[MCPE-42473] Bone Meal, Lapis Lazuli, Ink Sacs and Cocoa Beans can still be used as dyes

The Bone Meal, Ink Sac, Cocoa Beans and Lapis Lazuli items can still be used as dyes for various different tasks, like crafting, dying water, etc.

That functionality should have been removed with the addition of the items White Dye, Black Dye, Brown Dye and Blue Dye.

Linked issues

is duplicated by 9

MCPE-172374 Ink Sacs, Lapis Lazuli, Bone Meal, and Cocoa Beans are still substitutes for the corresponding dye color Resolved

MCPE-171762 Bonemeal, inc sac's, cocoa beans, lapis being usable for dyes Resolved

MCPE-161578 Old dyes still work Resolved

MCPE-81462 Ink Sac, Bone Meal, Cocoa Beans and Lapis Lazuli can still be used to dye Resolved

MCPE-65577 Blue shulker box crafting issuue Resolved

4 more links

relates to 2

MCPE-166303 Inconsistent dyes with firework stars Open

MCPE-120150 Lapiz Lazuli in the creative inventory is the the Nature tab Resolved

Attachments

Comments 15

migrated 2019-02-24T04:28:06Z

I believe that devs said that these would still work in addition to the new dyes. Feature not a bug

migrated 2019-02-24T06:37:41Z

This is an intentional feature.

[Mod] LateLag 2019-02-24T21:37:39Z

Can you give me proof please? That wouldn't make any sense at all, since:
1. The dye items would be useless;
2. Java Edition did remove that;
3. The new recipes for colored carpets and glass panes didn't include these items.

migrated 2019-03-01T15:50:21Z

Well this is version exclusive i think.

migrated 2019-03-02T02:24:36Z

Plus I remember the developers said in a tweet that they wanted to continue to give players more options. I can't find it though.

5 more comments

[Mod] LateLag 2019-03-02T18:58:32Z

How is that giving players more options? The new dye items are useless if the old ones can still be used.

migrated 2019-03-03T20:23:20Z

I don't know why either but I know for sure they said this.

migrated 2019-04-04T13:07:23Z

Affects version 1.10.0.

migrated 2019-04-05T09:31:08Z

I agree that Bone Meal, Lapis, Ink Sacs and Cocoa beans should have their functionality of being Dyes removed.

Auldrick 2019-04-14T19:48:28Z

I'm not certain, but I believe this is working as intended. Bone meal, lapis lazuli, ink sacs, and cocoa beans were internally implemented in Bedrock as one of the 16 color codes for a Dye item that doesn't appear separately in inventory. The old items were still needed when the new dyes were introduced, so the new dyes were given new color codes that produce the same colors. Because of this, there are two distinct color codes for white, blue, black, and brown. Dyeable items include their color codes in saved games, so it's possible that either color code, or both, might appear in an old world. Invalidating the color codes for the older dye items would therefore cause a problem.

Java implemented the pseudo-dye items differently, so didn't have this problem. Instead, the code had to have special case logic for converting the pseudo-dye items into a dye color code. Introducing the new dye items solved that problem, so the special logic could be removed and simplified in Java, but it created the opposite problem for Bedrock. Retaining the pseudo-dye items' ability to work as dyes was just an easier way to handle it, and doesn't cause any real harm.

Jack McKalling 2019-05-09T07:15:08Z

But this is a parity issue, and they mentioned before they wanted to get them to work the same (at some point).

Loris099 2020-11-19T01:09:42Z

Still in 1.16.100

migrated 2021-10-24T19:29:47Z

Affects 1.17.40

Auldrick 2023-12-21T09:21:14Z

I tested Bone Meal, Ink Sac, Cocoa Beans, and Lapis Lazuli in 1.20.51. Their behavior has changed. It is now as follows:

Application	Can be used?
Dye Wool	Yes
Dye undyed Terracotta	Yes
Dye Glass Block	Yes
Dye undyed Candle	Yes
Dye undyed Shulker Box	Yes
Re-dye Shulker Box	Yes
Re-dye Bed	Yes
Craft Concrete Powder	Yes
Craft Firework Star	Yes
Dye Carpet	No
Dye Glass Pane	No
Add color to a banner on a Loom	No
Add a fade-to color to a Firework Star	No
Color text on a Sign or Hanging Sign	No
Color the collar of a tamed Wolf/Cat	No

Note the counterintuitive differences:

You can dye Wool but not Carpet with these items.
You can dye Glass Block but not Glass Pane with these items.
You can use these items to color a Firework Star but not to add a fade-to color.

TheMightyDark 2026-03-14T21:07:18Z

Can confirm in Preview 26.20.20. More behaviours are tested with the old dyes.

Application	Can the old dyes be used there?
Dye and Re-Dye Wool	Yes
Dye undyed terracotta	Yes
Dye Glass	Yes
Dye Undyed Candle	Yes
Dye Undyed Shulker Box	Yes
Re-Dye Shulker Box	Yes
Dye and Re-Dye Bed	Yes
Craft Concrete Powder	Yes
Used as the only dye of crafting the initial Firework stars.	Yes
If any second dye is present in crafting the initial firework star.	No, even if 2 or more of the old black, brown, white or blue dyes try to be used together in the craft.
Adding a fade to color effect on firework star	No
Dye Carpet	No
Dye Glass Pane	No
Adding a banner pattern using crafting grid or loom	No
Dye a wolf collar	No
Dye a sign	No
Dyeing cauldron water	No
Dyeing harness	Yes
Dye sheep	No
Dye cat collar	No
Dye shulker mobs	Yes
Mixing with other dyes (For example lapis lazuli + red dye making purple dye)	Depends on situation. Lapis Lazuli and white dye still work to make light blue dye, but ink sac + bone meal + white dye does not work to make light gray dye. Dye substitution must be total per color.
Crafting Glow stick in education mode	No
Balloon crafting in the Education mode	Yes