Block of Emerald

"... you could build a house of blocks of emeralds! That’d be one in the eye for your neighbours, those ones with that showy mansion of quartz. Build your house out of money! Ha! That’ll show ‘em!"

- Alex Wiltshire

A block of emerald is a precious mineral block.

Obtaining
Blocks of emerald can only be mined using an iron or diamond pickaxe.

Usage
Blocks of emerald are often used to store emeralds in a compact fashion, or otherwise used as an expensive construction block.

Note blocks
A block of emerald can also be used underneath a note block to get the "Bit" sound.

Beacons
Blocks of emerald can be used to "power" a beacon. The beacon can be powered by a 3×3 square of emerald blocks underneath it, and can optionally also include a 5×5, 7×7 and 9×9 layer in the shape of a pyramid under the original layer to increase the effects from the beacon. The layers do not have to be entirely emerald blocks, as they may also contain blocks of iron, blocks of gold, and blocks of diamond.

Trivia

 * The texture of this block was used for the locked chest, until Java Edition 1.5.