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RideableMinecart

A minecart, one method of transportation

Transportation involves the methods by which players move around the world or between dimensions (the Overworld, the Nether and the End).

Methods[]

Clock JE3
This section needs to be updated. 
Please update this section to reflect recent updates or newly available information.
Reason: Add speed for throwing a Trident with Riptide enchantment, speed stats for striders when using boost. Add calculations for how many blocks you need to fall to reach terminal velocity vertically as of 1.18 with the increased height limit. Also, walking diagonally is faster, add info of sneaking using the Swift Sneak enchantment, and add info about walking and dashing using camels.


Additional reason: Saddled pig speeds listed here conflict with information on Pig, as well as in game speeds that seem to be slightly over 2 blocks per second, as opposed to 4.19 listed here and the 5.2 listed on Pig


Additional reason: Implies that Donkeys do not have the same speed cap as horses, which is untrue.

These speeds assume that the form of transportation is not under the effect of the Speed or Slowness status effects if they can be.

Method Conditions Running start effective? Average speed in m/s (blocks per second)[note 1] Average speed in km/h (1000 blocks per hour)[note 1][note 2] Works in the Nether?
Walking Flat terrain No 4.317 m/s 15.54 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 1 No 6.066 m/s 21.84 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 2 No 6.519 m/s 23.47 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 3 No 6.972 m/s 25.1 km/h Yes
Sprinting Flat terrain No 5.612 m/s 20.2 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 1 No 7.885 m/s 28.39 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 2 No 8.475 m/s 30.51 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 3 No 9.064 m/s 32.63 km/h Yes
Sprint-jumping 2-block-high passage No 9.346 m/s 33.64 km/h Yes
Sneaking Flat terrain No 1.3 m/s 4.68 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 1 No 1.819 m/s 6.55 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 2 No 1.949 m/s 7.02 km/h Yes
Soul Speed 3 No 2.92 m/s 10.51 km/h Yes
Minecart Powered Track Yes, small 8.0 m/s 28.8 km/h Yes
14 slope track No 7.1 m/s 25.56 km/h Yes
Minecart with Furnace[Java Edition only] No 4.0 m/s 14.4 km/h Yes
Boat[note 3] 14 slope rapids Yes, small 7.3 m/s 26.28 km/h No[note 4]
14 slope rapids No 7.0 m/s 25.2 km/h No[note 4]
Flat ice Flat packed ice Flat frosted ice No 40.0 m/s 144.0 km/h Yes
Flat blue ice No 72.73 m/s 261.82 km/h Yes
Flat water No 8.0 m/s 28.8 km/h No[note 4]
Flat water, reverse No 1.01 m/s 3.636 km/h No[note 4]
Flat land No 2.00 m/s 7.20 km/h Yes
Flat land, reverse No 0.24 m/s 0.864 km/h Yes
Slime blocks No 1.18 m/s 4.25 km/h Yes
Honey blocks No 1.06 m/s 3.81 km/h Yes
Saddled Pig Flat terrain No 4.0 m/s 14.4 km/h Yes
Flat terrain, using carrot on a stick Yes 4.19 m/s 15.08 km/h Yes
Saddled Strider Flat land, without boost No 1.74 m/s 6.26 km/h Yes
Flat lava surface, without boost No 4.14 m/s 14.9 km/h Yes
Horse[note 5] Flat terrain (average horse speed) No 9.49 m/s 34.15 km/h Yes
Flat terrain, fastest possible horse breed No 14.23 m/s 51.22 km/h Yes
Donkey
Mule
Flat terrain No 7.38 m/s 26.56 km/h Yes
Zombie horse
Skeleton horse
Flat terrain No 8.43 m/s 30.35 km/h Yes
Swimming Still water, surface[note 6] No 2.20 m/s 7.92 km/h No[note 4]
Still water, underwater[note 7] No 1.97 m/s 7.09 km/h No[note 4]
Upstream, underwater No 0.39 m/s 1.40 km/h No[note 4]
Downstream, underwater No 1.81 m/s 6.52 km/h No[note 4]
While Diving No 0.39 m/s 1.40 km/h No[note 4]
Downstream, underwater, standing No 1.37 m/s 4.93 km/h No[note 4]
Dolphin's Grace status effect No 8.0 m/s 28.8 km/h No[note 4]
Dolphin's Grace status effect with Depth Strider III No 48.0 m/s 172.8 km/h No[note 4]
Dolphin's Grace status effect with Depth Strider III and Soul Speed III on a layer of Soul Soil underwater [note 8] No 75.0 m/s 270 km/h No[note 4]
Dolphin's Grace status effect with Depth Strider III, Soul Speed III on a layer of Soul Soil, and Speed II status effect underwater [note 9] No 144 m/s 518.4 km/h No[note 4]
Dolphin's Grace status effect with Depth Strider III and Soul Speed III on a layer of Soul Soil underwater, aligned at a +/-45 angle, and holding forward/sideways/sprint keys [note 10] No 146.965 m/s 529.074 km/h No[note 4]
Flying (horizontal)[note 11] Creative mode Yes 11.0 m/s 39.6 km/h Yes
Creative mode
Sprint-flying
Yes 22.0 m/s 79.2 km/h Yes
Spectator mode
Maximum speed
Yes 43.556 m/s 156.8016 km/h Yes
Spectator mode
Maximum speed
Sprint-flying
Yes 87.111 m/s 313.5996 km/h Yes
Ender Pearl Thrown 15° above horizontal No ~23.0 m/s ~82.8 km/h Yes
Biggest TNT pearl cannon[note 12] Yes 1,760,000 m/s (1.76 Mm/s) 6,336,000 km/h (6.336 Gm/h) Yes

Elytra[note 13]

Gliding at 0° pitch Yes, small 30.0 m/s 108.0 km/h Yes
Continuous rocket boost No 33.5 m/s 120.6 km/h Yes
Gliding at 52° pitch down Yes 67.3 m/s 242.3 km/h Yes
Gliding at 90° pitch down Yes 78.4 m/s 282.2 km/h Only when above bedrock level[note 14]
Trident with Riptide III No 125.0 m/s 450.0 km/h No[note 4]
Notes
  1. a b Multiply the value by 8 to get the Overworld equivalent when doing this in the Nether.
  2. Divide by 3 to get kilometres per game day, or by 6 to get kilometres per half-day (from dawn to sunset)
  3. Boat acceleration takes 9.4 seconds— the difference in time between a running start and not, is halved, or 4.7 seconds.
  4. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p In the Nether, water cannot be placed without the use of commands or glitches in past versions.
  5. Horses vary in speed. They are the fastest method of land transportation on open but unprepared terrain.
  6. The swimming speeds are not affected by Swiftness potions. The surface speed refers to "skimming" across the top of the water by holding the spacebar.
  7. Underwater refers to any part of the body submerged in water and walking on flat terrain. The Player travels the same speed regardless of if the water is 1 block deep or 2 (in observed cases).
  8. Data based on https://youtu.be/PuXX2zkEs48?t=178.
  9. Data based on https://youtu.be/nNm5mOeH4pE.
  10. Data based on https://youtu.be/ySREkWjks6A.
  11. Flying speed can be varied.
  12. Data based on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Cqxz1-2f8.
  13. Values are faster than those listed if the player has the Slow Falling status effect.
  14. it is technically possible below; however, the size between the roof of the Nether and the floor is 124 blocks, meaning that it would take less than 2 seconds to go down. Also, achieving speed requires either using rocket boost, or starting above the roof.

Effects[]

Using status effects from potions or beacons, walking and sprinting speeds become competitive with other methods of transportation.

Each additional level of Speed allows the player to walk at nearly the sprinting speed of the previous level, and sprinting with Speed II is only slightly slower than a minecart at full speed or a boosted pig. With adequate food and potion supplies, sprinting can be more cost-effective than building high-speed transportation systems.

Effect level Walking speed (m/s) Sprinting speed (m/s)
none 4.317 m/s 5.612 m/s
Speed 5.181 m/s 6.735 m/s
Speed II 6.044 m/s 7.857 m/s

Commands[]

Using the /effect command, extremely high or low speeds become reachable. At exceedingly high levels (100+), the player moves faster than the chunks can load.

Effect level Sneaking speed (m/s) Walking speed (m/s) Sprinting speed (m/s)
Speed 50 14.25 m/s 47.49 m/s 61.74 m/s
Speed 127 34.19 m/s 113.97 m/s 148.17 m/s
Speed 256 67.61 m/s 225.36 m/s 292.96 m/s

Vertical transportation[]

There are some examples of purely vertical transportation methods:

Method Conditions Average speed (m/s)
Jumping[note 1] Climbing slope without stairs, pillar jumping, etc. 2.0 m/s
Stairs Ascending 3.2 m/s
Descending 3.6 m/s
#climbable (e.g. ladders, vines...) Ascending 2.35 m/s
Descending 3.0 m/s
Soul Sand Ascending in water 11 m/s
Magma Block Descending in water 4.9 m/s
Waterfall No adjacent blocks 2.0 m/s
Ascending, with adjacent blocks 0.6 m/s
Descending, with adjacent blocks 3.4 m/s
Waterfall (measured in Java Edition) Ascending, by holding jump 2.23 m/s
Sprint-swimming upward while holding jump 6.98 m/s
Lavafall Using a Potion of Fire Resistance 0.8 m/s
Levitation Level 1 0.9 m/s
Flying Creative
Spectator
7.49 m/s
Falling Player, terminal velocity 78.4 m/s
Item, terminal velocity 40.0 m/s
Arrow, terminal velocity 100.0 m/s
Falling block, terminal velocity 40.0 m/s
Swimming Water 0.39 m/s
Scaffolding (measured in Bedrock Edition) Ascending 1.2 m/s
Descending 2.94 m/s
Scaffolding (measured in Java Edition) Ascending 2.352 m/s
Descending 3.000 m/s
  1. The player can jump up a distance of 1 14 blocks. With Jump Boost I, that increases to 1 1516 blocks, and with Jump Boost II, that increases to 2 12 blocks.

Falling speed is more complex: Every tick (120 second), non-flying players and mobs have their vertical speed decremented (less upward motion, more downward motion) by 0.08 blocks per tick (1.6 m/s), then multiplied by 0.98.[note 1] This would produce a terminal velocity of 3.92 blocks per tick or 78.4 m/s. However, the sky isn't quite high enough for that: Falling from layer 256 to bedrock takes about 5.5 seconds, with impact at 3.5 blocks per tick (70 m/s). It is possible to fly higher in Creative mode, or by flying with elytra and then removing them, reaching terminal velocity falling from "above the sky".

  1. Horses have their vertical speed multiplied by 0.98 a second time in the same tick. This may or may not apply to some other mobs.

An exact function to calculate the speed of a (free)falling player is the following:

Where is the floor function, the velocity is in blocks/second (or meters/second), the time is in seconds, initial velocity is zero and downward motion is negative. is floored because Minecraft updates once each tick.

An exact function to calculate the displacement of the player is the following:

Where the displacement is in blocks (meters), the time is in seconds, initial velocity and displacement is zero and downward displacement is negative. Or:

where is the number of game ticks elapsed. Formula with initial conditions where is the starting height and is the upward speed in [m/tick]. Or where is given in m/s.

An approximate function to calculate the time it takes to fall from some height is the following:

Where the height is in blocks (meters), the time is in seconds, downward displacement is negative and is the Lambert W function.

Other modes of transportation[]

  • Players are also able to use pistons for transport.
  • Dying is an instant mode of transportation to the player's bed or spawn point, but at the cost of all items and XP (if the keepInventory gamerule is disabled) and the world (on Hardcore).
  • Explosion knockback can send an adjacent player flying for a short distance, depending on the strength of the explosion. This is not recommended in Survival mode.
  • It is possible to mount minecarts and boats as long as they are within 4-5 blocks (inclusive) from the player. Placing these in a straight line allows for extremely fast transport. This also works with saddled pigs, provided they stay in position (placed on posts).

Achievements[]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
On A RailTravel by minecart to a point at least 500m in a single direction from where you started.Travel by minecart 500 blocks in a straight line away from the player's starting point.40GGold
Beam Me UpTeleport over 100 meters from a single throw of an Ender PearlThrow an ender pearl 100 blocks in any direction20GSilver
Super SonicUse Elytra to fly through a 1 by 1 gap while moving faster than 40 m/s30GGold

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-fancy-rawSubspace Bubble
Use the Nether to travel 7 km in the Overworld NetherUse the Nether to travel between 2 points in the Overworld with a minimum horizontal euclidean distance of 7000 blocks between each other, which is 875 blocks in the Nether.nether/fast_travel

History[]

Java Edition pre-Classic
rd-131655Added walking and jumping as the first form of locomotion.
Java Edition Classic
0.0.12aAdded water and lava. "Swimming" (more akin to treading water) has been introduced.
0.26 SURVIVAL TESTAdded slabs as a means of vertical transportation without jumping.
Java Edition Infdev
20100327The player now drops their inventory and respawns at the spawn point upon death, enabling instant transportation at the cost of all of the player's items.
20100607Added ladders as a means of vertical transportation without jumping.
20100618Added minecarts and rails.
20100625-2Added saddles, which made it possible to use pigs as an uncontrollable method of transportation.
20100629Added stairs, as a more compact method of vertical transportation compared to slabs.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.6Added boats.
v1.0.14Added minecarts with furnaces as a way to propel minecarts.
v1.1.1Added sneaking.
v1.2.0previewAdded the Nether, which could be used for fast travel, as any distance covered in the Nether is multiplied by 8 in the Overworld.
Java Edition Beta
1.5Added powered rails, which eliminates the need for "booster" minecarts and furnace minecarts.
1.8Pre-releaseAdded sprinting, which can be started by double-tapping forward.
Added Creative mode, where the player can fly.
Added the hunger bar, which gradually depletes when the player walks, jumps, sneaks, swims or sprints.
An infamous bug where walking on the edges of blocks would accumulate step sounds and rapidly play them upon touching solid ground has been fixed.
Added ender pearls, which are currently useless.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2Ender pearls can now be thrown, teleporting the player to where it lands.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3The Speed effect can now be obtained from potions of swiftness, allowing for faster travel.
1.3.112w23aBoats have been made faster and easier to control.
1.4.212w34aEntities can now travel through portals, allowing transportation of mobs between dimensions.
12w36aAdded carrots on a stick, making it possible to control saddled pigs.[1] Acceleration results a slow speed-up, but can reach up to 5 blocks per second (5m/sec).[2]
Before this update, the player had no control over the pig's wandering, so this was not a practical form of long-distance transportation. After this update, however, the pig does not jump when being controlled, so transportation is still limited (to the same height or downhill directions).
12w37aSaddled pigs now jump over blocks when being directed with the carrot on a stick.
12w38aTeleportation by nether portal is now instantaneous in Creative mode.
1.6.113w16aAdded horses, which can be ridden when tamed and equipped with saddles.
13w16bHorses are now slower and the amount of gliding from horses has been reduced.
1.7.213w36aAdded a sprint button (default to Left Ctrl) as an alternative way to start sprinting.
1.814w05aAdded Spectator mode, where the player can fly through solid blocks, and adjust their flying speed.
14w18aSlime blocks can now be moved by pistons, allowing automatic flying machines to be built.
14w25aAdded the Depth Strider enchantment, allowing faster movement through water.
14w34dPressing the sprint button now speeds up flying in Creative mode.
1.915w31aAdded chorus fruits, which causes the player to teleport to a random nearby location.
Added the Levitation status effect, which causes the player to float upward.
15w41aAdded elytra, enabling controlled true flight in Survival.
Boats have received an overhaul. They now have paddles, are much slower than before, are controlled with left and right keys, can have mobs as passengers, but no longer breaks upon impact.
15w42aBoats have been made faster again, matching the speed of the old boats.
15w45aThe player's jump height is increased from 1.2492 blocks to 1.2522 blocks.
16w04aBoats are now controlled with forward and backward keys again.
16w05aBoats can now travel fast on ice and packed ice.
1.1116w32aThe hunger cost of most player actions have been greatly reduced, with walking and sneaking no longer costing any hunger.
1.11.116w50aAdded the ability to propel elytra with firework rockets.
1.1318w07aThe player can now sprint-swim when their head is submerged underwater, allowing faster and more controllable underwater movement.
Added bubble columns as a form of vertical transport.
Added tridents and the Riptide enchantment, which launches a player touching water or rain.
18w15aAdded blue ice, which allows boats to travel even faster on top of it.
18w19aAdded the Dolphin's Grace effect, allowing the player to swim quickly next to dolphins.
1.1418w45aAdded scaffolding as a form of vertical transport.
19w14aThe player can now crawl when they are forced into spaces less than 1.5 blocks high.
1.1620w11aAdded the Soul Speed enchantment, allowing faster travel on soul sand and soul soil.
20w13aAdded striders, which can stride on lava, allowing the player to cross lava oceans.
1.16.2Pre-release 1Ender pearls are now affected by bubble columns, making it easier to build ender pearl stasis chambers that instantly teleports the player to the location upon activation.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0Added water, therefore allowing swimming.
0.2.0Added flying.
0.8.0build 2Added minecarts.
0.11.0build 1Added boats.
0.12.1build 1Added sneaking and sprinting.
0.14.0build 1Added ender pearls.
0.15.0build 1Added horses in the Friendly Update.
Added saddles, which can be equipped on horses and pigs to ride them.
Added carrot on a stick to control pigs when riding.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0alpha 0.17.0.1Added elytra in the Ender Update.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0beta 1.2.13.8Added the ability to sprint while in water in the Update Aquatic, which causes the player to dive to the ground and actually swim. This is much faster than the previous form.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Transportation" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

Sprinting with Soul Speed 3 on soul sand while having Speed 2 is almost as fast as the fastest possible horse breed (12.6896 m/sec).

References[]

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