Sapling

A sapling is a non-solid block that can be grown into a tree.

Breaking
Saplings can be broken instantly using any tool, including the player's fist, and always drop themselves.

Natural generation

 * Spruce

Potted spruce saplings generate in taiga and snowy taiga village mason houses.


 * Birch

Potted birch saplings generate in a room in woodland mansions.


 * Dark oak

58 dark oak saplings generate naturally in a "sapling farm room" in woodland mansions. 28 dark oak saplings are also found inside a chest in that room.


 * Acacia

2 acacia saplings generate in front of each savanna village library.

Leaves
When leaves decay, or are broken by any tool except shears, they have a 5% chance of dropping a sapling, except for jungle leaves, which have a 2.5% chance of dropping a sapling. The Fortune enchantment increases the rate to 6.25% (2.78% for jungle leaves) at level I, 8.33% (3.125% for jungle leaves) at level II, and 10% (4.17% for jungle leaves) at level III.

Trading
Each type of sapling is sold by the wandering trader for 5 emeralds.

Growing trees
Saplings come in six varieties, one for each of the six trees: oak, birch, spruce, jungle, acacia, and dark oak.

Tree saplings have two growth stages (with no visible difference between them) before growing into trees. When a tree is to be grown, a height is chosen and then the ground and space are checked; if the ground is bad or there is not space for the chosen height, the tree does not grow. Bone meal can be used to speed up the growth of the sapling, and to grow the tree without sufficient light.

Tree saplings can grow into trees when placed on all variants of dirt (except dirt path), or moss blocks. The sapling requires a light level of at least 9, and require a certain volume of space above the sapling, based on its type:

Except for giant jungle and giant spruce (as noted above), sapling growth is not affected by nearby blocks on the same level as the sapling(s).
 * Oak needs at least 5 spaces above (3×3 column) to grow normally. If a block is present in the growth space (but not directly above the sapling), the tree still grows, but is forced to grow a large variant.
 * Birch needs at least 6 spaces above (3×3 column).
 * Spruce needs at least 7 spaces above (5×5 column) when placing a single sapling.
 * Giant spruce needs at least 14 spaces above (6x6 column) when planted as 4 saplings in a 2×2 square. Also requires the 4x4 area centered on the saplings at the same level to be empty.
 * Jungle needs at least 5 spaces above (3×3 column) when placing a single sapling.
 * Giant jungle needs at least 11 spaces above (6x6 column) when planted as 4 saplings in a 2×2 square. Also requires the 4x4 area centered on the saplings at the same level to be empty.
 * Acacia needs at least 6 spaces above (5×5 column).
 * Dark oak needs at least 7 spaces above (4×4 column) and must be planted as 4 saplings in a 2×2 square.
 * Saplings will only grow if a player is within a certain radius, even in loaded chunks. For oak saplings, this check applies to individual blocks; for dark oak, acacia and birch, it applies to each chunk.
 * A spruce or jungle sapling can't grow if it's part of a 2×2 square of saplings that doesn't meet the requirements for a giant tree.

Dirt blocks in the space above the sapling are an exception. Dirt blocks do not stop the sapling from growing. For most tree types, including giant versions, the dirt remains in place and the rest of the tree generates normally around it (it is possible to grow a tree that contains only one log block at the original sapling location, with a column of dirt above where the rest of the trunk should be and leaves spreading out from it). For the large variant of oak trees, the dirt blocks are replaced with log blocks wherever they would normally occur. $$, all types of log block and wood block and their stripped versions are also treated like dirt blocks (they don't stop growth). $$, log and wood blocks are treated like other block types and stop the sapling from growing if they are above it.

When a sapling on a grass block grows into a tree, the grass block is instantly converted to dirt.

Bee nests
Oak and birch trees grown from saplings that are within 2 blocks of any flower, flowering azalea or flowering azalea leaves have a 5% chance to grow with a bee nest and 1-3 bees in it.

Decoration
Any kind of tree sapling can be placed in a flower pot.

Fuel
Tree saplings can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 0.5 items per sapling.

Composting
Placing saplings into a composter has a 30% chance of raising the compost level by 1.

ID




Trivia

 * If the player stands on the same block as a placed tree sapling, the tree still grows over the player, causing suffocation as it pushes the player out of the block.
 * Saplings can grow without the required amount of light if sufficient bone meal is used.