Whether it's for a quick exit from a deep dripstone cave or a fast route to the top of a tall tower, Minecraft players are always on the lookout for speedy ways to climb tall heights. Ladders are slow, minecart elevators are expensive, slime block elevators are complicated, and as such, bubble elevators have grown to be a fan favorite. These machines are very easy to build, act quickly, and--most importantly--are incredibly cheap.
Bubble elevators work automatically, meaning by simply stepping foot inside, players will be carried up to any height without needing to do anything more. They work using water, but despite players being completely submerged, they will not drown once the elevator is up and running. This design is suitable for both Java and Bedrock editions of Minecraft, and it is very quick and easy to learn.
Gather Your Supplies
To build an upward-traveling bubble elevator, players will need all of the following items:
- A water bucket
- A wooden door
- A block of soul sand
- Building blocks
- Kelp
If players instead want to make a downward-traveling elevator, they should opt for a block of magma instead of block of soul sand.
The amount of building blocks and kelp necessary is dependent on the height of the elevator. For every block tall that the elevator is, players will need a single piece of kelp and four blocks to enclose the water. In this guide, we'll use glass, but any full block will suffice. It should also be noted that the kelp is only temporary for the build, so there is no need for players to be worried about wasting any kelp.
Upward Bubble Elevator
To start, build the vertical tube that will encase your elevator. There should be a two block gap left at the bottom of one of the four sides, such that a wooden door can be placed. In the image below, the door is placed on top of the mud block, not the grass inside the tube. At the top of the tube, place a single water source that will flow down to the bottom. The door will prevent it from flowing out.
Next, players need to fill the entire tube with kelp. To do this, place a single piece of kelp at the base of the tube, then swim up while holding the "place block" button. This will fill the entire tube with kelp. Keep in mind that as the bubble elevator is not yet functional, players will lose oxygen while they swim up and place kelp. Player should be cautious as to not drown if they are dealing with a very tall elevator--consider using some water breathing potions.
It may not seem very obvious why kelp was just placed, especially if it's just going to be broken anyway, but kelp actually has a unique property. Kelp turns all of the water it touches into source blocks that are necessary for the bubble elevator to function. Players making small elevators could just place all the source blocks manually, but that becomes tedious over greater lengths. Finally, to finish the machine, players should destroy the kelp and replace the block beneath it with soul sand.
Upon placing the soul sand, the water will begin to bubble. By simply stepping into the water, players will be sucked all the way up the tube at a breakneck speed while the bubbles keep the players oxygenated the whole way.
Downward Bubble Elevator
If players want to reverse the direction of the elevator to make it go down instead, replacing the soul sand with a magma block will do just that. It is, however, significantly quicker for players to simply drop down an empty tube into a puddle of water. Bubble elevators go the same speed both ways, but gravity acts much more quickly. Magma blocks could still be useful for players who want to make a two-way elevator by using pistons to swap out the blocks at the bottom.