How to Control the Water Level in Minecraft

Last Updated: September 12, 2019

Water is an important resource in Minecraft for growing crops. It can also be used decoratively to improve the aesthetics of your home. In either case, it is important to understand how to manipulate water into doing what you want. It’s not at all difficult, and with time, you’ll be controlling the water level of your Minecraft game.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Crafting an Iron Bucket

1
Open the crafting menu. Right-click on a crafting table to open the crafting menu.
2
Place iron bars in the leftmost column of the middle row. In the top-left corner are 9 boxes to place items in. Left-click on the iron bars from the inventory at the bottom of the screen and place one in the leftmost column of boxes in the middle row.

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3
Place iron bars in the second column of the middle row. Place another iron bar in the second column in the bottom row of the 9 boxes in the top left of the crafting menu.
4
Place iron bars in the third column. Put a third iron bar in the third column of the middle row.
5
Craft the iron bucket. There is an arrow pointing from these boxes to another single box. This box will now display a bucket. Click on the bucket to craft it.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Gathering Water

1
Equip the iron bucket. Drag the bucket into the first of the 9 boxes at the bottom of the inventory.
2
Select the bucket. Just press 1 on your keyboard to select the bucket in order to be able to gather water with it.
3
Walk around the world until you come across water. This includes rivers, ponds, lakes and oceans.
4
Fill the bucket. Stand as close as you can to the water’s surface, and right-click on the water to fill the bucket.
- If the body of water is small enough, you will notice the water go lower.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Creating an Infinite Water Well

1
Break 4 square blocks. To achieve this, left-click on an area of flat ground to break 4 blocks in the shape of a 2-by-2 square.
- In order to create an infinite water well, the square must be strictly of these dimensions.
2
Equip the water bucket. Do so by pressing on “E” and dragging it from your inventory to the first of 9 boxes in the bottom row of the inventory.
3
Activate the water bucket. Press 1 to activate the water bucket so that it may be used to place water.
4
Fill the hole with water. Just right-click the top-left corner of the 2-by-2 square hole. This will fill the area with water.
- Notice that the water appears as though it is in motion. This means that if you attempt to take water out of the hole, you will eventually run out of water.
5
Still the water. You can do this by right-clicking the bottom-right corner of the square, directly diagonal to where the water was first placed. This will make the water stop moving and become level.
- If you attempt to take water out of the hole now, it will automatically fill back up; therefore, you have an infinite water source.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Continuing the Water Flow

1
Keep the water flowing. Water will flow 7 blocks in a straight line from its source (the place where you initially right-clicked) if contained in a channel or a trench. If you right-click again where the water stops flowing, the water will continue to flow for another 7 blocks.
2
Letting the water flow on flat ground. If you right-click with a water bucket equipped on flat ground, the water will flow 7 blocks in each direction from the source while also filling in the area in between each direction. The end result appears like a square with jagged edges very much like a postal stamp.
3
Letting the water flow on uneven ground. Right-clicking with a water bucket on uneven ground will cause the water to flow to the closest lower edge, and ignore any flat or higher ground around it.
- If the water only falls 1 block at a time, the water will continue to flow until it reaches flat ground where it will flow for another 7 blocks before stopping.