Minecraft has numerous light sources which can all be used in creative ways. They all have special designs which fit the aesthetic where they reside, and tons can be crafted using different materials. Whether it be Glowstone, which can be acquired through the Nether, or Lanterns which light up the homely villages, there are plenty of options to fill the creative itch you may have. Today, however, we’ll be going over one of Minecraft’s more obscure light sources: Sea Pickles!
Sea Pickles
A sea pickle is a small block that emits light underwater and is typically found in colonies of up to four sea pickles. These sea pickles can be broken instantly, and each colony drops 1-4 depending on how many are in the colony. They generate on the bottom of warm oceans and are found on top of coral blocks in coral reefs. Each chunk has ⅙ chance to generate sea pickle colonies. They can also be found in desert village houses as decorative blocks that resemble pottery. In all seriousness, they’re like the candles of the ocean!
Usage
Sea Pickles can be placed on top of most solid blocks, as well as non-solid blocks, up to four per block, similar to turtle eggs or candles. This is a very interesting mechanic that doesn’t follow the traditional rules of most blocks in Minecraft. Unlike torches, placing a Sea pickle on a block allows you to transform it into a different arrangement of sea pickles depending on how many are placed on the block. Obviously, there’s a limit of four, but it’s still an interesting look. They also all have their own geometry which can be interacted with.
Sea pickles produce light when underwater. A single pickle produces a light level of 6, and a colony produces an additional 3 levels per pickle. This makes it so 4 sea pickles produce a light level of 15. When they produce light, there is a pale green glow at the end of the pickle.
Bone meal can be used on sea pickles if they are underwater and planted on living coral blocks. Basically, the coral is like dirt for normal crops above water. This increases their number on that block, and they spread to empty areas underwater above other living coral blocks. Essentially, we can mass-produce pickles! Bone meal can be used on sea pickles planted on other blocks, or outside water, but nothing happens and the bone meal is still consumed.
Real-world origin
Sea pickles are real? Well, about as real as cows and pigs. A sea pickle is a common name for several plants and animals that may refer to. It refers to pelagic ocean-dwelling pyrosomes: colonial tunicates. That’s a lot of fancy words. They look like one organism, but they’re actually made up of many. These are tube-shaped giant apartment structures that house tiny little animals called zooids that make up a colony. They filter through and eat tiny phytoplankton.
Just like in the game, these things are bio-luminescent which means they give off light of their own so they can look like they are glowing at night. Some can grow up to more than 150 feet! Sometimes these awesome things actually wash up on shores, and they look like interestingly translucent worms. They kind of look like pieces of tentacles that have fallen off. These things are by far the most bizarre sea creatures to ever wash up on any shore.
Conclusion
Sea pickles are very cool! On top of being an incredibly real thing that exists in our world, they are an awesome Minecraft block. Definitely one of my favorite light sources in the game, especially since it works underwater. I am also fond of the ‘stacking’ mechanic it has to where you can place multiple in the space of one block. It’s really cool. Anyways, that’s all there is to sea pickles. I hope you learned something new today, and with that, have a great day!
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