In Minecraft, one ink sac from a squid becomes black dye in the crafting grid, with no other ingredients.
The other routes cost more. Guild Wars 2 depends on rare Unidentified Dye drops, and in Old School RuneScape, dyeing Silverlight consumes every copy of the sword in your inventory except one.
1. Ink Sacs from Squids
Squids are the easiest source. They spawn in rivers, oceans and beaches between Y-level 46 and 64, and each one drops 1 to 3 ink sacs.
I’d bring a sword with Looting, since that enchantment raises the number of sacs per kill and cuts the time spent hunting when you need a stack of dye.
To make the dye, place one ink sac in any slot of the 3×3 crafting table grid. Black dye appears in the result box, ready to take.
Hypixel players can skip the crafting step.
The server runs on 1.8, where ink sacs already work as black dye as they are. Concrete was introduced in 1.12, so you can’t make it in Hypixel SkyBlock, and black concrete is off the table there.
2. Wither Roses
Wither Roses offer a second path to black dye in Minecraft, though you’ll work harder for it.
The flower drops when the Wither Boss kills a mob, which means you need to summon the boss first using soul sand and wither skeleton skulls.
Those skulls take time to farm from the Nether, and the boss fight itself is no joke.
These flowers are a by-product of killing mobs with the Wither Boss. When the Wither Boss shoots at mobs, it will occasionally drop a Wither Rose, which can then be used to craft black dye.
Once you have a Wither Rose, the crafting step is identical: place one flower anywhere in the 3×3 grid to get black dye.
Squid farming still wins for speed and accessibility, but Wither Roses work if you’re already hunting skulls or want a more combat-driven route.
3. Black Mushrooms in Old School RuneScape
Use a pestle and mortar on black mushrooms while an empty vial is in your inventory, and you get a vial of black dye.
Carry the empty vial before you start grinding, since the recipe depends on having it with you. The finished item has ID 4622.
Older guides and forum threads call it "Black mushroom ink."
The item was renamed on February 9, 2022, so search for either name if a walkthrough looks dated. The mushrooms and the dye turn up in The Golem, Shadow of the Storm and Land of the Goblins.
Silverlight is the one trap.
Dyeing it black consumes every copy of the sword in your inventory except one dyed sword. I’d leave extra Silverlights in the bank before you dye.
4. Unidentified Dye in Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 gates black dye behind Unidentified Dye, a drop you can chase four ways if you would rather earn it than buy it outright.
- Gather wild plants with a sickle and you may pull Unidentified Dye from the node, though the drop rate sits very low.
- Kill any monster in the world. All of them can drop Unidentified Dye.
- Combine 4 dyes in the Mystic Forge for a random roll at another color, black included.
- Open Unidentified Gray Dye, a chef-crafted item with sparse reports that it may produce black when used. This route rests on thin documentation and may not pan out.
None of these guarantee black. The unidentified drop is rare across all four routes, and what comes out of it is random every time.
5. Natural Dye with Tannin, Iron and Logwood
- Soak the fiber in tannin for 4 to 24 hours. Dissolve 100–125 grams of tannin extract per 500 grams of fiber in boiling water, then add it to a cold water bath with enough room to move the fabric easily. Use gallo-tannin, tara, myrobalan or cutch. Let scoured fibers sit in the bath, stirring now and then. To speed this up, heat the bath to 160°F for one hour, then let it cool before moving on.
- Dip the fiber in iron until it turns gray. Dissolve 100–125 grams of ferrous sulfate in cold water and add to a separate cold bath. Wearing gloves, pull the fibers from the tannin and hold them in the iron bath for about 30 minutes, then lift and let the excess drip back.
- Deepen the shade with logwood. Dissolve 20% Rich Purple Logwood extract in hot water and add to a dye pot with enough warm water for the fabric to move. Heat to about 160°F, rotating the fabric for one hour. The fabric should look oily black in the pot. Remove, cool and rinse.
- Repeat for darker shades. Run through tannin, iron and logwood again, finishing with a final iron dip. Save all baths for reuse.
Keep iron away from children.
It can damage wool and silk over time. Wear a mask and gloves when measuring powders.
Where the Material Differs by Game
The source you need depends on what you’re running.
Minecraft and Hypixel both pull from ink sacs, dropped by squids in rivers and oceans, or from Wither Roses if you’ve summoned the Wither Boss. Old School RuneScape uses black mushrooms ground with a pestle and mortar.
Guild Wars 2 leans on unidentified dyes from monster drops or wild plant gathering. Natural dyeing skips the game drops entirely and works from tannin, iron and logwood.
| Setting | Primary source | Rarer alternative | Processing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minecraft | Ink sacs (squids) | Wither Roses | None, direct use |
| Hypixel | Ink sacs (squids) | n/a | None, 1.8 treats sacs as dye |
| Old School RuneScape | Black mushrooms | n/a | Pestle and mortar, empty vial |
| Guild Wars 2 | Unidentified dye drops | Unidentified gray dye (chef) | Open or Mystic Forge combo |
| Natural fabric dyeing | Gallo tannin, iron, logwood | n/a | Multiple baths, 4+ hours |
What Black Dye Is Used For
Once you have black dye, the range of uses depends on which game or fiber you’re working with.
In Minecraft, black dye colors:
- Wool and carpets for dark, sleek base designs
- Banners to create intricate patterns
- Beds and shulker boxes for a darker, more organized look
- Leather armor for a sleek, stylish appearance
In Old School RuneScape, black dye serves two purposes: writing a program with new instructions for the Golem during The Golem quest, and dyeing goblin mail black in Land of the Goblins.
One caution if you’re dyeing Silverlight black: it will consume all copies of the sword in your inventory, leaving you with only one dyed sword.
For natural fiber, black dye made from tannin, iron and logwood colors cotton, linen and other plant-based fabrics. On Reddit, someone dyeing a red cotton jacket black mentioned choosing reactive black dye because reactive dyes work best for natural fibers.
Easiest and Rarest Methods
Squid ink is the easiest path to black dye in Minecraft, no contest. Squids spawn in rivers and oceans, you kill them, they drop ink sacs, and you’re done.
Wither Roses are the alternative, but they require summoning the Wither Boss with soul sand and wither skeleton skulls, then using the boss to kill other mobs so it drops the flowers as a by-product.
I’d call that more complicated by at least an order of magnitude.
Guild Wars 2 sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. Unidentified Dye drops very rarely from gathering wild plants with a sickle, and all monsters can drop it, but the chances are low across the board.
You can also combine four dyes in the Mystic Forge for a random result, though there’s no guarantee you’ll land black.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get black dye in Minecraft?
Kill a squid in a river or ocean and put its ink sac in any slot of a crafting table grid.
Each squid drops 1 to 3 sacs. Squid ink isn’t the only route: a Wither Rose, which drops when the Wither Boss kills a mob, crafts into black dye the same way, but it takes much more effort.
How do you make black dye in Hypixel?
Ink sacs already work as black dye on Hypixel, so there is no crafting step. The server runs on version 1.8, where a sac can be used directly, including for black wool and glass.
How do you get black dye in Guild Wars 2 besides buying it?
Collect Unidentified Dye, which any monster can drop and which very rarely comes from wild plants gathered with a sickle. You can also combine 4 dyes in the Mystic Forge for a random dye.
A chef-made Unidentified Gray Dye may produce black, but reports of that are sparse. No route guarantees black.
How do you make natural black dye at home?
Natural black comes from tannin, iron and logwood used in sequence.
Soak scoured fiber in tannin for 4 to 24 hours, hold it in an iron bath for about 30 minutes until it turns gray, then heat it in logwood extract at about 160°F for 1 hour.
Repeat the cycle and finish with an iron dip for a darker shade.
