Cactus

Cactus (harvested from Cacti in deserts or sometimes beaches) is a block that was introduced in Alpha mode and remains in Beta. The block has one texture put on all vertical sides of the block, with another on top, and a third on the bottom (which looks like a simpler version of logs). Cacti are found naturally on Sand or rarely Clay that is not in standing water with no horizontally adjacent solid blocks. The block can be harvested easily by either mining the block underneath, making that block fall, or directly by hand, provided you don't get too close. When any entity, including players and mobs, touches a cactus, half a heart of damage is taken.

Cacti will destroy any items that come into contact with them, including harvested cacti blocks. If a player or mob dies by cacti it is possible that many of their dropped items will be destroyed. Take careful note when making traps with cacti if you are trying to farm resources; you may wish to build a different trap so that your loot is not destroyed.

Cactus can be cooked in a furnace to make cactus green dye.

Due to a biome bug (Only confirmed in Multiplayer so far, but reported in Singleplayer as a rarity), as of Alpha 1.2.1_01 in the desert biome a cactus can spawn floating in midair one to two blocks off the ground. However, the game will still think there is a cactus block under it, so the block directly under the floating cactus block is impassable, and can only be destroyed by destroying the visible sand block under it, or by placing a non-solid block underneath the 'ghost cactus'.

Growing Conditions
Cacti grow only on Sand and on extremely rare occasions, Clay, to a maximum height of three blocks, though higher stacks can placed by the player. Cacti are most common in desert biomes, but can rarely be found on a beach in other biomes. Cacti can only be placed either on sand or on other cactus blocks, with no horizontally adjacent solid blocks. Bone meal doesn't work on cacti and won't speed their growth. Cacti cannot be placed on Sandstone despite the similar name.

When the spot a cactus is placed in becomes unsuitable, such as a block is placed next to them or their own sand block underneath is harvested or falls, the cactus block and any above it collapse into blocks that can be collected and placed again.

Cacti can be placed underwater and will grow if they break the surface. Cacti placed in a one block depth of water will grow normally. A two block cacti stack placed at a two block depth will grow to the three block height. Any higher stacks at greater depths will need to be placed entirely by the player. An interesting use of this is that since cactus blocks are transparent, high stacks of them that break the surface can be used to extend sunlight deep underwater. Contrary to popular belief, as of Beta 1.4_01, this does still work, as any cacti stacked on other cacti underwater will immediately break when placed if the bottom cactus block is not on sand. However, if the bottom cactus block is on sand, it will still work. This is because when the cactus grows from the bottom one/you place a block on the bottom cactus, it updates the first one, and it doesn't matter if it's surrounded by water- it just matters if it's sitting on sand and doesn't have blocks next to it.

Cacti do not need light to grow and are non-flammable. As such, they grow well in the Nether, provided the player also brings in sand.

History
Cacti were first seen in Alpha 1.0.6.

Before Alpha 1.0.11,
 * Cacti could be placed anywhere, and did not have the requirement that the space around it be empty. This allowed cacti to be placed to form a damaging floor: both players and mobs take half a heart of damage when they walk on a cactus block. This made it useful for traps, such as a hallway with a cactus block floor that would kill all mobs that walked on it.
 * Mining cacti hurt the player.
 * The texture was different.

Farming
It is possible to make a fully automated cactus farm which, when complete, requires no further effort from the player to harvest the resources.

Cactus Defense
Due to their ability to damage entities and automatic growth, cacti can make a barrier around safe locations if a player can dedicate a few days of game time to deploying them properly. There are pros and cons to using a cactus wall, and are best placed as a secondary wall around a well lit fenced area.


 * Cacti are higher than fences and can block the arrows from skeletons. Unlike fences, however, a player cannot see beyond them.


 * Creepers and zombies may walk into a wall of cacti and injure themselves while attempting to attack a player.


 * Cacti grow with no supervision, and a player doesn't need to search out in the wilderness for more materials to extend the wall. However, they will grow at their own rate and cannot be sped along.


 * Cacti act as a handy item disposal for useless blocks (dirt and gravel).


 * Torches cannot be attached to cacti. Instead, torches must be set into the sand between cacti or along a separate fence.


 * Passive mobs will frequently wander into a cactus wall and die. This is more common in a vertical or horizontal setup, as they may find themselves blocked on three sides. This may make gathering their loot easier if the cacti don't destroy whatever they end up dropping.

Because they cannot be adjacent to any other solid block, a cactus wall must be built diagonally or in a zigzag pattern two blocks thick. To extend the wall, a player needs only cut down the top two blocks from a cactus and place them elsewhere. Unfortunately, some cactus items may be lost to the damaging effect of other cacti nearby.

Trivia

 * It is possible to spawn on or directly next to a cactus as they reside on Sand thus taking damage.
 * Cactus uses the same sound files as wool when breaking and placing.
 * Cacti vaguely resemble Creepers at a glance, particularly in low-light conditions.
 * When dropped onto the world, the Cactus item is slightly larger than most other blocks.
 * When a minecart hits a cactus block, the minecart is destroyed and dropped.
 * Cactus can be placed next to saplings, however the cactus will break when the tree grows
 * When you place a Bed next to a Cactus the Bed will break in half, leaving a half Bed you can sleep in and still dropping a Bed.
 * A floating cactus was found on the seed "Float" somewhere near coordinates -500, -700 near a large sand hill and floating sand sphere.
 * Cacti blocks are nonflammable.

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