Redstone Ore

 For the advanced Redstone circuitry, see Redstone circuits. Redstone ore is the form that Redstone takes when generated in a map. Redstone is a fictional mineral with magnetic and conductive properties, as it is used in all circuitry and compasses.

Redstone ore drops 4 - 5 piles of Redstone Dust when mined with an Iron Pickaxe or better. Redstone ore forms in veins made up of 1 - 10 blocks. This makes it relatively easy to obtain large amounts of Redstone.

If a player left or right clicks on, or an Entity moves or falls on Redstone ore, the block will emit level 9 light for 30 seconds.

Redstone ore veins form at the bottom 16 layers of the map. Below row 14, it can be found in 1.025% of stone. There are an average of 25 redstone ores per chunk.

Redstone ore can be obtained by the enchantment Silk Touch on a pickaxe. You can then use the redstone ore block to create traps or even decoration.

Smelting
Note that the Redstone Ore block cannot be obtained without the Silk Touch enchantment, and that this smelting is inefficient as destroying an ore block yields 4-5 redstone dust rather than the single one smelting does.

Power
Coming in contact with it or hitting it will cause it to emit the same amount of light as a redstone torch as well as red particles for a few seconds. This can be used as a substitute for pressure plates, when combined with a block update detector, as it can be used also on a wall or a ceiling. However, it can be hard to blend in as a trap as it doesn't blend in with some building materials such as wooden planks, bricks, or cobblestone.

Redstone ore can also become powered by a mob in contact with it.

Redstone ore does not power if the player sneaks while standing on it.

Redstone ore can be found in Minecraft Pocket edition.

Redstone ore behaves much like stone pressure plates, as it will activate when stepped on, will not activate when an entity such as dropped items is on it and when activated, and changes in visual appearance, as if it was giving off a charge. (Note that this charge is not a power source, but if attached to a BUD Switch, the ore can be used as a button, lever, or pressure plate.)

History
The block was added on Alpha version 1.0.1 in Seecret Friday Update 3 on July 3, 2010.

Before 1.9 Prerelease 6, Redstone Ore took far longer to mine compared to other ores (4.5 seconds with iron pickaxe). As of 1.9 Prerelease 6, it now has the same mining time as other ores.

Trivia

 * When added to the game, all Redstone related blocks had no official name. In Alpha 1.0.4, July 9, 2010, the name Redstone was given by Notch after demands from the community.
 * With the Silk Touch enchantment, this ore can be collected as an item. It can be smelted into a single Redstone Dust, but it is much more useful for decoration, especially for its unique glowing trait.
 * The block updates when stepped on, making it useful for traps and secret entrances.
 * Walking on Redstone Ore while sneaking does not cause it to light up.
 * A common mistake for new players is to ignore gold and diamonds to get redstone, thinking they are rubies.
 * When in Creative mode, using the Pick Block button will give you Redstone dust instead of the block.
 * Redstone may be a reference to the "red stone" mentioned in the anime series "Fullmetal Alchemist". In the series it is described as a substance with very unusual properties, most of which are magical.