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. # Lava 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. Lava is a hazard in Spelunky Classic, pools of molten rock in the Temple and Olmec's Lair that kill the player as soon as his feet touch them. ![The bright orange surface of a pool of lava, bubbling](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/dbb0da14e7366b44/sprites/sLavaTop/anim%404x.png) | Lava | | | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Damage | Kills the player[^1] | | Trigger | Touching it with the feet[^2] | | Objects | `oLava`, `oLavaSolid` | | Found in | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | | Drops | [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) (A blob of magma from a spurt, 1 in 8)[^3] | Lava fills pools in [the Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) and the depths of Olmec's Lair. It's a liquid, the kind of water that burns: the player dies the moment his feet touch it, and so does a monster. Some of its surface spurts flames, and blobs of magma that become [Magma Men](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man). On a dark level it lights the dark around it. ## How it works **Clip: Lava.** The player walks off the floor into a pool of lava and dies as his feet touch it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/dbb0da14e7366b44/clips/lava/burn/clip.mp4)) Lava is a kind of water to the code: it fills a space and flows into any opening when the blocks holding it are destroyed, as water does[^4]. The difference is what it does to whatever enters it. The clip shows the player walking off a floor into a pool: he dies as his feet touch it. **Spurts.** When a level is made, each block of lava with nothing above it has a 1 in 4 chance of spurting[^5]. A spurting block waits 100–300 steps (picked when it's made), then throws a flame up, or with a 1 in 8 chance a blob of magma, which turns into a [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) where it lands; it only counts down while the player is within 240 pixels[^6][^7]. **Flowing.** Lava that flows away from its place is destroyed there, leaving three drips and, 1 in 6, a falling flame[^8]. The second clip shows a bomb opening a Temple pool's wall: the lava flows out and away beside the player, who isn't hurt. **Clip: Lava flowing away.** A bomb in a Temple lava pool destroys the pool's wall, and the lava flows away, dripping, beside the player, who isn't hurt. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/dbb0da14e7366b44/clips/lava/flow/clip.mp4)) ## Damage | Victim | What happens | | | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | The player | Loses 99 hearts, every heart he can have, as soon as a point just below his middle is in lava; he burns and sinks | [^1] | | Most monsters | Killed when their feet are in lava, then sink; one whose head the lava covers is removed | [^9] | | A Damsel | Killed | [^10] | | [Olmec](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmec) | Sinks and is destroyed: lava is the only thing that kills him | [^11] | | Items | Stop and sink 0.05 pixels a step, and are destroyed once lava covers them; a bomb explodes. The [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre) sinks without being destroyed | [^12] | | Treasure | Sinks and is destroyed the same way | [^13] | | A rope | Burns from the segment in the lava up | [^14] | A death in lava is counted in the end-of-game statistics' lava row[^15]. A monster lava kills doesn't count as the player's kill[^16]. The monsters' check is in the code most monsters share, so those whose own step event replaces it, such as the [Bat](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bat) and the [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man), aren't hurt by it. A smash trap that slides into lava sinks and is destroyed too ([Smash Trap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/smash-trap#interactions)). ## Locations - **[The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple)**, in its room templates' pools: each water tile of a Temple room is lava, and some pool edges are lava or a block, 1 in 2 each[^17][^18]. - **Olmec's Lair**, whose room is built over a sea of lava[^19]. - **The ending and the Sun challenge room**, a bonus room[^20][^21]. - **Custom levels**, as the level editor's tile `l`[^22]. Those rooms also have solid blocks drawn as lava, which are only walls[^23]. ## Avoiding - **Lava kills on touch**, whatever the player's hearts, so there's no crossing it: only over it, on a rope, a ladder or a jump. - **Mind the spurts.** A blob of magma thrown up by a spurt hurts the player, and becomes a Magma Man where it lands ([Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man#damage)). - **Letting it out.** A bomb that breaks a pool's wall lets it flow away, as in the second clip, which can open the way across, or flood the floor below. ## Interactions - **Ropes** dropped into lava burn up from the bottom, segment by segment[^24]. - **Light.** Lava counts as a light source on a dark level[^25]. - **Generation** keeps traps off lava: a Spear Trap isn't built where it would block a passage of lava, nor one on a block with lava on it[^26]. ## FAQ ### Does lava kill you instantly in Spelunky Classic? Yes. The moment the player's feet touch lava he loses every heart, catches fire and sinks. ### Can you swim in lava in Spelunky Classic? No. Lava flows like water when its wall is broken, but the player dies on touching it, before he could swim. ### Where is lava in Spelunky Classic? In [the Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) (levels 13–16), in pools that some rooms have, and under Olmec's Lair, where it's what kills [Olmec](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmec). ### What happens to items that fall into lava? They stop and sink slowly, and are destroyed once the lava closes over them; a bomb blows up. Treasure is lost the same way, and a rope burns. ## See also - **Related:** [Olmec](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmec), Olmec's Lair, [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) - **Damages:** [Alien](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/alien)[^9], [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman)[^9], [Fire Frog](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/fire-frog)[^9], [Frog](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/frog)[^9], [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman)[^27], [Mantrap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mantrap)[^9], [Monkey](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/monkey)[^9], [Olmec](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmec)[^11], [Skeleton](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skeleton)[^9], [Snake](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake)[^9], [Spider](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spider)[^9], [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord)[^27], [Vampire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/vampire)[^9], [Yeti](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti)[^9], [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king)[^9], [Zombie](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/zombie)[^9] ## References [^1]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:195-213` [^2]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:196` [^3]: `objects/oLava/step.gml:6-15` [^4]: Replay `fidelity/replays/terrain-bomb-lava.txt` [^5]: `scripts/scrSetupWalls.gml:398-414` [^6]: `objects/oLava/step.gml:1-16` [^7]: `objects/oLava/create.gml:3-5` [^8]: `objects/oLava/destroy.gml:1-9` [^9]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:63-74` [^10]: `objects/oDamsel/step.gml:77-85` [^11]: `objects/oOlmec/step.gml:35-43` [^12]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:160-185` [^13]: `objects/oTreasure/step.gml:69-79` [^14]: `objects/oRope/step.gml:1-4` [^15]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:200` [^16]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:68` [^17]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:328-332` [^18]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:497-500` [^19]: `rOlmec`, as the room editor placed it [^20]: `rEnd`, as the room editor placed it [^21]: `rSun`, as the room editor placed it [^22]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:69-72` [^23]: `objects/oLavaSolid/create.gml:1-3` [^24]: Replay `fidelity/replays/terrain-rope-burn-lava.txt` [^25]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:83-88` [^26]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:410-427` [^27]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:65-74` ### Source code - `objects/oLava/create.gml` - `objects/oLava/step.gml` - `objects/oLava/destroy.gml` - `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/step.gml` - `objects/oItem/step.gml` - `objects/oTreasure/step.gml` - `scripts/scrSetupWalls.gml` - `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml`