Talk:Explosion

Article Updated
This article is updated for Beta 1.1_02, it may not reflect current status. Please help correcting grammar errors and loose wording. Xfs 16:13, 25 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Hey, give him/her a break, he/her obviously worked hard on it, and its a wiki, so why don't you update it? - –The preceding unsigned comment was added by MoonBeans (Talk 09:49, 26 December 2010. Please sign your posts with !
 * Take a look at who has worked the hardest on this page, dude. JohnnyMadhouse 17:29, 26 December 2010 (CST)
 * Here's the updated values if anybody wants to add them. Beta 1.2_01 . Risugami 07:23, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Updated to Beta 1.5_01. Xfs 12:28, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Why this article should not be merge to TNT
The reason is simple: creepers cause explosions, and fireballs launched by Ghasts also cause explosions. This is an event with cause and consequence, not a block. It's inappropriate to explain how a fireball explodes in the TNT article. From a programming point of view, the Explosion is a standalone class from EntityTNTPrimed or EntityCreeper or BlockTNT. Xfs 13:36, 26 December 2010 (CST)
 * I see ghast fireballs as Notch's alternative to flying creepers. only, they do not move mid-air, explode on impact, and are coming from an infinite source.
 * just saying.--Kizzycocoa 13:56, 26 December 2010 (CST)
 * Fireballs are flying creepers? Creepers are walking TNT? TNT is actually dynamite? This is awkward. And look at the confusion about "TNT resistance", it's nothing about TNT. Xfs 20:07, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
 * And how would it be from a player's point of view? A lot of players consider creepers to be just like TNT, except they walk around and fuck you over by destroying structures. Idem ditto for fireballs.--Quatroking - Garble Garble! 19:44, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I think It will be helpful to make distinction between concepts rather than create confusion. Explosion is what they have in common, and may also be extended to other entities in the future. Why not abstract it? Xfs 13:55, 26 December 2010 (CST)


 * From the player's point of view, Explosions are to TNT as damage is to weapons. Should Health/Damage also be merged into the Weapons article? Hang on, Skeletons deal damage too, perhaps those should be merged into Weapons as well? Perhaps we should just merge all articles into the main page - they're all about the one game, right?


 * In all seriousness, cause does not equal effect, and articles with different subjects should not be merged. There are already multiple causes of explosions, so merging the data from here will only make it harder to find. More so as further sources of explosions are added to the game. - Bomb Bloke (Talk/Contribs) 16:42, 26 December 2010 (CST)


 * xfs, nevermind about the merging, the page will stay as it is.--Quatroking - Garble Garble! 17:37, 26 December 2010 (CST)

Destroying stationary lava
I have been able to destroy stationary lava, but only when I specifically set up the lava and TNT for that purpose. I made a 3 deep 8 wide "tub" of obsidian in which a single lava source was placed on the wall above the bottom. One TNT was place on each side of the lava block and then they were ignited by hand. After the explosion the lava was gone, no drops or any further oddities. I have been able to recreate this many times and will be making a video, but I do not know why it works, and would like someone else to attempt this to see if perhaps my game was glitching. This was done on ssp. Zephyriphoenix 16:43, 15 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I have reproduced your described phenomenon. However, further experiments (logging modding with MCP 3.1.1) show that the destroyed block is lava (10, which has 0 block resistance) rather than stationary lava (11). How stationary lava turns into lava with surrounding TNT is beyond my knowledge currently. Xfs 12:27, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * In Beta 1.8+'s Creative Mode (currently tested with 1.9pre6 and Release Candate 2, haven't tested earlier versions), if a TNT goes off that is not in lava, it can possibly destroy the lava block. Multiple explosions have a better chance of success (not because of cumulative damage, but because the explosion of one removes the lava around the next TNT, allowing them to explode undampened). An easy and dramatic way of seeing the effect is to go to the Nether, create a 1x1 column of TNT from the bottom of the lava sea to at least one block above the surface (ideally 3 or more), set the top one on fire (or wait for the lava to do it itself), and watch it blow a nice big hole in the lava sea. It also works on lava in the Overworld; water, however, is impossible to destroy by explosion, even if the active TNT is not touching the water. --76.22.45.127 03:28, 17 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Xfs: If I recall correctly, and assuming lava is similar to water here, the difference between the so-called "stationary lava" and "lava" blocks is that "lava" blocks are in the process of updating — that is, changing their flow pattern — which would be happening since the activated TNT becomes an air block, creating space for the lava to flow. (If you edited a "stationary" water or lava block into a world, it would stay where it is, but the non-"stationary" type would spread out.) I have been able to destroy lava, but not water, in this fashion, which is consistent with flowing water having a high blast resistance. —KPReid 16:30, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

Sandstone
What's the resistance? As good as cobblestone? --JonTheMon 22:33, 18 January 2011 (UTC)


 * 4. Now I know why my Sandstone Pyramid was gone after Creepers formed a line behind me.BlockBarracade 00:36, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Understandability of Block Resistance
It's been a few months since I last saw the table of values for this, back when it was on the TNT page, namely this being the last recorded version of it that I see. My concern here is that for documentation purposes, is this current method really the most ideal way to present the information? The average user will probably want to come on to this page to see how much damage (how many blocks radii will be blown up) X material is gonna take from a Ghast explosion etc. The current resistance values (while completely still relevant, another table/column maybe?) aren't in the best form for anyone to immediately understand. Might it be a much better idea for these to be presented as individual tables or columns of data? The core values defined in the code provide the most accurate information yes, but the practicality of them in some documentation isn't there. Perhaps a table of this or other similar structure might suffice? TheWyo 18:07, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

The issue is that the damage a block takes from each would be dependent on the location of the block relative to the explosion. Since we can't tell you exactly how far away your block is and if there is anything in between, we couldn't give an accurate damage per block. -Lucien 16:27, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Isn't it possible to replicate the very same explosion conditions with each type of block versus tnt? Even relative values could be of use, it would make damage comparison somewhat easier. And then... How could it be measured, say, the ratio between damage of different types of explosions, or do they differ too much in radius (and other stuff) to be comparable? TheKax 18:27, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Destroying blocks
"Destroyed blocks have 0.3 chance of being dropped as items." Should this be rewritten as "Destroyed blocks have a 30% chance of being dropped as items."? DiHydro 06:30, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. I took the freedom and changed it that way. TheKax 18:21, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Obsidian Indestructible?
This wiki page lists Stationary water, lava, obsidian, and bedrock as indestructible. Stationary liquids, sure, bedrock, arguably sure, but obsidian has a reasonably low block resistance. Can anyone confirm that it's indestructible or provide a video of it being destroyed? Darkid 03:38, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Obsidian's resistance isn't really "reasonably low", being 6,000 and stationary liquids being 500. I've never seen obsidian destroyed by TNT, but I think I've actually seen stationary liquid blocks destroyed by TNT. However, whenever I think I see that, there's too much lag to actually tell. Alphap 07:51, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Obsidian can be destroyed. Put a 3*3*72 area of TNT with obsidian 3*3 on the bottom, then surround that obsidian with TNT as well. Build a device to set off the pillar of TNT as close to simultaneously as possible, as well as the tnt at the base. You have destroyed obsidian! This works because 648 TNT is on the obsidian at that time. It isn't publicized because nobody's bothered to trigger all that tnt almost simultaneously. Bobbobbob 08:37, 9 April 2011 (UTC)bobbobbob


 * Bobbobbob, please post a save file containing this device so that we can have proof. As far as I know, no one has ever shown that multiple TNT can create a stronger blast against a single block. Having a demonstration of destroying obsidian would be great, but as it is I'm highly doubtful that this actually happens. —KPReid 11:08, 9 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I think the misconception is that most believe(it might've been this way at one point) that blocks have a "health" value which resets every tick, and that if you manage to cause more than one explosion during that tick the damage would accumulate. However, if you check the article, it says that blocks are destroyed based on the "blast force" of each "explosion line," and that if the blast resistance of a block which is in the path of an explosion line is not high enough, the block is destroyed. Ultimately, the damage caused by multiple explosions should be independent of each other. - Alphap T ~ C 15:38, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

Hey you need to stop arguing and just watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFZKtvHQSNY The article should be updated too. --Ulidtko 01:21, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
 * That video does not prove anything since it doesn't actually show the process of the destruction. Maybe it was the best that he can do, but it still cannot be used as evidence. The thing is, TNTs don't form perfect spheres like that. It is highly possible that he used a map editor, but then again, no proof. --Scykei 01:45, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree, the craters left behind are too large and round. They look much more like something I could make with MCEdit than just TNT explosions.  There are no item drops, but I imagine that that many items would cause way too much lag, and would have to be deleted with an editor anyway.  --Rasimpson 18:27, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Update to beta 1.5
The block resistance table is again verified against a running instance of beta 1.5_01 (logging modding with MCP 3.1.1).

The explosion algorithm seems unchanged. (MCP 3.1.1)


 * TNT vs Obsidian

"Water, stationary lava, and obsidian can be destroyed with sufficient tnt (For obsidian, 77 units of TNT must be within one block of the obsidian). However bedrock is always indestructible, requiring over 231,000 TNT. No computer system a homeowner would have is capable of doing this without crashing and ruining the save file. Note also that these would need to be within 1 unit of the block in question, as well as would need to explode simultaneously."

This is false information and is replaced with an explanation on why explosions are not simultaneous or cumulative. Imagine if water could be destroyed by TNT explosion, how do you build TNT cannons? Let alone obsidian. For the issue about stationary lava being destroyed, refer to a previous section.

If you have access to the decompiled code, you can check for the existence of cumulative effect. For anyone still doubtful, please present your evidence and convincing arguments before you edit the article, because there are enough arguments out there, you can't just ignore them.


 * If you have an explosive with 285 power,it should be enough to obliterate a Single Obsidian block. Test it out with SMP Commands.


 * Fireballs vs Furnaces

Furnaces can't be destroyed by fireballs, and the largest remaining blast force is -0.065 (long experiments with beta 1.5_01, logging modding with MCP 3.1.1).

I made a mistake in the calculation that I forgot the first attenuation step before explosion ray entering a furnace block. The current recalculated value should reflect the reality. (The theoretical value 1.3-(17.5/5+0.3)*0.3-0.75*0.3 = -0.065 is verified by experiments)

BTW, fences can still be destroyed by fireballs (experiments with beta 1.5_01), though not always.

"fireball explosion can happen anywhere" is verified with logging of explosion position (experiments with beta 1.5_01, MCP 3.1.1 modding).


 * Items in explosion

"All standing items caught in the explosion are destroyed. The 30% chance of being dropped applies to a chest as well, but its contents are exempt from this check and will not be destroyed regardless of whether or not the chest block was dropped."

This is actually about interaction with entities, so moved to the the following section and reworded.


 * Fireballs not starting fire

"Prior to Beta 1.3, Ghasts' fireballs could start fire."

Someone stated this with claimed code analysis, but I can't reproduce this statement (experiments with beta 1.5_01). In my experiments with fireballs shot by Ghasts, they never started any fire. If you have access to decompiled code, you can check it against my previous code analysis.

Xfs 12:23, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

I know they used to start fire, and definately in Beta 1.0 they did. I forget when exactly it stopped. Bobbobbobbobbobbob
 * If you want to figure out which version, you can use MCNostalgia to test each version and track down where it bugged out (and using that we can probably figure out what caused the bug) --HexZyle 10:01, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Number of rays
I've tried to calculate number of explosion rays and got (16^2)×6−16×12−8 = 1336. What is formula here? Norrius 11:08, 27 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Understood. (16^2)×6−16×12+8 Norrius 11:12, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Underground Explosion
I was working in an underground cavern when I just heard an explosion, followed about a minute later by another. Neither explosion was visible. Does anyone know what the explosions were? They weren't creepers; I was on peaceful. Greatestguy 01:34, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

What about Ender Crystals?
How much power do they have for explosions?

- I've been wondering the same thing. Or rather, it'd just be very useful information. For anyone who has the means to decompile the source code, it would be much appreciated if you could update this page.

Shrapnel
I have recently found that an excess use of TNT in a concentrated area will prime and launch some TNT, therefore expanding the blast radius. My own tests were conducted in Superflat Creative in 1.1 and all blasts were not surrounded by other blocks (uncontained). I built a 4x4x4 cube of TNT which I detonated with redstone. This resulted in not one but TWO or MORE blast areas. The center one was the largest, yes, however there were still areas were TNT was, to my best observation, detonated away from the central explosion. Does anyone have an explanation or is this something that should be looked into further? Kyle2012 03:54, 7 February 2012 (UTC)


 * TNT has been able to launch other TNT blocks with their explosions since Alpha. That's how TNT Cannons work, the explosion of the tnt ammo pushes other tnt away, shooting it off. --R ocĸetor talk  09:31, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Explosive resistance Icons?
I think that we should make little icons next to the blast resistance of a block on it's own block page.

The reason I think this is because it would be a quick and easy way to verify the general blast resistance of the block without having to search through the wiki like I did to find out if a certain block is able to stand, say a ghast explosion.

Therefore, I say that if a block can resist an explosion from whatever would cause one, then it should get that icon next to the blast resistance.

For example: (Not in order of strength, mind you)

Just thought that this might be useful. At least I'd find it useful. Reply back whether you like the idea because I would love to see this on the wiki!

--Cheers!

Starport592 04:02, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

Confused...
Can someone please explain what is and isnt broken by a basic creeper explosion, im planing on decorating my house, but i dont want to lose expensive blocks (aka lapis lazuli blocks or even diamond blocks) just because a creeper happens to wander by BazzarLarry 18:17, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Redstone Lamp not listed
The blast resistance of a redstone lamp isn't listed here. –Preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.81.136.22 (Talk) 17:10, 1 November 2012‎ (UTC). Please sign your posts with


 * Fixed. -- Orthotope 00:43, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Other missing blocks (1.5 update)
I basically went through the list of blocks in minecraft and determined that the following are still missing from the explosion table (or need to be added because of the 1.5 update). I italicized the ones I think are important:
 * grass block (I'm assuming "grass" in the table means tall grass, fern, and bush plants)
 * rails (probably 0?)
 * pistons
 * cobweb
 * sandstone, cobblestone, brick, stone brick, nether brick, and quartz slabs
 * cobblestone (assuming stone stairs means stone brick stairs), (regular) brick, and quartz stairs
 * trapdoor
 * glass pane
 * pumpkin/melon stem
 * vines
 * lily pad
 * nether wart (probably 0?)
 * brewing stand
 * cauldron
 * dragon egg
 * tripwire/tripwire hook (0?)
 * daylight sensor
 * block of redstone
 * nether quartz ore
 * hopper
 * block of quartz
 * dropper

Thanks! 24.22.53.72 01:13, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Edit: I accidentally skipped over some 24.22.53.72 01:34, 21 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Added. All stone-type slabs have the same blast resistance, no matter what material they're made of (unlike stairs). -- Orthotope 03:12, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Other Missing Blocks (As of 1.6)

 * Coal Block
 * Flowerpot
 * Hay Bale

I just want EVERYTHING to be listed here. *cough cough* OCD *cough cough* 98.220.146.138 20:52, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

Unnecessary Blast Damage Levels?
Can someone explain what the point is for having multiple different blast resistances for objects above the blast damage inflicted by Ender Crystal? Ender Crystal when hit creates the most powerful possible explosion (even more than Charged Creeper). Yet obsidian and bedrock have 2 DIFFERENT blast resistances, even though BOTH have a blast resistance well above the blast damage level inflicted by an Ender Crystal explosion, and despite the fact that blast damage is not cumulative. Why? Why not just assign all blocks that are to be unaffected by explosions a single very high blast resistance? Does Mojang plan to at some point make more powerful explosives that could destroy Obsidian but he doesn't want them to be able to destroy Bedrock? Or does he plan to eventually make cumulative damage to blocks? Please explain. Thanks.

76.104.145.19 09:02, 23 December 2012 (UTC)


 * Are you asking why they are listed here or why they even exist in the code? If the former, they are in the code and therefore subject to documentation here. If the latter, this is not the place to ask. The forums, twitter, or some other form of public communication with Mojang would be the best way to ask about the game. Wiki talk pages are for discussing the wiki.  09:33, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * To answer the question, mods or future features could introduce more powerful explosions, potentially enough to destroy obsidian. Obsidian's resistance is "really really high", but bedrock's is infinite-- no explosion can destroy it regardless of power. Incidentally, the Wither's spawn blast is currently the most powerful in the game. --Mental Mouse 03:56, 19 February 2013 (UTC)


 * That's not entirely true. The Wither also shoots out blue skulls that have an egregiously high explosion power ( ENOUGH TO DESTROY OBSIDIAN!!!! ), but it has a really small blast radius. It's still insanely powerful, though. >:3 98.220.146.138 20:56, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

"Permanant Lag" is misleading
Items will despawn after five minutes, a note should be made that that is not really permanent. (However, increased render complexity will remain.)

184.189.252.178 02:03, 19 February 2013 (UTC)


 * It's true. They do, perhaps you might want to add that in as a note or something? People who didn't know about that might find it useful. Numbermaniac 07:20, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

Wither Spawn explosion damage
Does anyone know how much damage a Wither Spawn explosion does?--Chumbanotz 22:03, 27 February 2013 (UTC)


 * That explosion has a power of 7, so according to the formula on the page, it can do up to damage. -- Orthotope 03:45, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
 * That's enough to kill you! Numbermaniac 08:15, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Table with different alignments
Does anyone know how to make a table have different alignments for each column? it would look better for the blast resistance chart to have left and right for blocks and blast resistance. KnightMiner (talk) 03:28, 28 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Found out how. --KnightMiner (talk 23:54, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

Step Length
What is step length, exactly, and what number is it? 72.24.88.184 20:47, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

Ray separation for large explosions
This video is an unremarkable roundup of "cool commands", but the segment at 1:00 shows some odd behavior for very large explosions: It looks to me like for sufficiently large explosions, the crater edge breaks up into the individual rays of the explosion processing. --MentalMouse42 (talk) 13:44, 7 February 2015 (UTC)


 * I recall seeing something similar a while ago, setting off a very large explosion in a superflat world made of glass blocks to more easily see the path of the rays. -- Orthotopetalk 19:56, 7 February 2015 (UTC)