Overview
Lapis Lazuli is the enchanting currency: every enchantment at a table costs 1 to 3 lapis alongside the levels, and without it the table simply will not work. That single requirement makes it a mid-game bottleneck for anyone enchanting seriously — thirty levels are useless with an empty lapis slot. It also dyes wool, glass, terracotta, concrete and everything else that takes blue dye, since lapis is the blue dye in the game. Ore generates between Y 64 and Y -64 with a peak around Y 0, and unusually it also has a second high-frequency band near the deepslate transition, so a tunnel at sea level in a cave system finds it as readily as a deep strip mine. Each block drops 4 to 9 lapis, and Fortune III pushes that considerably higher, so a single vein supplies dozens of enchantments. Nine pieces make a Lapis Block for storage and decoration, and villagers — particularly clerics — buy it, which turns a surplus into emeralds. Nobody plans for lapis and everybody eventually runs out of it mid-enchant. Spending 3 rather than 1 does not improve a roll, either: the cost simply matches the slot you clicked, and it is the slot that decides the level you are offered.
Paying for enchantments at an enchanting table, dyeing anything blue, and selling to cleric villagers for early emeralds. No lapis means no enchanting table, whatever your level is.
Lapis Lazuli is a dye item in Minecraft 1.21.4. It stacks to 64. Chest loot in Shipwreck and Abandoned Mineshaft can contain it.
You mine it out of Lapis Lazuli Ore; the richest layer is around Y 0. It is crafted from Block of Lapis Lazuli. A furnace turns Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore into it.
The one thing it makes is Blue Dye.
How to get it
Mine lapis ore with a stone pickaxe or better for 4 to 9 lapis per block, more with Fortune III. The distribution peaks around Y 0, and cleric villagers buy 1 emerald's worth per small stack.
Tips
- Every table enchantment costs lapis as well as levels — keep at least a stack beside the table.
- The top slot enchantment costs 1 lapis and 1 level, which is a cheap way to enchant a book on a budget.
- Fortune III on lapis ore roughly doubles an already generous 4 to 9 drop.
- See the enchantment calculator to work out which slot is worth paying for.
Properties
One inventory slot holds 64, so a double chest holds 3,456.
- Stack size
- 64
- Renewable
- Yes
- Category
- Dyes & pigments
How to get it
Crafting Table
Shapeless recipe
Lapis Lazuli ×9
Furnace · 10s · 0.2 XP
Lapis Lazuli
Also works in: Blast Furnace
Furnace · 10s · 0.2 XP
Lapis Lazuli
Also works in: Blast Furnace
Found in
Lapis Lazuli is in the loot tables of Shipwreck and Abandoned Mineshaft.
- Shipwreck — A wrecked sailing ship, generated upright, capsized, or broken in two, on the sea floor or beached on the sand.
- Abandoned Mineshaft — Long branching wooden corridors with rails, minecarts, support beams and floating sections over ravines and caves.
Dropped by blocks
Mining Lapis Lazuli Ore and Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore drops Lapis Lazuli.
Used to craft
Lapis Lazuli is an ingredient in 2 recipes, producing Blue Dye and Block of Lapis Lazuli.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you make Lapis Lazuli in Minecraft?
Lapis Lazuli is crafted from Block of Lapis Lazuli.
What is the stack size of Lapis Lazuli?
Lapis Lazuli stacks to 64.
