Sand

Sand is a gravity-affected block found abundantly in deserts and beaches, and less commonly in or near surface water.

Red sand is a variation of sand found exclusively in the badlands.

Obtaining[]

Breaking[]

Sand can be broken without tools, but a shovel is the fastest method of obtaining it.

Block	Sand
Hardness	0.5
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default	0.75
Wooden	0.4
Stone	0.2
Iron	0.15
Diamond	0.1
Netherite	0.1
Golden	0.1

Natural generation[]

Sand generates naturally in many biomes of the Overworld, in disk-like formations near ponds and rivers. It generates in abundance in deserts and beaches, generally in four-block-deep layers, supported by sandstone below. Sand also generates as the ocean floor of lukewarm oceans, deep lukewarm oceans and warm oceans, in a single layer not supported by sandstone. It usually generates in quantities of 545 blocks per chunk on average in non-desert biomes.^[verify]

Sand is also used to cover up buried treasure chests depending on where the chest generates in. (In this case, sand is used to cover up buried treasure chests that generate in beaches and ocean floors that are composed of sand, but in some cases stone or sandstone might be used instead).

Sand also generates as part of warm ocean ruins, some desert village houses, desert wells, and desert pyramids.

Red sand generates naturally in badlands biomes and variants, always in a single layer. Unlike sand, there is no red sandstone that supports it below.

Both types of sand can spawn floating in the air. The floating cluster of sand falls when one of the sand blocks receives an update (e.g. when a block is placed near it or when a block near it is broken).

Post-generation[]

After brushing suspicious sand, the suspicious sand turns into regular sand.

Chest loot[]

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Sand	Desert temple	Chest	1–8	59%
Bedrock Edition
Sand	Desert temple	Chest	1–8	59%

Trading[]

Wandering traders sell 8 sand or 4 red sand for one emerald.‌

Renewability[]

The only renewable method of obtaining either type of sand is through the wandering trader. Due to its low spawning rate and limited number of trades per spawn, it is more practical to obtain it through other means.

However, there is a glitch that can be exploited to duplicate sand (as well as other gravity-affected blocks like concrete powder and gravel) that uses sticky pistons and an End Portal. This is the majority of players' preferred means of obtaining renewable sand.

Usage[]

If the supporting block below a block of sand is removed, it falls until it lands on the next available block. More specifically, the sand block turns into a "falling block" entity, which is affected by gravity; when the falling block lands on a block with a solid top surface, it becomes a block again. More information about the falling block entity is available in the main article listed above.

If falling sand lands and covers the head of a mob or the player, the mob or player buried in it continuously receives suffocation damage. If falling sand lands in the space occupied by a non-solid block (such as torch, rail, or redstone dust) or a block less than a full block tall (such as slab or soul sand^[1]), the sand drops and turns into an item. If it falls onto a cobweb, it falls slowly until it has gone through completely; if it touches the ground while still inside the cobweb, the sand becomes an item. Sand that falls onto a lifting bubble column floats on top of the water until the bubble column is blocked or removed.

Though TNT does not break any blocks if it explodes underwater, if sand, concrete powder (in one-block-deep water only), or gravel falls and covers the TNT before it explodes, blocks are broken as normal. This trick can be used to collect blocks underwater, or break into underwater structures such as the ocean monument without mining.

Crafting ingredient[]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Concrete Powder	Matching Dye + Sand + Gravel	8888888888888888	Red sand cannot be used in place of sand.[2]
Sandstone or Red Sandstone	Sand or Red Sand
TNT	Gunpowder + Sand or Red Sand
White Concrete Powder or Blue Concrete Powder or Brown Concrete Powder or Black Concrete Powder	Bone Meal or Lapis Lazuli or Cocoa Beans or Ink Sac + Sand + Gravel	8888	‌[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only]

Smelting ingredient[]

Name	Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Glass	Sand or Red Sand + Any fuel	0.1

Construction[]

Sand can be used in the construction of airlocks and mob suffocation traps. Because sand falls, it can also be used for construction underwater while the player remains above the surface of the water.

Farms[]

Sand or red sand is required for farming cactus, and can also be used for farming bamboo, sugar cane and kelp.

Hatching[]

A turtle egg can hatch only if it's on sand or red sand.

Note Blocks[]

Sand and red sand can be placed under note blocks to produce "snare drum" sound.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.sand.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.sand.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.sand.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	None[sound 1]	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.sand.fall	None[sound 1]	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.sand.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.sand	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.sand	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.sand	0.23	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.sand	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.sand	0.15	1.0
	Players	Jumping from the block	jump.sand	0.05	1.0
	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.sand	0.14	1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Item tags	Translation key
Sand	sand	Block & Item	bamboo_plantable_on enderman_holdable sand lush_ground_replaceable mineable/shovel	sand	block.minecraft.sand
Red Sand	red_sand	Block & Item	bamboo_plantable_on enderman_holdable sand mineable/shovel	sand	block.minecraft.red_sand

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Sand	sand	12	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.sand.default.name tile.sand.red.name

Block states[]

In Bedrock Edition, sand uses the following block states:

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
sand_type	0x1	normal	normal	0	Sand
			red	1	Red Sand

Falling block entity[]

History[]

Java Edition Classic
May 21, 2009					Notch shows interest in adding sand.
May 23, 2009					Notch says he accomplished adding sand.
0.0.14a					Added sand.
					Sand behaves similarly to gravel, which was also added during this update.
					Sand blocks appear naturally only in one block-thick beaches (usually by water or in the middle of a landscape). These beaches are always at and below ocean level.
					Rather than falling by turning into a falling block entity, sand instantly appears at the lowest point it can go when placed above an air block, without any sort of falling animation. This behavior lasted until the Seecret Friday 1 update, in Infdev.
					A glitch occurring at this time allows players to raise the height of a fluid block by placing sand over it. The sand stays suspended in mid-air until it is broken. When broken, a fluid block corresponding to the type below the sand appears where the block was. The suspended fluid block remains immobile until a block was placed next to it, causing a flood.
					Map editors can be used to create floating sand, crashing the server if the sand was affected from its state.
0.0.15a					The texture of sand has been changed.
0.0.19a					Sand has been removed from the inventory (hotbar) because of a lack of space.
0.0.20a					Sand has been re-added to the inventory.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100110			Islands now have more sand.
		20100129			Sand is now used to craft TNT.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1					Sand has been removed during map tests.[3]
20100413					Sand has been re-added.
20100618					Sand now falls realistically.
					Sand can now be destroyed by falling onto a non-solid object, but not dropping as item. This was fixed in a later update.[when?]
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Falling sand entities now behaves better in multiplayer.
					Sand can now be used to craft sandstone.
1.3					Sand now generates with sandstone under it.
1.8		Pre-release			Due to changes in the terrain generator, sand no longer appears in beaches.
					Sand now generates anywhere that water does in large, circular patterns, noticeably larger than the similar patterns of clay. These can occur anywhere water does, including in village farms.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6			The texture of sand has been slightly changed.
1.1		12w01a			Sand now appears in beaches again, which have been re-added as a biome, rather than terrain features.
1.4.2		12w38a			Sand now has new sounds when being walked on.
1.7.2		13w36a			Disks of sand are no longer found on ocean floors.
		13w39a			Added red sand.
1.8		14w27b			Sand and red sand's textures now rotate randomly, making beaches and deserts look less uniform.
1.9		15w44a			Sand can now be found in desert temple chests.
1.10		16w20a			Falling dust particles for unsupported sand has been added.
1.12		17w06a			Sand can now be used to craft concrete powder.
1.13		18w07a			Turtles are added, which lay eggs on sand.
		18w08b			Sand now generates on the floors of warm and lukewarm ocean biomes.
		18w09a			Sand can now generate in underwater ruins.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of sand and red sand have been changed.
		18w44a			The texture of sand has been changed, once again.
		18w47a			The texture of red sand has been changed, once again.
		19w05a			Added wandering traders, which sell sand and red sand, making both types of sand renewable resources.
1.16		Pre-release 3			Turtle eggs can now hatch on red sand.[4]
1.20 (Experimental)		23w07a			Sand now generates in desert wells and desert pyramids.
					Sand can now be created after brushing suspicious sand.
1.20		23w12a			Sand now generates in trail ruins.
		23w16a			Sand no longer generates in trail ruins.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					Added sand.
v0.2.0					The texture of sand has been changed.
v0.3.0					Sand can now be used to craft sandstone.
v0.4.0					Sand can now be used to craft TNT.
v0.6.0					Sand is now affected by gravity.
v0.8.0		build 8			Falling sand now drops a resource when landing on a non-solid block.
v0.9.0		build 1			Added red sand.
v0.10.0		build 1			Falling dust particles for unsupported sand have been added.
v0.14.0		build 1			Red sand can now be used to craft red sandstone.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Sand can now be found inside desert temple chests.[verify]
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Sand can now be used to craft concrete powder.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.14.2			Sand now generates on the floors of warm and lukewarm ocean biomes.
					Sand now sometimes generates on top of buried treasure chests in beaches.
		beta 1.2.20.1			Sand can now generate in some warm underwater ruins.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of sand and red sand have been changed.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.4			Sand and red sand can now be bought from wandering traders.
1.12.0		beta 1.12.0.4			Wandering traders no longer sell regular sand.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.57			Trading has changed, wandering trader can now sell regular sand, making it renewable again.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	[verify] Added sand.
TU14		1.04			The sound made when mining sand has been changed.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Added red sand.
		1.90			The textures of sand and red sand have been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added sand. It is not known if red sand was ever added.

Data history[]

Java Edition
1.8		14w10a			Sand with numerical metadata variants 2 through 15, which are inaccessible through normal gameplay, now have no model rather than appearing identical to sand.
		14w25a			Sand and its variant are now defined via block states rather than by numerical metadata. Prior to this version, the numerical metadata variants of sand were as follows: DV Description 0 Sand 1 Red Sand 2-15 Inaccessible "boring" variants of sand
		14w26a			Sand with metadata values 2 through 15 have now been completely removed from the game.
1.13		17w47a			The different block states for the sand ID have been split up into their own IDs.
					Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 12.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Sand" or "Red Sand" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• If a block of sand has snow on it and is made to fall, the snow is destroyed‌^{[Java Edition only]} and does not drop snowballs.
• Because falling sand is considered an entity, it can be launched in a TNT cannon, similar to an ignited piece of TNT.
• Sand falls at the same rate when submerged in water, or lava, or air.
• If a player is standing on a stack of sand or gravel, and the stack falls onto a non-solid block, the player can fall fast enough to take damage or even die.
• Sand falls through torches without breaking, if there is air below the torch.^[5]
• Sand and gravel take about 0.45 seconds to fall one meter.
• The sand texture is rotated if a block of sand turns into a falling_block entity, similar to ignited TNT blocks. This is not the case with gravel.
• Because falling_block is considered an entity, blocks of sand without supports may disappear for a split second and a falling_block entity is summoned. This is also the case when it is landing, but the entity (not the block) disappears instead before a block is placed.

Gallery[]

• 

  Naturally generated sand in a desert.

• 

  Naturally generated sand in a beach.

• 

  Sand as generated as a warm ocean floor.

• 

  Naturally generated sand in a snowy beach.

• 

  Naturally generated sand in a lukewarm ocean.

• 

  Naturally generated sand in a warm ocean.

• 

  Naturally generated red sand in a badlands biome.

• 

  Floating sand in desert biome before updating it...

• 

  ... and after updating it.

• 

  A single floating sand block.

• 

  Another example of floating sand, this time above small water lake.

• 

  A lot of sand floating above a cave enterance.

• 

  A large amount of floating sand in desert, the torches were placed by a player.

• 

  A large amount of sand floating above a cave and being broken.

• 

  A large quantity of sand floating over a ravine.

• 

  2 blocks of sand floating with nothing below them.

• 

  Sand floating above a desert cave entrance.

• 

  A block of sand.

Java Edition[]

• 

  Sand in a buffet-type beach.

• 

  Sand in a buffet-type snowy beach.

See also[]

• Explained physics of falling blocks.
• Desert
• Sandstone

References[]

External links[]

• Block of the Week: Sand – Minecraft.net on March 11, 2017