- TL;DR: The sulfur cube is a new passive mob in the Minecraft Chaos Cubed update (version 26.2, released June 16, 2026).
- It only spawns inside sulfur caves. It absorbs blocks and changes its physics based on what it eats.
- There are 12 archetypes in total — each one changes bounciness, friction, air drag, and water behavior.
- Use shears to remove a block and reset the cube. Feed it TNT with caution — it will explode after a 6-second fuse.
- Carry it home in a bucket. Small cubes cannot absorb blocks but grow into large ones over time.
- Sulfur cubes have 8 HP and count toward the hostile mob cap despite being passive.
The Minecraft sulfur cube is the standout new mob from the Chaos Cubed update, and it works unlike anything else in the game. Instead of attacking, breeding, or trading, this mob eats blocks — and changes its entire behavior depending on what you feed it. Whether you want a bouncy pinball, a sliding puck, or a rolling explosive, the sulfur cube can do it. This guide covers everything: where to find it, all 12 archetypes with their correct official names, how to feed and reset it, and how to use it for creative builds. First, read our guide on how to find sulfur caves in Minecraft so you know where to look for this mob.
What Is the Sulfur Cube in Minecraft?
The sulfur cube is a passive, slime-like mob added in the Chaos Cubed game drop for Java Edition 26.2 and Bedrock Edition 26.30. It has 8 HP, looks like a transparent cube with a block visible inside its body once it has absorbed one, and moves by hopping — exactly like a slime or magma cube. In its default state it wanders freely. Once it absorbs a block, it freezes in place and becomes a physics-based object you can push, punch, and launch in any direction.
The block it absorbs determines its archetype — a preset that controls bounciness, friction, air drag, knockback resistance, and whether it floats or sinks in water. There are 12 archetypes total. One important caveat: despite being passive, sulfur cubes count toward the hostile mob cap, which can throttle nearby mob farm spawns. This system is the core mechanic of the update and opens up a huge range of minigame and build possibilities.
Where to Find the Sulfur Cube in Minecraft
Sulfur cubes only spawn naturally inside sulfur caves. They do not appear in any other biome. If you have not found a sulfur cave yet, the fastest method is to scan the Overworld for a sulfur spring — a small surface pool ringed by yellow sulfur blocks and red cinnabar blocks with gas rising from the water. Every spring has a sulfur cave directly below it. Dig a staircase beside the spring and follow it down until the walls turn yellow and red. On rare occasions sulfur caves can generate on the surface, forming exposed sulfur “lands.”
If you have cheats enabled, type /locate biome minecraft:sulfur_caves in the chat to get the nearest coordinates instantly.
Watch out inside sulfur caves: the sulfur pools generate potent sulfur at the bottom, which emits noxious gas that inflicts Nausea on players and mobs nearby. Also be aware of cave spiders — sulfur caves are the first biome where cave spiders spawn naturally outside of spawners. For more underground exploration, see our guide on how to find the Ancient City in Minecraft.
How Sulfur Cubes Behave (Before You Feed Them)
A few important behaviors to know before you start feeding cubes:
- They seek dropped blocks. A sulfur cube near a dropped block item on the ground will move toward it and absorb it automatically — no interaction needed.
- They follow block holders. If you’re carrying a block type the cube can absorb, it will follow you like a slime follows players.
- They drop no loot. Killing a sulfur cube gives you nothing and just splits it into two small cubes. Keep them alive if you want to use them.
- They despawn. Wild sulfur cubes despawn under normal passive-mob rules when no player is nearby. Bucket one up if you want to keep it.
How to Feed a Sulfur Cube a Block
Only large sulfur cubes can absorb blocks. Small sulfur cubes, which spawn in pairs when a large cube dies, cannot hold anything. They grow into large cubes after about 20 minutes. You can speed up that growth by feeding small cubes slimeballs. To keep a small cube from growing, use a golden dandelion on it.
To feed a large sulfur cube a block, do one of the following:
- Hold the block in your hand and right-click (interact) directly on the cube.
- Drop the block item on the ground near the cube. It will move toward it and absorb it.
- Use a dispenser loaded with the block, aimed at the cube. Dispensers can also be loaded with shears to strip a cube’s block without a player present — this is the basis for automated archetype-switching rigs.
Once the cube swallows the block, it freezes in place, displays the block visibly inside its body, and becomes resistant to most damage. Hitting it in this state launches it in the direction you struck — it does not take damage, it moves like a ball. The harder the hit, the further it travels. Note that the cube still takes damage from cramming (Java only), suffocation, and fire or lava even when holding an absorbed block.
Feeding a cube TNT also unlocks the “Uh Oh” advancement.
How to Reset or Switch a Sulfur Cube’s Archetype
To remove the absorbed block and return the cube to its base state, use shears on it. The block pops out as an item and the cube starts hopping freely again. If you want to switch from one archetype to another, you do not need to use shears first. Simply feed the cube a new block while it already holds one. The old block is ejected automatically and the new archetype takes over immediately.
Warning: Do not use shears on a cube that has already absorbed TNT and been ignited. Once lit — by flint and steel, a Fire Aspect weapon, a nearby magma block, or even a firework explosion — there is no way to stop it. It cannot be sheared, bucketed, or damaged. It will explode after six seconds and die, leaving no small cubes behind.
How to Transport a Sulfur Cube
The easiest way to bring a sulfur cube back to your base is to scoop it up with an empty bucket. Right-click the cube with a bucket in hand to get a Bucket of Sulfur Cube — it preserves whatever block the cube has absorbed, so you won’t lose its archetype. Carry it in your inventory and place it wherever you want. This works on both Java and Bedrock editions. You can also use a lead to leash a sulfur cube that has already absorbed a block and walk it, though the bucket method is far more practical over long distances. Wild cubes despawn when you leave the area, so bucketing is also the reliable way to keep a specific cube alive long-term. If you need an Elytra to travel from the cave to your base quickly, the bucket keeps the cube safe in your inventory the whole time.
All 12 Sulfur Cube Archetypes in Minecraft
Each archetype changes four things: knockback resistance (how far it travels when hit), bounciness (how high it rebounds), ground friction (how far it slides), and air drag (how it floats or falls). The archetype names below are the official internal names from the Minecraft Wiki. Here is every archetype and which blocks trigger it.
Regular Archetype (Football)
Trigger blocks: Concrete powder, mud, dirt, grass block, and most blocks not covered by another archetype.
Behavior: Medium speed, medium bounciness, medium ground friction, low air drag. This is the baseline fallback archetype. If you feed the cube a block that does not match any specialized archetype, it defaults here. Floats in water.
Bouncy Archetype (Rubber Ball)
Trigger blocks: Any wood plank, log, or wood-type block (including bamboo blocks).
Behavior: Fast speed, high bounciness, medium ground friction, low air drag. Behaves like a rubber ball. This is the most popular archetype for player-built pinball machines and parkour launchers. Floats in water.
Slow Bouncy Archetype
Trigger blocks: Stone, deepslate, nether bricks, tuff, calcite, obsidian, ores, and most polished or chiseled stone variants.
Behavior: Slow speed, high bounciness, medium friction, medium air drag. A slow but springy cube — useful as a slower-moving target in minigames or a bouncy obstacle. Sinks in water.
Fast Flat Archetype (Golf Ball)
Trigger blocks: Coral blocks, sponge, moss block, pale moss block, dried kelp block, hay bale, pumpkin, melon, carved pumpkin, jack o’lantern (Java), froglights, slime block (Bedrock), honey block (Bedrock), sculk (Bedrock), and resin bricks (Java).
Behavior: Fast speed, low bounciness, medium ground friction, low air drag. A balanced, fast archetype with no extreme physics in any direction. Sinks in water.
Slow Flat Archetype (Medicine Ball)
Trigger blocks: Iron block, gold block, copper block, and similar metal blocks and ores.
Behavior: Slow speed, low bounciness, medium ground friction, medium air drag. Very sluggish with minimal bounce. Good as a stationary obstacle or anchor point in builds. Sinks in water. Our copper blocks guide covers how to get and prepare copper if you need it.
Light Archetype (Beach Ball)
Trigger blocks: Any wool block (all 16 colors).
Behavior: Slow speed, high bounciness, medium ground friction, high air drag. The cube drifts gently and floats unusually far for its speed — it behaves like a beach ball. Good for slow-paced obstacle courses or decorative floating builds. Floats in water.
Fast Sliding Archetype (Hockey Puck)
Trigger blocks: Blue ice, packed ice, snow blocks, and similar frozen blocks.
Behavior: Fast speed, no bounciness, low ground friction, low air drag. The cube slides across flat surfaces with almost no resistance — like a hockey puck. Ideal for curling-style minigames and fast horizontal movement contraptions. Sinks in water.
Slow Sliding Archetype (Curling Stone)
Trigger blocks: Red mushroom block, brown mushroom block, mushroom stem, mycelium, nether wart block, shroomlight, warped wart block.
Behavior: Slow speed, no bounciness, low ground friction, low air drag. Glides slowly and barely stops — like a curling stone. Sinks in water.
High Resistance Archetype
Trigger blocks: Soul sand, soul soil.
Behavior: Very slow speed, high friction, low bounce. The cube resists being moved and barely slides at all once it lands. Great as an immovable barricade or heavy obstacle. Sinks in water.
Sticky Archetype
Trigger blocks: Honeycomb block.
Behavior: Fast speed and low air drag like a golf ball, but sticks with extremely high ground friction and no bounce to simulate stickiness. Use it as a completely immobile obstacle or as a way to stop a rolling cube in a track. Note that slime blocks and honey blocks on Bedrock trigger the Fast Flat archetype, not the Sticky archetype. Sinks in water.
Hot Archetype — Dangerous
Trigger blocks: Magma block.
Behavior: Same movement profile as the Regular/Football archetype (medium speed, medium bounciness, medium friction), but damages nearby players and mobs on contact, exactly like standing on a magma block. Floats in water. Frost Walker grants immunity to its contact damage. If a Hot cube kills you, the death message reads “didn’t just the floor is lava.” A Hot cube can also ignite an Explosive cube on touch — be careful with both in the same area. Use it to build automatic damage zones, mob farms, or defensive perimeters.
Explosive Archetype — Dangerous
Trigger blocks: TNT.
Behavior: Medium speed, medium bounciness, medium ground friction, but with high air drag. The cube holds TNT visibly inside its body. It can be ignited by flint and steel, a Fire Aspect weapon, a nearby magma block, or even a firework explosion. Once ignited, it begins a six-second countdown and then explodes. If set off by a separate explosion rather than a direct ignition, the fuse is randomized between roughly 0.75 and 3 seconds — much less forgiving if you’re nearby. In the primed state it cannot be sheared, bucketed, or damaged in any way. It dies from the explosion and leaves no small cubes. Feeding a cube TNT unlocks the “Uh Oh” advancement. Only use this archetype in controlled situations away from your builds.
Can You Breed or Duplicate Sulfur Cubes?
There is no traditional breeding for sulfur cubes. You cannot pair two cubes to produce a baby. However, when a large sulfur cube dies, it splits into two small sulfur cubes — the same way slimes and magma cubes split. Unlike slimes, small sulfur cubes can actually grow up into large ones over time (about 20 minutes), functioning similarly to baby mobs. Feed small cubes slimeballs to speed up that growth. This is the only way to increase your sulfur cube count in survival mode.
Community Challenges (Now Ended)
Two community challenges were run to promote the Chaos Cubed release. Both have now ended, but here’s what they were:
- Challenge 1 (June 19–24, 2026): Feed TNT to 10 million sulfur cubes to unlock the Brawler Helmet Character Creator item; place 20 million sulfur blocks to unlock the Builder Helmet; spawn 50 million sulfur cubes for the Sulfur Cube Head cosmetic.
- Challenge 2 (June 26–July 7, 2026): Additional rewards including the Chaos Cubed: Cursed Cube add-on and the Chaos Cubed: The Game Show world download (unlocked if 250,000 players used the add-on).
Bedrock players who participated received Character Creator rewards redeemable until June 16, 2027. Java Edition players received a Chaos Cubed skin pack at launch.
What Can You Build With Sulfur Cubes?
The physics system opens up a huge range of creative options. Here are some popular use cases the community has discovered since the update launched:
- Pinball machines: Use Bouncy (wood) archetypes inside a walled course and hit them with a sword to launch. Add redstone scoring mechanisms for a full game.
- Curling arenas: Use Fast Sliding (ice) archetypes on a flat polished surface and see who can stop closest to a target.
- Automatic mob damage zones: Place Hot (magma) cubes in a corridor to damage mobs as they pass through for a low-cost mob farm trap.
- Water obstacle courses: Use Regular or Light (wool) archetypes — both float — in river channels or floating platforms for multiplayer water challenges.
- Geyser launchers: Combine a cube with a sulfur cave geyser to launch it upward for a physics spectacle. Geysers erupt roughly every 45–50 seconds and apply an upward impulse for 4–5 seconds — timing your cube placement is key.
- Automated archetype switchers: Use dispensers loaded with different blocks and shears on a timer to cycle a captured cube through archetypes — a building block for more complex physics-based contraptions.
Other New Items in the Chaos Cubed Update
The sulfur cube is the headline feature but not the only addition. The update also included two full building block families — cinnabar (red-colored stone) and sulfur (yellow crystalline) — each with stairs, slabs, walls, polished variants, brick variants, and chiseled variants. Potent sulfur, found in sulfur pools, creates geysers when placed over magma and inflicts Nausea on nearby players. Sulfur spikes function similarly to pointed dripstone but do not increase fall damage. Five new music tracks and the “Bounce” music disc — found in mineshaft chests inside sulfur caves — were added, all composed by fingerspit. The next update, Wilderness Bound (Java 26.3 / Bedrock 26.50), is currently in preview and adds the Dappled Forest biome and poplar wood.
Where to Get Minecraft to Try the Chaos Cubed Update
The Chaos Cubed update is free for all existing Minecraft players on both Java and Bedrock. If you do not own the game yet, you can get it from the official Minecraft website, on Xbox, or try the mobile trial on Google Play.
For more guides on new Minecraft 2026 content, check out our leaf litter, wildflowers, and fallen trees guide, our new animal variants guide, and the full firefly bush guide. If you are setting up a world to explore with friends, see how to set up Minecraft Realms and our list of the best Minecraft seeds for 2026.
