Reason: The behavior is incomplete, as it also depends on what the falling block lands on. Also, there are differences between versions.
A falling block is the entity form of block that appears when a gravity-affected block loses its support.
Spawning
Falling blocks naturally spawn where gravity-affected blocks lose their base of support. These blocks include:
- Anvil
- Concrete Powder
- Dragon Egg
- Gravel
- Red Sand
- Sand
- Scaffolding
- Snow layer[Bedrock Edition only]
- Pointed Dripstone [upcoming: Lua error in Module:Version_link at line 112: attempt to concatenate local 'text' (a nil value).]
Although the same appearance as its corresponding block and affected by gravity, the primed TNT entity is not a falling block.
If cheats are enabled, falling block entities can be spawned using the command /summon. By tweaking the BlockState NBT tag, it is possible to summon a falling block entity that normally does not fall as a block, such as dirt or stone, although it will have the same behavior as a naturally spawned falling block.
Behavior
A falling block continues falling until it lands on another block with a solid top surface. If it lands with the bottom center of its hitbox on a replaceable block (grass, water, vines, air, etc.) then the falling block returns to its block state. Otherwise, it breaks and drops as an item.
Like most other entities, falling blocks are affected by explosions and bubble columns, can be launched by a moving slime block, can be pushed by pistons, can be slowed down by cobwebs, and can slide down the side of a honey block. However, they do not bounce on a stationary slime block and can neither be pushed nor slowed down by water or lava.[verify]
Falling blocks pass through most entities without colliding with them, although projectiles such as arrows bounce off them. They do not have health, cannot be attacked and do not take damage. They are also immune to all status effects.
Commands such as /data[Java Edition only] can change the moving and facing directions of a falling block, although there are no in-game mechanics that can alter a falling block's facing direction. They can be removed with the /kill command.
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Falling Block | falling_block | entity.minecraft.falling_block |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falling Block | falling_block | 66 | entity.falling_block.name |
Entity data
- Dynamic block entity data
- Tags common to all entities
- BlockState: The falling block represented by this entity.
- Name: The resource location of the block.
- Properties: Optional. The block states of the block.
- Name: The block state name and its value.
- CancelDrop: 1 or 0 (true/false). Whether the block will be cancelled from being placed when it lands on a solid block. When true, it also prevents the block from dropping as an item (regardless of what the
DropItemtag is set to). However, if true and the falling block'sTimetag goes to 0 before landing on a solid block, it will still destroy itself and drop itself as an item (or not, respective to what theDropItemtag is set to).CancelDropdefaults to false for summoned and naturally occurring falling blocks. - DropItem: 1 or 0 (true/false) – true if the block should drop as an item when it breaks. Any block that does not have an item form with the same ID as the block does not drop even if this is set.
- FallHurtAmount: Multiplied by the
FallDistanceto calculate the amount of damage to inflict. By default this value is 2
for anvils, and 6

for pointed dripstone. - FallHurtMax: The maximum hit points of damage to inflict on entities that intersect this falling block. For vanilla falling blocks, always 40
× 20. - HurtEntities: 1 or 0 (true/false) – true if the block should hurt entities it falls on.
- TileEntityData: Optional. The tags of the block entity for this block.
- Time: The number of ticks the entity has existed. When
Timegoes above 600, or above 100 while the block is below Y=1 or is outside building height, the entity is deleted.
History
| Java Edition Infdev | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20100618 | Added falling block entity with the ID FallingSand, although it affects gravel as well. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6 | Added dragon eggs, which create falling blocks. | |||
| 1.4.2 | 12w41a | Added anvils, which create falling blocks. | |||
| 1.7.2 | 13w39a | Added red sand, which creates falling blocks. | |||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID has been changed from FallingSand to falling_block. | |||
| 1.12 | 17w06a | Added concrete powder, which creates falling blocks. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w45a | Added scaffolding, which creates falling blocks. | |||
| Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
| 1.17 | 20w48a | Added pointed dripstone, which creates falling blocks if the block above it gets destroyed while the pointed dripstone is a stalactite. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.6.0 | Sand and gravel are now affected by gravity with the addition of falling blocks. | ||||
| v0.8.0 | build 8 | Falling blocks now drop their item form when falling onto blocks they cannot replace. | |||
| v0.9.0 | build 1 | Added red sand, which creates falling blocks. | |||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Added anvils, which create falling blocks. | |||
| Snow now creates falling blocks. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Added dragon eggs, which create falling blocks. | |||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Added concrete powder, which creates falling blocks. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.8.0 | beta 1.8.0.8 | Added scaffolding, which creates falling blocks. | |||
| Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.17.0 | beta 1.16.210.56 | Added pointed dripstone, which creates falling blocks if the block above it gets destroyed while the pointed dripstone is a stalactite. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added sand and gravel along with falling blocks. |
| TU9 | Added dragon eggs, which create falling blocks. | ||||
| TU14 | 1.05 | Added anvils, which create falling blocks. | |||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Added red sand. | |
| TU53 | CU43 | 1.49 | Patch 23 | 1.0.3 | Added concrete powder, which creates falling blocks. |
| 1.83 | Added scaffolding, which creates falling blocks. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added falling blocks along with sand, red sand, gravel, and anvils. | ||||
| 1.7.10 | Added dragon eggs, which create falling blocks. | ||||
| 1.9.19 | Added concrete powder, which creates falling blocks. | ||||