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This article is about the vanilla piston. For the mod, see mods/Pistons.

Pistons are blocks capable of pushing or pulling adjacent blocks, depending on the direction they face. The original version of this feature was a mod posted on the Minecraft Forums by Hippoplatimus.[1] Pistons were added in version 1.7, along with Sticky Pistons.


Functionality

Pistons are slightly altered from the original mod; for example. While the original Piston Mod could propel gravity-affected blocks, as well as entities and mobs several meters vertically or horizontally, vanilla Pistons do not.[2] However, if a gravity-affected block is sitting on an upward-facing piston, and the piston retracts, the block will fall.

Pistons cannot move blocks like obsidian and bedrock to avoid abuse, and any blocks with tile entities,[3] as moving blocks are stored as tile entities on the piston.[4]

Piston functions include:

  • Pushing (and pulling if sticky) at least 1 block, and at most 12.[5] Pulling will always only pull 1 block, while pushing will push between 1 and 12 blocks.[6]
  • Moving the player and other mobs, as well as entities.
  • The ability to toggle fluid flows like a flood gate.
  • Redstone triggered, so that en masse automated block is possible (e.g. piston walls and retractable bridges).
  • Pistons can be moved by other pistons, but only when the piston is not extended.


A basic demonstration on the functionality of pistons can be seen here:

Crafting

Ingredients Input » Output Description
Wooden Planks
+
Cobblestone
+
Iron Ingots
+
Redstone (Dust)
Template:Grid/Crafting Table Used to push blocks. Tutorial

As a Crafting Ingredient

Ingredients Input » Output Description
Slimeball + Piston Template:Grid/Crafting Table Used to push/pull blocks. Tutorial

Trivia

  • Leaf blocks are destroyed when pushed by a piston
  • A maximum of 12 blocks can be pushed by one piston

Bugs

  • When gravity-affected blocks are pushed over a hole in the ground and quickly pulled back again (or pushed away with another piston), a duplicate block appears in the hole.
  • Pushing a rose with a Piston causes the game to crash with a "Saving Chunks..." screen, and may also corrupt your world.
  • Pistons cannot be used to 'crush' players against walls. A piston will mearley pass through them. Players are then able to walk through the axel.

Gallery

References

See also

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