Farmland

Farmland is a block on which seeds can be planted and grown. To make farmland, you can use a hoe on dirt or grass. If you destroy a farmland block, which can be destroyed without a tool, it will drop dirt. After using a hoe on a block of dirt, the top of the dirt's appearance changes, becoming ridged and bumpy like tilled soil and the top layer is removed. A block of farmland becomes darker to replicate the appearance of wet soil when it is hydrated by a nearby block of water. If left alone for a period of time, unhydrated farmland will "decay" and become dirt. Grass and Mycelium do not spread onto farmland. In vanilla Minecraft, or without cheats, Farmland is a Technical Block. It can only be obtained by inventory editing or mods.

Natural occurrence
Farmland occurs naturally in Villages where wheat, potatoes and carrots are grown. Patches of farmland are surrounded by logs or sandstone. However, sometimes these farmland blocks are trampled by mobs causing them to become dirt blocks instead.

Farming
Farmland is required to grow five of the game's types of crops - wheat, pumpkin, potato, carrot and melon. Melon and pumpkin blocks don't need farmland to spawn onto, as they can grow on normal dirt or grass blocks, but their seeds still need to be planted on farmland. To begin farming you need to craft a hoe. The hoe can be used to till dirt or grass into farmland by right-clicking.

A farmland block will be created dry. If it is near water, the farmland block will become hydrated. Seeds can be planted in any farmland block where they will eventually grow. By placing torches close to sown farmland, crops can be grown at night or even underground. This will also prevent aggressive Mobs from spawning near them.

Pumpkin and melon blocks are not affected by being walked or jumped on, but the parent plant may be. When blocks are placed on farmland, it reverts to dirt. This includes naturally generated blocks, such as when a melon or pumpkin is produced. Different types of seeds grow differently on dry farmland and also differently on hydrated farmland.

Plants such as saplings, ferns, tall grass and flowers may be planted on farmland, but they can also be planted on normal dirt anyway. Mushrooms, sugarcane and cactus cannot be planted on farmland. Jumping on farmland causes it to revert to plain dirt, and 'harvests' seeds planted in it, but other plant types are not uprooted.

As of 1.8, farmland that is not close enough to water to become hydrated will begin to decay back to dirt.

Hydrated farmland tiles
A hydrated farmland block is the preferred block for farming. Hydrated farmland will yield a fully developed wheat crop in a little over a single day/night cycle.

Conditions for hydrating farmland
For a farmland block to become hydrated, the following conditions must be met:


 * 1) Water up to four blocks away horizontally, including diagonals.
 * 2) The water must be on the same level or 1 block above farmland block level.

The blocks between the farmland block and the water make no difference. For example: in a 9 x 9 grid of Farmland blocks, replacing the center block with water will hydrate all of the surrounding farmland.

There is nothing the player can do to affect the rate at which farmland becomes hydrated. Each farmland block within a 9x9 grid of farmland with a single water block in the middle has exactly the same chance of becoming hydrated as a single farmland block in an ocean.

Farmland can also be hydrated by rain. After the rain stops or nearby water is removed, it takes a few minutes for farmland to become dry again.

Farmland block decay
Under certain conditions, a farmland block will "decay" becoming a dirt block, regardless of its state of hydration. This will happen if any of the following occur:


 * If the farmland block is dehydrated and nothing is planted on it for too long.
 * If the player or any mob jumps on the block too many times.
 * If a piston arm is extended over a farmland block such as when harvesting fully-grown Wheat.
 * If a piston pushes a farmland block down.
 * If a solid block covers the top surface of the farmland block such as when Pumpkin or Melon blocks appear.
 * If an Enderman teleports directly on top of a farmland block.
 * NOTE- This often happens for no known reason in Pocket Edition.

Effective technique


The most effective way to farm, that will produce the most vegetation in a smaller space, is in knowing that farmland will become hydrated when it is within four blocks straight and four blocks diagonally of one block of water. People will usually make a farm with one line of farmland next to one line of water, which is an okay strategy, but if you wish to bring the greatest outcome of vegetation in a smaller amount of space this is the way to do it. You can place a block of water in a corner and put farmland in a four-by-four space, which can make just as much or even more than one line of eight farmland blocks next to one line of water. If you configure a farmland in an eighteen-by-eighteen square, you can make the same amount or even more than the eight farmland block configuration repeated 30 or so times.

Video
Notes:


 * The video states that wheat and melons can be grown on farmland. This was before the introduction of potatoes, pumpkin seeds and carrots, which can also be grown on farmland.
 * In Minecraft PE, Beetroots seeds can be grown on farmland.
 * The video states that sneaking is a good way to avoid trampling crops. This was prior to, where it was changed so that walking on farmland does not damage it.
 * The link to Villages found at the end of this video does not work.

Trivia

 * You cannot place torches onto a farmland block either from the top or sides because it is not a solid block.
 * Dirt can be tilled into farmland from any side of the block, apart from underneath it.
 * Tilling a dirt block which has a dirt block on top of it will change it to farmland even though it cannot be used. If a hoe is used on a block horizontally adjacent to such a block, the first block will revert to dirt and the selected block will not be tilled. The hoe will still take one point of damage from each use.
 * Rain will hydrate farmland, although slowly and at random.
 * Ladders and trapdoors cannot be attached to the side of a farmland block, but signs can.
 * A dirt block can sustain redstone power. However, upon plowing it, the subsequent farmland will not. This creates a useful kind of switch.
 * Farmland will not be trampled when walking off of a slab next to it.
 * Farmland is one pixel less than 1 block tall.
 * Farmland will not decay if the player 'jumps' onto it, with a block two blocks above the farmland being jumped on.
 * Grass that has water flowing over it cannot be tilled, however dirt that has water flowing over it can.
 * The flowing water that comes off of a source block hydrates farmland just as source blocks do.
 * Dirt that is underneath water can still be tilled into farmland, although this is pointless as one cannot plant seeds on it.
 * Dirt, Grass and Podzol can be tilled into farmland
 * Mycelium, on the other hand, cannot be tilled to create Farmland, it must be mined first, then placed as dirt, then tilled.
 * Farmland is not available in the creative inventory. Therefore, even if in creative mode, the player must still use a hoe to plant on the farmland (unless cheats are enabled, in which case you can use /give to obtain it).
 * If a dirt block has Trapdoors on it, when tilled they will disappear.
 * Unlike other technical blocks, the inventory form of farmland has not been removed, and can be obtained using '/give farmland 1'. The inventory form of farmland uses the placeholder texture used by blocks with missing textures. The same applies to the lit furnace.


 * Players cannot suffocate inside a farmland block. However, if you could somehow revert it to dirt, it will cause damage, making an effective trap.