How to get infinite lava in Minecraft

Infinite lava is still possible in Minecraft, though it will take longer than it used to. As of update 1.17, the ability to farm this valuable fuel source still exists. However, players will have to try another method. Whether as a light source, fuel source, or simply a way to destroy incoming monsters, lava is incredibly valuable to players no matter what they’re doing in Mojang Studios’ voxel-based building game.

Thankfully, you can once again farm infinite lava - but it will take some patience unless you’re willing to use cheats to speed up time. Here’s what you need to know if you want to create an everlasting supply of this fuel source in Minecraft.

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How to use the Dripstone method to get infinite lava in Minecraft

As of 1.17 in Minecraft, players can farm infinite lava in the game again. It’s tedious to chop a ton of trees if you want to power your furnaces and smelt blocks, but now you don’t have to waste all that time.

Since you can no longer use an Infinite Lava Source block, you need another option. Thankfully, with a few materials, you can farm this resource in Minecraft as much as you’d like. Since it takes time, you may want to set a few of these up.

Dripstone method materials

• Pointed Dripstone Block
• Cauldron
• Lava Bucket

First, you’ll need at least one Dripstone Block, which requires Dripstone clusters. These can be found in many caves across Minecraft. It’s easy enough to make, and you can learn more about farming it here.

A cauldron is simple to design and won't take much effort (Image via Mojang Studios)

The Cauldron’s also quite simple. You need 7 Iron Ingots, and you need to arrange them in the Crafting Table in a specific way. Fill the spaces in the table, except for the top, middle, and center spaces, to get the Cauldron. It’s key to the infinite lava farm.

Finally, you need a Lava Bucket. All you need to do is take a bucket to a pool of lava, hold it, and fill it up with the molten liquid. From here, pour the lava bucket onto a brick in the air - any will do. Personally, I think glass looks the coolest, but your choices may vary.

Let your creativity run wild, and design the Dripstone farm how you want! (Image via Mojang Studios)

Place the Pointed Dripstone on the bottom of the block in question, and place the Cauldron below it. It has to be within 10 blocks of the Pointed Dripstone, and there can be nothing between them.

If you wait, you’ll notice it slowly drips lava into the Cauldron. There’s a 17% chance each tick that you will get a full level of the precious fuel, but that’s far from guaranteed. That’s why I recommend you set several of these up next to each other, so you can farm the infinite lava faster.

You can do this as many times as you want to create a literal lava farm in Minecraft. If you’re using cheats, it may go faster, but that’s entirely up to you and what you want to do in your game.

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This is the most reliable method of farming the resource in the game, but there is one more that is technically not infinite. You can build a Nether portal that connects to a portion of the underworld with a ton of lava. Then, bring 36 buckets, fill them all, and return to the overworld. It’s not infinite, but it’s much faster.