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Sticky Piston

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.5
Hardness	1.5
Luminous	No
Transparent	JE: No BE: Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color (Java)	11 STONE

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A sticky piston is a variant of the piston that can additionally pull most blocks when it retracts.

Obtaining

Breaking

A sticky piston can be broken using any tool with equal efficiency, and always drops itself. In Java Edition, it is faster to break them with a pickaxe. The pickaxe is also the preferred tool for breaking the head when extended.

Block	Sticky Piston
Hardness	1.5
Tool
Breaking time (sec)
Default	2.25
Wooden	1.15
Stone	0.6
Iron	0.4
Diamond	0.3
Netherite	0.25
Golden	0.2
Options
Efficiency	0
Haste	0 JEBE

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

Natural generation

Three sticky pistons generate as part of each jungle pyramid. Five sticky pistons also generate in each ancient city.

Crafting

Ingredients	[hide]Crafting recipe
Slimeball + Piston

Usage

A sticky piston behaves the same way as a normal piston, except when pulling. A sticky piston pulls when it is unpowered.

Pulling

A sticky piston also pulls the block attached to its head and any blocks attached to the head via slime- or honey blocks, but not any of the other blocks it may have pushed.

A sticky piston cannot pull a falling block.

Spitting

In Java Edition, sticky pistons finish extending early and start retracting if they lose power before the extension process is over; most 2 game tick long pulses, some 3 game tick long pulses (when start delay is present) and all pulses equal or shorter than 1 game tick that pistons can react to allow this to happen. This causes a sticky piston to "spit" the blocks it's pushing, leaving them behind when it starts to retract. Also, the first out of the blocks that are being moved ends up in its final position earlier. This behavior is referred to as "block spitting" or sometimes "block dropping".

A sticky piston still pulls a block back if the piston extended through an air gap to contact the block.

Block	Effect (Java Edition)	Effect (Bedrock Edition)
Barrier Beacon Bedrock Calibrated Sculk Sensor Command Block Creaking Heart Crying Obsidian Enchanting Table End Gateway End Portal End Portal Frame Ender Chest Grindstone Jigsaw Block Jukebox Light Block Lodestone Monster Spawner Moving Piston Nether Portal Obsidian Piston (extended) Piston Head Reinforced Deepslate Respawn Anchor Sculk Catalyst Sculk Sensor Sculk Shrieker Structure Block Structure Void‌ Trial Spawner Vault	Cannot be pushed or pulled.
Allow Deny Border	N/A	Cannot be pushed or pulled.
Compound Creator Element Element Constructor Hardened Glass Hardened Glass Pane Heat Block Lab Table Material Reducer Underwater TNT		Can be pushed or pulled.
Underwater Torch Colored Torches		Breaks when pushed, turning to drops when applicable. Cannot be pulled.
Barrel Beehive Bee Nest Blast Furnace Brewing Stand Chest Chiseled Bookshelf Conduit Crafter Daylight Detector Dispenser Dropper Furnace Hopper Lectern Smoker Trapped Chest	Cannot be pushed or pulled, because these blocks hold block entities.	Can be pushed or pulled.
Large chest		Can be pushed or pulled, but separates into two chests.
Banners Hanging Signs Signs		Breaks when pushed or unsupported, turning into drops.
Campfire Soul Campfire		Breaks when pushed, turning to drops when applicable. Cannot be pulled.
Glazed Terracotta	Can be pushed, but not pulled.
Heavy Core	Can be pushed and pulled.	Can be pushed, but not pulled.
Dead Coral Dead Coral Fans	Can be pushed and pulled, but breaks if unsupported, turning to drops when applicable.	Breaks when pushed or unsupported, turning into drops.
Carpets (not moss)	Can be pushed and pulled, but breaks if unsupported, turning to drops when applicable.
Rail Powered Rail Activator Rail Detector Rail	Can be pushed and pulled, but breaks if unsupported, turning to drops when applicable.
Bell Candle Lantern Soul Lantern	Breaks when pushed, turning to drops when applicable. Cannot be pulled.	Can be pushed or pulled.
Amethyst Cluster Bamboo Beds Budding Amethyst Button Cactus Cake Carved Pumpkin Cave Vines Chorus Flower Chorus Plant Cobweb Cocoa Dead Bush Decorated Pot Doors Dragon Egg Fire Fern Flower Pot Flowers Frogspawn Heads Item Frame Jack o'Lantern Ladder Lava Leaves Lever Lily Pad Melon Melon Stem Moss Block Moss Carpet Mushrooms Nether Wart Painting Pale Hanging Moss Pale Moss Block Pale Moss Carpet Pink Petals Pointed Dripstone Pressure Plates Pumpkin Pumpkin Stem Redstone Comparator Redstone Dust Redstone Repeater Redstone Torch Saplings Scaffolding Sculk Vein Sea Pickle Short Grass Shulker Box Snow Soul Fire Structure Void‌ Sugar Cane Torch Torchflower Torchflower Crop Tripwire Tripwire Hook Turtle Egg Twisting Vines Vines Water Weeping Vines Weighted Pressure Plates Wheat	Breaks when pushed, turning to drops when applicable. Cannot be pulled.
Anvil	Cannot be pulled. Pushable only when in a falling state.	Can be pushed or pulled, but falls if unsupported. Cannot be pulled when in a falling state.
Concrete Powder Gravel Red Sand Sand	Can be pushed or pulled, but falls if unsupported. Cannot be pulled when in a falling state.
Suspicious Gravel Suspicious Sand	Breaks when pushed, unless if in a falling state. Cannot be pulled.

Pistons do not move blocks that are "attached to a block", as they detach and drop as an item.

Exceptions

• Rails: as long as they remain on top of a solid face of a block in their new position, and that block isn't moving at the same time.
  • An exception is when the rail and block supporting it are on two parallel extended pistons at which the rail remains attached. 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 successfully move without breaking. Trying to move the rail and its support block with perpendicular pistons causes the rail to break (although it visually appears to not break because of the bug MC-75716).
  • Rails re-orient themselves after being pushed, similar to when placed manually.

• Dead coral and dead coral fans: In Java Edition, they can be pushed and pulled 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.

Technical components

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

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

[hide] v t e stone sound type
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.stone.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.stone.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.stone.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.stone.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.stone.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition (piston):

[hide] v t e stone sound type
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	0.37	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	0.3	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

Bedrock Edition (arm):

[hide] v t e normal sound type
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	0.27	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	0.3	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

Unique

Java Edition:

[hide] v t e Sounds
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Piston moves	Blocks	When a sticky piston extends	block.piston.extend	subtitles.block.piston.move​	0.5	0.6-0.85	8
	​Piston moves	Blocks	When a sticky piston contracts	block.piston.contract	subtitles.block.piston.move​	0.5	0.6-0.8	8

Bedrock Edition:

[hide] v t e Sounds
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	When a sticky piston extends	tile.piston.out	0.5	0.6-0.75
	Blocks	When a sticky piston contracts	tile.piston.in	0.5	0.6-0.75

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	[hide]Translation key
Sticky Piston	sticky_piston	Block & Item	None	block.minecraft.sticky_piston

Name	[hide]Identifier
Block entity	piston

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Alias ID	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID	[hide]Translation key
Sticky Piston	sticky_piston	None	29	Block & Giveable Item	Identical	tile.sticky_piston.name

Name	[hide]Savegame ID
Piston block entity	PistonArm

Block states

The sticky_piston block uses following block states:

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	[hide]Description
extended	false	false true	If true, the piston is extended.
facing	north	down east north south up west	The direction the piston head is pointing. The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the piston.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	[hide]Description
facing_direction	0x1 0x2 0x4	0	0 1 2 3 4 5	0 1 2 3 4 5	The direction the piston is pointing. 0: facing down 1: facing up 2: facing south 3: facing north 4: facing east 5: facing west

Block data

A sticky piston has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block. Java Edition:

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Block entity data
  • Tags common to all block entities see Template:Nbt inherit/blockentity/template[show]
  • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] blockState: The moving block represented by this block entity.
    • Block state see Template:Nbt inherit/block state/template[show]
  • [Byte] extending: 1 or 0 (true/false) – true if the piston is extending instead of withdrawing.
  • [Int] facing: Direction that the piston pushes (0=down, 1=up, 2=north, 3=south, 4=west, 5=east).
  • [Float] progress: How far the block has been moved. Starts at 0.0, and increments by 0.5 each tick. If the value is 1.0 or higher at the start of a tick (before incrementing), then the block transforms into the stored blockState. Negative values can be used to increase the time until transformation.
  • [Byte] source: 1 or 0 (true/false) – true if the block represents the piston head itself, false if it represents a block being pushed.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

History

[hide]Java Edition Beta
?							The original sticky piston was a mod posted on the Minecraft Forums by Hippoplatimus. The code for that version was given to Jeb, who then worked on implementing pistons into vanilla Minecraft; Hippoplatimus is in the game's credits under "Additional Programming", like other modders whose work made it into vanilla Minecraft.
							Another user, DiEvAl, privately submitted code as well, including the idea of block entities to track moving blocks.
1.7							Added sticky pistons, alongside associated head and moving blocks.
							A bug existed in this version which caused the game to crash and lock the player out of their world when powering sticky pistons in some scenarios (for example when trying to push a redstone torch).
1.7_01							The aforementioned bug has been fixed and affected worlds now load normally again.
							Headless sticky pistons won't break upon receiving a block update anymore.
[hide]Java Edition
1.7.3							Sticky pistons now spit the blocks they are pushing when powered by a short pulse.
[hide]Java Edition
1.3.1			12w22a				Sticky pistons now generate naturally inside jungle temples. In the temples, the pistons are used to form a puzzle mechanism.
			12w26a				Sticky pistons now schedule extensions and retractions rather than executing them as soon as they are updated.
1.5			13w06a				Sticky pistons can now pull extended sticky and normal pistons as long as they are both depowered in the same tick, but only if the first one is updated before the other. This behavior is intended.
1.8			14w17a				The models for sticky piston and related blocks when facing up and down have been changed.
			14w18a				Slime blocks now push and pull blocks adjacent when connected to sticky pistons.
							Extending a sticky piston with a slime block on top of it launches the entity (mobs, players, items, launched arrows, etc) into the air.
1.9			15w38b				Retracting sticky pistons can now pull entities through them. This was known as "piston translocation" by the community.
							Sticky pistons can no longer pull extended sticky and normal pistons when depowered in the same tick due to a bug.
			15w49a				Unextended sticky pistons, downward-facing sticky pistons, and upward-facing sticky piston heads are now considered to have a solid top surface, like upside-down stairs and top slabs.
1.11			16w40a				Retracting sticky pistons can no longer pull entities through them. "Piston translocation" has been removed.
1.12			17w16a				Sticky pistons do not pull glazed terracotta, and when pistons move slime blocks, they do not move glazed terracotta attached to the side of the slime block.
			17w49a				Sticky pistons' block spitting behavior was accidentally removed while attempting to fix a bug.
			17w49b				Sticky pistons now spit blocks again.
			pre3				Slime blocks can no longer pull glazed terracotta attached to any side of a sticky piston, whatsoever.
1.13			17w47a				Sticky pistons now can push note blocks.
			pre6				Sticky pistons now pull glazed terracotta again.
			pre8				Sticky pistons no longer pull glazed terracotta.
1.14			18w43a				The textures associated with sticky pistons have been changed.
							While the texture for oak planks was later updated in subsequent snapshots, the sticky piston texture is yet to be changed to reflect this.
			18w44a				Sticky pistons are no longer transparent.
			18w46a				Extended sticky pistons now allow light to pass through certain faces.
1.15			19w41a				Added honey blocks, which have multiple different types of interactions with sticky pistons.
1.16			20w06a				The hardness of sticky pistons has been increased from 0.5 to 1.5.
							Pickaxes are now the tool for breaking sticky pistons.
							Sticky pistons no longer pop off redstone components placed on the back when retracting.
1.17			20w45a				Particles now appear if a block is broken by a sticky piston.
1.19			22w13a				Sticky pistons and piston heads now generate in ancient cities.
			22w17a				Changed sticky piston textures, to match the color of the oak planks on the piston head.
1.21			24w20a				Sticky piston sounds have been updated to be quieter and less harsh.
			24w21a				Sticky piston sounds have been reverted to what they previously were, but the attenuation distance and sound level has been halved.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.15.0			build 1				Added sticky pistons.
							Sticky pistons have a version exclusive animation and the ability to push block entities.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of sticky pistons has been changed.
1.20.30			Preview 1.20.20.21				Increased the hardness and blast resistance of sticky pistons from 0.5 to 1.5.
[hide]Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU3	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added sticky pistons.
TU14		1.04					Sticky pistons have been updated to make them less error-prone, thus they also appear to update slower. This also alters the way pistons work, so the player might have to adapt their repeater delays and similar.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Retracting sticky pistons can now pull entities through them. This was known as "piston translocation" by the community.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Retracting sticky pistons can no longer pull entities through them. "Piston translocation" has been removed.
							Sticky pistons can no longer pull glazed terracotta.
TU57	CU49	1.57	1.56	1.56	Patch 27	1.0.7	Sticky pistons can now move daylight detectors.
TU60	CU51	1.64	1.64	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Sticky pistons can no longer move cauldrons.
TU62	CU52	1.66	1.66	1.66	Patch 31	1.0.12	Sticky pistons can now move small chests but only if the new position would have been valid for players to place a new chest. This limitation can however be bypassed by moving the chests simultaniously.
							Sticky pistons can move cauldrons again.
			1.90				The texture of sticky pistons has been changed.
[hide]New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added sticky pistons.

Data history

[hide]Java Edition Beta
1.7							Six-sided sticky pistons exist as extreme metadata variants of sticky pistons.
[hide]Java Edition
1.8			14w26a				Pistons now use block states instead of metadata. As such, weird pistons have been removed.
1.13			17w47a				Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 33.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.15.0			build 1				Weird sticky pistons also existed, but they didn't look six-sided.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.13.0			beta 1.13.0.1				Weird sticky pistons have been removed.
[hide]Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
?							Weird sticky pistons definitely existed at one point.

Issues

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

Java Edition

• MC-138455 – Sticky pistons failing to pull slime/honey blocks do not update blocks
• MC-271202 – Piston / sticky piston head does not visually appear for a few frames after being powered from the side it is facing
• MC-26727 – Sloped rails can stay raised when adjacent rails are pulled upwards by a sticky piston
• MC-130183 – Waterlogged blocks retain their waterlogged state when moved with sticky pistons with short pulse
• MC-159503 – Entities clip through blocks being spit out by sticky pistons
• MC-215863 – Sticky pistons combined with slime blocks can create ghost blocks
• MC-268607 – Observer on sticky piston is not triggering on retraction with wooden button
• MC-59474 – Sticky Pistons not correctly pulling back slime in a retractable setup
• MC-185572 – Sticky piston heads don't give updates when pulling a block

Bedrock Edition

• MCPE-89921 – Observers dont activate redstone dust and repeaters when it is pushed by a sticky piston and that sticky piston gets powered by another observer
• MCPE-123281 – Sticky Pistons Not Pulling Slime Blocks
• MCPE-134598 – Falling Blocks break when block underneath is pulled horizontally by retracting sticky piston
• MCPE-151535 – Inconsistent hopper collection of items pushed on ice by slime block on sticky piston
• MCPE-165945 – Entities in blocks get pulled through the back of retracting sticky pistons
• MCPE-171802 – Short sneaking doesn't work properly with sticky piston and stairs
• MCPE-171903 – Calibrated sculk sensor and sticky pistons not updating correctly
• MCPE-179911 – Heavy core cannot be pulled by a sticky piston
• MCPE-181221 – Using a sticky piston and a composter, you can go through walls
• MCPE-181290 – Shulkers cannot be pushed by sticky pistons and other blocks
• And 1 other open issues.

Trivia

• Mojang stated that the 12-block push limit for sticky pistons would not be changed, because "the current limitations are by design".
• When toggled between on and off rapidly with a gravity affected block (such as sand) above it, a sticky piston can eventually break the block, which can be picked up as a resource. However, gravel broken this way never drops flint.
• If a sticky piston powered by a short pulse directly pushes a waterlogged block, the block remains waterlogged at its new position.
• Carpet can be placed on the sticky piston extension block, and remains even if it is replaced with a solid block using /setblock.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  An example of sticky piston use with glass panes.

• 

  An example of sticky piston use with rails.

• 

  An example of sticky piston use with fences.

Mojang screenshots

• 

  First screenshot of pistons.

• 

  Efe tinkering with a sticky piston.

• 

  A sticky piston.

• 

  Two sticky pistons atop a temple.

• 

  Sticky pistons spelling out the word piston.

See also

• Piston
• Slime block
• Redstone
• Tutorials/Piston uses
• Tutorials/Headless pistons
• Mechanics/Redstone/Piston circuits

External links

• "Block of the Month: Sticky Piston" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, January 23, 2025.