Crying Obsidian

**Crying obsidian**, as of 1.16, is a decorative block that is used to create respawn anchors. It is currently only obtainable through bartering with a piglin, ruined portals, and bastion remnants. Piglins have a 9% possibility to give the player 1-3 crying obsidian when given a gold ingot. This block cannot be used to make a Nether portal. Crying obsidian always releases purple particles (as if it were crying), which lights up a small area. Crying obsidian can only be mined using a diamond pickaxe or Netherite pickaxe.

## History

Crying obsidian was originally a leaked, abandoned project by Jeb to implement a change-spawn obelisk. They were to appear as obsidian covered with lapis lazuli, and would be crafted as such, but were replaced by the bed in Beta 1.3.

This texture was added in Beta 1.3 but was never used in the game. The old texture closely resembles obsidian and also appears to be sandstone or a bedrock texture modified to look like obsidian. It is also known as "bleeding obsidian" among many members for its appearance instead of its official name, crying obsidian.
This block's original intended use was to set the spawn point at the given place but was scrapped with the introduction of beds. However, this block can be added to the game through mods, or addons, although these blocks will not appear in multiplayer worlds unless the multiplayer server has the same mod installed.

In Beta 1.5, the texture slot for crying obsidian was replaced by a gray-scale replacement of the side of grassy dirt blocks which is used for biome-compliant grassy dirt block sides, such as mycelium.

On February 26, 2020, snapshot 20w09a was released which added crying obsidian back into the game with a new texture and it had no functionality. On March 18, 2020, snapshot 20w12a was released which allowed it to be made into the respawn anchor, which will help you set your spawn in the Nether.

## Crafting

Crying Obsidian cannot be crafted. Instead you must barter with Piglins.

## Trivia

* In February 2012, Jeb received a message saying: "Will you bring back crying obsidian?" and Jeb replied: "When I make more preparations for texture space."
* The pirate language term for obsidian is "Rock o' Tears", which is possibly where the block got its name.
* Crying obsidian takes slightly shorter to mine than regular obsidian.
* Crying obsidian emits a light level of 10, unlike regular obsidian which does not emit any light.
* Crying obsidian can be crafted into a respawn anchor by using six crying obsidian and three glowstone dust which will help you set your spawn in the Nether.
* Crying obsidian cannot be made into a Nether portal.
* Crying obsidian generates naturally in ruined portal structures with regular obsidian and some other blocks.
* An easter egg exists in the Minecraft Programmer Art resource pack where crying obsidian's texture is changed to the texture of the old crying obsidian.

## References

1. ↑ http://twitter.com/jeb\_/status/40350003591380992
2. ↑ http://twitter.com/jeb\_/status/52994778224275456
3. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-snapshot-20w09a
4. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-snapshot-20w12a
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/jeb\_/status/167547923041751040
6. ↑  https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-snapshot-20w12a
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/kingbdogz/status/1232716079249711105?s=20