Glitch hunters have uncovered a novel exploit in the Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that allows Link to destroy boulders using water. The trick involves attacking a boulder and, at the precise moment the attack animation concludes, using a bottle of water or bugs. This action causes the boulder to instantly shatter.
This glitch has been documented by Zelda Speedruns, which provides a technical explanation detailing how it manipulates damage flags and reclassifies damage sources. This allows Link's standard attacks, such as the slingshot or sword, to bypass their normal limitations. The exploit is replicable in both Ocarina of Time and its follow-up, Majora's Mask. In Majora's Mask, players can use the glitch to access areas like the Goron Racetrack or the Milk Ranch without requiring powder kegs. The trick is also usable in Link's Deku Scrub form, substituting his bubble attack for a sword slash.
Beyond simply clearing boulders, the glitch has been applied to defeat bosses such as Volvagia without the Megaton Hammer, bypass the mirror shield to access Ikana's Castle, and, notably, defeat Gannondorf without the use of light arrows. The implications for speedrunning are yet to be fully determined, and it remains to be seen how or if this trick will alter established routes. While the glitch appears to function on the virtual console versions of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, including those available on the Nintendo Switch, it does not seem to work in their 3DS remakes and is unlikely to be present in any potential future Switch remasters.