Activator Rail

Activator Rail

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.7
Hardness	0.7
Luminous	No
Transparent	Yes
Waterloggable	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color (Java)	0 NONE

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            "field": "Yes",
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            "field": "Yes",
            "label": "(link to Waterlogging article, displayed as Waterloggable)"
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            "field": "No",
            "label": "(link to Flammable article, displayed as Flammable)"
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An activator rail is a type of powerable rail that can eject players and mobs from regular minecarts, lock and unlock minecarts with hoppers and ignite minecarts with TNT.

Obtaining

Breaking

An activator rail can be broken by hand or using any tool, dropping itself as an item, but a pickaxe is the fastest. To break an activator rail, mine it:

Block	Activator Rail
Hardness	0.7
Tool
Breaking time (sec)
Default	1.05
Wooden	0.55
Stone	0.3
Iron	0.2
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.15
Golden	0.1
Options
Efficiency	000
Haste	001 1JEBE

Legend

• incorrect tool, drops nothing
• correct tool, drops nothing or something other than the block itself
• correct tool, drops the block itself
• italicized can be instant mined

An activator rail also drops as an item when the block beneath it is removed or a piston moves it into a space with no floor below it.

Generated loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition and Bedrock Edition
Activator Rail	Mineshaft	Chest	1–4	27.1% { "item": "Activator Rail", "stacksize": "1–4", "chance": 0.271, "structure": "Mineshaft", "container": "Chest" }

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot + Stick + Redstone Torch	6

Usage

An activator rail can be used as a rail and as a redstone component.

To place an activator rail, use an activator rail item while pointing at a surface facing the space the activator rail should occupy. An activator rail can be placed on:

• 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.
• the top of any transparent block (glass, etc.)

An activator rail cannot be attached to the side or bottom of any block, but attempting to make such an attachment may cause the activator 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 an activator rail to the side of the fence causes the activator rail to be attached to the top of the ground next to the fence instead.

When placed, an activator rail configures itself to line up with any adjacent rails (including detector rails, powered rails, and other activator rails), as well as adjacent rails one block up. The behaviors in Java and Bedrock editions diverge in the following ways.

In Java Edition:

If there are two adjacent rails on non-opposite sides, or three or more adjacent rails, or no adjacent rails at all, an activator rail aligns itself in the direction the player is facing. If an existing activator rail is connected to only one other rail or none at all, and a new rail is placed perpendicular to the activator rail, then the activator rail aligns itself in the east-west direction (if it isn't already facing that way). If a rail it would align with is one block up, an activator rail slants upward toward it (with multiple options to slant upward to, an activator rail "prefers" west or south). Other configurations can be created by placing and removing various rails.

In Bedrock Edition:

If there are two adjacent rails on non-opposite sides, or three or more adjacent rails, an activator rail aligns itself in the east-west direction. If there are no adjacent rails, an activator rail aligns itself in the north-south direction (but if a rail is later placed to the east or west, the activator 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 align with is one block up, an activator rail slants upward toward it (with multiple options to slant upward to, an activator rail "prefers", in order: west, east, south, and north). Other configurations can be created by placing and removing various rails.

It cannot be placed suspended in midair, even with commands.

Rail

Activator rails (and other rails) can be used as "roads" for minecarts. A minecart that enters an activator rail's space from either end of the activator rail continues to move, losing only a little velocity (which can then be increased again with powered rails). A minecart that enters an activator rail's space from the side turns east or south (depending on the activator rail's orientation), or in the downward direction for a slanted activator rail.

Redstone component

Activator rails can be used to affect minecarts that travel over them.

Activation

An activator rail is a redstone mechanism and can be activated by:

• an adjacent active power component (for example, a redstone torch, a block of redstone, a daylight sensor, etc.)
• an adjacent powered block (strongly-powered or weakly-powered)
• a powered redstone comparator or redstone repeater facing the activator rail
• powered redstone dust configured to point at the activator rail, or configured as a plus sign. An activator rail is not activated by adjacent powered redstone dust that is configured to point in another direction.

An activated activator rail also activates any adjacent activator rails it is connected to, up to eight away from the original activation source. Thus a single activation source can activate up to 17 rails (one original in the middle and eight on either side). An activated activator rail does not activate adjacent rails not connected to it.

Activation and deactivation are instant and occur in the same gametick the power source turns on or off (any eventual delay depends on the power source).

Behavior

An activator rail affects minecarts above it with varying effects that occur as soon as any part of the minecart is on the activator rail.

An active activator rail:

• starts shaking, and ejects mobs (including players) from minecarts — the destination location is picked the same way as when dismounting a minecart
• repeatedly activates minecarts with command blocks — a command block minecart executes its command every four game ticks until the command block minecart is no longer on the activator rail
• disables minecarts with hoppers — a disabled hopper minecart cannot pick up items it travels through until it is enabled by an inactive activator rail (or until it is broken and re-placed)
• primes minecarts with TNT — primed TNT minecarts explode after four seconds with an explosive power proportional to their speed over the activator rail.

An inactive activator rail enables minecarts with hoppers — an enabled hopper minecart picks up items it travels through until it is disabled by an active activator rail.

A hopper minecart stops picking up items in the same tick it touches an active activator rail or in the same tick the inactive rail it is standing on is powered (it does not collect the item it could have taken from a container above in the same tick the activator rail turns on and takes the first item in the same tick the rail turns off again).

Mob interaction

Like other types of rails, spiders, cave spiders, and wardens are the only land mobs that can walk onto activator rails.‌

Sounds

Java Edition:

v t e metal sound type
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.metal.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	1.2	16
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.metal.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	1.2	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.metal.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.75	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.metal.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	1.25	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.metal.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.5	16

Bedrock Edition:

v t e metal sound type
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	1.0	1.1-1.2
	Blocks	When the block is placed	use.stone	1.0	1.2-1.25
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	0.3	0.75
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	0.35	1.0
	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	0.12	1.0
	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Item tags	Translation key
Activator Rail	activator_rail	Block & Item	prevent_mob_spawning_inside rails	rails	block.minecraft.activator_rail

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID	Translation key
Activator Rail	activator_rail	126	Block & Giveable Item	Identical	tile.activator_rail.name

Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
powered	false	false true	True if rail is activated.
shape	north_south	east_west north_south	Specifies the rail's orientation.
		ascending_east ascending_north ascending_south ascending_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	false true	Whether or not there's water in the same place as this rail.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
rail_data_bit	0x8	false	false true	0 1	True if rail is activated.
rail_direction	0x1 0x2 0x4	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
			6 7 8 9	Unsupported	Unused

History

Java Edition
1.5			13w02a				Added activator rails.
			13w02b				The crafting recipe of activator rails has now been changed to include sticks and redstone torch. Previously, it required only 6 iron ingots vertically at the end.
			13w04a				Activated activator rails now disable minecarts with hoppers.
1.7.2			13w39a				Activated activator rails now activate minecarts with command blocks.
1.8			14w05a				Activated activator rails now eject players and mobs from minecarts.
			14w28a				Sloped activator rails no longer decrease their hitbox to 2 pixels of a block when activated.
1.9			15w38a				All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been decreased from 10 pixels of a block to about 2.5 pixels of a block.
			15w39a				The dismounting location of activator rails is now predictable. Entities now dismount from vehicles (boats, minecarts, horses) by the right side relative to the motion of the vehicle. If the right side is unavailable, the other potential locations are tested in this order: Right, Left, Back Right, Back Left, Front Right, Front Left, Back, Front.
			15w44a				Activator rails can now be found in minecarts with chests in mineshafts.
1.10			16w21a				All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been increased from about 2.5 pixels of a block to a full block.
1.11			16w32b				All sloped rail types', including activator rails, hitbox heights have now been decreased from a full block to a half block.
1.14			18w43a				The textures of activator rails have now been changed.
			19w12b				Activator rails can now be placed on glass, ice, glowstone and sea lantern.
1.17			20w45a				All rail types can now be waterlogged.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.13.0			build 1				Added activator rails.
v0.14.0			build 1				Activator rails can now be found inside minecarts with chests in mineshafts.
Bedrock Edition
1.7.0			beta 1.7.0.2				Rails are once again broken by flowing water. Previously it flowed through the rails.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The textures of activator rails have now been changed.
1.20.30			Preview 1.20.20.21				Increased the hardness and blast resistance of activator rails from 0.5 to 0.7.
Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU19	CU7	1.10	1.10	1.10	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added activator rails.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Activated activator rails now eject players and mobs from minecarts.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been increased from 10 pixels of a block to a full block.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	All sloped rail types', including activator rails, hitbox heights have now been decreased from a full block to a half block.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		All types of rails can now be waterlogged and are no longer destroyed by flowing water. Instead it flows right through them.
			1.90				The textures of activator rails have now been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added activator rails.

Data history

Java Edition
1.8			14w10a				Activator 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				Activator rails are now defined via block states rather than by numerical metadata. Prior to this version, the numerical metadata variants of the activator rail were as follows: DV Description 0 Unpowered north-south 1 Unpowered east-west 2 Unpowered ascending east 3 Unpowered ascending west 4 Unpowered ascending north 5 Unpowered ascending south 6-7 Inaccessible - behavior unknown 8 Powered north-south 9 Powered east-west 10 Powered ascending east 11 Powered ascending west 12 Powered ascending north 13 Powered ascending south 14-15 Inaccessible - behavior unknown
			14w26a				Activator 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 157.

Issues

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

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  A minecart is shaking on an active activator rail

See also

• Rail
• Powered rail
• Detector rail