Tutorials/Piston uses

Traps
Disappearing Floor Trap

This trap is created using sticky pistons. Make a tunnel one block wide as long as you want. Under the floor, dig out a 3-block deep pit for each of the trap blocks you want to move. Mine out two blocks horizontally from each space where the trap floor will go and put a sticky piston at the back of each hole. In front of the sticky piston, place the block (make sure that the trap block is the same as the regular floor blocks not being used in the trap so nobody gets suspicious). Carefully place lava at the bottom.


 * This is what it should look like from eye level.

Once done, you can either:

Put a stone (or wooden if you want both mobs and players to die) pressure plate near the trap blocks. Wire it to a not-gate (repeaters are optional so the mob or player will be in the middle of the trap when the floor opens up) and wire the output to the sticky pistons, making them extend. The trap blocks will be pushed forward and will look like part of the floor. Unsuspecting griefers, curious players or mobs will walk onto the pressure plate (if the floor is made of stone, using a stone pressure plate will be camouflaged and players will most likely not see it) and when they do, the floor will open up beneath them, causing certain death to the player from lava damage. The pistons do not have to be reset.



The second option is more efficient but manual. Place a lever somewhere, wire it up to a not-gate and wire it up to the sticky pistons, making them extend. You can place the lever anywhere, even at the other end of the trap so you can watch for incoming mobs or players and flick the lever when they walk on the trap. This requires no repeaters which means that when you activate the lever, the player/mob will fall in instantly.

Farming
Reed Farm



Reeds can be very easily farmed with pistons, in a way that does not require the player to run around smashing each and every reed. Simply align a row of pistons alongside the reeds one block higher than them and run a redstone wire round the back. Connect a button to the wire and you have one click reed harvesting. If you make sure the piston points towards the water the reeds are in and have the water flow towards you, its even less work. And if you are a knowledgeable redstone user, you could make an automatic harvester that feeds into the same water channels as your cactus farms and mob farms. Note that not all the reed items hit the water canal. When the reed is 3 or higher blocks tall, an extra row of pistons may be needed for a more efficient harvest.

Wheat Farm

When water flows in a straight line path through fully grown wheat, the wheat will harvest itself. Using this property, you can create a spigot by putting a horizontal fully extended sticky piston with a non-gravity affected block on it and by putting a water source above the block. Place a lever that toggles the piston so that when the piston extends, the water source is closed up, but when the piston contracts, the water flows onto the wheat.

Chests
Locked Chests

Create a sticky piston that moves the block above a chest away so that the chest isn't blocked.

Light switches
Pistons can be used to cover and uncover holes with light sources.



Rapid Sand/Gravel Destroyer
Standard Pistons facing towards each other on a blink device can be used to rapidly destroy sand and/or gravel falling into it a an approximate rate of ~8 blocks per second. This design was created by rcmaehl and a schematic of the device along with video are pending upload.

Secret Tunnels
Sticky Pistons can be used to open up tunnels in stone. Dig a tunnel, either one or two blocks wide and two blocks high (this is better underground as it requires less building). Remove two blocks above you and two blocks below you. At the bottom and top of the now taller tunnel, place a sticky piston (make sure they face upwards on the floor and downwards on the ceiling) and cover it with stone to make it look like a regular tunnel.

Wire every piston to a lever in a room somewhere, for example, the room where the secret tunnel is. Flick the switch. If the wiring is correct, the ceiling and the floor will be lowered/raised to close up the tunnel and make it appear like a wall in the room. Flicking the switch again will reveal the tunnel. This can be used in the creation of secret underground bases or mazes.

Redstone Clock
This is a minimal design for a Clock with Pistons.

Piston Clocks are customizable to any speed depending on the number of redstone repeaters used.



Auto Rebuilding Floors/Bridges
Using a cobblestone generator, it's possible to create bridges and floors that have the ability to fix themselves.

Mining
It has been theorized that pistons can be used to locate caves through solid rock. In order to do so, one would place the piston on the ground facing the ground, on the ceiling facing the ceiling, or facing straight into any wall. If this cannot be accomplished directly, the piston may be placed, and then all the distance form it to the wall, floor, or ceiling filled in. When activated, if the piston got stuck, it would mean at least 12 solid blocks in front of it. If not, then it would have hit an air pocket. This is an efficient technique for locating caves from nothing more than a 2 m2 cross-sectional tunnel. However, monsters may already be heard by time the piston is in range, so the most likely cave to be found by this technique is one of lava. Also, because the piston can only reach 12 blocks in, it would be ideally used from an underground cave to begin with.