Pipe Dream Version 1.1.1

Minecraft is a huge open-world sandbox game with so much to offer in terms of both exploration and creative building. Some of the game’s most beloved features were dropped with the Update Aquatic back in 2018, including brand-new water-based structures, blocks, and mobs. In this article, we'll be doing a deep dive into the aquatic side of Minecraft and exploring some of the most immersive aspects of the game that fans love.

The vast ocean and the secrets that lie within Oceans in Minecraft are huge, much like in real life, and are home to many different living creatures. There are also plenty of different structures to discover in the world, many of which contain treasure and rare items. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can expect to come across while exploring the oceans in the game. Dolphins, sea turtles, and more…

You read that right! Dolphins and sea turtles are some of the adorable mobs added to Minecraft in the 1.13 update 2 years ago. Both of these mobs are friendly, but dolphins will retaliate if you attack them, so be careful.

Adorable looks aren’t the only thing special about these mobs though! Dolphins provide speed buffs for players swimming through oceans, while turtles are the only way to get rare turtle shell helmets! If you take care of turtles and their babies, you’ll be able to get your hands on some scutes that can be used to craft the precious helmets that let you breathe underwater.

Other aquatic mobs include various species of fish, as well as the much less amicable drowned. Drowned are underwater zombie variants that can be found inhabiting ocean ruins. They’re dangerous, but if you’re brave enough to take them on, you’ll be rewarded with treasure that you can find in chests hidden around the ruins.

Ocean monuments and ruins As mentioned, treasure-containing ruins can occasionally be found on the ocean floor, although the truly majestic ocean structures are the monuments. Ocean monuments are huge underwater temples boasting beautiful architecture which are home to some of the most dangerous mobs in Minecraft – guardians and elder guardians. You best be prepared to fight them if you plan on exploring one of these monuments. Be sure to bring underwater breathing potions too, as you'll have a hard time without them.

Shipwrecks Occasionally when exploring oceans and beaches, you'll come across wreckages of old pirate ships. Packed with chests, these structures are definitely worth checking out and will likely contain a treasure map that'll lead you to a nearby buried chest with even more good loot.

Cool water features that you can build As well as exploration, Minecraft offers a lot of freedom to build whatever you want. There are plenty of neat ideas out there for water-related structures that you can build yourself. With hundreds of blocks at your disposal, you'll be able to customize your builds as much as you like. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite ideas.

Fountains Fountains are super easy to build and are a great feature to add to your Minecraft world, especially as the centerpiece to a town or village. All you need to do is decide on a building block, build a circular base, and have some kind of pillar protruding from the middle of the structure. Use a water bucket to place water at the top of the pillar and it’ll flow down nicely into the base of the fountain. You can get really creative with the middle pillar too if you want to spice things up a bit more!

Waterfalls Waterfalls are beautiful structures that are great for adding some life to the landscape. They’re great for concealing hidden base entrances too! These structures spawn naturally but if you want to make one yourself, all you have to do is place some water sources at high up points and watch as the water gushes down by itself.

Canals and floodgates Canals are cool additions to towns that can provide an alternate way to travel around the place if you have a boat. You can even use redstone to set up a simple mechanism for opening/closing a floodgate. You'll be able to control the flow of water on demand, and all you'll need is a lever, redstone, and some sticky pistons. You won’t even have such a thing as leaks in minecraft, so no need to call my favorite Melbourne plumbers.

Set up a water source, close off the opening with a 2x2 wall, and put two sticky pistons on top of each other on either side. Once you connect up the pistons to a lever via redstone, flick the lever once to open the gate and allow water to flow out into the canal. Voila! Flicking it again will close off the water source and the water in the canal will quickly disappear.