Talk:Gravel/Archive 1

Use for gravel
This may seam obvious, and I'm sure you already know this but I just realized that you can place any gravel from your inventory and re-mine it. Essentially this can be used to convert 100% of your gravel into flint if you are patient. Of course when you mine gravel and it gives flint, you won't get that gravel back.

I was just going to add that to the wiki, although it might seem obvious, i think it belongs in it. -Aeroren

There is a little blurb regarding this on the main page for Gravel. The easiest way to sift the gravel is to make a 3x3 Tower with a hollow center and a 1 block wide and 2 block Tall opening at the bottom to dig and collect thru. Just make the tower as tall as you want, drop the gravel down the hole and go to the bottom to dig until you've gone thru the whole stack, repeat. It's much faster than placing a block, digging it up and placing another block down. - TheBlackDragon

Buckets give 100% flint
I have heard that when gravel is dug up using a bucket, it always gives flint. I haven't yet had a chance to try it, but if it can be confirmed, then it should definitely be put up here. -Helloworld00

Digging gravel with a bucket producing 100% flint is easily demonstrably false. I dug 10 gravel with an empty bucket: 0 flint; 10 gravel with a bucket of lava: 0 flint; 10 gravel with a bucket of water: 1 flint; 10 gravel with a bucket of milk: 2 flint. -mqj

Flaming Gravel
I just recently noticed that when gravel falls into lava it gets set in fire, until it stops. anybody else notice this?--Ikalpo 20:19, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, this is because falling gravel, and sand too, are entities. CyborgDragon 20:29, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Steps and Gravel
I recently found that step blocks also disintergrate gravel dropped on them, though not stair blocks, interestingly. Nahere 01:09, 26 November 2010 (UTC)


 * that info was on the step page, i believe.Toadbert

Contradiction
Hey, there's a contradiction in this article. It says it yields flint with an "exact 10% chance when destroyed", implying any means works, but later it says that when it falls on torches it doesn't yield any flint either, which I've observed myself. Also, when I dig gravel as it drops fast with a diamond shovel, it drops nothing. I'm thinking it's not the torch, but the method...if it's dropping and being destroyed too fast, it doesn't drop Flint. I'm wondering if this is a bug or just an annoying limit feature that Notch put in. Any knowledge/thoughts on this? --Mskd bklndr 16:26, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

I would assume that it's two different code paths. My understanding of gravel behavior is that it exists in 3 different forms: Thus what happens when you destroy a gravel block is unrelated to what happens when a gravel entity "tries to place itself". I've never been able to destroy a falling gravel entity, but I've never tried with a diamond shovel. —KPReid 19:55, 17 December 2010 (CST)
 * Gravel block
 * If destroyed, drops gravel resource or flint resource.
 * If the block below is destroyed, turns into a gravel entity (which is subject to gravity)
 * Gravel resource
 * Can be placed as gravel block.
 * Gravel entity (which looks just like a gravel block)
 * Falls down. When it hits a surface:
 * If the space it occupies is clear, turns into a gravel block.
 * If the space is not clear, turns into a gravel resource.

Gravel/flint rate
I did some calculus on the number of gravel blocks you'd have to place and destroy to convert it all to flint. I can explain it if you want some proof; I only say that because the answer seems intuitive enough. On average you place nine times your starting amount. If I have 64 gravel and I want 64 flint, on average I'll place and destroy 576 gravel blocks. Of course, you have low odds of only placing 64, and even lower odds of placing blocks indefinitely. --Allenmaster125 00:48, 27 January 2011 (UTC)