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

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)