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Template:BlockTileEntity

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

The dropper is not available in the Xbox 360 or PS3 editions.

Obtaining

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

Block Hardness Tool Breaking time[A]
Default Wooden Stone Iron Diamond Netherite Golden Shears Sword
Dropper 3.5 17.5 2.65 1.35 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.45
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Crafting

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Cobblestone +
Redstone

Usage

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

To place a dropper, use the "Use Item/Place Block" control (right-click, by default). 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.

To remove a dropper, use the "Attack/Destroy" control (left-click, by default). Removing a dropper by hand takes 17.5 seconds (or much faster with a pickaxe) and it will drop itself as an item as well as any contents.

Container

A dropper has 9 slots of inventory space.

To open the dropper GUI, use the Use Item/Place Block 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 (aka "connectivity" or "indirect power"). 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 (0.1 seconds, barring lag) since its last activation ended.
Behavior
When activated, a dropper ejects one item from its inventory. If multiple slots are occupied by items, a random occupied slot will be chosen for ejection.
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 the player had used the Drop control.
A delay of 2 redstone ticks (0.2 seconds, barring lag) occurs between when the dropper is activated and when it ejects an item. However, the dropper doesn't decide which item to eject until the moment it ejects it, and can even eject an item that was moved into the dropper during the delay.
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").

Data values

Main article: Data values

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

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

Every dropper has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the dropper:

  • Block entity data
    • Tags common to all block entities
    •  CustomName: Optional. The name of this container in JSON text component, which appears in its GUI where the default name ordinarily appears.
    •  Items: List of items in this 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
    •  Lock: Optional. When not blank, prevents the container from being opened unless the opener is holding an item whose name matches this string.
    •  LootTable: Optional. Loot table to be used to fill the dropper when it is next opened, or the items are otherwise interacted with.[note 1]
    •  LootTableSeed: Optional. Seed for generating the loot table. 0 or omitted uses a random seed.[note 1]
    •  Lunar: Exists only in the april fools snapshot 23w13a_or_b. Optional. When set to any full number from -128 to 127, turns it to a lunar base dropper, and placing light or heavy pressure plate on top of it will create the lunar base structure.
  1. a b Both loot table tags get removed once the items have been generated.

Block state

See also: Block states

Dropper/BS

Video

Dropper/video

History

1st image of new Dispenser slash dropper Placement

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

File:13w03 banner.png

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

release
1.5Tropical fish also have assigned names that can be seen after capture. In Java Edition, the smaller text under the item name is displayed showing the fish name, similar to the text that displays enchantments under enchanted items. In Bedrock Edition, the item name is displayed showing "Bucket of <fish name>". Their colors are mostly named according to the colored block names, though with a few exceptions:
  • White
  • Silver
  • Gray
  • Black
  • Brown
  • Red
  • Orange
  • Yellow
  • Lime
  • Green
  • Teal
  • Sky
  • Blue
  • Plum
  • Magenta
  • Rose

The base color comes first, and if the pattern color is different, it comes after that. Lastly, the fish bucket is given a name according to the shape and pattern of the fish:

Flopper Glitter Betty
Stripey Blockfish Clayfish
Tropical Fish Patterns
Kob Snooper Brinely
SunStreak Dasher Spotty

Some tropical fish don't follow the normal naming system, and instead, reference real-life fish species. Apart from these names, these types of fish aren't different from regular tropical fish in terms of design or behavior.

These varieties are:

Name Type
Anemone Orange-Gray Stripey
Black Tang Gray Flopper
Blue Dory ‌[Bedrock Edition only] Gray-Sky SunStreak
Blue Tang ‌[Java Edition only] Gray-Blue Flopper
Butterfly Fish ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Butterflyfish ‌[Java Edition only] White-Gray Clayfish
Cichlid Blue-Gray SunStreak
Clownfish Orange-White Kob
Cotton Candy Betta Rose-Sky Spotty
Dottyback Plum-Yellow Blockfish
Emperor Red Snapper White-Red Clayfish
Goatfish White-Yellow Spotty
Moorish Idol White-Gray Glitter
Ornate Butterfly ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Ornate Butterflyfish ‌[Java Edition only] White-Orange Clayfish
Parrotfish Teal-Rose Dasher
Queen Angel Fish ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Queen Angelfish ‌[Java Edition only] Lime-Sky Brinely
Red Cichlid Red-White Betty
Red Lipped Blenny Gray-Red Snooper
Red Snapper Red-White Blockfish
Threadfin White-Yellow Flopper
Tomato Clown ‌[Bedrock Edition only] Red-White SunStreak
Tomato Clownfish ‌[Java Edition only] Red-White Kob
Triggerfish Gray-White SunStreak
Yellowtail Parrot ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Yellowtail Parrotfish ‌[Java Edition only] Teal-Yellow Dasher
Yellow Tang Yellow Flopper
13w03aAdded droppers.
13w04aDroppers can now face all six directions.
Changed dropper crafting recipe (removed hopper).
13w10bActivated droppers now do not fire if they receive a block update.

Issues

Issues relating to "Dropper" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.


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