Blocking



Blocking is a gameplay mechanic. When the player holds the right mouse button while wielding a sword, he or she will be able to block attacks, including arrows and explosions; blocked attacks deal only half damage. This also extends to fall damage. This allows for players to fall up to 45 blocks without dying instead of the usual 22. Note this only works when the player is blocking when they are landing on the block after the fall. Blocking works with any sword, and does not decrease the sword's durability.

The player moves at a speed slower than the speed of sneaking when blocking while moving.

History
Blocking is a feature implemented in the Adventure Update. Players used to be able to float faster when blocking while swimming underwater, and attacking while blocking used to only register when the player let go of the block button.

Bugs

 * If you press the attack and block button at the same time, the weapon seems to shake.
 * If you hold the attack and block button whilst in 3rd person perspective, the sword appears to go through the players head. This is easier to view when facing the front of the player.

Trivia
The blocking movement complemented with the sneaking mechanic is the gradable opposition of the sprinting mechanic.

Blocking allows for the slowest movements possible in Minecraft. This can occur when the player blocks, sneaks, and moves backward while under the effect of the slowness potion while going through cobwebs placed on top of Soul Sand that is placed on top of ice. This causes the player to move at about 1/32 blocks a second,(needs recalculation after new additions) or 1/2 pixel a second on a default 16x16 texture pack. Blocking while sneaking and with the additional events (but without slowness potion) allows lets the player go at roughly 2.38549618320 x 10-2 blocks per second.

While the slowest possible movement utilizes the blocking mechanic and sneaking, the fastest possible movement in Minecraft Beta 1.8 utilizes the sprinting mechanic. This movement can occur when the player sprints and jumps while in a 2-block high space/tunnel on top of ice. This causes the player to move at about 16 blocks per second.