Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # Jar From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 27 October 2026. The Jar is a carryable item in Spelunky Classic that breaks when it's thrown, whipped or dropped hard, sometimes letting out gold, a gem, a Spider or a Snake. ![A round clay jar with a narrow neck](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/4a03f1981f7c4764/sprites/sJar/frames/0%404x.png) | Jar | | | -------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Kind | Carryable | | Effect | Breaks; may hold gold, a gem or a monster[^1] | | Damage | 1 hit point[^2] | | Object | `oJar` | | Found in | The Mines, The Jungle, The Ice Caves, The Temple | It's carried and thrown like a [Rock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rock), but it breaks on whatever it hits hard, and a broken Jar sometimes has something in it: gold, a big gem, or a monster. Level generation leaves Jars lying in every area, and they have movement code of their own, which makes them fall and bounce a little differently from other items. ## Usage **Clip: Jar thrown at a snake.** The player picks up a jar, drops down a level and throws it at a snake on the floor. The jar shatters on the snake and kills it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/4a03f1981f7c4764/clips/jar/throw/clip.mp4)) A Jar is picked up and thrown as any item is: crouching over it with empty hands and pressing the attack key lifts it, and the attack key throws it, at 8 pixels a step plus the player's speed, or up, or low along the floor[^3][^4]. Its own code moves it: it falls 0.6 pixels a step faster each step until it's falling at 6 or more, and bounces off walls and floors as a Rock does[^5]. It breaks when it: - hits a ceiling going up faster than 3 pixels a step, hits a wall faster than 3 across, or lands faster than 3[^6]; - ends up inside a block[^7]; - touches a monster or a Damsel while moving faster than 2 pixels a step[^8]; - is hit by the [Whip](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/whip)'s crack (or a [Machete](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/machete)'s slash or a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock)'s hit, which the game counts as kinds of whip), a bullet or an explosion, or sinks into [lava](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/lava)[^9][^10][^11][^12]. Breaking, it shatters into three pieces and rolls once for what's inside, each roll made only if the ones before it fail[^13]: | Contents | Chance | | | ----------------------------------------------------- | --------- | ----- | | A [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) | 1 in 3 | [^14] | | A [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget) | 1 in 6 | [^15] | | A Big Emerald | 1 in 12 | [^16] | | A Big Sapphire | 1 in 12 | [^17] | | A Big Ruby | 1 in 12 | [^18] | | A [Spider](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spider) | 1 in 6 | [^19] | | A [Snake](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake) | 1 in 12 | [^20] | | Nothing | Otherwise | | In the clip, the player throws a Jar at a Snake: the Jar shatters on it and the Snake dies[^21]. ### Thrown at monsters The Jar's own code decides what it does to a monster, and it isn't the code other thrown items share[^22]. It picks the monster nearest it, as they do[^23], and unless that one is invincible: | Monster | What it does | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman), [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman), [Mantrap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mantrap), [Yeti](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti), Shopkeeper | Stuns it, taking nothing; nothing while it's stunned | [^24] | | Any other, the [Vampire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/vampire), [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) and [UFO](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ufo) included | 1 hit point, without stunning it | [^25] | Either way, the monster takes three tenths of the Jar's speed, and the Jar breaks, on an invincible monster too[^26]. A UFO that loses its hit point becomes a falling wreck, as from a bullet, rather than blowing up as it does for a [Rock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rock)[^27]. ## Locations - **Level generation**, in every area: on each block that could have a Rock (outside shops, with open space above, away from the entrance, the exit and a [golden idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol)), a 1 in 40 chance, once the Rock's 1 in 100 fails[^28]. - **The level editor**'s `j` tile[^29]. The Jungle's graveyard room with the [Crystal Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/crystal-skull) has four tiles that the code means to make rising bones or a Jar, but its test is always true, so they're always bones[^30][^23]. ## Interactions **Clip: Jar whipped open.** The player cracks the whip at a jar beside him. It shatters into pieces and lets out a big emerald and a gold chunk, which he walks over and collects. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/4a03f1981f7c4764/clips/jar/whip/clip.mp4)) - **[Whip](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/whip).** The crack breaks a Jar, and its code rolls for the contents, then destroys the Jar, which rolls again: a whipped Jar gets two rolls, and can let out two things, as does one a [Machete](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/machete) or a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock) breaks[^31][^13]. In the clip, one Jar lets out a big emerald and a gold chunk[^32]. The wind-up behind the player doesn't break one. - **[Pitcher's Mitt](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/pitchers-mitt).** A Jar thrown with it keeps the Mitt's lighter gravity for good, as its own code only changes gravity in lava, so it flies far and flat[^23]. - **The screen.** Most items stop once they're 16 pixels off the screen; a Jar's code has no such test, so it keeps moving until the level puts everything far off the screen to sleep[^33][^34]. - **Exits.** Carried through a level's exit, it's in the player's hands on the next level, whole: the old one is removed without breaking[^35]. ## Tips - A Jar breaks on the first monster it touches, so each one is a single shot; a Rock can be thrown again. - A Jar only stuns a Caveman, a Hawkman, a Mantrap or a Yeti, where a Rock also takes a hit point. - Whipping a Jar gives two chances at what's inside, where throwing it gives one. ## Trivia - The Jar's movement code is a copy of the shared item code's, and keeps lines that only matter for other items: a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb) exploding in lava, and an [arrow](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/arrow) being destroyed when it hits a monster[^36][^37]. ## FAQ ### What's inside a Jar in Spelunky Classic? Often nothing. A broken Jar rolls once: a 1 in 3 chance of a [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk), and, as each roll before fails, a [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget), a big emerald, a big sapphire, a big ruby, a [Spider](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spider) or a [Snake](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake). A Jar broken by the [Whip](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/whip) rolls twice. ### How do you break a Jar in Spelunky Classic? Throw it hard at a wall, the floor, the ceiling or a monster, crack the [Whip](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/whip) at it (or swing a Machete or a Mattock), shoot it, or blow it up. ### Does a thrown Jar hurt monsters in Spelunky Classic? Yes: 1 hit point to most, and the Jar breaks on it. A Caveman, a Hawkman, a Mantrap, a Yeti or a Shopkeeper is only stunned by it, losing nothing. ### Are there pots in Spelunky Classic? Not by that name: the Jar is the game's only breakable pot. It's found lying on the ground in every area. ## Gallery **Clip: The Pitcher's Mitt's light gravity lasts one step for a rock.** Wearing a pitcher's mitt, the player throws a rock straight ahead: it drops to the floor within a few steps and stops short. He throws a jar the same way: it keeps the mitt's light gravity and flies flat across the room. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/4a03f1981f7c4764/clips/quirks/mitt-gravity-one-step/clip.mp4)) ## See also - **Drops:** [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk), [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget), Big Emerald, Big Sapphire, Big Ruby, [Spider](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spider), [Snake](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake) - **Related:** [Rock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rock), [Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skull), Throwing ## References [^1]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:17-28` [^2]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:134` [^3]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1203-1214` [^4]: `scripts/scrUseItem.gml:605-646` [^5]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:23-79` [^6]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:37-53` [^7]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:49` [^8]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:106-172` [^9]: `objects/oJar/collision_oWhip.gml:1-21` [^10]: `objects/oJar/collision_oBullet.gml:1` [^11]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oItem.gml:1-5` [^12]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:83-103` [^13]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:3-28` [^14]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:17` [^15]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:18` [^16]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:19` [^17]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:20` [^18]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:21` [^19]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:22` [^20]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:23-28` [^21]: Clip jar/throw [^22]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:106-148` [^23]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^24]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:114-130` [^25]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:131-139` [^26]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:139-147` [^27]: `objects/oUFO/step.gml:6-16` [^28]: `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml:44-45` [^29]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:118-121` [^30]: `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:490-494` [^31]: `objects/oJar/collision_oWhip.gml:9-21` [^32]: Clip jar/whip [^33]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:1-25` [^34]: `objects/oLevel/step.gml:65-77` [^35]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:842-850` [^36]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:90-103` [^37]: `objects/oJar/step.gml:143-144` ### Source code - `objects/oJar/create.gml` - `objects/oJar/step.gml` - `objects/oJar/destroy.gml` - `objects/oJar/collision_oWhip.gml` - `objects/oJar/collision_oBullet.gml` - `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml` - `scripts/scrUseItem.gml` - `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml`