Sugar Cane

Sugar cane (Formerly reed)(Also known as bamboo or papyrus) was added in the v1.0.11 patch. It can be found randomly on grass, sand, or dirt blocks that are near water and grows to a maximum height of four blocks as Beta 1.4, and additional layers may be added manually by the player, or spawned during map generation. More sugar cane may be placed on top of them, and they will also support other blocks. There appears to be no pattern to the spawn algorithm. Sugar cane may occasionally grow in tundra Biomes, but is extremely hard to find because ice replaces nearly all water next to land. Sugar cane can also be found naturally underground, although this is very rare because it requires dirt blocks next to a subterranean lake.

Like cacti, removing the bottom part causes all parts above it to be removed as well, allowing for quick harvesting; one can also "shave" off the upper sections and leave the bottom section planted for saving time. It can be crafted into paper and sugar. Also like cacti, Bone Meal doesn't work on sugar canes and won't speed their growth.

Farming
Farming sugar cane is similar to farming crops. Like the real plant, sugar cane must be planted on a grass/dirt block immediately adjacent to water, unlike crops which can be within three blocks of water. Diagonal blocks, as well as blocks above or below the water stream, won't allow it to be placed. If it can be placed on a tile, it will grow there. Unlike wheat, it does not require a tilled field to grow. Planted sugar cane grows quickly to a height of three blocks. However, extra sugar cane blocks can be permanently added if heights over 3 are desired. Sugar cane, like saplings, wheat, and cacti, will only grow if the chunk they are on is loaded into memory.



If the water source is removed, then when the sugar cane tries to grow, the game will realize it has no adjacent water, and the sugar cane will disintegrate, leaving two sugar cane items instead of one. This is not as efficient as growing sugar cane normally, because you must replace the water supply to re-plant the sugar cane.

Sugar cane is impervious to water and lava. It can block water/lava flows, and when water/lava hits it from above, the water/lava is spread out as by a normal block. Neither the sugar cane nor the block they stand on can be lit on fire with the Flint and Steel, although attempting this still lowers the durability of the Flint and Steel, in a manner similar to glass.

The water/lava blocking ability of sugar canes includes being placed in the middle of an existing flow (they still need to be adjacent to water).

Sugar cane will block projectiles as any ordinary block, which means projectiles shot at anything inside or past the sugar canes will be blocked. However, if you stand in a patch of sugar canes and fire arrows/throw snowballs, those projectiles will ignore the sugar canes where your head is located. A Ghast's fireball will not pass through sugar cane, but will collide with the sugar cane as if it is a normal block.

When planted underwater, sugar cane functions similar to sponge, creating an air pocket. However, it will be only 1x1x1 instead of 5x5x5. Also, if a sugar cane block is placed next to or on top of another sugar cane block, they will both be instantly destroyed if underwater. This will still drop the two sugar cane blocks that were destroyed as resources.

Trivia

 * You can walk through sugar cane, but water will not pass through it. This makes it a convenient material for water gates.
 * You can plant sugar cane on a tile covered in snow even if there is no water adjacent to it.
 * A glitch in Beta causes sugar cane to grow beyond the 3 block height limit.
 * Before Beta 1.2, sugar cane was officially called "Reeds." The name change was a result of Notch needing some way to craft sugar.
 * Ghasts cannot see through sugar cane, which would make it a safe block to make walls out of despite its transparent nature. Unfortunately, sugar cane cannot normally be planted in the Nether due to the lack of water.
 * Sugar cane has a small chance of spawning next to underground lakes, provided there is a dirt block it can grow on.
 * It has been verified that sugar cane grows more rapidly in areas with a great amount of lighting than in areas with less lighting.
 * When farming, it is recommended to hit the middle block instead of the bottom to avoid the need to replant.
 * Sugar cane can be placed on the side of an ice block.
 * In previous versions of Minecraft, Automatic Reed Farms could be made, as Reeds could be washed away with water currents or instantly destroyed by removing the water adjacent to them. Since the change to sugar cane, neither of these techniques work. However, removing the water adjacent to a fully grown sugar cane and then breaking it manually will break all adjacent sugar canes (provided the water adjacent to them is also removed).
 * Sugar cane can be used underwater to provide air for extended periods of time. The technique involves rapidly placing two blocks of cane directly at your feet, creating a 1x1x2 pocket of air. If on flat surface, the cane will break after your air is replenished and return to your inventory. However, on a ledge it will stay in place providing a reusable air pocket. This also works on blocks other than Dirt.
 * Sugar cane can be planted away from the water if planted on a block currently on fire.
 * The sugar cane block is called "Reeds" if hacked into your inventory. (Found on line 231 of en-US.lang)