Dropper

Dropper

Type	Solid Block
Requirements	?
Physics	No
Transparency	No
Luminance	No
Blast resistance	3.5
Hardness	3.5
Tool
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	No
First appearances	See History
Drops	Dropper (1) plus contents
Block Entity ID	dropper
Data values	See Data values
Name	dropper

The dropper is a block that can be used to eject items, or push items into another container.

Obtaining

Droppers can be mined using any pickaxe. If mined without a pickaxe, it will drop nothing.

Block	Dropper
Hardness	3.5
Tool
Breaking time
Hand	17.5
Wooden	2.65
Stone	1.35
Iron	0.9
Diamond	0.7
Golden	0.45

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Cobblestone + Redstone

Usage

A dropper can be used as a container or as a redstone component to move items.

To place a dropper, use the Place Block control. A dropper can be placed so that its output faces in any direction, including up or down. When placed, the dropper's output will face in the direction it was placed from.

A dropper cannot be moved by pistons,^{[Computer and Console editions]} and water and lava will flow around a dropper.

Container

A dropper has 9 slots of inventory space.

To open the dropper GUI, use the Use Item control. To move items between the dropper inventory and the player inventory or hotbar while the dropper GUI is open, drag or shift-click the items. To exit the dropper GUI, use the Esc control.

By default, the GUI of a dropper is labeled "Dropper". A dropper's GUI label can be changed by naming the dropper in an anvil before placing it, or by using the blockdata command (for example, to label a dropper at (0,64,0) "Alice's Dropper", use blockdata 0 64 0 {CustomName:"Alice's Dropper"}).

A dropper can be "locked" (or subsequently unlocked) by setting the dropper's Lock tag with the blockdata command. If a dropper's Lock tag is not blank, the dropper cannot be accessed except by players holding an item with the same name as the Lock tag's text. For example, to lock a dropper at (0,64,0) so that only players holding an item named "Alice's Key" can access the dropper, use blockdata 0 64 0 {Lock:"Alice's Key"}.

Redstone component

See also: Redstone circuit

A dropper can be used to eject items, or push items into another container.

Activation

A dropper can be activated by:

• an adjacent active power component (Exceptions: a redstone torch will not turn ON a dropper it is attached to)
• an adjacent powered opaque block (strongly-powered or weakly-powered)
• a powered redstone repeater or redstone comparator facing the dropper
• powered redstone dust configured to point at the dropper, or on top of it, or a directionless "dot" next to it; a dropper is not activated by adjacent powered redstone dust which is configured to point in another direction.

In addition to the methods above, droppers can also be activated by quasi-connectivity. A dropper will be activated if one of the methods above would activate a mechanism component in the block above the dropper, even if there is no mechanism component there (even if the block above the dropper is air or a transparent block), but only when the dropper receives a block update (including a redstone update within two blocks of the dropper).

A dropper will not activate if it has been less than 1 redstone tick (2 game ticks, or 0.1 seconds barring lag) since its last activation ended.

Behavior

When activated, a dropper waits 2 redstone ticks (4 game ticks, or 0.2 seconds barring lag) and then ejects one item from its inventory. The dropper does not continue to eject items while activated -- ejection occurs only on the initial activation (the rising edge of an input signal). To eject multiple items, repeatedly activate the dropper with a clock circuit.

If multiple slots are occupied by items, a random occupied slot will be chosen for ejection. The slot is chosen when an item is ejected, not when the dropper is initially activated, thus it is possible to move items into or out of a dropper between its activation and item dispensing.

If the dropper is facing a container, the ejected item will be transferred into the container. Otherwise, the item is ejected in the direction the dropper is facing, as if a player had used the Drop control.

A dropper makes a clicking noise (the random.click sound event) when activated empty or when ejecting items into air, but is silent when it successfully transfers an item into another container.

A dropper is an opaque block, so powering it directly can cause adjacent mechanism components (including other droppers) to activate as well.

A line of droppers, each pushing items into the next dropper, is known as a dropper pipe. A dropper pipe must be clocked to move items, but can be clocked to move items faster than a hopper pipe's transfer rate. When a dropper pipe pushes items upwards, it is known as a droppervator (short for "dropper elevator").

See also: Tutorials/Item_elevator§ Dropper

Data values

A dropper has a numeric ID of 158 in the PC edition, and 125 in the Pocket Edition.

A dropper has an ID name of minecraft:dropper, and is further defined by its block data and block entity. A dropper also has a block state which is expected to replace the functionality of block data in a future version.

Block data

See also: Data values

A dropper's block data specifies its orientation and activation status:

Bits	Values
0x1 0x2 0x4	A three-bit field storing a value from 0 to 5 specifying which direction the dropper is facing: 0: Dropper facing down 1: Dropper facing up 2: Dropper facing north 3: Dropper facing south 4: Dropper facing west 5: Dropper facing east
0x8	Set if dropper is activated.

Block entity

See also: Block entity format

A dropper has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block. The block's block entity ID is dropper.

• Block entity data
  • Tags common to all block entities see Template:Nbt inherit/blockentity/template
  •  CustomName: Optional. The name of this container, which will display in its GUI where the default name ordinarily is.
  •  Lock: Optional. When not blank, prevents the container from being opened unless the opener is holding an item whose name matches this string.
  •  Items: List of items in the container.
    • : An item, including the slot tag. Dropper slots are numbered 0-8 with 0 in the top left corner.
      • Tags common to all items see Template:Nbt inherit/item/template
  •  LootTable: Optional. Loot table to be used to fill the dropper when it is next opened, or the items are otherwise interacted with.
  •  LootTableSeed: Optional. Seed for generating the loot table. 0 or omitted will use a random seed.

Block state

See also: Block states

Name	Value	Description
facing	north south east west up down	The direction in which the dropper will drop items. The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the dropper.
triggered	true false	True when the dropper is activated.

History

Official release
1.5		13w03a		Added droppers.
		13w04a		Droppers can now face all six directions.
				Changed dropper crafting recipe (removed hopper).
		13w10b		Activated droppers now do not fire if they receive a block update.
1.9.1		pre1		Droppers now can use loot tables.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.14.0		build 1		Added droppers.
0.15.0		build 1		Droppers can now be moved by pistons.
Console Edition
TU19	CU7	1.12	Patch 1	Added droppers.

Gallery

• 

  The first image of droppers (bottom) released by Mojang.

• 13w03 banner.png

  The 13w03a banner featuring a dropper and a minecart with hopper.

Issues

Issues relating to “Dropper” are maintained on the issue tracker. Report issues there.

Blocks

View at: Template:Blocks/content [edit]