5 things players don't know about boats in Minecraft

The humble boat was originally added to Minecraft in Alpha version 1.0.6, over 10-years-ago.

Since then, the boat has undergone many changes in regards to several key aspects, including many of its core mechanics. In Minecraft version 1.9, boats were majorly overhauled to include variations in paddling oars, passenger seats, and more.

Being such a unique item within the game, the boat is known to contain many different intricacies and quirks. Some of these are relatively unknown to players, but are interesting nonetheless.

5 unknown things about the Minecraft boat

#5 Boats can't be crafted with crimson or warped planks

Boats are unable to be crafted with crimson or warped planks

For whatever reason, boats are the only wood-based item within the game that cannot be crafted using either warped planks or crimson planks.

This will likely come as a minor inconvenience for players with only this type of wood on hand, especially if they need to traverse a large body of water at that very moment.

#4 Falling items will break when touching a boat in water

A falling item such as a dragon egg will break into contact with a boat in the water.

A somewhat unknown fact about boats is that a boat currently floating inside the water will force any item that falls upon it to break into its itemized state.

This even includes the illusive dragon egg. If a dragon egg is dropped on top of a boat in water, it will break. The same happens to sand, red sand, concrete powder, gravel, and anvils.

#3 Boats move almost 10x faster on blue ice

Boats move incredibly fast on top of blue ice.

In a regular water body, boats can move at a consistent speed of around 28.8 km/h. On top of blue ice, a boat will move at speeds of 252 km/h.

Obviously, this is a huge step up in speed. The magnitude of this in-game is something to behold. It seems unreal given how useful this bump in speed can be to quickly traverse distances of the map.

#2 Dolphins will follow players inside boats

Dolphins will chase players passing by in boats

Like all other sea animals, dolphins cannot ride in boats. However, they do chase players passing by.

Eagle-eyed Minecrafters may have spotted dolphins on their tails while riding in boats. However, this behavior is not rare or unusual. All dolphins in Minecraft do this by default. It's unclear why Mojang decided to implement this.

#1 The boat has a hidden mossy texture

The Minecraft boat has a hidden moss underbelly.

Many Minecrafters will have used boats several times, likely never having come across the fact that a boat's underside has a mossy green texture. This is likely to represent algae and other bacteria collected from being exposed to seawater.

Although not quite an Easter egg, this feature of boat texture has likely gone unnoticed by many players throughout the years.