Technical blocks



Technical blocks are blocks whose main functions are strictly tied to the usage of other blocks. They cannot be acquired through normal gameplay, and require commands or mods to obtain. They serve various purposes during events within the game. If acquired, they will usually have a missing texture.

Piston related
These blocks serve a purpose when a piston is used.

Piston Head
Piston Head is a block used as the piston's extension. One of the data bits of this block defines if it is a normal piston or a sticky piston extension. Many players use this block as a table instead of the standard pressure plate on fence, and it can be obtained by using the pick block key on it in creative in 1.2, but not later. It cannot be placed even if the player has it. It can, however, be placed using the command.

Trivia

 * Mobs can spawn inside the block.

Piston Extension
The Piston Extension (aka "Block Being Moved By Piston" or simply "block 36") is a block that contains part of a piston head, and/or part of one or two blocks that the piston is carrying into or out of the grid cell (including blocks carried indirectly via slime blocks). Since moving blocks vary in how much of each grid cell they occupy, they can't be stored as normal blocks and are instead stored as block entities.

It is invisible, non-solid, and cannot be broken without the use of commands. It decreases the light level of light passing through by 1. Although it is non-solid, fluids cannot pass through it. It also prevents from building at its location. The game treats the block as a stone block when it comes to their breaking animation and the player's footstep sounds.

Trivia

 * Carpet can be placed on this block, and will remain if the block 36 is replaced with a solid block using.

Lit Redstone Ore
This is a block used to make redstone ore glow when stepped on, when, or left-clicked. Glowing redstone maintains its glow if pushed or pulled by a piston, but eventually stops glowing as if it had been touched by the player when placed.

Unlit Redstone Torch
Block 75 is a block representing an off-state redstone torch. This block used to be available in the new creative inventory (12w21b) under the Redstone section, and the normal Redstone Torch was under Decoration.

Powered Redstone Repeater
Block 94 is the "on" state of the redstone repeater.

Lit Redstone Lamp
Block 124 is the "on" state of the redstone lamp. When hacked in to the inventory, placing it will immediately turn it off unless it's receiving a redstone signal.

Powered Redstone Comparator
Block 150 is the "on" state of the redstone comparator. It will provide a one tick pulse and then will turn off, similar to block 94 (active repeater). Note: Block 149 (originally "off state Comparator") has been changed to include the off and on states in the same block, making this an unused technical block not just one with a missing item form.

Inverted Daylight Sensor
Block 178 is the inverted state of the daylight sensor.

Flowing Water
The flowing water block tells the game to check for any air blocks around it and put some water into them if applicable. This is distinct from whether or not the fluid appears to be moving, and whether or not it is a source block. When placed using a water bucket it will flow 8 blocks.

Flowing Lava
The flowing lava block tells the game to check for any air blocks around it and put some lava into them if applicable. This is distinct from whether or not the fluid appears to be moving, and whether or not it is a source block. Lava flows for 4 blocks in overworld and 8 in the Nether.

Farmland
Farmland is a block on which seeds (melon, pumpkin, wheat, carrot, potato, and the Pocket Edition exclusive item beetroot) can be planted and grown, and it is made by using a hoe on dirt or grass blocks.

Cake
When you place a cake using, it will appear as a cake block or Block 92 unless placed using damage values. Block 92 has 7 data values to determine how much was eaten.

Monster spawners
A monster spawner can be obtained with, but will always spawn pigs when placed. Spawners that create other entities can be obtained using commands. The spawned mob can be changed by using a spawn egg on a spawner.

Nether Portal
Nether Portal blocks are generated when a portal is formed, standing in them will teleport the player from the Overworld to the Nether and vice versa.

Trivia

 * The inside of the Nether Portal block is hollow.
 * Despite popular belief, you only need one portal block, without a frame, to warp to the Nether. This applies to both Nether and The End portals.
 * While in your inventory, it appears as a full block unless it is rendered in the world. (That is, it looks like a normal full block, but when you place the hacked portal into the world it places as a normal (flat) portal and the version in your inventory will then render as a normal flat portal)
 * Nether Portal blocks will function properly in the End and will take you to a place in the Nether that corresponds to the location in the Overworld from where you first entered The End.
 * A piston cannot push a block into a nether portal. The piston will not activate.
 * A water or lava source block placed directly into a portal block will break the portal block with a glass-shattering sound. Using dispensers, This can be used to automate the disabling of portals.

End Portal
The End Portal is a block that will teleport the player into or out of the End dimension.

Data values
The block entity allows the game to render the block with its particular 3D look.

Trivia

 * The End Portal is technically the only block without a conventional texture, or entity texture; it uses the same image as the background of The End, with an additional effect added on top.
 * Despite popular belief, if a player manages to obtain a Portal block, they only need one, without a frame, to be transported to the End.
 * End Portal blocks can be destroyed in Creative Mode. This does not affect the effects of adjacent End Portal blocks.
 * If the Portal is viewed from underneath, it will be invisible, allowing you to see through the portal.
 * If TNT is detonated on an end portal, no blocks in its blast radius will be destroyed.
 * Passing the end portal while riding a minecart will not teleport you to the end, instead you will simply pass through the portal, because the portal does not check for riding entities, but only the hitting entity itself.
 * End portals don't reduce fall damage.
 * Interestingly, the selection box for an end portal block appears on the bottom of the block, even though the actual location of the texture is at the top of the block.
 * End portal blocks give off light.
 * If a player throws an entity (including items) into an end portal, the entity will be sent to the End. This does not seem to work the other way around in singleplayer, but in multiplayer entities are teleported to the default spawn.

End Gateway
The End Gateway is a block that will teleport the player into another the End islands.

Glowing Obsidian
Glowing obsidian is a block which only generates when the Nether reactor is activated. Upon activation, the blocks that make up the reactor turn into glowing obsidian.

Properties
As the name suggests, glowing obsidian is a solid block that gives off light similar to glowstone, but slightly dimmer. It does indeed glow, but its physical properties are closer to obsidian. It takes the same amount of time to mine as obsidian. Instead of dropping itself, it drops a normal obsidian block. The block will emit red smoke particles within close proximity to it so long as it exists, similar to the particles redstone creates when activated. Although in the Nether reactor the block seems to spawn items around it, it is not the block itself that acts like this, nor will it spawn items if placed normally. The block turns into obsidian after a short amount of time. Otherwise it is simply an aesthetic block, as it has the same blast resistance as normal obsidian.

Trivia

 * If the nether reactor core is mined out while the nether reactor is active, the glowing obsidian will not turn into obsidian after the reactor deactivates. This also causes the reactor to stop spawning items and zombie pigmen.

Update Game
The Update Game block is a placeholder for nonexistent data values. It is a block with a dirt texture with "update!" written on it in green.

info_reserved6
info_reserved6 is a solid-gray looking block. According to the code, the block's name is "info_reserved6", but in-game, the block appears to be named as ".name". The block was a placeholder for fire, due to a problem with the fire-spreading mechanics. info_reserved6 could only be obtained between and. In, fire was returned with fixed spreading mechanics, replacing info_reserved6. Its data value, however, changed to ID 255. Currently, it can only be obtained through hex editing.