Tree



Trees are structures of wood and leaf blocks, created when a map chunk is generated or grown from a planted sapling. They are found in most biomes, and abound in forest-related biomes. Tree growth was added to Alpha in 0.0.14a and Creative in 0.28_01.

Structure
Their natural height varies widely, from a minimum of 5 blocks (4 wood and 1 leaf) up to 16 blocks (13 wood and 3 leaf). Rain forest biomes favor larger trees.

The tree canopy is composed of leaf blocks, and grows 1–3 blocks higher than the highest wood block. The canopy may begin as low as 1 block from the ground (for a tree with a 4-block trunk) up to 6 blocks from the ground (for the tallest trees). Tree canopies appear to be generated from roughly spherical clusters of leaves about 5–7 blocks across, centered on sections of trunk or branches. Leaves must be supported by adjacent trunk or leaf blocks, or will wither and disappear.

Any tree with a trunk height of at least 4 has a chance to grow branches (wood blocks connected horizontally, vertically or diagonally to the trunk or other branches). A single tree may have between one and six branches, and each branch may have between one and six wood blocks. This provides a maximum of 43 wood blocks per tree, though this is very unlikely to happen naturally since most branches are about 3 blocks long. Branches support a much larger canopy than a tree with a single trunk.

Sapling growth


Trees can be grown from saplings, which have a 1/16 chance of dropping from leaf blocks when they are destroyed or decay. Some players harvest wood from high-efficiency tree farms.

The sapling must be planted on a dirt or grass block. The block must have at least 6 blocks of space above it, and a light level of 9 in the block above the sapling. A sapling will uproot with light level 8 or less directly above it unless it has an unobscured zenith (except by glass). All trees in a large radius around the player make attempts to grow at random intervals. For any given tree this can work out to about 3 attempts per minute, but a tree will usually not grow until nearly 30 minutes have elapsed since planting. When the tree attempts to grow it first checks that it has enough light, then chooses either to spawn as a Large Tree or a Small Tree. Large Trees require 6-16 blocks of open space directly above the sappling to grow (Air or Leaves only) but can otherwise be completely enclosed on all sides (which allows for the phenomenon of 'Tree Tubes'). Small Trees require no horizontal clearance at the base, 1 block around the main trunk, 2 blocks from the top of the trunk up to the ceiling and 6-8 blocks of vertical clearance (Thus a Small Tree can grow in a 1 deep hole, but not a 2 deep hole). Now that the tree has passed a light check and chosen a type of being either Large or Small, it checks if there is space to grow into what it has already (randomly) chosen to become. If it encounters an obstruction during this check, it fails to grow and must wait for the next pass before it can attempt to grow again. This means that a tree in an open field with enough light will grow quite quickly (usually right around the 30 minute mark), but a tree in a tree farm that stunts its size may make several attempts before finally growing.

Growth notes

 * Growing trees are not blocked by leaf blocks.
 * Growing leaves will destroy fences if they attempt to grow horizontally in the same space, they will also destroy glass, paintings, stairs, and torches.
 * Growing branches will destroy all blocks.
 * If there is a ceiling above a sapling, this will limit the maximum height of the tree that can grow from that sapling.
 * Max trunk height = vertical space - 2. Minimum 4 (requiring 6 vertical spaces).
 * Saplings will grow normally in The Nether, although dirt needs to be brought.
 * If you are standing on a sapling when it turns into a tree you will be trapped inside and begin to suffocate. You can escape by digging.
 * Bone Meal does not guarantee a tree will grow, but forces it to attempt to grow. The tree must pass all normal checks, including light level before it grows.
 * While tree trunks will not grow through solid blocks such as cobblestone, the branches of large trees can grow through (replace) blocks that are not directly above the trunk.

Types/Biomes
With the Beta 1.2 update two new tree types were added.

So far the tree types include regular trees (saplings), birch trees, and pine/conifer trees. Birch and pine trees are fairly uncommon compared to regular trees. Birch trees stand out due to their white colored bark, and pine trees have blue tinted leaves that usually grow in more than one row on a tree. Pines also seem to grow mainly, if not always, in snow biomes. Both tree types behave in the same way regular trees do, with saplings and wood blocks, and leaves. Different types of wood blocks cannot be stacked together. More tree types may be added in the future.

In saves before the beta 1.2 update it is possible for a tree to be generated with different colored leaves due to biomes intersecting over the tree.

Uses
Tree harvesting is an essential first step for any player in Survival mode. The wooden blocks can be harvested for wood, without requiring tools (although an axe quickens harvesting). Each wood block can be crafted into wooden planks and sticks, which are used for crafting tools.

Wood can also be turned into charcoal, an equivalent of coal.

When leaves are harvested, or decay naturally, there is a chance they will drop a sapling, which can be planted to grow a new tree. Destroying leaves does not require a tool; however, a sword destroys leaves negligibly faster, but this quickly degrades the sword.

Trivia

 * Since the 1.2 update, trees in pre-1.2 levels will have leaves of different colors and even pine needles.
 * Big trees have a higher chance of appearing in the rain forest biome.
 * Big trees are also referred to as 'Great Trees'.
 * You can grow a tree on top of a tree by placing dirt on the top of a tree and planting a sapling.
 * If a sapling is planted on a block directly above or adjacent to lava, the resulting tree will immediately catch fire.
 * Trees will only grow if they are planted on a chunk of the map that is loaded into memory. If you plant saplings and then explore another more distant area of your world for a few Minecraft days, they will still be saplings when you return.
 * Before beta, trees could destroy glass if their growth would occupy the same space.
 * Birch and pine trees were introduced in Beta 1.2.
 * Skeletons and Zombies can survive daylight if they are under a tree.
 * It seems with the addition of different types of lakes above ground, you may have floating trees. This happens since the tree is spawned when the chunk loads first. Then, the lake is spawned afterward. This leaves the tree floating above the lake.
 * If a sapling is surrounded by a 2 block tall tube it guarantees that it will, eventually, grow into a big tree. The tube forces the small tree growth to always fail each attempt. However, this takes far longer to produce a mature tree, due to the low chance that a sapling will try to grow into a big tree.

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