TNT

"In 1863, a German chemist named Julius Wilbrand was playing around with some chemicals (side note: don't play with chemicals) when he created a new, previously-undiscovered compound. He called it "trinitrotoluene", and its bright yellow colour led him to suggest that it could be used as a dye. It took 28 years until another chemist, Carl Häussermann, discovered that it was also an impressive explosive. Did he discover this after dyeing all his clothes with it, then giving someone the deadliest hug of all time? Hopefully not!"

- 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 will also drop 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:
 * being with flint and steel or 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 by the use of a command block, doing so it will detonate immediately (this can be changed with the Fuse tag)
 * being fired from a dispenser
 * being lit by a flint and steel in a dispenser
 * being broken when its explode property is set to true (this type of TNT cannot be crafted and is not generated naturally)

Behavior
Once activated, TNT turns into an entity. 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 will blink at a rate of 2 times per second.

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

Primed TNT will catch on fire if it is shot through lava. It can be pushed by water.

When the player primes TNT and the primed block falls into the end, the TNT block will detonate when the player enters the end. When primed TNT is directed towards a nether portal, it will only pass through said blocks and not travel into the Nether.

Primed TNT will explode immediately if summoned by a command without specifying the fuse time, because it defaults to zero.

If the TNT explodes in water, it will do no damage to blocks, but will still damage mobs. In the Console Edition, though, it does not damage mobs.

If the TNT is primed atop any sort of fence post that is two blocks high or larger, it will fall through the fence block it is activated on, and stop on the next one down. It will only damage the fence block it is 'stuck' in when it detonates.

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 primed. The sand or gravel will fall down one block when the TNT is primed, so it is not immersed in water anymore, and will destroy all the surrounding blocks.

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

Traps
TNT can be used in 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) will drop experience orbs as though they were killed by the player in regular combat.

Other uses
Because they are destroyed in one hit, they can be used in spleef arenas. They work better than dirt or other materials and do not need a tool to be destroyed. This use depends on no player coming in with items that could be used to activate TNT.

Due to their destructive force, they are commonly used by griefers.

Data values
TNT uses one ID name:. It uses block data to determine whether the TNT should activate when broken or not. It also uses block states, which will replace block data in 1.13.

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 will appear full bright as usual, but will ignore the potion's effect and take on the light around it when primed, because it's an entity when it's primed.
 * If TNT, when primed, hops up and just barely lands on a block directly below and next to it, and then slides off, the TNT will fall, but the explosion will appear where the TNT almost landed before sliding off.
 * It takes 19.75 blocks to fall for it to reduce the timer for one second.
 * Although primed TNT will get caught in cobwebs, TNT propelled fast enough will fly 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 will set 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 will ignite when broken.
 * The longest fuse time of TNT is now 27 minutes and 18.35 seconds.
 * Attempting to ignite TNT while sneaking will result in the block being lit on fire, rather than the TNT becoming primed.
 * Standing behind blocks during an explosion will greatly reduce damage and knockback.