item use (e.g., start eating) and row the boat while the item is still in the middle of its use animation. Although the rowing animation takes precedence over the item use animation, the item can still be successfully consumed. This behavior does not apply to items triggered by releasing the use button, such as bows and tridents, and is specific to the Java Edition.

While in a boat, the player’s ability to look around using the mouse is restricted to a forward arc of 210° in the Java Edition and 180° in the Bedrock Edition.

Boats that are submerged underwater cannot be ridden. When a boat is underwater, all passengers inside are forcibly ejected.

3. What are some tips and tricks for using boats?

Here are some tips and tricks for using boats:

• You can use leads or fishing rods to attach boats to other entities or blocks. This can be useful for towing boats or creating trains of boats.
• You can use pistons or dispensers to launch boats into the air or onto land. This can be useful for creating traps or fun rides.
• You can use boats as shields against projectiles or explosions. Boats can block arrows, fireballs, tridents, snowballs, eggs, ender pearls, fireworks, and TNT blasts.
• You can use boats as weapons against mobs or players. Boats can deal damage and knockback when they hit an entity at high speed.

4. Gallery