Overview
Glow Berries are food that lights the room. Planted on the underside of a block they grow downwards as cave vines, and every vine section that carries berries emits light level 14 — one below a torch — which makes them the only edible light source in the game and one of the best decorative ones. A trailing curtain of glowing vines over a cliff face or down a shaft is a build technique that no other block reproduces. As food they restore 2 hunger and very little saturation, so they are a snack rather than a staple; their real value is that a single planted vine is renewable light with no coal, no smelting and no redstone. They generate naturally in lush caves, hanging from the ceiling above the moss and azalea, and are also sold by wandering traders. Bone meal on a vine forces the berries to grow, so a wall of vines becomes a berry farm as well as a lamp. Foxes eat them too, and will breed on them. Builders keep them for the light long after they have stopped eating them.
Renewable light without any crafting, decorative hanging vines for cave and cliff builds, and a small food supply that grows in total darkness. Food and lighting from the same plant.
As food, Glow Berries is judged on two numbers: hunger restored and saturation. It gives back 2 hunger and 0.4 saturation. It stacks to 64.
Nothing on the crafting grid is made from it.
How to get it
Harvest cave vines in a lush caves biome, or buy them from a wandering trader. Planted on a ceiling block they grow downwards and glowing sections emit light level 14.
Tips
- Light level 14 is one below a torch, so a curtain of glow berry vines will keep an area mob-free.
- Bone meal a vine to force berries onto it; the berries are what glow, not the vine itself.
- They grow only downwards from a ceiling, so plan the build around a block to hang them from.
- Wandering traders sell them, which is often the fastest way to get your first few without a lush cave.
Version notes
Added in 1.17 with lush caves. They remain the only food item in the game that emits light while planted.
Properties
Eating it restores 2 hunger and 0.4 saturation — a ratio of 0.2, which is what decides how long you stay full rather than how fast the bar refills. One inventory slot holds 64, so a double chest holds 3,456.
- Renewable
- Yes
- Category
- Food
How it compares to other foods
Sorted by saturation ratio, Glow Berries is 38 of 41 foods in the game. Ratio is saturation divided by hunger restored: it is what decides how long the hunger bar stays still, not how fast it refills.
Golden Carrot leads the list at a ratio of 2.4, and anything at or above 1.6 is worth carrying on a long trip.
| Item | Hunger restored | Saturation | Saturation ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cookie | 2 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Sweet Berries | 2 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Glow Berries ← | 2 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Tropical Fish | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Pufferfish | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Ominous Bottle | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you make Glow Berries in Minecraft?
Glow Berries has no crafting recipe; it is obtained from mobs, chests or trading.
What is the stack size of Glow Berries?
Glow Berries stacks to 64.
Is Glow Berries worth eating?
It restores 2 hunger and 0.4 saturation, a ratio of 0.2. Anything above a ratio of 1.6 keeps you full longer per slot, so treat this as a stopgap rather than a staple.
