How to find a lava pool in Minecraft

Sometimes searching for lava pools, also known as lava lakes, in Minecraft can be quite a tedious task. Lava pools often come in clutch during Minecraft speed runs when players need to build a nether portal but don’t have any obsidian or a diamond pickaxe to obtain it.

In the nether, the entire bottom of the realm consists of one giant lava lake. But in the overworld, lava pools are small and scarce. Here are some tips to help players locate a lava pool efficiently in Minecraft.

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Tips on finding a lava pool in Minecraft

What to look for

Lava emits light (Image via Minecraft)

Lava pools are almost always surrounded by stone blocks no matter what biome they are found in. Sometimes there are diorite blocks as well. If a player manages to spot either, there may be a lava lake nearby.

Searching for a lava pool is much easier when the sun is down in-game because of the bright light level that lava emits. Lava lakes can be spotted from significant distances away, thanks to their glow.

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Best biomes to find lava pools in Minecraft

Lava pools can appear in all biomes except Deep Dark caves, but they're more common in desert and plains biomes in Minecraft. Since both are relatively flat, players will have an easier time spotting lava pools in these two places.

Desert biomes

A desert biome with four visible lava pools (Image via Minecraft)

Fittingly, lava pools are most common in hot, dry desert biomes. Lava pools generate far more frequently in desert biomes. Deserts usually have flat terrain that makes looking for lava pools a bit easier. Skimming through a desert biome might is the best bet for gamers in search of a pool of lava.

Plains biomes

Plains biomes are easy to navigate through (Image via MC Berlin Wikia)

Lava pools can generate in nearly every biome in Minecraft, save for perhaps frozen ocean or ice spikes. Despite this, players will have better luck searching for lava pools in plains biomes, if a desert is not an option.

Not only do lava pools tend to generate in plains biomes more so than others (though not nearly as frequently as desert biomes), the plains also provide plenty of open space for searching, making it easier to spot lava pools from a distance.

Don't feel disappointed if you can't find either of these biomes in your Minecraft world seed. With some luck and exploration during nighttime, you may stumble across a lava pool.

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Other places to find lava pools in Minecraft

Search underground

Most lava pools generate underground (Image via Minecraft)

While lava lakes can be found at surface level, the majority of them tend to spawn underground. They are most commonly found anywhere below Y level 11, so players may want to dig all the way down.

Lava pools can generate underground on other Y levels above 11 too, so there’s always a chance a player could run into one. While this may a little tedious, it could potentially be the quickest as well.

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Listen closely

Lava can be heard and discvoered with subtitles (Image via Minecraft)

Lava emits a bubbling sound that players can hear even when the lava lake itself is not visible. Especially while underground, listening closely might help players realize that they’re closer to a lava pool than they might think.

Another way to help find lava pools before spotting them is to turn subtitles on. This can be done through settings and will be under the “Music & Sound” tab.

Subtitles will appear at the bottom right corner of the screen and alert the player of all sounds occurring around them. This includes lava pops, which will indicate that lava is nearby. Subtitles will even point the direction in which the sound is coming from, making it easy to determine which way to go.