Piston

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 "title": "Piston",
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 "field": "No",
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 "field": "'''(link to Java Edition article, displayed as JE):''' No<br>'''(link to Bedrock Edition article, displayed as BE):''' Yes",
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 "field": "No",
 "label": "(link to Flammable article, displayed as Flammable)"
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 "field": "No",
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 "field": "<span style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(112, 112, 112); border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; color: transparent; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> 11 STONE</span>",
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A piston is a block capable of pushing most entities and blocks when given a redstone signal.

Some blocks cannot be moved, break when pushed or have other interactions with pistons. A piston can move up to twelve blocks at once.

A piston can be broken using any tool with equal efficiency, and always drops itself. It is faster to break them with a pickaxe. The pickaxe is also the preferred tool for breaking the head when extended.^[1]

Pistons are always placed facing toward the player. When powered, the piston's wooden surface (the "head") tries to start extending after a start delay. The extension takes 2 game ticks (0.1 seconds) to finish. When it extends, it pushes at most 12 blocks. The piston makes a sound that can be heard within a 31×31×31 cube centered on the activating piston. Any entities in the path of an extending piston (or any block it might be moving) are pushed along, when possible. If the entities cannot be moved, the block is pushed inside them, suffocating mobs when pushed into their eye height (assuming said block is solid).

When a piston loses power, its head retracts. Like the extension, the retraction starts after a start delay and takes 2 game ticks (0.1 seconds) to finish.

A piston that pushes a slime block bounces any entity that it displaces in the direction the piston is facing. Entities on top of a moving honey block, or any other moving block,‌^{[BE only]} will also move with it. In addition, when a slime block or a honey block is moved by a piston, any movable block adjacent (not diagonally) to it also moves. See the "Slime blocks and honey blocks" section of this page for more details.

In Bedrock Edition, blocks that require a support (such as levers) can be placed on the back or sides of a piston without being destroyed when that piston extends. In Java Edition, on the other hand, the majority of blocks that require a support are only safe to place on the back of pistons.

In Bedrock Edition, despite not being a conductive block, comparators can read the fullness of containers through pistons.

A piston won't extend or retract immediately when it is activated: this phenomenon is known as "start delay".

In Java Edition, the start delay can be 0 (activation in the same tick) or 1 game tick (0.05 seconds) (activation in the next tick) depending on the game process in which the piston is powered:

• If the piston is powered and updated in the scheduled tick phase, random tick phase or block event phase, the piston activates in this game tick's block event phase, which means the start delay in this case is 0.
• If the piston is powered and updated during the entity phase or the block entity phase, or by player actions, the piston activates in the next game tick's block event phase, which means the start delay in this case is 1 tick. Notably, because blocks pushed by pistons arrive during the block entity phase (except when dropped by a sticky piston), in a chain of pistons each pushing a redstone block to activate the next, successive activations will happen 3 ticks apart.

In Bedrock Edition, the start delay is fixed at 2 game ticks (0.1 seconds), meaning that the piston starts to extend or retract 2 game ticks after it is activated. Pistons can only activate on the input/consumer redstone tick (C-tick).

Pistons can be activated from any side, excluding from the head.

In Java Edition, pistons can be powered from one block above compared to most redstone components. this is called quasi-connectivity (see below). In Bedrock Edition, redstone dust gets automatically redirected toward pistons if placed next to them (except for the head's side).

Pistons powered from one block above compared to most redstone components: this property is called quasi-connectivity and can be used to make a BUD switch, taking advantage of the fact that a piston powered through quasi-connectivity doesn't always get updated. With quasi-connectivity, a piston facing up can also be powered from the head's direction, which is otherwise impossible. Due to quasi-connectivity, a piston facing up that has a block of redstone on top of itself can extend but not retract: this happens because after the piston extends, it keeps receiving power from the redstone block.

When a piston that has a redstone torch attached to it is powered, the redstone torch turns off, and when said piston is depowered, the redstone torch turns back on: this property is called soft inversion.^[2][3] Since soft inversion works even if the piston is being powered indirectly through a block, it can be used to toggle the state of a redstone torch from farther away compared to other powering methods. It's still possible to take advantage of soft inversion even if the piston cannot extend or retract.

When a slime block is pushed or pulled by a piston, adjacent blocks also move with the slime block, due to its stickiness. These blocks may in turn push other blocks, not just the blocks in the line in front of the piston. For example, a slime block sitting on the ground attempts to move the ground block underneath itself, which in turn has to push additional ground blocks in the direction of motion just as if they were being pushed directly by a piston. The same occurs when a slime block is moved by another adjacent slime block. For example, a 2×2×2 cube of slime blocks may be pushed or pulled as a single unit by a piston acting on any of the blocks in the cube. A slime block adjacent to a block that cannot be moved by pistons or a block that can be broken by piston ignores that block. However, if an adjacent block could be moved, but is prevented to by the presence of an unmovable block, the slime block is prevented from moving as well and the piston does not extend.

Slime blocks' stickiness is unilateral, as such they can't be pulled by a non-sticky piston and they are not moved if an adjacent (non-slime) block is moved by a piston. The maximum of 12 blocks moved by a piston still applies. For example, a 2×2×3 structure of slime blocks may be pushed by a piston as long as no other movable block is adjacent to it. A piston cannot move itself via a "hook" constructed of slime blocks, but flying machines can be created with multiple pistons.

Honey blocks work like slime blocks when it comes to moving other blocks, however slime and honey blocks do not stick to each other. This allows, by alternating slime and honey blocks, to have redstone contraptions which make use of these sticky blocks stay side by side without interfering with one another.

Glazed terracotta and the heavy core‌^{[BE only]} do not stick to adjacent slime or honey blocks, even though they can be pushed by pistons.

Pistons emit vibrations detectable by sculk sensors. A calibrated sculk sensor tuned to signal strength 10 detects piston retraction; strength 11 detects extension; strength 12 detects a block broken by a piston.

Pistons cannot push:

• Blocks listed as such in the table below.
• Blocks into the void or above the build limit.
• More than 12 blocks at once.
• In Java Edition, blocks beyond the world border.

If the requirements for a block to be pushed are not met, the piston will not extend.

Pistons cannot move blocks that require a support block, as they break and drop as an item (when applicable). There are however some exceptions, listed down below.

• 👁 Image
  Carpets: since they consider all blocks excluding air as valid supports, moving carpets with pistons without them breaking is fairly easy.
  • A carpet can even stay on top of a moving block without breaking.

• 👁 Image
  Rails: they can be moved as long as they remain on top of a block's full face (if it has one) in their new position. Once the piston finishes to push or pull the rail, the block below can only be a moving block if its collision box is at the final position, otherwise the rail does not consider it a valid support.
  • When the rail and the block supporting it are on two vertically parallel extending pistons, the rail doesn't break. Trying to move the rail and its support block with perpendicular pistons causes the rail to break (although in Java Edition, due to the bug MC-75716, it visually appears to not break). In Java Edition, the piston moving the block can be powered 1 block event after the piston moving the rail in order for the rail to be moved reliably without breaking.
  • Rails re-orient themselves after being pushed, similar to when placed manually.

• 👁 Image
  Dead coral and dead coral fans: in Java Edition, they can be pushed similarly to how rails can; however in some situations the coral will both break and get moved by the piston, emitting block updates at its original position.
  • This mechanic is frequently used in TNT dupers.

Pistons have 2 technical blocks that cannot be obtained. These include the piston head and moving piston blocks.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition (piston):

Bedrock Edition (arm):

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

The piston block uses following block states:

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

In Bedrock Edition, a piston has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Issues relating to "Piston" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

• Mojang stated that the 12-block push limit for pistons would not be changed, because "the current limitations are by design".^[11]
• When toggled between on and off rapidly with a gravity affected block (such as sand) above it, a piston can eventually break the block, which can be picked up as a resource. However, gravel broken this way never drops flint.
• Carpet can be placed on the moving piston block, and does not break after moving piston block converts to a non-air block.

• 👁 Fundamental logic gates, implemented purely with pistons and redstone repeaters, clockwise from upper left: AND, OR, XOR, and NOT
  
  Fundamental logic gates, implemented purely with pistons and redstone repeaters, clockwise from upper left: AND, OR, XOR, and NOT
• 👁 Slow clock generator with pistons and redstone
  
  Slow clock generator with pistons and redstone
• 👁 An example of a piston-controlled waterflow
  
  An example of a piston-controlled waterflow

• 👁 First screenshot of pistons
  
  First screenshot of pistons
• 👁 Light shining through an extended piston
  
  Light shining through an extended piston
• 👁 Redstone connecting to pistons in Bedrock Edition
  
  Redstone connecting to pistons in Bedrock Edition
• 👁 A piston being crafted with a fish. This is a joke about the piston sounds heard in Java Edition 24w20a, which have been said to sound wet.
  
  A piston being crafted with a fish. This is a joke about the piston sounds heard in Java Edition 24w20a, which have been said to sound wet.
• 👁 "Makena tinkering with a Redstone contraption made up of Pistons pushing a Lime Wool block"[12]
  
  "Makena tinkering with a Redstone contraption made up of Pistons pushing a Lime Wool block"^[12]

• 👁 Notch's explanation on how the rod (a full block long when extended) fits into the piston box (whose depth is a block minus the face's thickness)[13]
  
  Notch's explanation on how the rod (a full block long when extended) fits into the piston box (whose depth is a block minus the face's thickness)^[13]

• 👁 Artwork of an incorrectly-rotated piston connected to a lever via redstone dust
  
  Artwork of an incorrectly-rotated piston connected to a lever via redstone dust
• 👁 Pistons as they appear in Minecraft: Shape Your World
  
  Pistons as they appear in Minecraft: Shape Your World
• 👁 Pistons as they appear in A Minecraft Movie.
  
  Pistons as they appear in A Minecraft Movie.
• 👁 A duo dressed as a piston and End crystal
  
  A duo dressed as a piston and End crystal

• Slime block
• Redstone
• Tutorial:Piston uses
• Tutorial:Headless pistons
• Mechanics/Redstone/Piston circuits

• "Block of the Week: Piston" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, October 13, 2017.