Crawling is a feature[1][2] that prevents the player from suffocating when inside small gaps. Crawling covers a pose which occurs when the player is in an area less than 1.5 blocks high.
Entering crawling
In Bedrock Edition, it is only possible to enter crawling by exiting swimming mode in a one-block-high space, resulting in a glitched animation. You can do this in Legacy Console edition too, but only if you keep sprinting.[3]
In Java Edition, crawling can be initiated in any way that causes the player's head to intersect a block in such a way that the area underneath the block is less than 1.5 blocks. For example:
- Closing a trapdoor on the player
- Closing a fence when it is at the same altitude as the player's head
- Using a piston to push a block into the player
- Exiting swimming mode in a one-block-high space
- Exiting elytra mode in a one-block-high space
- Having a tree grow over a player
- Having a shulker box push you down
- Getting off a pig with a saddle if it's under a one-block-high space
- Having a boat land on your head. Honey blocks make this easier to replicate
In these circumstances, the player automatically switches to a crawling state. When enough space opens up above the player's head, the player automatically exits this state and begins standing again. When crawling, the player travels slower than normal.[more information needed] The sneaking state gives the player identical dimensions to standing. In the crawling form, the player is reduced to 0.625 blocks tall, or 5⁄8 of a block, meaning that they can crawl over blocks 0.375 blocks tall, or 3⁄8 blocks tall, the height of a daylight sensor.
History
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9 | 15w41a | With the advent of elytra, a position similar to crawling becomes possible. The animation is glitched. | |||
| 1.13 | 18w07a | Actual swimming is added, which allows the player to access this position easier. The animation is still glitched. | |||
| ? | Fixed the animation under opaque solid blocks. The player still visually stands up underneath transparent blocks, though. | ||||
| 18w22a | Fixed the animation under transparent blocks.[4] | ||||
| pre5 | The animation is broken again. | ||||
| pre6 | Fixed the animation again.[4] | ||||
| 1.13.1 | 18w30a | The animation is broken. | |||
| 1.14 | 19w14a | Crawling is now fixed. | |||
| The player now automatically enters crawling mode when they intersect a block. | |||||
| 19w14b | Only the top half of the player is checked for the collision to enter crawling, rather than the whole body. | ||||
| Pre-Release 4 | Crawling speed has been reduced. | ||||
| It is no longer possible to sprint while crawling. | |||||
Trivia
- Crawling was known simply as suffocation prevention as the technical behavior implied that before the crawling name was official.[1]
References
- ↑ a b "How Crawling Came to Minecraft" by Henrik Kniberg. Minecraft.net, July 21, 2020
- ↑ ""I'm sorry Steve. It's for science!"" – @henrikkniberg on X, April 2, 2019
- ↑ PE-46794 — "Players can swim through 1x1 tunnels without water (crawling?)" — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ a b MC-129863

