What weeping vines are
Weeping vines are a hanging plant block found in the Crimson Forest biome of the Nether. They grow downward from the bottom of a solid block, forming long red strands that drape from the canopy of crimson fungi and the ceilings of caves carved through nylium. They were added in the 1.16 Nether Update alongside their cousin, twisting vines, which grow upward in the Warped Forest.
The vine has two practical uses. You can climb it like a ladder, and you can harvest it for compost or for your own decorative drape. Unlike most plants in the Nether, weeping vines do not catch fire from lava or fire blocks, so you can place them right next to a lava stream without losing the build.
If you have spent any time wandering a crimson forest, you have already seen them. They are the red counterpart to the blue-green twisting vines you might know from warped forests.
Where to find weeping vines
Weeping vines generate naturally in the Crimson Forest biome. Look up at the underside of crimson nylium ceilings, the bottoms of large crimson fungus caps, and overhangs near the Nether ceiling. They hang down from any solid block above them and can stretch up to 26 blocks long before they stop growing on their own.
The first place most players see them is when they walk into a crimson forest for the first time and notice the red strands hanging from the giant mushroom-like trees. The vines often grow long enough to brush the ground, which is what makes them easy to spot from a distance.
You will not find weeping vines in the Warped Forest, in the Overworld, or in the End. The Crimson Forest is the only biome that generates them.
How to harvest weeping vines
Weeping vines have two ways to drop themselves as an item:
- Break with shears: the vine drops itself 100% of the time.
- Break by hand or with any other tool: the vine drops itself only about a third of the time. The rest of the time it breaks with nothing in the drop.
If you want a stack for a build, bring shears. Breaking a long strand from the bottom up works well because each segment drops on its own. Breaking the topmost vine block (the one attached to the ceiling) instantly destroys the whole hanging strand below it, but each broken segment still rolls its own drop check.
Weeping vines are one of the few blocks in the Nether you can collect without a tool, since you can stand under them and break them by hand. Bring a small stack of cobblestone to bridge up if the vine you want is hanging over a long drop.
Climbing weeping vines
Weeping vines act as a climbable block, just like ladders, scaffolding, and twisting vines. You climb them by holding the jump key while pressed against the vine, and you descend by holding sneak or simply walking off.
This makes weeping vines a free vertical-traversal tool in the Nether. A natural strand reaching from the ceiling to the floor is a free elevator up to a high ledge. They are especially handy in crimson forests where the terrain has tall overhangs and you do not want to waste scaffolding on a one-time climb.
One thing to remember: climbing a weeping vine still leaves you exposed. Piglins, zombified piglins, and the occasional hoglin can attack you while you climb, so do not start a climb if there is a hostile mob within reach.
How weeping vines grow
A weeping vine grows downward from any solid block. Each game tick, the bottom of the vine has a small chance to extend by one block, as long as the air block below it is empty. A natural vine can reach 26 blocks long before growth stops.
You can speed this up with bone meal. Using bone meal on the bottom of a vine extends it by one to several blocks at a time, which is the fastest way to fill a wall of weeping vines for a build. The vine still stops once it has hit the natural cap of 26.
If something blocks the path below the vine, growth pauses. Place a block at the desired length and the vine will simply stop there. This is how you control the length of a vine in a build without having to harvest excess later.
Building a weeping vine farm
If you want a renewable supply of weeping vines, a simple farm works well. Here is the basic shape:
- Pick a wall in your Nether base. Place a solid block at the top of where you want the vine.
- Plant a single weeping vine on the bottom of that block.
- Apply bone meal to push the vine down quickly, or wait for it to grow on its own.
- When the vine is the length you want, break the bottom segment with shears. The vine breaks segment by segment, and each segment drops itself.
- Leave the top vine block in place. The remaining vine at the top will regrow downward.
For a fully automated setup, players use observer-piston farms that detect the vine growth and harvest the bottom segment, dropping the item into a hopper. This is more involved, but it can fill a double chest with vines while you are off doing something else.
Bone meal yield from a composter is the other reason to farm weeping vines. Each vine block has a 50% chance to fill the composter by one level, and a full composter outputs one bone meal. That makes weeping vines a reasonable bone meal source in the Nether if you have a steady supply.
Other uses for weeping vines
Beyond climbing and composting, weeping vines are mostly a decoration block. Builders use them for jungle-style hanging plants, the inside of cave bases, and the trim around Nether-themed builds.
Weeping vines are also fireproof. Lava, fire, and soul fire do not destroy them, which is rare among Nether plants. You can place them right next to a lava stream as part of a build with no risk of losing the vines.
One quirk that catches a lot of players off guard: weeping vines do not work as a crafting ingredient for any vanilla recipe. You cannot make crimson planks, scaffolding, or anything else from them. Their value is the vine block itself, used as a climbable block, a compost source, and a decoration.
Java vs Bedrock differences
Weeping vines behave very similarly across the two editions, but there are a few small things to know.
On Java Edition, breaking the topmost vine of a strand instantly breaks all the vines below it, with each segment still rolling its own drop chance. On Bedrock Edition the same behavior applies. The difference is mostly in tick rates: bone meal extension distances and the timing of natural growth can feel slightly different on Bedrock realms with custom tick speeds.
Both editions treat weeping vines as a climbable block, both let you compost them at 50%, and both let shears harvest them at a 100% drop rate. If you are switching between editions you should not run into any surprises.
Tips and common mistakes
- Bring shears. Breaking by hand wastes roughly two thirds of the vines you try to collect.
- Do not waste bone meal on a vine that has already hit 26 blocks. It will not grow further.
- Weeping vines are fireproof, but the blocks behind them are not. A crimson nylium block above a vine can still burn if you place fire on top of it.
- For a tidy build, plant the vine on the bottom of a stone block instead of a fragile decoration block. That way you can swap the stone for any block you want later without breaking the vine.
- If you are building a long curtain of weeping vines, place a block at the bottom first. The vine will stop growing exactly where you want it.
Frequently asked questions
Can you climb weeping vines like a ladder?
Yes. Weeping vines are a climbable block. Hold the jump key while touching the vine to go up, and walk off or sneak to go down.
What is the difference between weeping vines and twisting vines?
Weeping vines grow downward in the Crimson Forest. Twisting vines grow upward in the Warped Forest. Both are climbable, both compost at 50%, and shears harvest both at a 100% drop rate. The visual difference is the color: weeping vines are red, twisting vines are blue-green.
Do weeping vines burn?
No. Weeping vines are fireproof. Lava, fire, and soul fire do not destroy them, which is unusual for a plant.
How do you get weeping vines fast?
Bring shears and head to a Crimson Forest biome in the Nether. Harvest the natural strands hanging from the ceiling, then plant a single vine in a controlled spot and bone meal it down to refill your stock.
Can you craft anything with weeping vines?
No. Weeping vines have no vanilla crafting recipes. Their uses are climbing, composting, and decoration.
What do weeping vines give you in a composter?
Composting a weeping vine does not output a block. It fills the composter by one level with a 50% chance per vine. A full composter outputs one bone meal.
Why will my weeping vine not grow longer?
Weeping vines stop growing at 26 blocks long. They also stop if any block is placed in the air space below the vine. If neither applies, you may just be unlucky with the random tick rate, so try bone meal.
Worth knowing
Weeping vines are easy to underestimate. They look like background scenery the first time you walk into a crimson forest, but they double as a free climbing tool, a bone meal source, and one of the only fireproof plants in the game. Keep a stack of them next to your scaffolding when you head into the Nether, and you will rarely need to bridge up by hand again.