Dirt is a block found abundantly in most biomes under a layer of grass blocks at the top of the Overworld.
Obtaining[]
Natural generation[]
Dirt comprises the majority of the upper terrain layers in most Overworld biomes, bridging the gap between stone and grass blocks in various thicknesses.
There are approximately 1,850 dirt blocks per chunk in plains, forest, snowy plains, jungle, and windswept hills biomes. In villages, dirt generates naturally as part of several different structures. In woodland mansions, dirt generates in several types of rooms. Four blocks of dirt also generates as part of each ancient city and they also generate in trail ruins.
Dirt can also appear in the Overworld in the form of ore blobs. It attempts to generate seven times within each chunk as blobs ranging in size from 0-160 at Y=0—160, across all biomes. Moreover, it has the capability to replace stone, granite, andesite, diorite, polished granite[BE only], polished andesite[BE only], polished diorite[BE only], tuff[JE only], and deepslate[JE only].
Breaking[]
Dirt drops as an item when broken with any tool or by hand, but a shovel is the quickest way to break it.
Block | Dirt | |
---|---|---|
Hardness | 0.5 | |
Tool | ||
Breaking time[A] | ||
Default | 0.75 | |
Wooden | 0.4 | |
Stone | 0.2 | |
Iron | 0.15 | |
Diamond | 0.1 | |
Netherite | 0.1 | |
Golden | 0.1 |
- ↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.
Farmland, dirt paths, grass blocks, mycelium, and podzol drop dirt if broken without Silk Touch. Farmland and dirt paths[JE only] drop dirt even if broken with Silk Touch.
Mob loot[]
An enderman drops a dirt block upon death, if holding one.
Post-generation[]
Farmland turns into dirt if either a mob jumps on it, a solid block is placed over it, or if nothing is planted on it and it is not within four blocks of water.
Dirt paths immediately turns into dirt if a solid block is placed over it.
Coarse dirt can be tilled with a hoe to become dirt.
Tilling rooted dirt with a hoe turns it into normal dirt, and yields a hanging roots item.
Grass blocks and mycelium can die under various circumstances. When they die, they turn into dirt.
Renewable acquisition[]
By tilling coarse dirt, the player can convert gravel into dirt. Two blocks each of gravel and dirt become four blocks of coarse dirt, which can then be placed and tilled. Since gravel is renewable through bartering with piglins, this makes a renewable source of dirt.
Another way to obtain renewable dirt makes use of moss blocks. Azalea converts the moss block below it into rooted dirt when grown into a tree. In Java Edition, Large spruce trees convert up to about 100 moss blocks into podzol when grown. Since moss can be converted from stone using bone meal, and stone can be renewably generated with water and lava, dirt can be renewably created as long as there is access to water, lava and moss blocks.
A third way to obtain renewable dirt is by buying podzol or rooted dirt from wandering traders. However, only 18 blocks of podzol or 10 blocks of rooted dirt can be purchased from each trader, so this method cannot be performed on a large scale.
Usage[]
Dirt's primary use is for farming, but it can also be used as a highly available building block.
Crafting ingredient[]
Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
---|---|---|
Coarse Dirt | Dirt + Gravel |
Farming[]
Dirt has the ability to grow saplings, sugar cane, mushrooms, sweet berries, and bamboo, which can be planted directly in dirt under appropriate conditions.
Using a hoe on dirt turns it into farmland, enabling wheat seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, potatoes, carrots, beetroot seeds, pitcher pods, and torchflower seeds to be planted on it.
Dirt path[]
Using a shovel on dirt turns it into a dirt path.
Grass and mycelium spreading[]
When a dirt block is adjacent to a grass block and is exposed to a light level of at least 4, it is eventually converted into a grass block at random intervals.
Mycelium spreads in a similar fashion, but requires a light level of at least 9.
Mud[]
Using a water bottle, splash water bottle or lingering water bottle will convert the dirt into mud.
Sounds[]
Generic[]
Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
None[sound 1] | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | None[sound 1] | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
Blocks | When the block is placed | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.17 | 0.5 | |
Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.3 | 1.0 | |
Players | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.1 | 1.0 | |
Players | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.17 | 1.0 |
Unique[]
Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Splashing | Blocks | When a player creates a mud block | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Bottle empties | Blocks | When a player or dispenser creates a mud block | item | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Shovel flattens | Blocks | When a shovel creates a dirt path | item | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 |
Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Players | When a player | random | 1.0 | 0.6-1.4 | |
Sound | When a player creates a mud block | bottle | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
Blocks | When a shovel creates a dirt path [sound 2] | use | 1.0 | 0.8 |
Data values[]
ID[]
Name | Identifier | Form | Block tags | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dirt | dirt | Block & Item | bamboo_plantable_on enderman_holdable dripstone_replaceable_blocks moss_replaceable lush_ground_replaceable mineable/shovel dirt #sniffer_diggable_block | block.minecraft.dirt |
Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Item ID[i 1] | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dirt | dirt | 3 | Block & Giveable Item[i 2] | Identical[i 3] | tile.dirt.default.name |
Block states[]
In Bedrock Edition, dirt uses the following block states:
Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits |
Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
dirt_type | 0x1 | normal
| normal | 0 | Dirt |
coarse | 1 | Coarse Dirt |
History[]
Java Edition pre-Classic | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
rd-20090515 | Added dirt. | ||||
Grass spreads to dirt when under light. | |||||
Java Edition Classic | |||||
0.24 SURVIVAL TEST | Grass blocks and dirt now drop dirt when broken. | ||||
Java Edition Indev | |||||
? | Dirt now uses a sound distinct from grass. | ||||
20100206 | Dirt can now be tilled with a hoe into farmland. | ||||
Java Edition Infdev | |||||
20100617-2 | Dirt and gravel now generate naturally as ore features underground. | ||||
Java Edition Beta | |||||
1.8 | Pre-release | Dirt now generates naturally in villages and mineshafts. | |||
Java Edition | |||||
1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease | Mycelium has been introduced, and now spreads to dirt. | |||
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5 | The texture of dirt has been changed. Dirt now has a slightly different arrangement of grains around the sides. | ||||
1.1 | 12w01a | Dirt is now generating in Superflat world type. | |||
1.2.1 | 12w07a | Player is now unable to till dirt with hoe when there is block on top of the dirt. | |||
1.4.2 | 12w38a | Dirt has been given new sounds for being placed and walked upon. | |||
1.8 | 14w27b | Dirt's textures now rotate randomly due to the addition of arrays to the block model format. | |||
1.11 | 16w39a | Dirt now generates in mansions. | |||
1.14 | 19w05a | Dirt is now renewable due to the wandering trader selling podzol. | |||
1.16 | 20w07a | As gravel has become renewable through piglin bartering, dirt can be more easily and renewably obtained through crafting and tilling coarse dirt. | |||
1.17 | 20w45a | A shovel can now be used on dirt to create a dirt path block. | |||
21w06a | The height limit was expanded down to Y=-64. Dirt blobs are temporary generating from Y=-64 instead of Y=0. | ||||
21w07a | Dirt ore features no longer generate below Y=0, but more common than in pre 21w06a versions. | ||||
21w15a | All the changes to dirt blob generation in the previous 1.17 snapshots have been reverted, but they can be re-enabled with the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack. | ||||
1.18 | Experimental Snapshot 1 | Dirt blob once again generates the way it did in the 1.17 snapshots without the use of a data pack. | |||
21w37a | Dirt no longer generates as part of the starting room in mineshafts.[1][2] | ||||
21w39a | Dirt blobs no longer generate above Y=160, and becomes rarer than before. Before, the spawn attempt is 15 times per chunk. | ||||
1.19 | 22w11a | Using a water bottle, splash water bottle or lingering water bottle now convert dirt into mud. | |||
22w13a | Dirt now generates as part of ancient cities. | ||||
1.20 (Experimental) | 23w07a | Sniffers can now dig dirt. | |||
1.20 | 23w12a | Dirt now generates in trail ruins. | |||
23w16a | The amount of dirt in trail ruins has been tweaked. | ||||
The game's application icon has been changed from crafting table to dirt (for snapshots). | |||||
Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
Pre-release | Added dirt. | ||||
v0.2.0 | The texture of dirt has been changed. | ||||
v0.4.0 | Dirt can now be hoed into farmland. | ||||
v0.8.0 | build 1 | The textures of dirt are now randomly rotated. | |||
v0.9.0 | build 1 | Grassless dirt has been added. | |||
v0.11.0 | build 1 | Dirt can now be obtained by breaking grass path blocks. | |||
Pocket Edition | |||||
1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Dirt now generates in woodland mansions. | |||
Bedrock Edition | |||||
1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | Grassless dirt has been replaced with coarse dirt. | |||
1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Dirt is now renewable. | |||
1.18.0 | beta 1.18.0.20 | Dirt blob generation has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition. | |||
beta 1.18.0.21 | Dirt blobs no longer generate above Y=160, and becomes rarer than before. Before, the spawn attempt is 15 times per chunk. | ||||
Legacy Console Edition | |||||
TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added dirt. |
TU3 | The texture of dirt has been changed. | ||||
New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
1.0.0 | Added dirt. |
Data history[]
Java Edition | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.8 | 14w10a | Dirt with numerical metadata variants 3 through 15, which are inaccessible through normal gameplay, now have no model rather than appearing identical to dirt. | ||||||||||||||||
14w25a | Dirt and its variants are now defined via block states rather than by numerical metadata. Prior to this version, the numerical metadata variants of dirt were as follows:
| |||||||||||||||||
14w26a | Dirt with metadata values 3 through 15 have now been completely removed from the game. | |||||||||||||||||
1.13 | 17w47a | The different variant block states for the dirt ID have been split up into their own IDs.
| ||||||||||||||||
Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 3. |
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Dirt" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "[MC-215876] Dirt can generate below y=0 from mineshafts - Jira" – Mojira, February 17, 2021.
- ↑ "[MC-238311] Mineshaft dirt rooms above y=0 no longer generates with dirt - Jira" – Mojira, October 4, 2021.
External Links[]
- Block of the Week: Dirt – Minecraft.net on February 23, 2018