Crying Obsidian in Minecraft: Everything players need to know

Minecraft's Crying Obsidian is a beautiful purple block that also emits some light. Crying Obsidian is quite rare and this is for good reason. Crying Obsidian allows the player to craft one of the most useful blocks in Minecraft, the Respawn Anchor.

This hauntingly captivating block is great to use as a Creative mode building decoration, however its rarity makes that quite an arduous task in Survival. All Minecraft players should be aware of this rare block and its uses.

A guide to Crying Obsidian in Minecraft

Obtaining

A naturally spawning underground Ruined Portal (Image via Minecraft)

Crying Obsidian can only be found in a handful of locations. Unfortunately, Crying Obsidian can only be mined with either a Diamond or Netherite pickaxe.

The most common place for players to find Crying Obsidian is at Ruined Portals, one of which can be seen above. The portals don't contain many Crying Obsidian blocks, however most players will spot multiple Ruined Portals throughout their adventures.

The second easiest technique to acquire Crying Obsidian is to barter with Piglins. When given a single Gold Ingot, Piglins have around a 9 percent chance to drop 1-3 Crying Obsidian. On average, players will need to drop around five Gold Ingots to acquire Crying Obsidian.

This technique may be easier for more experienced players, as the Nether is an extremely dangerous place and requires skill to successfully traverse.

The video above explains how to barter with Piglins, which is a great way to acquire Crying Obsidian.

The final way to acquire Crying Obsidian is inside the chests located in Bastion Remnants. This technique is not advised for players solely looking for the block as Bastion Remnants are extremely difficult to find and survive through.

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Uses

A Respawn Anchor placed in a very precarious location (Image via Minecraft)

Besides a decoration, Crying Obsidian only has one other use. It can be used to create the extremely useful Respawn Anchor.

The Respawn Anchor allows players to set a spawn point in the Nether, as long as the anchor is provided a charge. A single charge can be added by "using" a Glowstone Block on the anchor.

The anchor will become increasingly brighter with each charge added, however players must be aware that once the circle (seen above) is completely full, the next charge added will cause the anchor to explode.

If the anchor explodes, the player will lose the block forever and need to find six more Crying Obsidian.