Overview
A conduit is the underwater equivalent of a beacon, and it turns an ocean build from a series of held breaths into somewhere you can actually work. Placed inside a frame of prismarine, prismarine bricks, dark prismarine or sea lanterns and surrounded by water, it activates and grants Conduit Power to every player inside its range: unlimited underwater breathing, night vision underwater, and normal mining speed in water, which otherwise runs at a fraction of its land rate. It also attacks hostile mobs within 8 blocks, dealing damage every couple of seconds, which is enough to keep drowned off a build site on its own. The frame is the interesting part. Frame blocks are placed in rings 2 blocks away from the conduit on each axis, and the range scales with how many of those positions are filled: the minimum 16 frame blocks give a 32-block radius, and the full 42 blocks give the maximum 96, which covers an entire monument. The conduit itself must be surrounded by water on all six sides to activate, and it hums and opens its eye when it does.
It removes the air limit from any underwater project — monument draining, ocean base building, treasure hunting — and its 8-block attack radius clears drowned without a weapon. Conduit Power also restores full mining speed underwater, which is otherwise crippling.
Minecraft classifies Conduit as a light-emitting block. A crafting table turns its ingredients into Conduit. Its hardness of 3 makes it a normal, unhurried block to mine.
Mining it returns the block itself, so it is safe to relocate. At light level 15 it lights a room as well as a torch does. Light passes through it, so it will not darken the space behind it.
Sixty-four fit in one inventory slot. The recipe calls for Nautilus Shell and Heart of the Sea. It is not used in any crafting recipe.
How to get it
Craft a conduit from 8 nautilus shells and 1 heart of the sea. Hearts come only from buried treasure chests; nautilus shells drop from drowned at roughly 3 percent and are sold by the wandering trader.
Tips
- 16 frame blocks is the activation minimum and gives 32 blocks of range; go to 42 blocks for the full 96.
- Sea lanterns count as frame blocks and light the build at the same time, so use them instead of plain prismarine.
- The conduit needs water on all 6 sides — an air pocket beside it will keep it permanently inactive.
- Build it in the middle of a monument before draining: Conduit Power plus a pickaxe beats fighting the water.
How long it takes to break
Hardness 3 puts Conduit at 4.5 seconds a block bare-handed, or 0.5 seconds with the right tool at netherite tier.
Iron takes 0.75 seconds against diamond's 0.6, so the upgrade worth making for this block is the one to iron.
The drop does not depend on the tool — bare hands work as well as anything — so the table below is purely about speed.
The Efficiency formula is level² + 1 added to tool speed — at V that is about 3.3 times the unenchanted rate.
| Tool | No enchantment | Efficiency III | Efficiency V |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | 4.5 s | 4.5 s | 4.5 s |
| Wooden | 2.3 s | 0.4 s | 0.2 s |
| Stone | 1.2 s | 0.35 s | 0.15 s |
| Iron | 0.75 s | 0.3 s | 0.15 s |
| Diamond | 0.6 s | 0.25 s | 0.15 s |
| Netherite | 0.5 s | 0.25 s | 0.15 s |
| Golden | 0.4 s | 0.25 s | 0.15 s |
Properties
Conduit has a blast resistance of 3, so a nearby explosion will usually destroy it. It lets light through and emits light level 15. Stack size is 64 — the standard full stack. The fastest tool for it is a pickaxe; any other kind of tool mines it no faster than a bare hand does, because the speed bonus only applies to the tool class the block is tagged for.
- Transparent
- Yes
- Required tool
- Any
Crafting recipe
Crafting Table
Conduit
Drops
Mined with any, Conduit drops itself.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you get Conduit in Minecraft?
Conduit is crafted from Nautilus Shell and Heart of the Sea.
What tool do you need to break Conduit?
No specific tool is required — Conduit can be broken by hand.
Is Conduit blast resistant?
Conduit has a blast resistance of 3, so an explosion nearby will destroy it.
How many Conduit fit in one stack?
Conduit stacks to 64, which puts 3,456 of them in a double chest.
How long does Conduit take to break?
The correct netherite tool clears it in 0.5 seconds. Bare hands take 4.5.
