i found some giant underwater (water filled) caves.

[Thomas Bove]

i mean absolutely massive. is there some way to bring light into water? any way to breath? thanks.

[OBAMFSpike]

Oil lamps and lanterns work underwater. Breathing will require a pick axe to create a hollow void of water. Which in my experience has been two blocks in two blocks tall. 

[LadyWYT]

First off, welcome to the forums!

20 minutes ago, Thomas Bove said:

is there some way to bring light into water?

Lanterns are the best option here, since they have the largest light radius and don't burn out underwater.

 

20 minutes ago, Thomas Bove said:

any way to breath?

You can increase the amount of time you can spend underwater(I'm unsure of the command to do this), but otherwise there's not really a way to breathe underwater or otherwise increase the amount of time you can spend underwater. There might be something on the mod database that covers it, but I can't recall any mods that cover it for sure.

[Michael Gates]

One of these days I might try the door trick in VS; in Minecraft it was an easy way to build underwater habitats.

[LadyWYT]

15 minutes ago, Michael Gates said:

One of these days I might try the door trick in VS; in Minecraft it was an easy way to build underwater habitats.

 

6 hours ago, OBAMFSpike said:

Breathing will require a pick axe to create a hollow void of water.

The reason I don't recommend tactics like these in Vintage Story is due to the water physics working differently than in Minecraft. In VS, it's very easy to get pushed into a corner by water and end up drowning as a result. That's not to say it isn't doable, but it's risky.

As for the door trick, I don't know if that works in VS or not. I think ladders work though, but I wouldn't swear to it. 

[OBAMFSpike]

41 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

The reason I don't recommend tactics like these in Vintage Story is due to the water physics working differently than in Minecraft. In VS, it's very easy to get pushed into a corner by water and end up drowning as a result. That's not to say it isn't doable, but it's risky.

I didn't consider the possibility of drowning and you are spot on correct. The physical properties of water in this game are eerily close to real water. Good job devs!

*Edit* I am an old school risk taker. I'll leave it at that. 

Edited September 17, 2025 by OBAMFSpike
added info

[Never Jhonsen]

10 hours ago, Michael Gates said:

One of these days I might try the door trick in VS; in Minecraft it was an easy way to build underwater habitats

10 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I think ladders work though, but I wouldn't swear to it. 

Bearer of bad news. As of either 1.14 of 1.15, all partial blocks (including chiseled ones) are water loggable, and thus will not give you air.

Not that it mattered too much back then, as everyone could breath underwater. We lost our water breathing in (I think) 1.17

[Krougal]

Yeah, none of the MC exploits for water breathing work here.

If I don't feel like using ladders (lately I am overloaded with sticks anyway, so I use them) then I pour a bucket of water at the top, dig down til I am almost out of air, and then dig a 1x1x2 and stand in it to top up air and then continue digging.

For a cave you could dig 1 block overhead and then swim up; as long as your head is out of water you can get air.

[Bumber]

Could you use hay blocks to get rid of water? Assuming they break fast enough.

[Krougal]

6 hours ago, Bumber said:

Could you use hay blocks to get rid of water? Assuming they break fast enough.

I would assume so, since they are solid blocks.

[HalfAxd]

I've only ever done this on a small scale in ponds, but can't you basically build a solid block of dirt (however big) and dig out the middle from top to bottom, destroying source blocks to build a dam?

I know that sounds like a lot of work, but if you recon the cave and it's worth exploiting, then this would be a "realistic" way to make this happen...