How to make water elevator in Minecraft

Minecraft is a game with so many moving parts that you will want to explore many of the different structures you can make in your world. For those looking to reach different stories of their buildings quickly, there are multiple ways you can make an elevator to travel quickly up and down.

This guide focuses on a set of elevators that use water to push you upwards and downwards. No worries, you will not drown inside as the method we are using will create air bubbles for you as you ride up and down. No one wants to continually run up and down staircases all day long, so here is how to make some easy water elevators in your Minecraft seed.

First, you will need at least one Iron Bucket you can fill with water, your choice of blocks to build with, one block of Soul Sand, one Magma Block, and two Wooden Signs of any kind. Iron Buckets can be made with three Iron Bars each. When you craft them, gather some water source blocks from an ocean or river. The Soul Sand and Magma Cube can be found in the Nether in plenty of areas, but be sure to come equipped with armor or potions as the Nether is quite dangerous. As for the building blocks, we prefer using Glass Blocks to make it look a little cooler, but as long as you have a lot of any block to make a wall, it does not matter what you use.

To start things off, start building up a column with your building blocks. You want to surround a single block with only an open space going up. In the middle of your column, dig out the floor level one block down and place your Soul Sand.

Create a two-block tall walkway onto the Soul Sand, and place two Wooden Signs on the side. These will block the water from flowing out of the elevator while allowing you to walk through them. Go to the top of your elevator and place water into the open space to have it flow all the way down to the Soul Sand. Ensure that every single space within the elevator has a water source block, or this will not work. You will know you have done it right if you see the water moving upwards with bubbles in it.

How to make water elevator in Minecraft
Screenshot by DoubleXP

Now step inside and the water will rush you to the top, and as stated at the beginning of the guide, you will not drown because of the bubbles flowing alongside you.

Now that you can go up, it is time to make another column to go down. Do the same steps that you did before, but instead of Soul Sand at the bottom, put in the Magma Block. If you did it right, you will see bubbles flowing down towards the Magma.

Be careful though, while you stand on the Magma Block in Survival, you will take a little damage. When you go down the elevator, be sure to walk out and regain your health. Also, be sure not to get yourself trapped on the block as you cannot swim up against the current flowing down. If you would rather not have a Magma Block at the bottom, you are fine to put any other block, but doing so will remove the fast flow downwards, and you will not have the bubbles to give you air.

Water is in fact not a source of hydration in Minecraft, but rather a valuable tool that can be used as decoration or as a way to interact with other materials. It's essential when it comes to creating crop farms that can be used to feed livestock but is equally important in cobblestone and obsidian generators.

One ingenious way to use water is to transport mobs and players. Thanks to how it interacts with fall damage and with a few select blocks in the game, you can build convenient water elevators to quickly get from one place to another. It's also how many mob farms function by transporting mobs from a spawning chamber into the actual farm itself. Here's how the humble water elevator works, and how to make one.

Required Items For A Water Elevator In Minecraft

Minecraft Items Needed For Water Elevator

It's very cheap to make a water elevator, and all of the items required can be acquired after you have accessed the Nether for the very first time. This is because Soul Sand is an essential part of the water elevator. You'll need:

  • 1 block of Soul Sand
  • Loads of kelp
  • A slab of any kind
  • A bucket of water
  • 2 signs of any type
  • Building blocks of your choice (here, glass is used as an example)

Build Your Elevator Shaft

Minecraft Glass Shaft

First, build the elevator shaft. If you're building underground, you simply need to carve out a long single-block tunnel up to the level that you want your elevator to take you to.

This first shaft will be an elevator that takes you upwards.

Build An Entrance

Minecraft Red Tinted Glass

At the bottom of the elevator, make sure to build an entrance that protrudes from the actual shaft itself.

This will be important later to ensure the water doesn't flow out of the elevator and into your base.

Minecraft Glass Elevator Shaft

Complete the shaft all the way until the top, and make sure all sides of the shaft are sealed.

Water should only flow within the center tunnel that goes down to the entrance, and the entrance itself should be a two-block high doorway.

Place Down Water

Minecraft Glass Doorway With Wooden Signs

Before you place down any water, it's time to use an age-old trick. Put down two wooden signs on the side of the entrance as seen above.

Signs count as full blocks and will prevent the water from flowing through the doorway and going everywhere

Note: Make sure not to put them inside the shaft itself!

Minecraft Placing Water Inside Elevator

Go to the top of the elevator, where you'll exit from, and place down your water source at the very top of the shaft, against the last block.

The water will then flow downwards.

Minecraft Water Inside Elevator Shaft

Return to the bottom of the shaft to check you did everything correctly. Your elevator will be ready for the next step when you see the water flowing inside like this, blocked off by the two wooden signs on the doorway.

Place The Kelp

Minecraft Placing Kelp Inside Water Elevator

In order for the water elevator to work, every single block inside the elevator must be a water source block. Rather than having an inventory full of water buckets and diving inside to place them down randomly, which is tedious, you can actually use kelp.

Step inside the water elevator and place down kelp all the way from the bottom to the top.

Each placed down piece of kelp will turn each block of water from flowing into a source block. Once this is done, return to the bottom of the elevator and break the bottom kelp, since you won't need it anymore. This should leave just a shaft full of water source blocks.

Place The Soul Sand

Minecraft Placing Sould Sand At The Bottom Of A Water Elevator

Then, break the bottom block of the elevator and replace it with a Soul Sand block.

If you placed your kelp correctly, your water elevator upwards should be complete and functional now. To test it out, step inside the elevator, and the bubbles should push you quickly all the way to the top.

If you get stuck somewhere in the middle, remove the Soul Sand and place down the kelp again.

Make A Way Down

Minecraft Building Second Glass Shaft

Now that your upwards elevator is done, you might want to make a way down. The process for this is much easier, and the design is pretty much identical with the exception of water and wooden signs.

You can simply create a shaft right next to your existing one as seen above.

Minecraft Building Second Red Doorway For Elevator

Create the exit for the downward elevator right next to your upwards-headed one.

It can be exactly the same, though you won't be needing wooden signs.

Minecraft Glass Elevator Shaft Completed

Finish off the shaft all the way to the top. You'll know it's correct if the elevators look like two rudimentary flower shapes sharing a petal in the middle.

Make sure there are no gaps for mobs to spawn in.

Minecraft Down Elevator Bottom Area

At the bottom of your downward elevator, destroy both the bottom block in the doorway, and the bottom block in the elevator itself. In the doorway, put down a slab of your choice, and in the elevator, place your bucket of water.

Now, if you drop down from the top, you'll fall into the water block and never take any fall damage. The slab allows you to walk forward without jumping to step out of the elevator easily.

You can also use a Magma block at the bottom and fill the shaft with water as well. The Magma cube works in reverse compared to the Soul Sand. However, this method is slower to complete.

NEXT: Minecraft Complete Guide And Walkthrough

How do you make a bubble water lift in Minecraft?

How To Make A Bubble Elevator In Minecraft.
Gather Blocks..
Get A Water Bucket..
Finding A Kelp..
Go To The Nether..
Build Four Columns..
Placing The Door..
Filling Up The Elevator..
Filling The Water With Kelp..

What Block makes water go up?

To start a water elevator, players will need a few materials. The main components will be water, then whatever building blocks that players will use to contain the water. They will also need Magma blocks and Soul Sand. These are the basic building blocks for the Minecraft Water Elevator.

How do you make a water elevator in Minecraft 2022?

Make a Water Elevator in Minecraft (2022).
Get Buckets of Water..
Get Kelp in Minecraft..
Craft a Wooden Entrance Door..
Collect Soul Sand And Magma Block..