How to farm lava in Minecraft 1.17 Caves & Cliffs update

Minecraft 1.17 Caves and Cliffs Part 1 has been out for a few weeks now. This update has added many new blocks, items, and mobs. The 1.17 update also has many hidden features like renewable lava.

Lava has been a part of Minecraft since the Java Edition classic in 2009. Despite being an old item, there was no renewable source available in Minecraft. The 1.17 update made lava farming possible and easy to do, even for beginners.

Earlier, players had to find a lava lake or dig deep down to find lava lakes in the overworld. The nether realm was the best place to get lava as it had lava oceans everywhere. However, there is no need to take such risks as lava is renewable in Minecraft 1.17.

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How to farm lava in Minecraft 1.17

Renewable lava (Image via Minecraft)

Minecraft Caves and Cliffs Part 1 didn't add new cave biomes such as lush and dripstone caves, but all new blocks from these biomes are available. To farm lava, players have to find dripstones first.

Dripstones are generated in small groups inside caves and ravines. Players can identify dripstones from pointed dripstones. Be careful around them, as pointed dripstones can be pretty lethal on players with no armor. Players can mine pointed dripstones quickly using pickaxes. A cool way to break pointed dripstones is by throwing trident at them.

After obtaining some pointed dripstones, players will need some buckets of lava and cauldrons. Cauldrons can be crafted with five iron ingots. After collecting these items, players can create a renewable source of lava.

Farming lava (Image via Minecraft)

Place some cauldrons on the ground. Then, leave a block space above and put a glass or any complete block. Make a row of blocks above the cauldron, as shown in the image. Fill the row with lava. Flowing lava won't work. Therefore players will need the same number of lava buckets as cauldrons. Next, add a pointed dripstone hanging from the block with lava on top.

Using cauldrons, players can collect the lava dripping from the pointed dripstone. Over time, the cauldron will get filled with lava. Next, empty the cauldron using a bucket. After this, the cauldron will again start collecting lava.

Dripping lava (Image via Minecraft

Sadly, the process is pretty slow, so players have to use lots of cauldrons, pointed dripstones, and lava to get an efficient source of lava. But, like other renewable resources, players can also farm lava automatically in Minecraft. Here is an automatic lava farm designed by YouTuber Timbnic.