Digging a well: An alternative to moving water source blocks

[Echo Weaver]

So, there's a game option now where you can't move water source blocks. This makes way more sense for immersion, but it's just a huge PITA. I'm not planning to play with this option.

OTOH, moving water source blocks isn't terribly immersive.

So, I want to be able to bring a steady source of water to my crops, but I seriously hate building out onto ponds because it wrecks the landscape. I'm the kind of person who goes back and replace dirt blocks in my environment if it looks too weird.

But in real life, what do you do when you need a steady source of water? You dig a well. That could be a much more involved crafting process than just picking up water source blocks in a bucket, but it still allows you to put your base anywhere you want and irrigate your crops. We'd probably need some more irrigation paraphernalia to craft, but I can't see that as being a bad thing.

[Crylum]

@Echo Weaver Yes, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an alternative to the “move water source block with bucket” method right now. I've been researching the forum and talking to other Vintarians to find out what their opinions are on this subject and I created an overview thread that refers to related topics and ideas from the community, in case you want to check it out

But in case of you idea "digging a well" please see this

[Echo Weaver]

6 hours ago, Crylum said:

@Echo Weaver Yes, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an alternative to the “move water source block with bucket” method right now. I've been researching the forum and talking to other Vintarians to find out what their opinions are on this subject and I created an overview thread that refers to related topics and ideas from the community, in case you want to check it out

But in case of you idea "digging a well" please see this

Yes, I found your post after making mine. I didn't immediately realize it overlapped because yours was much broader.

All the stuff you described sounds interesting but very ambitious. I think just having the ability to dig a well would be a big improvement for immersion by itself.

 

[Zane Mordien]

A well mechanic should be a pretty easy add. Then add a pump with mechanical power from the windmill to make it possible to flow. 

[LadyWYT]

I think digging a well or having natural springs would be a fair trade for preventing water buckets from placing water sources blocks. I'd also throw rain barrels in as an option as well--put some empty barrels out to collect rainwater, and bucket it out to use as needed. Hydrate or Diedrate offers similar concepts, which have been fun to play with(I don't know that I'd add the thirst mechanic to the base game).

It is, however, the kind of change I probably wouldn't expect to see until water power is implemented into the game. I'm guessing that's about the time we'd get rivers, or at least streams, so it would be a prime time to make that kind of change, I would think.

[Echo Weaver]

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I think digging a well or having natural springs would be a fair trade for preventing water buckets from placing water sources blocks. I'd also throw rain barrels in as an option as well--put some empty barrels out to collect rainwater, and bucket it out to use as needed. Hydrate or Diedrate offers similar concepts, which have been fun to play with(I don't know that I'd add the thirst mechanic to the base game).

Well, I don't really want to be watering my garden manually. The point to moving water source blocks into the farm is to keep the farm irrigated without extra watering. I'm barely keeping ahead of all the other farm work, and I need to do more exploring. So I'd prefer to see an irrigation system I can set up and leave for a while.

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

It is, however, the kind of change I probably wouldn't expect to see until water power is implemented into the game. I'm guessing that's about the time we'd get rivers, or at least streams, so it would be a prime time to make that kind of change, I would think.

This makes sense. I'm probably saying something kind of obvious, but it was a gee-whiz moment for me. I'd love to be able to play without moving source blocks around, but the only options I saw discussed involved either building out a farm onto a pond or using elaborate craftables to direct water away from said pond.

I thought I saw it discussed that easy manipulation of water source blocks was a barrier to introducing water power, and that makes sense. Your water wheel is trivial if you can make your own waterfall to run it. 

But obviously, people have been getting water to their farm and household for centuries. Duh. They dug a well. And that seems like a mechanic that could be pretty straightforward and voxel-game-friendly. I'd love to see it. 

[Echo Weaver]

I've been informed that Hydrate or Diedrate has an impressive well-digging mechanic. Not only are there mechanics around actually digging the well at the level of simulation sophistication we'd expect from VS, there's also a subterranean aquifer system so that you can't just dig anywhere and get water.

I have two thoughts:

1. In that mod, wells are a logical building block of a much more expansive hydration mechanic, but it's really a standalone concept that is complimentary to vanilla.

2. Hydrate or Diedrate's aquifers require worldgen, which is pretty intrusive. Adding the mod into an existing game is going to be unsatisfying, and I don't know if there are any issues in taking it out. I wonder if there's a way to implement something, perhaps simpler, around natural aquifers that wouldn't require direct changes to world generation.

Edited July 18, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Echo Weaver]

Actually, I'm not sure Hydrate or Diedrate's wells could be used to irrigate farmland. They're focused on obtaining clean drinking water for the hydration mechanic. 

All the mechanics around non-water-block-transport water management I've seen suggested so far have been focused on transporting water from surface sources. It kind of surprises me that wells don't seem to be taken seriously in this regard. I did a sanity check, and yes wells have been used for irrigation for thousands of years. I don't know how agricultural wells might look compared to drinking water wells. 

I find the idea of using a well automated with a windmill to irrigate land more appealing than my base being tethered to surface water. 

In fact, I joined a multiplayer server with hardcore water mechanics, and getting aquifers built from the body of water a couple of chunks over from the town has been a pain. They have a river mod, but it has carved a shallow canyon into the ground where the town is, and I don't know if or how these transportation mechanics handle moving water up slope.