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Stairs are blocks that allow mobs and players to change elevation without jumping.

Obtaining

Stairs can be crafted, or can be found in villages, strongholds, nether fortresses, and end cities.

Breaking

Wood stairs drop themselves as items when broken with any tool, or with no tool, but an axe is fastest. Non-wood stairs drop themselves as items only if broken with a pickaxe.

Block Brick
Cobblestone
Nether Brick
Stone Brick
Purpur
Quartz
Sandstone
Red Sandstone
Wood
Hardness 2 1.5 0.8 ?
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default 10 7.5 4 ?
Wooden 1.5 1.15 0.6 ?
Stone 0.75 0.6 0.3 ?
Iron 0.5 0.4 0.2 ?
Diamond 0.4 0.3 0.15 ?
Netherite 0.35 0.25 0.15 ?
Golden 0.25 0.2 0.1 ?
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Crafting

Wood stairs must be crafted entirely from one type and color of wood, and they retain the style of that wood's type and color.

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Wood Stairs Matching Wood Planks
Cobblestone Stairs Cobblestone
Brick Stairs Bricks
Stone Brick Stairs Any Stone Bricks
Nether Brick Stairs Nether Brick
Sandstone Stairs Any Sandstone
Quartz Stairs Any Quartz Block
Red Sandstone Stairs Any Red Sandstone
Purpur Stairs Any Purpur Block Can use purpur block and pillar interchangeably.
Pocket Edition only.
Purpur Stairs Purpur Block Can use purpur block only, not the pillar.
Computer and Console Edition only.

Natural generation

Oak Wood Stairs can be found in: Plains Villages Woodland mansions

Spruce Wood Stairs can be found in: - Taiga Villages - Witch hut - Igloos

Birch Wood Stairs can be found in: - Woodland Mansions

Jungle Wood Stairs can’t be found

Acacia Wood Stairs can be found in: - Savanna Villages

Dark Oak Wood Stairs can be found in: - Woodland mansions

Sand Stone Stairs can be found in: - Desert Villages - Desert Temple

Red Sandstone Stairs can’t be found

Cobbelstone Stairs can be found in: - Strongholds - Woodland mansions - Plains Villages - Savana Villages - Taiga Villages - Jungle Temple

Brick Stairs can’t be found

Stone Brick Stairs can be found in: - Strongholds

Nether Brick Stairs can be found in: - Nether fortress

Quartz Stairs can’t be found

Purpur Stairs can be found in: - End Citys - End Ship

Usage

Walking

Walking up stairs is faster than jumping up the same distance. It also only costs 0.01 exhaustion from the player's hunger bar per horizontal meter walked on a stairway, versus 0.2 exhaustion per jump.

Placing

Stairs reconfiguration

Stairs ReconfigurationLeft: Original facing when separate. Right: Changed shape when adjacent (top: inner corner; bottom: outer corner).

To place stairs, use a stairs item while pointing at a surface facing the space the stairs should occupy. Stairs will place with the half-block side closest to the player.

Stairs can be placed either right side up or upside-down:

  • Pointing at a block top or the bottom half of a block side will place the stairs right side up.
  • Pointing at a block bottom or the top half of a block side will place the stairs upside-down.

Stairs will change their shape to join with adjacent stairs (of any material):

  • When a stairs' half-block side is adjacent to the side of another stairs, the stairs' full-block side will wrap into an "L" shape to join the other stairs (it creates an "inner corner").
  • When a stairs' full-block side is adjacent to the side of another stairs, the stairs' full-block side will shorten to join only the other stairs' full-block side (it creates an "outer corner").

Right side up stairs won't join with upside-down stairs and vice versa.

Fuel

Wooden stairs can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per block.

Data values

Stairs are defined by their ID and block data. Stairs also have a block state which is expected to replace the functionality of block data in a future version.

ID

A stairs' ID specifies its material:

Stairs/ID

Block data

See also: Data values

A stairs' block data specifies its facing and whether it is upside-down:

All but cut copper stairs:

Bits Description
0x1
0x2
A two-bit field containing a value from 0 to 3 specifying the direction of the stairs' full-block side:
  • 0: East
  • 1: West
  • 2: South
  • 3: North
0x4 Set if stairs are upside-down
0x8 (unused)

Block state

See also: Block states

Java Edition:

Name Default value Allowed values Description
facingnortheast
north
south
west
The direction the stairs' full-block side faces.
When placed in-game by a player, this matches the direction the player faces.
halfbottombottom
top
Top if the stairs are upside-down.
shapestraightinner_left
inner_right
outer_left
outer_right
straight
"straight" is the default stairs shape.
"inner" is an "inside corner" stair shape, with two full-block and two stair-shaped side faces.
"outer" is an "outside corner" stair shape, with two stair-shaped and two half-block side faces.
"left" and "right" specify in which direction is the higher part of the step.
waterloggedfalsefalse
true
Whether or not there's water in the same place as these stairs.

Bedrock Edition:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
upside_down_bit0x4falsefalse
true
0
1
True if the stairs are upside-down.
weirdo_direction0x1
0x2
00
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
The direction the stairs' full-block side faces.
  • 0: East
  • 1: West
  • 2: South
  • 3: North

Video

Note: This video is outdated, as red sandstone stairs were added in 1.8 and purpur stairs were added to 1.9.

Stairs/video

History

alpha
1.0.0 Added wood and stone stairs. Wooden stairs do not burn up.
1.2.0Before this version, stairs would determine their orientation based on the surrounding blocks (changing if they were changed). They would attempt to face a block adjacent to the stairs, so as to create a climbable surface towards that block. However, this was often more annoying than helpful, and was therefore changed to be placed facing the player.
1.2.2Stairs now had the odd property of being transparent to light; when placed one or more spaces above the ground with air beneath, sunlight or other light sources would shine through and light the blocks beneath/behind the stairs exactly as if nothing opaque were present between them. Other atmospheric effects such as snowfall did not penetrate stair blocks, making them an unusually effective material for creating roofing which kept weather out, but still let daylight in. Snow could not accumulate on top of stair blocks, grass was able to grow on the block directly underneath a stair block, and grass wouldn't disappear if a stair block was placed on top of it. Any stair block placed in Alpha 1.2.0_02 to Beta 1.5 would keep this property in later versions until it or an adjacent block is changed or removed, causing a lighting update.
beta
1.6Wooden stairs and fences are now flammable.
Fixed light transparency from Alpha 1.2.2. Reversed the inventory icon for stairs to show a more recognizable figure.
1.8 Added brick and stone brick stairs. Stone brick stairs could drop one of either mossy stone brick or cracked stone brick when broken due to the data value carrying over. Mining a stair block would yield the stair's source material, rather than a stair block, thus wasting material.
1.8.1Stone brick stairs now always drop regular Stone Brick.
release
1.0.0Beta 1.9-pre1 Added Nether brick stairs.
Beta 1.9-pre6Mining a stair block now drops the stair block instead of the stair's source material.
1.2.112w08aAdded upside-down stairs. Before they were added, edited data values of 4 through 15 would create invisible stairs that could be walked through; these higher values are now used for upside-down stairs.
1.3.112w21a Added sandstone stairs.
12w22aCobblestone stairs now generate in jungle temples.
12w25aRedstone, repeaters, torches, levers, pressure plates and rails can now be placed on stairs positioned upside down.
Added wooden stairs for the remaining three wood types (birch, spruce and jungle).
12w26aAdded crafting recipes for birch, spruce and jungle wood stairs.
1.4.212w34aStairs now automatically change shape into corner stairs depending on location.
12w39aStairs interact properly with lighting now.
Smooth lighting on stairs is slightly bugged.
1.513w02a Added quartz stairs.
13w05aFixed stairs lighting when Smooth Lighting is on.
13w05bStairs no longer stop sprinting.
1.7.21.7-pre Added acacia and dark oak stairs.
1.814w21bUpside down sandstone and quartz stairs each had their top and bottom textures switched.[1]
14w31aRenamed "Stone Stairs" to "Cobblestone Stairs".
14w32a Added red sandstone stairs.
1.9June 22, 2015Jeb reveals purpur stairs on Instagram, with the words "MINECON 2015 HYPE!"
15w31a Added purpur stairs.
Stairs are now rotated 90° in the inventory.
15w43aSpruce wood stairs act as corners of a table generated within igloo basements.
1.1116w39aOak, birch and dark oak wood stairs and cobblestone stairs now generate in woodland mansions.
1.1217w15aTorches can now be placed on the full-block sides of stairs.
Iron bars, glass panes and fences adjacent to the full-block side of a stair will now visually connect.
Carpet and snow layers can now be placed on top of upside-down stairs.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0 Added wooden (original oak) and cobblestone stairs.
0.3.0 Added brick stairs.
0.6.0 Added Nether brick, sandstone, stone brick and quartz stairs.
Corner stairs and upside-down stairs added.
0.8.0build 2 Birch, spruce and jungle wood stairs added.
0.9.0build 1 Added acacia and dark oak wood stairs.
Stone brick stairs now naturally generate in strongholds.
Cobblestone and oak wood stairs now naturally generate in villages.
?Changed tooltip from [woodtype] Stairs to [woodtype] Wood Stairs.
0.11.0build 1Acacia and dark oak wooden stairs are now flammable.
Quartz stairs can be crafted in Survival mode.
0.14.0build 1 Added red sandstone stairs.
Pocket Edition
1.0build 1 Added purpur stairs.
Spruce wood stairs act as corners of a table generated within igloo basements.
1.1build 1Oak, birch and dark oak wood stairs and cobblestone stairs now generate in woodland mansions.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 1Patch 1 Added wood (original oak) and cobblestone stairs.
TU5 Added stone brick stairs and brick stairs.
TU7 Added Nether brick stairs.
TU9 Added spruce and birch wood stairs and sandstone stairs.
TU12 Added jungle wood stairs.
Stairs now automatically change shape into corner stairs depending on location.
Stairs can be placed upside down. Items can be placed directly on upside down stairs.
TU13Jungle wood stairs are now flammable.
TU14 1.04 Added quartz stairs.
Changed placement of upside down stairs and slabs.
TU27CU15 1.18 Added acacia and dark oak stairs.
TU31CU19 1.22 Patch 3 Added Red Sandstone Stairs.
Renamed "Stone Stairs" into "Cobblestone Stairs".
TU46CU36 1.38 Patch 15 Added purpur stairs.
TU54CU44 1.52 Patch 24Patch 4Torches can now be placed on the full-block sides of stairs.
Iron bars, glass panes and fences adjacent to the full-block side of a stair will now visually connect.
Carpet and snow layers can now be placed on top of upside-down stairs.

Issues

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

Gallery

References


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