Minecraft Wiki

The Minecraft Wiki has moved from Fandom; see the linked discussion page for details.

READ MORE

Minecraft Wiki
Advertisement

Duncan Geere Mojang avatar

Leaves were one of Minecraft's earliest additions, arriving alongside logs, ores and sand way back in 2009 in version 0.0.14a_01. They've changed a lot over time, first being tweaked to drop saplings, then to decay when deprived of their trunk, then to drop apples, then even to have water drip through them when it's raining!

Duncan Geere[1]

Leaves are blocks which grow as part of trees.

Obtaining

Leaves can only be obtained with shears or Silk Touch enchanted tools.

Block Leaves
Hardness 0.2
Breaking time (secs)
Default 0.3
Shears 0.05
Sword 0.2

Natural generation

Leaves occur naturally on trees throughout the Overworld. Oak leaves also generate in woodland mansions.

Usage

Leaves from trees spontaneously decay (disappear) when they receive a block tick, if they are not connected to any wood block, either directly or via other leaf block, with a maximum distance of 4 blocks. Player-placed leaf blocks will never decay.

Leaves which decay or are destroyed without using shears usually drop nothing, but yield saplings 5% (1/20) of the time. Jungle leaves drop saplings 2.5% (1/40) of the time. Oak and dark oak leaves also have a 0.5% (1/200) chance of dropping an apple. Rates are increased by the Fortune enchantment. Leaves that are burned do not yield saplings or apples.

Leaves take on a different shade of green depending on the biome in which they are placed.

Leaves are always transparent to light but cannot be seen through when the graphics mode is set to "Fast"; the transparent regions are instead black. They diffuse sky light, causing the shadows they cast under trees.

Data values

Block data

See also: Data values

Leaves use two different block IDs. They use minecraft:leaves (block 18) for oak, spruce, birch and jungle; and they use minecraft:leaves2 (block 161) for dark oak and acacia. Leaves use block data values to determine their type and state. They also have block states which will replace data values in the future.

Block 18

DV Description
0 Oak Leaves
1 Spruce Leaves
2 Birch Leaves
3 Jungle Leaves
4 Oak Leaves, check for decay
5 Spruce Leaves, check for decay
6 Birch Leaves, check for decay
7 Jungle Leaves, check for decay
8 Oak Leaves, persistent
9 Spruce Leaves, persistent
10 Birch Leaves, persistent
11 Jungle Leaves, persistent
12 Oak Leaves, persistent + check for decay
13 Spruce Leaves, persistent + check for decay
14 Birch Leaves, persistent + check for decay
15 Jungle Leaves, persistent + check for decay

Block 161

DV Description
0 Acacia Leaves
1 Dark Oak Leaves
4 Acacia Leaves, check for decay
5 Dark Oak Leaves, check for decay
8 Acacia Leaves, persistent
9 Dark Oak Leaves, persistent
12 Acacia Leaves, persistent + check for decay
13 Dark Oak Leaves, persistent + check for decay

Block states

See also: Block states

Block 18 (minecraft:leaves) Java Edition:

Name Default value Allowed values Description
distance71
2
3
4
5
6
7
How far away this block is from the nearest log or wood, in taxicab distance.
persistentfalsefalse
true
If the block persists regardless of having no wood nearby.
true for player-placed leaves.
waterloggedfalsefalse
true
Whether or not there's water in the same place as this leaves.

Bedrock Edition:
Leaves:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
old_leaf_type0x1
0x2
oak oak0Oak Leaves
spruce1Spruce Leaves
birch2Birch Leaves
jungle3Jungle Leaves
persistent_bit0x8falsefalse
true
0
1
If the block persists regardless of having no wood nearby.
update_bit0x4falsefalse
true
0
1
If the block checks for nearby wood and decays.

Leaves2:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
new_leaf_type0x1
0x2
acacia acacia0Acacia Leaves
dark_oak1Dark Oak Leaves
persistent_bit0x8falsefalse
true
0
1
If the block persists regardless of having no wood nearby.
update_bit0x4falsefalse
true
0
1
If the block checks for nearby wood and decays.

Azalea leaves and flowering azalea leaves:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
persistent_bitNot Supportedfalsefalse
true
UnsupportedIf the block persists regardless of having no wood nearby.
update_bitNot Supportedfalsefalse
true
UnsupportedIf the block checks for nearby wood and decays.

Block 161 (minecraft:leaves2) Leaves/BS2

History

classic
0.0.14a_01File:LeavesPre0.0.9a.PNG Leaves were first added to the game.
0.0.15aFile:LeavesAlpha.png The texture of leaves was changed.
0.24_06Leaves now drop saplings.
indev
December 23, 2009Leaves give off shadows.
alpha
1.0.6_01Leaves decay again when not connected to the ground or to a tree trunk.
Seecret Friday 9Torches can no longer be placed on tree leaves, but only in fancy mode.
1.2.0File:Leaves.png With the addition of biomes, the color of leaves was changed.
1.2.1Leaf particle colors now reflect the biome instead of the gray scale texture.
1.2.3Re-introduced leaf decay.
1.2.3_01Leaf decay disabled due to an infinite loop in the code.
beta
1.0Reintroduced leaf decay with the new behavior.
1.2Birch Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch and spruce trees introduced. Trees pre-dating this update would include multiple types of leaves, as the data indicating leaf type was previously used for decay calculations.
1.6Many disparities between the properties of leaves in Fast and Fancy graphics have been fixed.
1.7Implemented shears to collect leaves. Before, leaves could only be obtained via inventory hacking, or the /give command in multiplayer.
1.8Leaf blocks placed by the player or an Enderman no longer decay like normal leaves do.
release
1.111w48aOak leaves have a small chance of dropping an apple.
1.2.112w03aJungle Leaves Added jungle leaves. Oak trees pre-dating Beta 1.2 could include some jungle leaves, as the data indicating leaf type had previously been used for decay calculations.
1.3.112w18aJungle leaves have a small chance of dropping cocoa beans.
12w19aJungle leaves no longer drop cocoa beans.
12w21aWater slowly drips through them when it's raining.
1.7.213w43aAcacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia and dark oak leaves were added.
1.1116w39aLeaves now generate in woodland mansions.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0Added leaves.
0.8.0build 2Birch leaves now have the proper texture.
Color of leaves changed.
Added jungle leaves to Creative.
0.9.0build 1Added acacia and dark oak leaves.
Jungle leaves can now be obtained in survival mode as part of jungle trees.
Jungle leaves are now permanently opaque.
Smooth lighting added for leaves.
Leaves will now release spiders, creating a higher amount of spiders in tree-rich biomes at night (version exclusive).
0.12.1build 1Version exclusive: Leaves in snowy biomes now appear frost-covered.
Pocket Edition
1.1build 1Leaves now generate in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.2build 7Jungle leaves are now transparent on higher-end devices when Fancy leaves are turned on.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 1Added leaves.
TU5Leaf blocks placed by the player no longer decay like normal leaves do.
TU9Added birch and spruce leaves.
TU12Added jungle leaves.
TU14 1.04 Water drip particles appear underneath if it's raining.
File:Leaves.PNG

Leaves from the Post Multiplayer Creative Mode Release 0.0.15a. The leaves from this version don't decay when standing by themselves.

Original leaf decay algorithm

In Alpha, leaves would decay using an algorithm that checks whether it has a solid or leaf block underneath it or is adjacent to a solid block. If it doesn't, it must be connected to a leaf block that is also supported as long as it is no further than five blocks away from said support.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • Occasionally, leaves will grow through other blocks, acting as though they are still connected to the tree. They may also completely replace blocks they try to grow into.
  • Leaves do not prevent chests from being opened.
  • Some trees seem to occasionally drop apples or saplings without being destroyed due to creation of leaf blocks not supported by wood.
  • The frost texture in Minecraft: Pocket Edition is not an instant transition. Instead, the leaves slowly shift from their original color to the frosty one.
  • Leaves dissapear when pushed by pistons.

Gallery


  1. "Block of the Week: Leaves" – Minecraft.net, August 18, 2017
Advertisement