Minecraft Sulfur Cubes Explained: Finding, Catching, And Modifying The Chaos Update's Best Mob

Before you start chucking live TNT at every glowing yellow blob you find underground, you really need to understand how these new mobs operate.

The 26.2 update brought the massive Sulfur Caves biome, but the absolute best prize hiding in the dark is the Sulfur Cube. I spent an embarrassing amount of time wandering around in pitch black caves looking for these things. They look exactly like yellow Slimes or Magma Cubes, but they are entirely passive and feature a brilliant new gameplay mechanic. They absorb blocks. Depending on what you feed them, they mutate into 12 different functional archetypes. Here is exactly how I track them down and manipulate their stats for custom builds.

Hunting In The Dark

Finding one of these cubes is honestly a miserable experience if you don't know the exact spawn conditions.

They exclusively spawn in the new Sulfur Caves biome, and they only show up in small groups of two to four. To make things more annoying, they only have a 32 percent chance of spawning, and it only happens in areas where the light level is exactly zero. You have to creep around the darkest corners of the cave listening for a very specific squishy jumping sound. Because they hang out in the dark, you will definitely be fighting off creepers and skeletons while you look for them.

The Bucket Trick And Block Absorption

Once you finally locate a group of them, don't panic and try to drag them back to your base on a lead.

You can actually scoop a Sulfur Cube right into a standard bucket. It drops directly into your inventory, making transport completely painless. Take them back to a safe enclosure before you start messing with their mechanics.

Feeding Time

These mobs just jump around aimlessly until you introduce a block to their diet. You can directly feed them a full sized block or just drop it on the ground nearby for them to ingest. The cube absorbs it and instantly changes its physical properties based on the material. It might become incredibly heavy, it might start floating, or it might turn into a literal walking hazard.

Reversing The Effect

If you accidentally feed your cube something awful, don't pull out your sword. Killing them drops the absorbed block, but considering how rare they are, that is a terrible trade. Just use a pair of shears on the cube to remove the absorbed block safely and reset the mob to its base state.

All 12 Sulfur Cube Archetypes

This is where things get highly technical. There are 12 distinct archetypes you can trigger, and each one completely rewrites the cube's friction, bounciness, and air drag. If you are an engineer looking to build a new redstone contraption, you will need this data.

Archetype & Trigger Blocks	Gameplay Effects & Stats
Bouncy Triggered by: Wood, Planks, Logs, Bamboo, Resin blocks.	Makes the cube incredibly bouncy and buoyant. It will float in water and features a high bounciness stat of 0.9.
Explosive Triggered by: TNT.	The cube can be ignited, causing it to explode. Extremely dangerous to keep around a wooden base.
Fast Flat Triggered by: Coral, Sponge, Kelp, Moss, Slime, Honey, Pumpkins, Melons.	Causes the cube to bounce less frequently. It spends most of its time sliding around at high speeds. Does not float.
Fast Sliding Triggered by: Ice, Blue Ice, Packed Ice, Snow blocks.	Completely removes the ability to bounce. The cube slides around extremely fast with minimal friction.
High Resistance Triggered by: Soul Sand, Soul Soil.	Maxes out the friction modifier. The cube becomes very difficult to push and loses its ability to bounce.
Hot Triggered by: Magma blocks.	Turns the cube into a hazard. It will damage any nearby entities you or it bumps into.
Light Triggered by: Wool.	Lowers the cube's gravity significantly. It will gently float around and features a massive air drag modifier.
Slow Bouncy Triggered by: Stone, Cobblestone, Obsidian, Bricks, Tuff, Basalt.	Makes the cube highly bouncy but very slow to move around horizontally.
Slow Flat Triggered by: Metal blocks, Ores, Ancient Debris, Copper.	Grants the cube much higher gravity. It becomes incredibly heavy, moves slowly, and does not float.
Slow Sliding Triggered by: Mushroom blocks, Mycelium, Wart blocks, Shroomlight.	The cube loses its bounce ability and slides around the floor at a very slow pace.
Sticky Triggered by: Honeycomb blocks.	Completely kills momentum. The cube cannot slide or bounce at all, anchoring it to its general location.
Regular Triggered by: Dirt, Sand, Gravel, Mud, Concrete Powder, Bedrock.	The default state. It slides and bounces around at a standard, predictable rate and can float in water.