Gravel is a type of block typically found in naturally occurring pits, underwater, underground or in The Nether. Like Sand, Gravel will fall to the lowest y-coordinate below it if there is no block underneath it. Therefore it is possible to suffocate with careless use of gravel by being crushed beneath the weight. If the lowest block in a column of Gravel is occupied by a nonsolid object, like a Torch, the Gravel block will disintegrate into a gravel resource instead.
As well as obeying gravity, Gravel has a low explosion resistance rating, and therefore should not be used as a building material for structures which are intended to be permanent.
Gravel's gravity-obeying properties make it useful in a number of scenarios:
- Creating easily-dismantled pillars. (see: Pillar jumping)
- Completely filling in lava lakes.
- Quickly and easily constructing makeshift stairs, in order to safely move down into a vertical abyss. The gravel is stacked in pillars next to each other, with each pillar being one block lower than the last. Cobblestone stairs can later be added directly on top, in order to give them permanence and added strength.
- In above ground areas where gravel is not naturally present, its' visual contrast with the environment means that gravel blocks with torches can work well as a breadcrumb trail, or to mark the limits of known regions. Signs are more effective, but also more resource intensive.
- Filling in underground gaps where ore has been mined, in order to avoid the creation of areas where monsters can spawn.
- Squaring off underwater terrain.
Although Sand also obeys gravity, it has greater aesthetic appeal, is needed to create Glass, and is usually 50-75% less common than gravel. Gravel should, therefore, be used in preference to Sand for the above purposes.
A gravel pit next to an above ground lava flow
In Alpha and Beta, gravel has a 10% chance of dropping flint once destroyed. Flint is used to create Flint and Steel and Arrows. Gravel blocks that don't drop flint can be picked up, placed, and destroyed again. However, blocks that drop flint do not drop gravel, so this cannot be exploited to gain an infinite amount of flint. Shovels will destroy gravel more quickly than other tools, but do not affect the chance of flint being dropped.
Minecarts prevent Gravel from falling.
Some gravel
Gravel Sifting
Gravel sifting is when a player continuously places and destroys gravel blocks in order to get flint. However this is a long process that may take several minutes and even hours to complete depending on how much gravel you intend to sift and how lucky you are. Some player sift gravel as a time waster as well as a way of getting rid of the almost useless resource and replacing it with something useful.
Trivia
- On occasion, some normally generated maps may produce beaches made of gravel instead of sand.
- Gravel spawns in 2 block high bands across the walls of the Nether.
A Gravel Beach
- A great way to power mine massive columns of gravel is to dig under the stone or dirt that it is resting on. Under that dirt or stone, place a torch, a redstone torch, a piece of redstone wire, or a piece of minecart track. Mine the dirt or stone, and watch as the column falls into the placed object quickly, giving you the gravel blocks. Note that the gravel must fall on the object for it to be mined, and mining gravel in this way does not yield any flint. This technique also works for mining columns of sand. However, if you place the object directly under the gravel, so that the gravel does not drop onto it (this is easier to do by placing a block ontop of the torch) then it will not break (this has led to some traps being made working on this basis).
- In the Nether, it is possible to find massive cliffs made of naturally-floating gravel. Just like with sand, if you destroy, replace, remove, or if a Ghast's cannon ball hits any of these blocks, all of the floating blocks will collapse. It is advised that one does not stand on these blocks, as they usually strech over vast lakes of lava, and they collapse faster than the player can run.
- An old glitch in Classic mode allowed players to raise the height of a fluid block by placing Gravel (or Sand) over it. The Gravel would stay suspended in mid-air until it was broken. When broken, a fluid block corresponding to the type below the Gravel would appear where the block was. The suspended fluid block would remain immobile until a block was placed next to it, causing a flood. This bug has since been fixed.