A detector rail is a type of rail that produces a redstone signal when a minecart is on it.
Obtaining[]
Breaking[]
A detector rail can be broken fairly easily by hand, dropping itself as an item. It can be broken faster by using a pickaxe.
| Block | Detector Rail | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 0.7 | |
| Tool | ||
| Breaking time[A] | ||
| Default | 1.05 | |
| Wooden | 0.55 | |
| Stone | 0.3 | |
| Iron | 0.2 | |
| Diamond | 0.15 | |
| Netherite | 0.15 | |
| Golden | 0.1 | |
- ↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.
A detector rail also drops as an item if:
- the block beneath it is removed
- water or lava flows over it[Java Edition only]
- a piston moves it into a space with no floor below it.
Chest loot[]
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Detector Rail | Mineshaft | Chest | 1–4 | 27.1% |
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Detector Rail | Mineshaft | Chest | 1–4 | 27.1% |
Crafting[]
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Iron Ingot + Stone Pressure Plate + Redstone Dust |
Usage[]
A detector rail can be used as a rail that can detect when minecarts are on it or how full container minecarts on it are.
To place a detector rail, use the Place Block control on the face of a block adjacent to the destination space.
A detector rail can be attached to:
- the top of any full solid opaque block (stone, dirt, blocks of gold, etc.), including full-block mechanism components (command blocks, dispensers, droppers, note blocks, and redstone lamps)
- the top of a hopper, upside-down slab, or upside-down stairs.
A detector rail cannot be attached to the side or bottom of any block, but attempting to make such an attachment may cause the detector rail to attach to the top of a block under the destination space. For example, if a fence is on the ground, attempting to attach a detector rail to the side of the fence causes the detector rail to be attached to the top of the ground next to the fence instead.
If updated while on an opened trapdoor, a detector rail (or other rails) breaks drops as an item. Placing a minecart on a detector rail on top of a closed and unpowered trapdoor opens the trapdoor and updates it, causing the detector rail to break. If the trapdoor is powered while the minecart is placed, the trapdoor does not open and the rail does not break. The minecart on the detector rail powers the trapdoor and keeps it closed even if the external power source is removed, allowing the detector rail to stay on.
When placed, a detector rail configures itself to line up with any adjacent rails (including activator rails, powered rails, and other detector rails), as well as adjacent rails one block up. If there are two adjacent rails on non-opposite sides, or three or more adjacent rails, a detector rail lines up in the east-west direction. If there are no adjacent rails, a detector rail lines up in the north-south direction (but if a rail is later placed to the east or west, the detector rail re-orients itself in the east-west direction even if it is already connected to another rail to the north or south). If a rail it would line up with is one block up, a detector rail slants upward toward it (with multiple options to slant upward to, a detector rail "prefers", in order: west, east, south, and north). Other configurations can be created by placing and removing various rails.
Mobs avoid walking across a detector rail (or other rails), but can be pushed onto them.
It cannot be placed suspended in midair, even with commands.[1]
Rail[]
Detector rails (and other rails) act as "roads" for minecarts. A minecart that enters a detector rail's space from either end of the detector rail continues to move, losing only a little velocity (which can then be increased again with powered rails). A minecart that enters a detector rail's space from the side turns east or south (depending on the detector rail's orientation), or in the downward direction for a slanted detector rail.
Redstone component[]
Example for signal strength of a full minecart (right) and a half-full one (left)
A detector rail activates when any minecart is on it (even if only a portion of the minecart is on it), and deactivates when no minecarts are on it. The duration of the signal is always a multiple of 10 redstone ticks (although lag or unloading/reloading a chunk might affect this). While active, a detector rail:
- powers adjacent redstone dust and adjacent redstone repeaters facing away from the detector rail, to power level 15
- powers adjacent redstone comparators facing away from the detector rail to a level corresponding to the fullness of the minecart if it is a Minecart with Chest or a Minecart with Hopper.
- strongly powers any full solid opaque block beneath the detector rail to power level 15
- activates any adjacent mechanism components, including above or below, such as pistons, redstone lamps, powered rails, hoppers, etc.
Comparators give a signal for a minecart with chest or a minecart with hopper
If the minecart on the detector rail is a minecart with chest or minecart with hopper, an adjacent redstone comparator facing away from the detector rail outputs a power level proportional to the container's fullness, possibly power level 0. For any other type of minecart (including a regular minecart with a mob riding it) the comparator's output is zero.
A comparator can read the contents of a minecart with hopper or with chest on a detector rail through a solid opaque block, as it can with other container blocks.
Sounds[]
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.2 | 16 | |
| Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.2 | 16 | |
| Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.75 | 16 | |
| None[sound 1] | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | None[sound 1] | 0.5 | 1.25 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.5 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 1.1-1.2 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | use | 1.0 | 1.2-1.25 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.3 | 0.75 | |
| Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.35 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.12 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.22 | 1.0 |
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Form | Block tags | Item tags | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detector Rail | detector_rail | Block & Item | prevent_mob_spawning_inside rails | rails | block.minecraft.detector_rail |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Item ID[i 1] | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detector Rail | detector_rail | 28 | Block & Giveable Item[i 2] | Identical[i 3] | tile.detector_rail.name |
Block states[]
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| powered | false | falsetrue | True if rail is activated. |
| shape | north_south
| east_westnorth_south | Specifies the rail's orientation. |
ascending_eastascending_northascending_southascending_west | A rail that ascends toward the direction noted. For example, an ascending_west rail is a straight rail that goes upward from the east toward the west. | ||
| waterlogged | false | falsetrue | Whether or not there's water in the same place as this rail. |
| Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rail_data_bit | 0x8 | false | falsetrue | 01 | True if rail is activated. |
| rail_direction | 0x10x20x4 | 0
| 0 | 0 | flat track going north-south |
1 | 1 | flat track going east-west | |||
2 | 2 | sloped track ascending to the east | |||
3 | 3 | sloped track ascending to the west | |||
4 | 4 | sloped track ascending to the north | |||
5 | 5 | sloped track ascending to the south | |||
6789 | Unsupported | Unused |
Video[]
History[]
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 |       Added detector rails. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6 | Detector Rails are now broken faster using a pickaxe. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w21a | Detector rails are now renewable, due to redstone dust being obtainable from trading. | |||
| 1.5 | 13w10a |       A texture for active detector rails has now been added. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w44a | Detector rails can now be found in chest minecarts in mineshafts. | |||
| 1.11 | 16w32b | All rail types' hitbox heights have now been decreased from a full block to a half block. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |             The textures of detector rails have now been changed. | |||
| 19w12b | Detector rails can now be placed on glass, ice, glowstone and sea lanterns. | ||||
| 1.17 | 20w45a | All rail types can now be waterlogged. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.13.0 | build 1 | Added detector rails. | |||
| v0.14.0 | build 1 | Detector rails can now be found inside minecart with chests in mineshafts. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | The textures of detector rails have now been changed. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added detector rails. |
| 1.90 | The textures of detector rails have now been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added detector rails. | ||||
Data history[]
| Java Edition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8 | 14w10a | Detector rails with numerical metadata variants 6, 7, 14 and 15, which are inaccessible through normal gameplay or even commands and as such require the use of external editors to exist, now have no model  . Their appearances prior to this point were unknown. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14w25a | Detector rails are now defined via block states rather than by numerical metadata. Prior to this version, the numerical metadata variants of the detector rail were as follows:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14w26a | Detector rails with metadata values 6, 7, 14 and 15 have now been completely removed from the game. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 28. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Detector Rail" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery[]
Image from Notch’s twitter teasing detector rails.
