TNT

"Go ahead, hit it! What's the worst that could happen?"

- Duncan Geere

TNT is a block that can be used by the player to initiate a controlled explosion.

Obtaining
TNT can be broken instantly with any tool, or without a tool. However, primed TNT cannot be broken, as it is an entity. TNT also drops when a minecart with TNT is broken.

Natural generation
Nine TNT blocks occur naturally in each desert temple trap.

Two TNT blocks flank a trapped chest in one secret woodland mansion room.

Usage


TNT blocks can be activated by:
 * a flint and steel or a fire charge
 * a powered redstone current
 * being shot with a Flame-enchanted arrow
 * being shot with an arrow shot through lava or fire
 * being hit by a fire charge fired from a dispenser
 * coming into contact with spreading fire or lava
 * being in the blast radius of a nearby explosion, including that of another TNT block or a Creeper
 * being summoned, and it detonates immediately (this can be changed with the Fuse tag)
 * being fired from a dispenser
 * being lit by a flint and steel in a dispenser

Behavior
Once activated, TNT turns into an entity, which means it is now affected by gravity. It is spawned at the center (+0.5,+0.5,+0.5) of a powered TNT block, while itself is a cube with an edge length of 0.98. Its fuse lasts 40 redstone ticks (4 seconds/80 game ticks) if activated by redstone or fire, or a random number between 10 to 30 game ticks (0.5 to 1.5 seconds) if it's destroyed by an explosion.

Primed TNT's texture blinks, with its texture alternating between its standard texture and a pure white texture. The texture blinks at a rate of 2 times per second.

Once spawned, primed TNT is given a vertical velocity of 0.2 blocks per tick, and a horizontal velocity of 0.02 blocks per tick in a random direction. If it does not collide with another block, it travels 0.166 blocks horizontally on flat ground before it stops. When the countdown timer expires, the TNT explodes. When unsupported, it falls for roughly 77 blocks before exploding. The explosion has an explosive force of 4.

Primed TNT burns if it is shot through lava. It can also be pushed by water currents.

When the player primes TNT and the primed block falls into an end portal, the TNT block detonates when the player enters the End. When primed TNT is directed towards a nether portal, it simply passes through the portal blocks and not travel into the Nether.

Primed TNT explodes immediately if summoned by a command without specifying the fuse time, because said time defaults to zero.

If TNT detonates in water, it does not damage blocks or mobs.

If the TNT is primed atop any sort of fence post that is two blocks high or larger, it falls through the fence block on which it was activated, and stops on the next lower one. Its detonation damages only the fence block it was 'stuck' in.

To make TNT destroy blocks in the water, e.g. to enter an ocean monument from the top, one can place sand or gravel on the TNT before it is primed. Priming the TNT causes the sand or gravel to fall down one block, engulfing the TNT. Because the TNT is no longer immersed in water, it can destroy the surrounding blocks.

Redstone component
For redstone to activate TNT, it must either lead directly to the TNT, or power an adjacent block.

Traps
TNT can be used in a variety of traps. The simplest of them - a land mine - is made of TNT connected to a pressure plate or tripwire with redstone. One such trap generates naturally in desert temples.

Cannons
TNT cannons are mechanisms that launch primed TNT into the air. Some cannons can also be used to launch other entities into the air or into other objects.

Mob farms
Mobs killed by player-ignited TNT (via flint and steel or by flaming arrows) drop experience orbs as though they were killed by the player in regular combat.

Entity data
TNT has entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the entity.

Trivia

 * "TNT" stands for Trinitrotoluene.
 * However, the use of sand in the crafting recipe references dynamite, a different high explosive consisting of nitroglycerine mixed with diatomaceous earth (which is mostly silica, the same chemical compound as yellow sand).
 * If TNT is blown up just as an arrow passes by, then the arrow is redirected opposite of the blast.
 * Although flint and steel cannot light fires in Adventure Mode, it can still ignite TNT.
 * While under the effects of a Potion of Night Vision, TNT appears fully bright as usual, but ignores the potion's effect and takes on the light around it when primed, because it's an entity when it's primed.
 * It takes 19.75 blocks to fall for it to reduce the timer for one second.
 * Although primed TNT normally gets caught in cobwebs, TNT propelled fast enough flies through them without slowing down at all.
 * It is slightly smaller than a full block when activated, as with all entity versions of blocks.
 * Using flint and steel to ignite it sets it off at once, but fire must burn it for many seconds before triggering
 * In the Pi Edition, TNT by default won't do anything, but when set to data value 1, it ignites when broken.
 * The longest fuse time of TNT is 27 minutes and 18.35 seconds, or 32,767 ticks.
 * Attempting to ignite TNT while sneaking results in the block being lit on fire, rather than the TNT becoming primed.
 * Standing behind blocks during an explosion reduces knockback and damage taken.
 * In the Legacy Console Edition, the quantity of TNT being primed at any one time is limited to 20.