Dyes
Dyes are items used to change the color of other items or mobs.
Contents
Obtaining
Crafting
Red dye is crafted using the rose.
Yellow dye is crafted using the dandelion.
Bone meal can be crafted using Bone.
Combining Dyes
Dyes can be crafted using other dyes.
| First color | Second color | Result color |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Red | Orange |
| Blue | Red | Purple |
| Green | Blue | Cyan |
| White | Red | Pink |
| Pink | Purple | Magenta |
| Blue | White | Light blue |
| Green | White | Light green |
| Black | White | Gray |
| Gray | White | Light gray |
Smelting
Green dye is made by smelting cactus in a furnace.
Mob Loot
Ink sacs are used as black dye. They are obtained from fishing or by killing squids.
Chest Loot
Cocoa beans are used as brown dye. They appears in 21.8% of loot chests, in stacks of 1-6.
Mining
Lapis lazuli is used as blue dye. It is obtained by mining lapis lazuli ore.
Usage
Dying Sheep
Right clicking or Right clicking on a sheep while holding a dye uses up the dye and changes the color of the sheep's wool, and so it drops colored wool when sheared.
Dying Dog Collars
Right clicking on a dog while holding a dye uses up the dye and changes the color of the dog's collar.
Crafting Ingredient
Unlike other dyes, cocoa beans cannot dye leather armor or be used to craft party hats. Lapis lazuli and bone meal are able to dye armor, but are also unable to be used to craft party hats.
The party hat is crafted using three different dyes.
Dyes are used to dye wool, glass, leather armor, bed, and balloons.
Usually, if you put an item that has already been dyed together with a new dye, it takes the color of the new dye. However, wool works slightly differently, and the colors will blend together in the way that crafting dyes work (eg. red wool and lapis lazuli craft purple wool). The only exception to this rule is white wool, which always directly takes the color of the dye.
Other Uses
Cocoa beans, lapis lazuli, bone meal and ink sacs, which can be used as brown, blue, white and black dyes respectively, can be used for other things. See the individual pages for more information.
Data Values
ID
There are four other items which use separate identifiers which are also used as dyes. The identifier for all other dyes is dye.
| Identifier | Preview |
|---|---|
| cocoa_bean | |
| lapis_lazuli | |
| ink_sac | |
| bone_meal |
Data Tags
Dyes have a type data tag, which determines the color. The default type if no type is specified is gray. Although white, black, blue, and brown dyes can be obtained, they are not fully functional as bone meal, ink sacs, lapis lazuli, and cocoa beans are used instead.
| Type | Preview |
|---|---|
| red | |
| green | |
| blue | |
| brown | |
| cyan | |
| lightblue | |
| lightgreen | |
| magenta | |
| orange | |
| pink | |
| purple | |
| white | |
| yellow | |
| lightgray | |
| gray | |
| black |
History
| Version | Date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.18.3 | Nov 04, 2011 |
|
| 1.19.4_6 | Unknown release date |
|
| 1.21 | May 17, 2012 |
|
| 1.22 | Jun 29, 2012 |
|
| 1.23 | Oct 31, 2012 |
|
| 1.27 | Nov 13, 2015 |
|
| 1.28 | Oct 08, 2016 |
|
| 1.29 | Sep 27, 2019 |
|
Bugs
- 1.29.2: Cocoa beans cannot be used to dye armor, but brown dye can. TheTopazRobot (talk) 12:24, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
- 1.29.2: Cocoa beans also cannot be used to craft party hats, along with lapis lazuli, bone meal, and ink sacs, but the unobtainable dyes can. TheTopazRobot (talk) 12:24, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
Trivia
- There are four unobtainable dyes, brown, blue, black, and white which can be given using commands. They are not properly obtainable because cocoa beans, lapis lazuli, ink sacs, and bone meal are used instead to get their respective colors. These dyes are not totally functional, however they can be used to dye sheep, and to craft the party hat.
