Minecraft Blocks - Finding, Using and Creating Minecraft Blocks

Sand is just that - it's yellowish, desert-y, and well, just like sand.

The best tool to gather it is a shovel.

If sand blocks are on top of another block, they will fall when the block below it is destroyed. It used to be that surrounding sand blocks around a falling sand block would also fall, making it possible for a 'sand ceiling' in a cave to collapse (that's bad). this has been fixed in Beta 1.3, I think.

Sand can be used to create the following:

Glass - which can be put into the furnace along with a burning element to produce glass blocks at a 1 to 1 rate.

New! Glass panes, which are thin glass sheets you can put into windows instead of glass blocks, come from 4 glass blocks placed in the 2x2 crafting grid.

Sandstone - which can be put into each of the squares in a 2x2 crafting grid to create one block of sandstone (in other words, 4 sand blocks = 1 sandstone block.

Sand can also be used to make TNT which makes HUGE HOLES with BIG EXPLOSIONS. We won't worry about that right now, as we're working on construction, and you'll probably blow yourself up the first time you use it, so, small steps.

Another great use for sand is that cacti will only grow on sand blocks. A cactus will grow on a sand block up to three blocks tall, and can be used to build impediments to monsters, which will kill the monsters if you draw them into your cacti.

Anywhere you find sand, you might find cacti growing out of them. When you destroy a cactus, it yields as many cactus blocks as it is tall.

You can replant cactus blocks anywhere you have sand , so you can place a sand block and then a cactus block on top of it, and grow it into a fullsize cactus.

Cacti are useful because they will injure and kill monsters with enough hits.

You can even build cactus walls.

It's glass.

Glass blocks are pretty, make a neat smashing sound when you break them, and will let in light, which is useful to see the time of day, for building glass structures, windows, etc.

Glass blocks cannot be destroyed and picked up. If you shatter a glass block, it's gone.

The sandstone block has the same color of sand, but looks like it's made of smaller sand colored bricks, like an Egyptian pyramid (except square).

In Beta 1.4, all columns of naturally occurring sand blocks have at least one sandstone block underneath them. This prevents sand block avalanches that used to happen when you touched a sand block ceiling in a cave.

Dirt blocks are brown and look like dirt, clearly.

Dirt blocks may appear completely brown, or may have a layer of green grass over the top. Either way, when collected and put down, the dirt block will appear all brown, although dirt blocks placed next to another dirt block with grass on top, will eventually grow grass on it as well (grass spreads to all dirt blocks next to it, eventually).

Dirt is best mined using a shovel.

Dirt isn't used to create anything, but it can be used to build structures out of dirt, or a favorite of mine, used as stairs up or down when mining underground, or as a disposable staircase inside or outside a tall structure as you are building it. This can be destroyed later, leaving the completed structure unmarked.

Dirt blocks can also be used (left in the ground) to farm crops. You will need a hoe to till the soil.

Farming is a whole other thing to master, and we'll talk about this later.

Gravel is splotchy looking, reflecting it's small pebbly nature. It is made up of small crunchy rocks.

Gravel is best mined using a shovel.

Gravel has identical physics to sand. If you destroy a block below a gravel block, the gravel block will drop into place (as will any sand/gravel blocks above it).

Gravel is not used in the furnace, BUT, there is a chance with each gravel block destroyed, to yield a chunk of flint, instead of a gravel block to pick up.

Flint is incredibly useful as it is used to make flint and steel to make fire, and more importantly, is one of the components for making arrows.

Gravel (and sand) are even more versatile than dirt for making cheapy stairs and other tools. If you're trying to get down a very long drop, you can place gravel (same with sand) against a side wall, and it will drop to the bottom. You can carefully make stairs this way that will drop into place and make it possible to get down from higher levels.

I always carry gravel for this purpose (and usually use sand too, or use sand to mark spots so I don't get lost).

Flint looks an awful lot like coal at first glance, but you'll get used to them in your inventory.

As mentioned above, flint is used to make flint and steel, and arrows. Save these!

Stone is gray and has a mostly smooth texture.

Stone is mined most efficiently using a pick.

When destroyed, stone turns into cobblestone, which has a black-veined surface, and is less clean looking.

You can build using cobblestone, but if you want to build using stone, you can turn cobblestone blocks back into stone blocks using the furnace at a rate of 1 to 1.

Stone and cobblestone are very versatile and allow you to make several useful items.

Two stone blocks side by side in the crafting grid can be used to make a stone pressure plate (discussed later).

Two stone blocks one atop the other in the crafting grid can be used to make a pushbutton (discussed later).

Three stone blocks beside each other in the crafting grid creates 4 stone slabs which are half as high as a regular block (useful for steps and paving stones).

Three cobblestone blocks beside each other in the crafting grid also creates 4 cobblestone slabs, which look like cobblestone versions of stone slabs.

Cobblestone can also be used to make:

Stairs (6 cobblestone blocks in the shape of stairs in the crafting grid)
Stone Tools (just replace the wood with cobblestone in the tool recipes)
Levers (a stick over a cobblestone block in the grid to trigger actions)
Dispensers (cobblestone blocks, a bow and redstone dust can be combined to shoot items when triggered, especially arrows)

We'll talk more about levers and dispensers later.

Of course, cobblestone can be used to make furnaces - just make a ring of 8 cobblestone blocks to make a furnace, which you can then use to turn your cobblestone back into clean stone blocks.

This is what happens when you destroy a stone block. It turns into cobblestone, but can be smelted back into a stone block using the furnace.

Cobblestone does happen naturally, but rarely. It tends to appear where lava and standing water meet.

You will occasionally dig into a "dungeon". It will be dark, and full of monsters, and somewhere in the cavernous area you might find a stretch of mossy cobblestone. It looks just like cobblestone, but has green, mossy veins running through it.

Mossy cobblestone is best mined using a pick.

Mossy cobblestone indicates that a monster spawner is nearby (somewhere on the mossy cobblestone), and will periodically pump out another monster of the type it is designed for.

Mossy cobblestone can be destroyed and gathered, but can only be used as mossy cobblestone, and not smelted or made into anything else.

The monster spawner is not a building block, but there are things you can do with and to it.

The monster spawner pumps out monsters in a dungeon.

To stop it, you can destroy it normally (and you don't get a spawner to place somewhere, although that would be just awesome).
You can also inhibit the spawner by surrounding it with torches, one on each side. If the torches are destroyed, and sometimes if you destroy the mossy cobblestone around the spawner, then the spawner can be active again.

While the monster spawner is inactive, it will not produce monsters.

If you can lead grass to a monster spawner, and provide enough light, the spawner will produce pigs instead (which cannot harm you, and drop delicious porkchops). Apparently, as of Beta 1.3, some of these pigs are indestructible.

We've discussed all of the natural blocks that you are likely to encounter, but I wanted to do a separate section for the ore blocks.

Ore can be found, smelted in the furnace and used for a variety of purposes.

They allow you to make more items, strengthen tools and weapons, and create the strongest armors.

We discussed coal blocks in the introduction, so we'll move on to the rest.

Iron ore blocks are found underground from just below ground to about 60 layers below. It tends to appear in groups, and often around coal ore blocks.

Iron ore is best mined using a pick, and requires at least a stone pick.

When destroyed, you collect iron ore blocks, which can be smelted in a furnace to produce iron ingots on a 1 to 1 basis.

Iron ingots are used in the crafting grid to create iron tools and weapons (replace the wood or stone in the recipe), and armor (recipes are below).

Iron ingots can also be used to make flint and steel, and compasses.

Flint and steel is one iron ingot, and one flint, set to the left center and bottom center of the 3x3 crafting grid. Flint and steel allows you to set your target on fire when you click.

The compass points to the world spawn point, and is created using 4 iron ingots in a cross in the 3x3 crafting grid and a redstone dust in the center.

Incidentally, iron picks chew through stone faster than stone or wood picks, and last longer. They are also necessary to get other ores. I recommend building iron tools as soon as you are able.

Points to the spawn point, to help you find your way back home if your home is close to the spawn point (which is where you start in the world, and to where you return if you die).

There have been whisperings that the bed, a new item, will allow you to change your spawn point, and thus the compass will point to the bed. This would be super convenient, but isn't active yet.

Through Minecraft release 1.0, beds now allow you to spawn at the bed you last slept in, and the compass will point to the bed instead of the original spawn point.

The Compass is just one of many Minecraft Items you can make.

Gold ore blocks yield gold ore blocks that you can collect and turn into gold ingots using the smelter at a 1 to 1 basis.

Gold ore blocks can only be mined with an iron pick or better (wood and stone won't cut it).

Gold ore isn't used for much. Gold can be used to replace wood and stone in tools, and is faster than diamond when chewing through materials, but lasts a lot less before wearing out and being destroyed.

Gold armor is poor protection, and is weaker than iron.

Gold CAN be used for a very cool item - The Watch.

The watch is made in a 3x3 crafting grid using 4 gold blocks, one each at the cardinal points, making a cross, with a redstone dust in the middle.

The watch keeps the time of day, with a wheel inside it that spins showing day and night, the time of day being the spot shown at the top of the watch. This is incredibly useful when underground and you can't see the sunlight, especially if you're killing time until you can go topside.

This incredibly convenient item allows you to tell time when you can't see the sun. The day/night wheel turns throughout the day, and as long as the day side is at the top center, it is day outside (and the same is true with the night side).

This takes a small amount of gold, so it isn't even a big loss if you get killed and end up losing it.

Go here to make more Minecraft Items.

Lapis Lazuli is a blue speckled rock block that when mined becomes 4-8 Lapis Lazuli Dye, a blue dye used to dye Minecraft sheep wool blue, natch.

Lapis is most common about half way to the bedrock layer.

You need a stone or iron pick to mine Lapis.

9 Lapis dyes in the 3x3 crafting grid will create a solid Lapis block.

Diamond is very rare and appears most commonly in the last 20 layers or so above bedrock, but does appear less commonly below level 30.

When mined, you collect diamonds, which can used to make diamond armor, weapons and tools, the strongest in the game.

You need an iron pick or stronger to mine diamonds.

9 diamonds in the 3x3 crafting grid will.also create a diamond block.

Diamonds can also be used to make a jukebox which can play music.

Redstone blocks are common where other ore appears, and is usually near or next to coal, iron and Lapis.

When mined with an iron pick or stronger, 4-5 redstone ore will appear.

Redstone is used to frustrate and antagonize players. I kid.

Redstone is used to create Minecraft Items that are powered, as well as create simple (and complex) electrical circuits that activate a variety of other items in the game.

With redstone circuits, you can change tracks on minecart tracks, open and close doors, set off TNT and other applications.

Getting the hang of how the circuits work takes some time, and there are lengthy tutorials on how to use it effectively.

Someday I will link to them, as I don't have the stamina to explain circuits in details, and others have already done it far better than I ever will.