Farmland

Farmland is a technical block on which seeds can be planted and grown. To make farmland, you can use a hoe on dirt or grass. If you destroy a farmland block, which can be destroyed without a tool, it will drop dirt. After using a hoe on a block of dirt, the top of the dirt's appearance changes, becoming ridged and bumpy like tilled soil and the top layer is removed. Due to the way farmland blocks are textured, it appears as if the block sinks into the ground because the texture for the sides is shifted down instead of the top pixels being removed. A block of farmland becomes darker to replicate the appearance of wet soil when it is hydrated by a nearby block of water. If left alone for a period of time, a block of hydrated farmland will "decay" and become dry farmland or "decay" into a dirt block, if already dry. Grass and Mycelium do not spread onto farmland.

Natural occurrence
Farmland occurs naturally in NPC Villages where wheat is grown on them. Patches of farmland are surrounded by logs. However, sometimes these farmland blocks are trampled by mobs causing them to become dirt blocks instead. After the update of Minecraft 1.1, however, farmland is not trampled as easily, it is only trampled if the player or any mob jumps on it. With the player this can be avoided by jumping and quickly pressing the selected sneak button.

Farming
Farmland is required if you wish to plant any of the game's three current types of seed - wheat, pumpkin or melon. As of 1.1, melon and pumpkin blocks no longer need farmland to spawn onto, as they can now grow on normal dirt or grass blocks, but their seeds still need to be planted on farmland. To begin farming you need to craft a hoe. The hoe can be used to till dirt or grass into farmland by right-clicking.

A farmland block will be created dry. If it is near water, the farmland block will become hydrated. Seeds can be planted in any farmland block where they will eventually grow. By placing torches close to sown farmland, crops can be grown at night or even underground. This will also prevent aggressive Mobs from spawning near them.

Note than in pre 1.9, if there was grass near the torches, that could also allow passive mobs to spawn which could then destroy the wheat by walking on it.

Pumpkin and melon blocks are not affected by being walked or jumped on, but the parent plant may be. When blocks are placed on farmland, it reverts to dirt. This includes naturally generated blocks, such as when a melon or pumpkin is produced. Different types of seeds grow differently on dry farmland and also differently on hydrated farmland.

Plants such as saplings, ferns, tall grass and flowers may be planted on farmland, but they can also be planted on normal dirt anyway. Mushrooms, sugarcane and cactus cannot be planted on farmland. Jumping on farmland causes it to revert to plain dirt, and 'harvests' seeds planted in it, but other plant types are not uprooted.

Hydrated Farmland Tiles
A hydrated Farmland block is the preferred block for farming. Hydrated farmland will yield a fully developed wheat crop in a little over a single day/night cycle.

For a Farmland Block to become hydrated, the following conditions must be met:


 * 1) Water up to four blocks away horizontally, including diagonals.
 * 2) The water must be on the same level or 1 block above farmland block level.
 * 2554-10-18 19.28.48.png

The blocks between the farmland block and the water make no difference. For example: in a 9 x 9 grid of Farmland blocks, replacing the center block with water will hydrate all of the surrounding farmland.

Farmland can also be hydrated by rain. After the rain stops or nearby water is removed, it takes a few minutes for farmland to become dry again.

Farmland Block Decay
Under certain conditions, a farmland block will "decay" becoming a dirt block, regardless of what it was initially. This will happen if any of the following occur:


 * If the farmland block is dehydrated and nothing is planted on it for too long.
 * If the player or any mob jumps on the block too many times. (Prior to 1.1, anything walking on the farmland too often would trample it unless they were Sneaking).
 * If a piston arm is extended over a farmland block such as when harvesting fully-grown Wheat.
 * If a piston pushes a farmland block down.
 * If a solid block covers the top surface of the farmland block such as when Pumpkin or Melon blocks appear.

Effective Technique
The most effective way to farm, that will produce the most vegetation in a smaller space, is in knowing that farmland will become hydrated when it is within four blocks straight and four blocks diagonally of one block of water. People will usually make a farm with one line of farmland next to one line of water, which is an okay strategy, but if you wish to bring the greatest outcome of vegetation in a smaller amount of space this is the way to do it. You can place a block of water in a corner and put farmland in a four-by-four space, which can make just as much or even more than one line of eight farmland blocks next to one line of water. If you configure a farmland in a eighteen-by-eighteen square, you can make the same amount or even more than the eight farmland block configuration repeated 30 or so times.

Here is a picture of the eighteen-by-eighteen farmland block technique which you can use as an idea on how to bring the greatest outcome of vegetation in a smaller amount of space:

History

 * Prior to Beta 1.2, there was a bug which would allow you to destroy any block (even bedrock) by placing a dirt block under a block, tilling the dirt, and planting seeds on the dirt. This would cause the block above the tilled dirt to disappear without giving a resource.
 * Earlier in the game(which version?), there was a bug where farmland took much more time to mine than dirt.
 * Prior to (need version number), Saplings couldn't be planted onto farmland; however, if a sapling was planted, and the block below was tilled, the sapling would remain. This was changed and now the Player can plant saplings onto farmland, but they will not grow until the land reverts to dirt.
 * Prior to Beta 1.9pre6 (in which this bug was fixed), placing fences below farmland blocks made the farmland and crops immune to decay caused by players or animals walking on them.
 * As of the Minecraft Weekly Build 11w48a, farmland can only be trampled if the player jumps onto it; walking no longer affects it. Animals, villagers, and other mobs can similarly trample farmland by jumping on it, but not by walking.
 * Between Minecraft Weekly Build 11w48a and 11w49a, items and particle effects would destroy farmland upon falling on it.

Trivia

 * When you till a dirt block, the top layer is removed. But due to the way tilled dirt blocks are textured, it appears as if the block sinks into the ground. The texture for the sides is shifted down instead of the top pixels being removed.
 * Dirt that is underwater can still be tilled into farmland, although this is pointless as one cannot plant seeds on it.
 * Mycelium cannot be tilled to create Farmland.
 * Farmland unlike dirt will not pass a redstone current. Prior to 1.1.0 you could make a walk sensor with it and redstone repeaters. After 1.1.0 you can make a fall sensor (counts as a jump.).