Ladder

Ladders are wooden block decals for climbing walls either vertically or horizontally, and are available in Infdev and Alpha versions of Minecraft. They are created by arranging an H-shape of 7 sticks on a crafting table and can only be placed on the sides of other blocks. Players who want to conserve wood can place ladders every other block and still successfully climb them vertically; they can also be jumped onto, allowing the bottom of the ladder to be two blocks off the ground and still be accessible. A ladder occupies one block from the side it is placed, like torches. Unlike torches however, they resist water and will create an air pocket.

It takes approximately 52 seconds to travel from bedrock to the roof of the sky on ladders.

Ladders provide a way to safely travel downward at maximum velocity (freefall). Upon entering a ladder's area of effect, the player's speed is reduced instantly to normal ladder descent speed and no damage is taken. However, care must be taken to avoid landing on the narrow top surface of the ladder.

Ladders are one of the many blocks that are broken more quickly with a sword, but still have double damage on the sword.