Block



Blocks are the basic units of structure in Minecraft.

Behavior
Together, solid blocks and liquid blocks build up the in-game environment and can be harvested and utilized in various fashions. Some blocks, such as dirt and sandstone, are opaque, while other blocks, such as glass and ice, are transparent.

Some blocks, such as torches and glowstone, will emit light. The amount of light they emit varies widely; see this table of light values for further information. Most opaque blocks will completely block light, while transparent blocks either have no effect on light or simply diffuse it.

Almost all blocks will ignore gravity, with the exception of sand, red sand, gravel, anvils, dragon eggs and, in Pocket Edition, Snow (cover).

Block height
Most solid blocks are 1 meter high, but certain blocks (especially slabs and stairs) have non-standard block heights.

A player can automatically step up from a lower to a higher height, if the difference is at most 0.6 ($3/5$) of a block.

Textures
The textures on the faces of blocks are 16×16 pixels. Most blocks are proportionately one cubic meter by default, but their shape can be changed using models. Most blocks also have static textures, though water, lava, Nether portal, End portal, End gateway, fire, sea lantern, command block, prismarine, and magma blocks are animated.

Using resource packs, the player can change the textures and resolution of blocks, including whether their texture is animated. They can also change the shapes of blocks using models and the size of blocks to any size with equal width and height, though sizes that are a power of two tend to work better.

Naturally generated
"Naturally generated" includes blocks that are created through the world seed.

Naturally created
These are blocks that were created by natural events, such as water and lava creating obsidian.

Structures
Same as "naturally generated", but these blocks are created with the "generate structures" option enabled, this means they generate in structures.

Structures
These blocks are generated as part of nether fortresses.

Technical blocks


Technical blocks are blocks whose main functions are strictly tied to the usage of other blocks. They cannot be acquired through normal gameplay, and require commands or mods to obtain. They serve various purposes during events within the game. If acquired, they will usually have a missing texture.