Technical blocks

Technical blocks are blocks that cannot be acquired legitimately and serve various purposes during events within the game.

Piston related technical blocks
These blocks serve a purpose when a piston is used.

Piston Extension
Block 34 is a block used by the piston's extension arm. One of the data bits of this block defines if it is a normal piston or a sticky piston extension. Many players use this block as a table instead of the standard pressure plate on fence. Block 34 cannot be placed even if the player has Block 34. It can, however, be placed with some programs.

It is possible to create a piston arm that will not disappear when the block next to it updates, but it will disappear if the piston that created it is moved or destroyed (The piston is both extended and retracted at the same time.) This can only be done with sticky pistons. To replicate this, one must create a "smart piston" (a piston that will push a block away as soon as the block is placed in front of the piston). This is accomplished by putting a redstone torch underneath the space where the block will be, and connecting wire from next to the space where the block will be to the piston. Since the pulse that will be created is less than 1 tick (1/10 of a second), the sticky piston will not stick to the block. Next, place blocks in front of the piston until it can't push any more, and destroy the block immediately in front of the piston (again, this must be a sticky piston.) The piston will extend and retract several times, then stay extended and retracted at the same time until either the piston or the arm is destroyed (strangely, destroying the arm will not destroy the piston, but moving or destroying the piston will destroy the arm.) (Tested horizontally in Minecraft 1.0.0.)

Piston Moving
Piston Moving is a block used by pistons. It is a side effect of the method of storing moving blocks as tile entities instead of entities. It is used by the piston extension for the effect of the animation coming out of the piston base. This block's color, when located next to a block in the world, is black. When a block next to it is removed, it becomes invisible, can be walked through, and when light passes through it the light level decreases by 1. They are unbreakable by traditional methods, though they can be removed by simply right-clicking. The game treats the block as a stone block when it comes to their breaking animation and the sound of the player's footsteps. In the inventory it has a top of a gray grass block texture and it cannot be placed. Block 36 has no name other than its block code, 36. It is impossible to obtain block 36 without mods or the /give command on multiplayer servers.

Burning Furnace
This is a block used to make furnaces shed light when smelting. It has a different texture than the normal furnace and emits particles. It will replace the normal furnace block while the furnace is burning fuel, but once the fuel runs out it will revert. Through /give or other means you can place this block and it will "burn" for as long as you don't use it.

Glowing Redstone Ore
This is a block used to make Redstone Ore glow when stepped on, right-clicked, or left-clicked.

Block 75
Block 75 is a block representing an off-state Redstone Torch. When a normal Redstone Torch receives power it turns off, turning to this block, and stops giving power. When the torch stops getting power it turns back to the normal on-state torch, and gives power again. For the game to know the torch stopped getting power the game must update the block - this happens when a block near the torch changes, and when it turned off because of Redstone current, this is not a problem, but when spawned into the world it will be turned off, and because no block is updated, it will stay this way, until a block updates. When the block is removed it will turn to a normal on-state torch. This can be used to create 'burnt out' torches.

Block 94
Block 94 is the on state of the Redstone Repeater.

Flowing Water
The flowing water block tells the game to check for any air blocks around it and put some water into them if applicable. When placed using a water bucket or a mod it will flow 8 blocks in Survival/Hardcore mode and 10 blocks in Creative mode.

Flowing Lava
The flowing lava block tells the game to check for any air blocks around it and put some lava into them if applicable. Lava flows for 4 blocks in overworld and 8 in the Nether (flowing the same distance as water, but still at the speed of lava).

Trivia

 * Even when a source block is destroyed, lava keeps flowing for quite some time.

Farmland
Farmland is a block on which seeds (melon, pumpkin, wheat) can be planted and grown, and it is made by using a Hoe on Dirt or Grass. If farmland is within four blocks of water it gradually becomes hydrated. Rain will also randomly hydrate farmland blocks. If left dry and unplanted, a farmland block will eventually turn back to dirt, and then regrow its grass. A farmland block's damage value specifies its hydration level - the more hydrated it is, the darker its appearance, and as it dries out it becomes lighter again.

Wheat Stalks
This block appears when seeds are planted on farmland.

Pumpkin Stem
The block that is planted on farmland when pumpkin seeds are used on it. It starts off-set under-ground, and rises up as the plant grows, as opposed to the method wheat seeds uses, where each growth stage is an individual texture. The stem is coloured green by the game, and then brown once fully grown.

The stem will change to the second image once a pumpkin has grown off the stem. A single stem will connect to any Pumpkin in an adjacent square, thus there are 5 possible appearances to a stem. When the pumpkin is removed, the stem will return to its original image.

A single pumpkin will grow off a full grown stem at a time, but once that pumpkin is removed, another can grow in its place.

Destroying a fully-grown stem yields 0-3 pumpkin seeds.

Melon Stem
The block that is planted on farmland when melon seeds are used on it. The colouring and growth method is the same as the Pumpkin Stem's.

The stem will change to the second image once a melon has grown off the stem. A single stem will connect to any Melon in an adjacent square, thus there are 4 possible appearances to a stem with a melon on it and 1 without. When the melon is removed, the stem will return to its original image.

A single melon will grow off a full grown stem at a time, but once that melon is removed, another can grow in its place.

Destroying a fully-grown stem yields 0-4 melon seeds.

Block 97
Block 97 (sometimes called Silverfish Block) is a block that may look like a Stone block, a Cobblestone block, or a Stone Brick block, but is actually a block that when destroyed will spawn a Silverfish. The block is easily destroyed by hand, distinguishing it from regular blocks. If you attack a Silverfish directly with a sword, a bow or a potion of harming (but not poison), nearby Block 97 will break, spawning other aggressive Silverfish. Mining a block 97 with a Silk Touch enchantment gives the player the type of block that the block 97 was disguised as. When obtained with an inventory editor, Block 97 has the tooltip "Silverfish Block". If the block is destroyed by an explosion from Creepers, TNT or fireballs from ghasts, the silverfish dies inside of the block, giving no experience points. The Ender Dragon can also destroy Block 97, preventing a silverfish from spawning; it can only be destroyed by the player or when a silverfish near it takes damage from the player. Block 97 can be made in creative mode by placing a stone block, and right clicking on it with a silverfish spawn egg. The block will then contain one silverfish until broken. Attempting to add more silverfish into the block will result in the silverfish spawning normally. In order for the block to spawn silverfish naturally, it must be spawned in a Stronghold.

Nether Portal
Nether Portal blocks are generated when a portal is formed, standing in them will teleport the player from The Overworld to the Nether and vice versa. However, they disappear when a block is placed next to it. In creative mode you can break this block and it will play the glass breaking sound. The Portal Block (without the frame) can not be obtained by any means, except with the use of mods or the /give command on a server. Its animated texture is procedurally generated, like water or lava.



End Portal Frame
End Portal Frame is a block that can be found in Strongholds. It resembles an End Stone with a decorative bluish-green top, with sides decorated in hollow rounded rectangles with the same color as the top. They are found in a 12 block ring shape within a room over a pool of lava and a staircase containing a Silverfish spawner. They are one of few blocks that are not available in the creative mode inventory.

Uses
Some of the blocks have an Eye of Ender inserted into it. Using other Eyes of Ender on the rest of the blocks inserts them to the top of the blocks. Once an Eye of Ender has been inserted in all 12 Frame blocks, then the Ender Portal will activate and the player can pass through to access The End. Additionally, like Bedrock, the frame blocks are only destructible in Creative Mode; they may not be mined or broken with tools or explosions.

History
Prior to Beta 1.9 Pre-release 4, End Portal Frames used to have a different texture, emitted a blue shaded light at level 15, and was non-solid block when cracked, becoming solid when repaired. Although it could not be mined, an explosion caused it to drop itself. They had no tooltip, indicating that them dropping at all was a bug. The player had to repair a cracked End Portal Frame by right clicking it with an Eye of Ender.

Before Beta 1.9 Pre-release 4 it had luminance of 15.

Trivia

 * Unlike Nether Portals, breaking an End Portal Frame will not disable the portal itself.
 * Like Bedrock, End Portal Frames are indestructible without the use of Creative mode or mods.

End Portal
The End Portal is a block that will teleport the player into The End dimension. It looks like a hole to a three-dimensional void with layers of blue and greenish stars, and emits light and black smoke particles. Only the top and the sides of the block are technically visible, and the bottom side is transparent‏. In addition, the bottom and top cannot be passed through, although the sides can be. The collision box for this block takes up the lower 1/16th of the block, similar to Snow.

Trivia

 * The End Portal is technically the only block without a conventional texture, or entity texture; it uses the same image as the background of The End, with an additional effect added on top.
 * When the End Portal is destroyed, it releases grey particles, because it uses the uncolored grass texture as its base texture, and then covers it with its "real" texture.
 * Unlike a Nether Portal, the player is instantly teleported to The End. As such, the player has no time to fall into the lava below the portal.
 * As of Beta 1.9 Pre-release 4, End Portal blocks can be destroyed in Creative Mode. This does not affect the effects of adjacent End Portal blocks.
 * If the Portal is viewed from underneath it will be invisible, allowing you to see through the portal.
 * If a player moves from an End Portal Frame (which does not have an Eye of Ender in it) onto a Soul Sand block placed on the sides of an End Portal Frame, they will briefly sink an extra distance while crossing over.
 * If TNT is detonated on an end portal no blocks in its blast radius will be destroyed the same as if TNT is detonated in water.
 * Passing the End Portal while riding a minecart will not teleport you to the end, instead you will simply pass through the portal straight into the lava below, because the portal does not check for riding entities, but only the hitting entity itself.
 * When a player properly passes through an End Portal, they maintain their vertical speed. Jumping from a very tall height into an End Portal usually results in massive fall damage (and usually death) when they land on the Obsidian panel that is created at the spawn point.
 * In multiplayer, hacked end portal frames making an end portal will disconnect the player because they "moved too fast", and when they respawn, they will spawn in an empty end above the void with no obsidian plate, falling in the void.

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