Slabs

Slabs

Type	Solid Block
Requirements	None
Physics	No
Transparency	No (Double Slab) Yes (Single Slab)
Luminance	No
Blast resistance	30 (Stone), 15 (Wood)
Tools
Renewable	Stone: Yes Sandstone: No Wooden: Yes Cobblestone: Yes Bricks: No Stone Brick: Yes Nether Brick: No Quartz: No
Stackable	Yes (64), same type only
Flammable	Stone: No Wooden: Yes
Availability	?
First appearances	Dirt, Stone Survival Test 0.26 Sandstone, Wooden, Cobblestone Beta 1.3 Bricks, Stone Brick, Smooth Stone Full Half-Slab Beta 1.8 Upside-down Slabs 1.2 Preview Wooden Slabs (Oak, Birch, Spruce, Jungle) 12w17a Nether Brick Slabs 12w49a Quartz 13w02a Smooth Sandstone Full Half-slab 13w04a
Data values	Double Stone Slab dec: 43 hex: 2B bin: 00101011 Single Stone Slab dec: 44 hex: 2C bin: 00101100 Double Wooden Slab dec: 125 hex: 7D bin: 01111101 Single Wooden Slab dec: 126 hex: 7E bin: 01111110

Slabs are half-blocks. Upside-down slabs occupy the top half of their block space rather than the bottom half. To place a slab upside-down, right-click on the bottom of a "ceiling" block, which can be removed after the slab has been placed, or by right clicking the top half of another block, if the player wishes to place it on the side of another double or single slab block.

All types of "stone" slab have the same data values; like wood and colored wool, they are differentiated by their damage values: stone slabs have a damage value of 0, sandstone slabs has 1, old wooden slabs has 2 (which were actually stone, and are still obtainable), cobblestone slabs has 3, bricks has 4, stone bricks has 5, and nether bricks has 6. Damage value 7 is occupied by nether quartz, and formerly by a smooth variant of the stone slab. Upside down stone slabs have a damage value of 8, sandstone has 9, wooden has 10, cobblestone has 11, bricks has 12, stone bricks has 13, nether bricks has 14, and nether quartz has 15. Real wood slabs use a different set of block and damage values.

[edit] Occurrence

Stone slabs can be found naturally in NPC Villages lining the roof of a blacksmith shop and inside some of the buildings where they form counters. They are also found in Strongholds where they are used in some of the stairs, ledges and torch pillars. Sandstone slabs can be found naturally in desert wells and desert temples.

[edit] Crafting

Unlike many wooden items, wooden slabs must be crafted entirely from one type of wood, but by the same token, they keep the type (and color) of the wood used, thus "Birch Wood Slabs" and so forth.

Ingredients	Input » Output
Stone, Sandstone, Cobblestone, Bricks, Stone Brick, Wood Planks, Nether Brick, or Block of Quartz	6

[edit] As a crafting ingredient

Ingredients	Input » Output
Sandstone Slabs or Quartz Slabs
Glass + Nether Quartz + Wooden Slabs

[edit] Behavior

An example of how upside-down slabs can make compact redstone "stairs".

Slabs do not block a vertical redstone connection.

Like other partial blocks slabs are treated as a whole block by other blocks, such as dirt, stone, and glass, and liquids. Two slabs of the same type (e.g. two stone slabs) can be placed one on top of one another to make a single full-size block, but different slab types cannot be mixed in this way. Sandstone, wooden, and cobblestone double-slabs look exactly the same as their full block counter-parts, but take a longer time to break and drop two slabs. Wooden slabs are collected more quickly with an axe and are flammable.

Single slabs have the tendency to let through arrows shot from above. They will also destroy gravel and sand blocks that fall onto them (the same as torches, as long as the slab is a bottom-half). They are also treated as transparent by the game and can cause suffocation, prevent placement of torches or other fixtures on them and chests with single slabs above them can still be opened.

An unusual property of slabs is that they are non-solid to redstone. This allows redstone wiring to be hidden underneath while still being able to connect to the wire on the side of the slabs.

Mobs can spawn on top of upside down slabs and on double slabs.

Due to the way blast rays propagate from an explosion slabs provide extremely effective absorption to explosions directly on top of them. Specifically, this is because explosive entities will be lower in elevation when they explode on top of slabs than they would otherwise be on an ordinary block. Although the few slab(s) directly under the explosion will absorb the full force of the blast (with a resistance of 30) as usual, the propagation of damage to the sides will be greatly reduced. If source of the explosion is elevated for any reason at the time of the blast, this protective quirk is lost.

Despite how sneaking lowers the player's eye level half a block, doing so does not allow the player to walk over a single slab with one block of air above it because of the player's true height. A player cannot walk from a block of soul sand to a slab without jumping.

[edit] Video

[edit] History

Classic
October 24, 2009		Stone slabs were introduced to the game on October 24, 2009, in Classic Survival Test 0.27.
		In Classic and Survival Test, stone slabs could be obtained by mining Coal Ore because of the lack of inventory and crafting.
		Stone slab blocks were called stair blocks before the current stairs were added; after this, they were known as steps (the two forms being single steps and double steps) before all items got official names upon the Beta release.
Beta
1.3		Added sandstone, wooden, and cobblestone slabs.
		Before the additional slabs were added, a double stone slab would only yield one slab when broken. Since this update, all double slabs yield 2 of their respective single slabs when broken. Destroying double slabs with TNT, however, still only yields single slabs (when the slabs aren't simply destroyed by the explosion).
		Before Beta 1.3 came out, stone slabs were made with cobblestone instead of stone, but this update introduced cobblestone slabs to the game and changed the recipes for pressure plates and stone slabs so that there wouldn't be any conflicting recipes.
1.8		Added the stone brick, bricks, and smooth full half-slab. (Smooth full half-slab was only obtainable through inventory editing at the time.)
		The sprinting feature was added in this update. While stairs stop the player's sprinting, slabs allow a player to continue sprinting.
Official release
1.2 Preview		All types of slabs can now be placed upside down and under blocks; these occupy the top half of their block space rather than the bottom half.
		Before 1.2, slabs had a 2:1 input/output ratio, i.e. 3 cobblestone would get you only 3 slabs out of the current 6. This is likely due to the fact that the slab types are differentiated by their damage values instead of by different data values, similar to wood, coal or charcoal, and colored wool.
1.3.1	12w17a	A wooden slab house with a netherrack fireplace using the old wooden oak/"stone" slab trick, allowing the fire to be contained. New slabs were added for the four different types of wooden planks, replacing the old wooden oak/"stone" slab. The new slabs were vulnerable to fire, but could now be collected faster with an axe instead of a pickaxe. The old wooden slabs did not burn and could only be collected with a pickaxe because they were the same block and shared the same data value as other slabs, except with a different texture. This caused wooden slabs to break faster with a pickaxe rather than an axe. Wooden slabs were also are not affected by fire and had a stronger blast resistance than wooden planks, which made them a useful building material. These properties could be used in SMP to help prevent griefing, and the fact that wooden slabs didn't burn also made it useful for creating houses in The Nether; but since the update, they can no longer be safely used. The original wooden oak/"stone" slab can still be obtained through inventory editing or the /give command. Wooden slabs already crafted or placed in the world remain the old 'stone' type.
		All four wooden upside-down slabs had the oak plank texture.
	12w18a	Fixed upside down slabs having same texture.
	12w25a	Redstone (including repeaters, torches, levers, and pressure plates) and rails can now be placed on slabs and stairs positioned upside down.
	12w26a	Mobs can now spawn on upside down slabs.
1.4.2	12w39a	upside-down slab lighting bug Slabs interact properly with lighting now; when slabs are placed upside down, they now accept light from light sources themselves, and no longer block light to surrounding blocks; they no longer cast the shadow of a full-sized block.[1]
		Smooth lighting on slabs is slightly bugged.
November 28, 2012		Jeb tweeted a picture of himself crafting netherbrick slabs. [2]
1.4.6	12w49a	Added nether brick slabs, which causes the smooth full half-slab to change its damage value to 43:7
1.5	13w02a	Added quartz slabs. The formerly unused slab type, known as the smooth full half-slab (see gallery), was removed from the game. Its data values were replaced with the nether quartz slab.
January 22, 2013		Jeb states that the smooth full half-slab will be re-implemented with a value of 43:8. The smooth sandstone slab will also be implemented, with a value of 43:9. He also stated that they may be obtained legitimately later.[3]
1.5	13w04a	The smooth full half-slab is re-implemented with a value of 43:8. The smooth sandstone slab is also added, with a value of 43:9.

[edit] Dirt slab

The dirt slab, replacing all the dirt (not grass) blocks.

Before stone slabs were added to 0.26, Notch ran a test of dirt slabs. They were never added to the actual game and were only mentioned once.^[4] They replaced all dirt blocks and did not grow grass on top.

[edit] Issues

Issues relating to "Slabs" are maintained on Mojira. Report issues there.

[edit] Trivia

Light passing through the sides of a brick slab from above. A normal block would render complete darkness.

• An unused slab type, known as the "smooth full half-slab", has a data value of 43₇, but can only be obtained with /give or an inventory editor. It is a full block with the top texture of stone slabs on all six sides. As of 13w04a, the data value is 43₈ and a similar effect with sandstone can be obtained with 43₉. See the gallery for a comparison image.
• Before version 13w05a stairs prevented sprinting. Since slabs did not they were used in place of stairs. They were also used to keep floors from catching on fire.
• In the Pocket Edition, wooden slabs are treated as stone slabs and must be mined with a pickaxe. This characteristic of slabs existed in outdated versions of Minecraft PC.
• Since the Beta light update, slabs now let a small amount of light pass through their edges. This light is only visible with Smooth Lighting turned on, and does not affect mob spawning or other light-dependent processes.
  • The exception of this is that any light directed through a slab does not affect any block's light values north of the source.
• When a slab is placed on top of ice, the slab has the same "slipperiness" as the ice below it. This applies to every other block with a hit-box that is lesser than a full block.
• If slabs are placed below TNT, it will significantly reduce their damage. By making a floor of slabs, the TNT will lower its explosive power to two blocks instead of six. This is so because the TNT believes that it is inside the slab, for the game thinks that it is inside a full block, greatly reducing its explosion radius.
• Stone slabs are the only slab which, when stacked, do not mimic their block in texture.
• You can sneak walk off slabs at ground level.
• Minecarts on powered rails will not be repelled from a slab. They will, however, be repelled by a slab with a minecart on top.
• Though the new wooden slabs are flammable, the old wooden oak/"stone" slab is still available through inventory editing or the /give command, so in a world/server where commands are allowed, it is still possible to obtain fireproof wooden slabs.
• When Creepers explode on stone slabs they only destroy the slab they were standing on and nothing else in the area.
• It is possible to get any type of double slab that you want by using the /give command and typing in /give (player) 43 1 (slab id). This will allow you to build faster.
• If you type in /give <player> 43 1 10, then it will give you a wooden plank, but it acts like a stone block. It is not flammable and it makes "stone" sound effects when they are placed, broken, or stepped on. This is the version of the wood slab that was used for old slabs when wood slabs were made flammable.
• If redstone dust is placed on an upside-down slab, it will not trigger adjacent TNT.

[edit] Gallery

• 

  Brick slabs.

• 

  Stone Brick slabs.

• 

  Double stone slab (left) compared to smooth full half-slab.

• 

  Naturally occurring stone slabs in a butcher shop.

• 

  Naturally occurring stone slabs in a village Blacksmith.

• 

  First image of upside down slabs as shown on Jeb's Twitter.

• 

  Slabs used to create the impression of half-aligned full blocks.

• 

  All four types of wooden slabs.

• 

  Trap doors on slabs.

• 

  Example of slab shelving by placing slabs below other slabs.

• 

  Smooth sandstone double slabs (43₉) compared to smooth stone double slabs (43₈).

[edit] References

1. ↑
   http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/10g4mi/dinnerbone_at_this_point_i_think_its_almost/
2. ↑
   jebtweet:273775616162164736
3. ↑
   http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/1722hf/the_smooth_full_halfslab_will_become_438/c81gzi0
4. ↑
   wordofnotch:220243988/half-sized-blocks-all-dirt-tiles-so-it-kinda

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