Minecraft Forums

I was discussing draining lakes that I constantly do to make things easier for Beta, but most Minecrafters I talk to ususally say a few things along the lines of:

"DRAINING A LAKE? LUDICROUS, SIR!"

"That's impossible. You're using hacks."

"teachmeteachmeteachmeteachme"

"Oh, yeah...I do that all the time." (No, they don't.)

So, I'm just asking...do you guys drain lakes? Or am I just one in a million? I'm certain that lake draining is common, but I haven't heard anyone talk about it for the months I've been playing so maybe....just maybe...I discovered this?

I HIGHLY doubt it though. I mean come on, people surely do this without using Lava or anything, right?

Fill it with sand, then shovel it all out? I have done it once.

Easiest way is to use dirt and sand to fill it out. Or, you can use a sponge mod.

Quote from insanedane8 »

Fill it with sand, then shovel it all out? I have done it once.

Yeah, that's what I do. I do a pattern like...how do I show this...






This is just a pattern and stuff, I might show screenshots if people ask.

I drained a pond the other day...

I only do it when it is in the way of something I am building though.

I only drain CERTAIN parts of a lake/ocean if I build underwater structures. I have an idea on some since ladders can magically block water (Like anything carved from wood, apparently. Half-steps seem to work, as well as doors. I will get pics from my play-test world, if needed.

Fill in the whole thing with cotton or something else similarly flammable, and set it alight. (Make sure there aren't any trees or other such things around!)

Drain lakes? I go all eco-pretty and make a giant shrine in the center, bordering parts of the lake with reeds. :tongue.gif:

Quote from MrKsoft »

Fill in the whole thing with cotton or something else similarly flammable, and set it alight. (Make sure there aren't any trees or other such things around!)

I know HOW to drain a lake, I'm just cur- oh, you're talking about how you do it, I'm sorry.

Set it on fire? That's what you do?


....Cool.

Quote from Hal9000 »

Drain lakes? I go all eco-pretty and make a giant shrine in the center, bordering parts of the lake with reeds. :tongue.gif:

:tongue.gif:

Quote from Shotgun Steve »

I know HOW to drain a lake, I'm just cur- oh, you're talking about how you do it, I'm sorry.

Set it on fire? That's what you do?


....Cool.

Yep, because I enjoy the irony of emptying a body of water using fire.

I need to drain a 150x150 chunk of ocean and can't use MCedit or similar programs. I'm also not admin.

I've been doing it by building a wall down to the seabed in cobble, to box in my 150x150 area. Then, I've been divinding it into 10x10 sections with sand. After it's divided, I fill a section with sand, and then empty it.

It's taking BLOODY FOREVER! I can't possibly get that much wool. Has anyone found out any quicker solutions?

Quote from insanedane8 »

Fill it with sand, then shovel it all out? I have done it once.

This is what I do too.

Since somebody was talking about a spongemod... I saw two days ago that wiki claims Sponge was removed from the game.

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Sponge

I believe it still exists, does it? At least the ID 19 is there: http://www.minecraftwiki.net/images/8/8 ... esBeta.png

Wiki also claims that both Classic and Alpha had water draining functionality, while it's been removed in Beta. Wasn't it that sponges didn't work in Alpha either?

And I drain lakes with WorldEdit and //drain.

I filled the middle with sand, then use buckets on the rest.

No, every layer is a source block.

I find that draining a lake is a bad way to make an underwater house. You know, there not being water anymore.

Quote from Dragnfly »

I need to drain a 150x150 chunk of ocean and can't use MCedit or similar programs. I'm also not admin.

I've been doing it by building a wall down to the seabed in cobble, to box in my 150x150 area. Then, I've been divinding it into 10x10 sections with sand. After it's divided, I fill a section with sand, and then empty it.

It's taking BLOODY FOREVER! I can't possibly get that much wool. Has anyone found out any quicker solutions?

This is pretty much how I was doing it, except that I prefer using gravel instead of sand. That way you are generating useful flint instead of just moving sand around.

Then I discovered the joys of fishing, and decided I didn't need to fill the whole thing in after all.

Quote from Fandan »

uh, op, how do you do it?
I mean that thing with the sand is so... dunno, i expected something smarter if you start a thread just for that.

I also use dirt, and sometimes I use lava for an even faster rate, but that leaves cobblestone.

You want pics or something? Might PM you some, if you want to know how I drain.

Quote from Ocelot60 »

I just use; //drain 1000

It's a mod.

This gave me an idea to add a poll.