Make a Water Elevator in Minecraft (2022)

Our step-by-step tutorial to make a water elevator works on both Minecraft Java and Bedrock editions. We tested the water elevator in the latest Minecraft 1.19 update. But before moving to the primary process, we will first cover how the elevator actually works. Though, you can directly skip to the process using the table below.

How Does a Water Elevator Work

Many blocks in Minecraft are known for creating gaseous bubbles in the game’s source water blocks. Depending upon their stream’s flow, these bubbles can move entities around within the water. So, if an entity enters a bubbling stream going upwards, the entity will automatically go upwards with the stream. The same rules also apply to downward streams.
The water elevator in Minecraft works with this mechanic at its core. But since a single stream can’t move in two ways, you need to create two separate water elevators – one for going up and the other for traveling down.

Items Required to Make a Water Elevator

You need to following items to make a water elevator in Minecraft:

Two buckets of waterA stack of KelpSolid blocks for building (preferably Glass or Stained Glass)Four wooden doorsSoul Sand blockMagma block

You can get any solid building block to make the outlet of your elevator, but most players use glass blocks for aesthetic purposes. Others prefer cobblestone because it is easily available. You can use any solid block that fits your preference. The number of blocks will depend upon the height of your elevator. That said, let’s look at how you can get the items on this list:

Get Buckets of Water

Since we are making two elevators at once, you need two main water sources. For that, you have to create water buckets and use them on a river, lake, or ocean to collect water. You simply need to equip the bucket and click on a water source to collect it.

Get Kelp in Minecraft

The bubble streams in Minecraft only work with source blocks of water. So, for every floor of your water elevator, you need a separate source of the water block. But before you run away collecting stacks of water buckets, there is an easy way to turn flowing water into source blocks.
Placing kelp in flowing water turns that water into a source water block. For that, you have to find kelp, a common plant that grows in all oceans of Minecraft. Pieces of kelp are easy to collect as breaking each plant drops dozens of kelp at once.

Craft a Wooden Entrance Door

Doors are essential for keeping water from flowing out of the water elevator in Minecraft. You can place wooden planks on a crafting table, as shown in the recipe above, to make doors.

Collect Soul Sand And Magma Block

Magma blocks make the entities flow downwards with the stream of bubbles. Meanwhile, soul sand makes the entities and the bubbles float upwards. Both of these blocks are commonly generated in the Nether dimension of Minecraft. You can create a Nether portal to travel to this dimension to find soul sand and magma blocks.
Alternatively, you can also find magma blocks at the surface of Minecraft’s oceans. But since you are already taking a trip to the Nether, it’s better to get both soul sand and magma blocks from there.

Steps to Make an Elevator in Minecraft

Follow the steps below to make an upwards or downwards water elevator in Minecraft:
2. Then, in the place of the fourth tower, create a small doorway-like structure (see image below) and add a door at the entry to keep the water inside the elevator.
3. To finish the water elevator’s structure in Minecraft, create the fourth tower right above the doorway. 4. Now that the “elevator” part of the water elevator is complete, it’s time to add water. For that, go to the top of the structure and use the bucket of water to place a block of water inside the elevator. It will automatically go down to the bottom of the elevator.
5. Next, you need to place kelp inside the elevator to turn flowing water into water source blocks. Start from the bottom and create a kelp tower by placing one kelp piece on top of another.
6. Finally, break the bottom-most piece of kelp to make the whole kelp structure crumple, leaving behind independent water source blocks.

How to Use Minecraft Water Elevator

With everything in place, you simply need to place a soul sand or magma block at the bottom to make the elevator functional. Here’s how to go about it:

Create Upwards Elevator (Soul Sand)

If you place a soul sand block at the bottom of the water elevator in Minecraft, it will start an upwards stream of bubbles. Any entity, including players, mobs, and items that enter the flow of bubbles, will be immediately pushed to the top of the water elevator. Once at the top, you can get off the water flow and onto the top glass block. You can also choose to create a platform at the top to make your landing smoother and navigation easier.

Create Downwards Elevator (Magma)

To reverse the flow of bubbles, you have to place a magma block at the bottom of the water elevator in Minecraft. It pulls water down, and the entities in the water flow towards itself. You can keep changing the blocks at the bottom to switch the functionality of your elevator, but we suggest making two separate elevators.

Make Double Elevators

If you don’t want two separate elevators, you can also expand a single elevator to include two water channels. To do that, you must make your water elevator two blocks wide. Then place a magma block and a soul sand block at its bottom. You can jump into the magma bubbles to go down and into the soul sand bubbles to go up.

Uses of Water Elevator in Minecraft

You can use a water elevator in Minecraft for the following purposes:

To travel vertically around a Minecraft base.For transporting items and mobs in Minecraft farms.To trap mobs or other players in complex flows.

We already have a guide on how to create a mob XP farm in Minecraft. It’s the perfect structure to include a water elevator.
What Block makes water go up in Minecraft? Soul sand makes the water release bubbles that go up in Minecraft, enabling you to create an upwards elevator.
Why is my water elevator not working Minecraft? If your blocks are placed correctly, the only reason your elevator doesn’t work is that the water isn’t a source block. So, you must place and break kelp to turn flowing water into source water blocks.
Does soul soil work for a water elevator? Only soul sand makes the water bubbles go up in Minecraft. You can’t use the soul soil in this build. What block makes water go down in Minecraft? You can use magma blocks to make water bubbles pull you down on a water elevator in Minecraft.

Easily Create a Water Elevator in Minecraft

You are now ready to create your own upwards and downwards water elevator in Minecraft. And if you don’t feel the need for an elevator, it’s time to upgrade your base using some of the best Minecraft house ideas to fit in the elevator. Though, some of the best Minecraft mods can provide you with even better alternatives. But until you figure them out, do you have a plan to improve water elevators? Tell us in the comments below!