Glowstone

Glowstone is a light-emitting block that occurs in branching structures, found hanging from ceilings and overhangs in the Nether.

Natural generation


Glowstone occurs naturally only in the Nether, where it generates in crystalline blobs on the underside of ceilings or overhangs. They can be found in every Nether biome, although they are significantly rarer in soul sand valleys, because the ceiling of this biome is made of soul sand or soul soil below which glowstone blobs cannot generate; they can still occasionally generate in caves and canyons in this biome, because the ceiling is made of netherrack.

Glowstone can also generate as a part of hoglin stable bastion remnants.

Breaking
If glowstone is broken using a tool with Silk Touch, the block drops itself. If a tool with Fortune is used, it has a higher chance of dropping a large amount of glowstone dust—but never more than 4. When a glowstone block is broken using any other tool, it drops 2–4 glowstone dust.

Trading and drops
Although glowstone can only be found in block form in the Nether, all renewable ways of obtaining glowstone are accessed through the Overworld.

Journeyman-level Cleric villagers sell glowstone for four emeralds.

Wandering traders sell glowstone for two emeralds.

Witches may drop glowstone dust, which can be crafted into glowstone.

Usage
Analyzing glowstone in a material reducer, it turns out to be a 1:1:1:1:1 mixture of Argon, Neon and Krypton noble gases, Boron and an unknown Element.

Light source
Glowstone blocks emit a light level of 15, the brightest possible light level in the game. They emit the same amount of light as lanterns, sea lanterns, jack o'lanterns, redstone lamps, conduits, beacons, shroomlights, and froglights.

Redstone circuits
When placing redstone dust on a glowstone block, being a transparent block, signals can pass from one block to another diagonally. Redstone wire, even though it may appear to connect up the side of a glowstone block and to the wire portion on top, does not send a redstone signal down the glowstone block. This makes glowstone effective for vertical diodes, logic gate designs, and space-efficient instant vertical redstone.

Note that upside-down slabs can be used for the same purpose, and are easier to obtain.

Note blocks
Glowstone can be placed under note blocks to produce pling sounds.

Respawn anchors
Glowstone is used to charge respawn anchors.

If a dispenser containing glowstone is facing a respawn anchor, it can automatically charge the respawn anchor when powered.

Transparent block


Glowstone blocks all sunlight, players and mobs suffocate inside it, mobs are able to pathfind to it, and it blocks a beacon beam, preventing the beacon's activation. However, like transparent blocks, it does not prevent the opening of chests, monsters (including slimes) cannot spawn on it, and it does not transfer a redstone signal. This behavior also occurs in sea lanterns.

ID




Trivia

 * Because glowstone blocks become block entities when moved by pistons, this momentarily stops them from giving off light.
 * Rarely, glowstone can be found touching the ground if the ceiling it was generated on was extremely low (2–3 blocks of clearance).