Blocks

The world contains natural blocks, building materials, and objects you can place.

Identifying a block

Point your crosshair at a block to see its name below the coordinates at the top right. This works with any block you can target, including bedrock and different types of stone. If no name appears, there is no block within reach.

Natural blocks

Surface materials include grass, dirt, coarse dirt, podzol, sand, sandstone, gravel, snow, and ice.

Stone makes up much of the underground. Slate and six other rock types are available as materials, but new terrain does not contain distinct rock regions or a deep layer below zero. See Underground rocks.

Ores form natural veins of coal, iron, copper, silver, gold, and diamond. You can find coal and iron without reaching the bottom of the world; other minerals are concentrated in lower layers. Exploring caves exposes more stone than digging a single tunnel: look along the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Deep crystal ore works the other way around: it only appears in stone you uncover yourself at y = 16 or below, never on walls that were already open. It glows faintly with cyan veins and needs an iron pickaxe. See Deep crystals.

Bedrock forms the bottom of the world. You cannot break it.

Water is translucent, and you can swim through it. Keeping your head underwater uses air. Landing in water prevents fall damage. See Health and death.

Ice covers parts of rivers in cold or high areas. You can walk on it, mine it, and place it again. It does not melt or make you slip.

Trees have logs and leaves, including oak, dark oak, pale oak, spruce, and jungle varieties. Breaking leaves never gives you a leaf block. Each natural leaf has a 1 in 58 chance of giving you an apple. Leaves placed by players give nothing.

Low vegetation includes tall grass and red and yellow flowers, growing on grass or dirt. Their abundance depends on the biome. See Biomes.

Cacti grow in deserts and hurt you when you touch their sides or stand on top of them. See Health and death.

Building materials and useful objects

Bricks, smooth stone, and other building materials are available through the game's inventory options and crafting recipes.

The Exchange stands at spawn. Open it to sell your Deep crystals for DAG. It cannot be crafted, placed, or broken. See Deep crystals.

Chests can appear in dungeons. You can also craft one with eight planks. A chest has 27 shared slots. See Chests.

Protection cores do not appear naturally. Craft one with eight stone or cobblestone blocks, which you can mix, four iron ingots, one silver ingot, and one gold ingot. A core takes as long to break as stone and protects a 3×3 square of chunks centered on the chunk where you place it. See Protected land.

Signs are crafted with four planks and one coal. You can place them on the ground or on a wall and write four lines of text on the front. Breaking one gives nothing back. See Signs.

Blocks that need support

Torches do not appear naturally. Tall grass and red and yellow flowers grow on the surface; see Biomes. You can also place these plants yourself.

All four need support, whether you placed them or they grew naturally:

• Torches stand on top of a block or attach to its side. The face you target determines their placement. You cannot hang them from a ceiling.
• Tall grass and flowers can only stand on top of a block. They cannot attach to walls or ceilings.

The support must be a solid block, such as stone, dirt, or wood. A torch or plant cannot support another one. Without suitable support, placement fails.

Breaking the supporting block also removes the torch or plant. A torch stops giving off light immediately. This only affects objects attached directly to the block you broke: removing a block farther below does not bring the whole stack down.

Light sources

Glowstone gives off the strongest light.

Torches are almost as bright as glowstone and much brighter than magma. They take up less space than a full cube and can stand on the floor or attach to a wall. Their flame flickers at the tip.

Magma gives off a dim, pulsing light. Natural lava is a different block found in caves and lakes; touching it burns you. See Health and death.