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Expect an empty cauldron to take about 19 minutes to fill with lava on average in a correctly configured pointed-dripstone setup. That is an estimate, not a countdown: the fill depends on random ticks, so one cauldron may fill sooner and another may take considerably longer.
Why the wait is about 19 minutes
The community-maintained Minecraft Wiki lava-farming tutorial reports a 15/256 chance—about 5.9%—of filling a cauldron on each relevant random tick. It also gives an average interval of about 68 seconds between random ticks. Dividing 68 seconds by the chance of success gives an expected wait of about 1,161 seconds, or 19 minutes and 21 seconds. In practical terms, call it roughly 19 minutes.
This calculation describes an average across many attempts, not a guarantee for a particular cauldron. Each relevant tick is a chance to fill it; the game does not steadily add lava or run a fixed timer. The Wiki tutorial is community-maintained, and the cited figures are not tied to a stated Minecraft edition or version.
Check that the dripstone setup is valid
A long wait does not necessarily mean the farm is broken, but first verify the arrangement described by the Minecraft Wiki tutorial:
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#1 Best Overall
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- Place a lava source block above the block supporting downward-facing pointed dripstone. The cited arrangement specifies a source block, not flowing lava.
- Put the cauldron below the dripstone tip, no more than ten blocks away.
- Keep the space between the dripstone and cauldron clear of non-air blocks. The cauldron may sit directly beneath the tip; an air gap is not required.
- Keep the stalactite at ten blocks or fewer in height.
If those conditions are met, an unusually long wait can still be consistent with the chance-based mechanic.
What Mojang confirms
Mojang’s Snapshot 20w48a notes say that a stalactite with a lava source above the ceiling will fill a cauldron below with lava “after a while.” Mojang’s cauldron article also confirms that cauldrons can hold lava and describes adding liquids with a bucket. These official pages confirm the mechanic, but do not give a probability, tick interval, or expected fill time; the numerical estimate comes from the community-maintained tutorial.
Quick Recap
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