In Minecraft, to solve all sorts of game tasks and, accordingly, to successfully advance in the gameplay, the user may need various items. Many of them: weapons, tools, armor, etc. - are used quite often. The rest are required from case to case, and at the same time it often happens that a particular thing cannot be replaced by anything else.
When there is a need for a sponge
One of these irreplaceable blocks in Minecraft is a sponge. It appeared in the classic - free - version of the game (the one where there is only a creative mode) and performed about the same functions there as in reality. With its help, it was possible to remove water from some surface. In many cases, she even helped to drain reservoirs.
However, the sponge had another purpose - it helped to update the blocks around it, replacing them with others. Since this was an excellent loophole for cheaters (after all, they could easily create valuable materials - like gold or diamonds - in huge volumes in this way), the developers removed all functions from such a controversial block.
However, the sponge could still be obtained on multi-user resources thanks to the admins: they periodically played it out in various contests or sold it through stores on the same servers. Unfortunately, for many gamers, this block remained only decorative - for example, household items were made of it.
Nevertheless, with the help of special plug-ins and mods, the sponge continued to perform its previous functions - it served as a means for sucking water. Many players noted that it was enough for about fifty cubic meters of liquid. After that, such a useful object became non-functional due to getting wet, but a remedy was found for such a misfortune: drying in a furnace with the participation of coal.
Features of using and crafting a sponge
Now - with the version of Minecraft 1.8 - the sponge has again been restored to its rights as a "water suction device" and performs this task without any mods and not only in creative mode (Creative), but also in survival (Survival). Moreover, what is most gratifying for gamers, it will serve indefinitely - unless, of course, the player inadvertently drops it into lava (where it will simply burn up) or lose it in pvp combat.
As some experienced gamers note, the sponge can be used for its intended purpose, even when diving to the very bottom of any body of water. If you drive it from side to side to absorb liquid, you can remove a certain volume of water that will not fill up again, and you get a kind of air chamber where the player can stay until there is enough oxygen. Such a trick will come in handy if there is a need, for example, to build structures under water.
In the official game, the sponge is considered a non-refillable block. It cannot be created, but there is only a chance to get it when examining underwater fortresses (sometimes it is generated there) or as a loot when killing an ancient guard. This one-eyed mob, similar to a grayish fish, is endowed with remarkable health - forty hearts. It is not easy to defeat him, but the drop from him comes out decent - in addition to the aforementioned block, it is also raw fish, as well as fragments of some rare materials.
However, thanks to certain mods, the ability to craft a sponge has now been added. For example, in Uncraftables, it is crafted from light dust (obtained from the infernal glowstone - Glouston) and white wool. The first one should be placed in the center of the workbench and surrounded by eight wool blocks.
With the Sponges mod, Elevator, the sponge, created there from five strands and four units of white wool, generally acquires interesting functions that can be very useful in gameplay. For example, if you connect it on a workbench with four blocks of Hellstone, it begins to absorb lava instead of water. To turn it into a two-in-one tool in this regard, simply combine four regular and five lava jaws on the machine.
