Minecraft:Block

File:Blocks preview.png

Some of the most common blocks in Minecraft, clockwise from the left: stone, sand, dirt, and grass.

Blocks are the basic units of a structure in Minecraft:Minecraft that make up the game's world. Many blocks can be collected and placed anywhere, and can also be used as helpful resources.

Behavior

File:Coral reef at night.png

A variety of different blocks occurring in an underwater coral reef: sand lining the ground, Minecraft:cut sandstone in underwater ruin structures, and various forms of coral.

Blocks are arranged in a 3-dimensional grid of 1-cubic-meter cells, although some blocks appear to occupy a partial cell; these include Minecraft:slabs, Minecraft:snow layers, Minecraft:ladders, Minecraft:vines, Minecraft:stairs, Minecraft:turtle eggs, and Minecraft:sea pickles, among others.

Collectively, blocks and Minecraft:fluids make up the in-game environment, and most can be harvested and utilized in various fashions. Some blocks, such as Minecraft:dirt and Minecraft:sandstone, are Minecraft:opaque and occupy their entire cubic meter, while others, such as Minecraft:glass and Minecraft:flowers, are transparent or non-solid. Minecraft:Explosions destroy some blocks more easily than they destroy others, while some are virtually immune to explosions. They can still be theoretically exploded.

Minecraft:Air is a special block that acts as a substitute for the absence of blocks. It has two variants: Minecraft:cave air and Minecraft:void air.Template:Only

Some blocks, such as Minecraft:sea lanterns and Minecraft:glowstone, emit Minecraft:light, the amount of which varies widely; see this table of light values for further information. Opaque blocks completely block light, while transparent blocks have no effect on light, block the light, or merely weaken it.

Almost all blocks ignore gravity, except for Minecraft:sand, Minecraft:red sand, Minecraft:gravel, Minecraft:anvils of all damage levels, Minecraft:dragon eggs, all colors of Minecraft:concrete powder, Minecraft:scaffolding, Minecraft:snow layersTemplate:Only, Minecraft:pointed dripstone, Minecraft:suspicious sand, and Minecraft:suspicious gravel. These turn into entities when their support is removed.

When broken, blocks emit Minecraft:sounds and Minecraft:particles associated with themselves, except in the following cases:

• If the block is affected by gravity and falls into an invalid space (If the block is gravity based and drops onto a torch, for example).<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref>
• Minecraft:Anvils that are destroyed by running out of durability or falling. Only particles are missing.<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref>
• If the block can be washed away and is washed away by a flowing fluid.<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref>
• If the block can be replaced by other blocks and is replaced.<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref>
• If the block is one of a few blocks such as rails or redstone wire, supported by another block and its supporting block is removed.<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref>
• If the block is Minecraft:leaves and decays.<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref>

Block height

Most solid blocks are 1 meter high (3.28084... feet or Template:Frac feet), but several blocks have non-standard block heights, such as Minecraft:slabs.

A player can automatically step up from a lower to a higher height if the difference is at most 0.6 (Template:Frac) of a block or 1.9685... feet (Template:Frac feet).

Textures

Template:Main The textures on the faces of most blocks are 16×16 pixels, which control all colors and transparencies. Exceptions include Minecraft:candles, Minecraft:sculk sensors, and other blocks with animations, which use texture files with multiple frames, and block entity textures which are rendered in different models. Some blocks with square textures have different textures for faces, such as Minecraft:logs.

With Minecraft:Vibrant Visuals and Minecraft:ray tracing, the game uses multiple texture files on top of the color textures, which affects how light and reflections behave on the block. The MERS (MER with ray tracing) texture map is used to define per pixel how metallic (reflects all light), emissive (produces its own light), or rough (absorbs all light) it is, with an additional subsurface scattering (how light is scattered on the surface) applied to Vibrant Visuals only. With resource packs, other texture maps are also used, including normal and heightmaps. These change depth of the block, and can add multiple 3D effects.

Using Minecraft:resource packs, the player can change the textures and resolution of blocks, including whether their texture is animated. They can also change the shapes of blocks using Minecraft:models and the size of blocks to any size with equal width and height, though sizes that are a power of two tend to work better.

List of blocks

<section begin="list"/> Template:Columns-list

Technical blocks

Template:Main Technical blocks serve various purposes during events within the game, or use a separate name spaced ID in order to avoid unnecessary combinations of Minecraft:block states. Template:IN technical blocks do not exist as items, while Template:In they may be obtained using inventory editors or add-ons.

Template:Columns-list <section end="list"/>

Education blocks

These blocks can be accessed only Template:In and Template:In when education options are enabled (Minecraft:Elements are not listed here). Template:IN, boards, posters, and slates can be obtained only through inventory editors.

<section begin="list_edu"/> Template:Columns-list <section end="list_edu"/>

Removed blocks

<section begin="list_removed"/>

Outright removed blocks

These blocks were removed from the game entirely.

Removed through substitution

These blocks were "retconned" into other blocks through a major simultaneous name and texture change.

Non-standard metadata variants

Some blocks and states of blocks were distinguished via numerical metadata in previous versions of the game. Having metadata values outside of the accepted range could produce unintended results for some block IDs.

Template:Columns-list <section end="list_removed"/>

Joke blocks

<section begin="list_joke"/> These blocks only exist in April Fools' Day joke versions of the game.

Template:Columns-list <section end="list_joke"/>

History

Block additions and removals

Template:Info needed section Unique blocks are defined as having unique namespaced IDs in current versions of Java Edition, excluding obvious technical variants such as potted plants and wall attachments of blocks, but including the rose. Unintentional metadata variants are also not included.

Trivia

• Certain blocks may interpret positions they cannot be placed in by normal means as a valid position. For example, a Minecraft:sign placed in midair via Template:Command remains in midair even when updated, until either it is broken, or a block is placed below it and broken.

Gallery

Screenshots

• Some blocks in Minecraft:Classic 0.26 SURVIVAL TEST.
  Some blocks in Minecraft:Classic 0.26 SURVIVAL TEST.
• All blocks in Minecraft:Classic 0.0.21a.
  All blocks in Minecraft:Classic 0.0.21a.
• An early experiment by Notch in making blocks less blocky.
  An early experiment by Notch in making blocks less blocky.
• Floating blocks that were naturally generated in Minecraft:Java Edition 1.17.
  Floating blocks that were naturally generated in Minecraft:Java Edition 1.17.
• All of the blocks in Minecraft:Java Edition 1.21.6.
  All of the blocks in Minecraft:Java Edition 1.21.6.
• All the blocks with unique textures added between 1.13 and 1.18.
  All the blocks with unique textures added between 1.13 and 1.18.

In other media

• Artwork of Minecraft:Zuri pointing at some bamboo blocks.
  Artwork of Minecraft:Zuri pointing at some bamboo blocks.
• Time lapse of a house belonging to Zuri, featured in the Trails & Tales trailer.<ref>https://x.com/Brikk_Animation/status/1687479159151362051</ref>
  Time lapse of a house belonging to Zuri, featured in the Trails & Tales trailer.<ref>https://x.com/Brikk_Animation/status/1687479159151362051</ref>
• Official T-shirt artwork "Periodic Table" featuring blocks (beta version), made by JINX.
  Official T-shirt artwork "Periodic Table" featuring blocks (beta version), made by JINX.
• Official T-shirt artwork "Periodic Table" featuring blocks (release version), made by JINX.
  Official T-shirt artwork "Periodic Table" featuring blocks (release version), made by JINX.
• Official T-shirt artwork "One More Block" made by JINX.
  Official T-shirt artwork "One More Block" made by JINX.

See also

• Minecraft:Entity
• Minecraft:Data values
• Minecraft:Opacity
• Minecraft:Light
• Minecraft:Item
• Minecraft:Ore
• Minecraft:Generated structures
• Minecraft:Air
• Minecraft:List of blocks by version