Flint and Steel

Flint and Steel is a tool used to place Fire in Indev, Infdev, Alpha, and Beta. It must be crafted from 1 flint and 1 iron ingot in this pattern:

Flint and steel places fire like a block when right-clicked. Fire can only be placed against some blocks; for example, it cannot be placed on glass, ice, or partial or non-solid blocks such as slabs and pressure plates; if the attempt is made, no fire will appear, and the Flint and Steel will lose one use.

Flint and steel is a tool and therefore has limited uses before it breaks, but it is not a block-breaking tool and so does not lose durability from being used to hit things. Right-clicking is one use of it whether or not placing fire succeeds.

Uses
Flint and steel places fire which behaves just like any other fire. Particular ways in which this is useful are:
 * Creating portals.
 * Lighting mobs on fire. This method deals damage slower and is less effective than using a sword, and one must click on a block below the mob rather than on the mob itself, rendering it a difficult way to kill. This was, at a time, the only way to directly damage mobs in Survival Multiplayer.
 * Quick disposal of items, which can be accomplished by dropping the items and then lighting the block under them on fire.
 * Removing floating leaves or trees. However, this may accidentally start a forest fire as fire can jump across gaps.
 * Temporary illumination for a few seconds as the fire burns, or permanent illumination in the Nether (as Netherrack burns forever).

Trivia

 * In early versions of Indev, the player started with a flint and steel in their inventory. Flint and steel was also found as loot from killing mobs.
 * In the start of Survival Multiplayer, furnaces did not work. There was a mod that turned flint and steel into a "lighter" that lit the furnace and made it work.

Feuerzeug