TNT

Overview

TNT is a block that becomes an explosion when it is activated, and the important word is activated rather than lit — flint and steel, a fire charge, a redstone signal, a flaming arrow, another explosion or being pushed into fire all set it off, after which it primes for 4 seconds and then detonates. Its blast is roughly creeper-strength: it destroys most blocks in a radius of a few blocks, does not touch obsidian, ancient debris or bedrock, and drops only a fraction of the blocks it breaks, which is why TNT mining is fast but wasteful. Primed TNT can be pushed by pistons and thrown by water, which is what makes TNT cannons and duplicators work. In the Nether it is the standard tool for clearing ancient debris tunnels, because netherrack is soft and the debris itself is blast-proof. Water is the counter: TNT detonated underwater still damages entities but destroys no blocks at all, which is how players demolish structures safely. Each TNT block costs five gunpowder and four sand, and gunpowder comes from creepers, witches and ghasts.

Clearing large volumes of terrain quickly — ancient debris tunnels, quarry pits, demolition — plus TNT cannons, traps, and the duplicators built from primed TNT pushed by pistons.

TNT counts as a redstone block in Minecraft 1.21.4. TNT has a crafting recipe, so it is renewable as long as you can source its ingredients. With a hardness of 0 it gives way immediately under almost any tool.

Any tool works, and so do bare hands. Mining it returns the block itself, so it is safe to relocate. A blast resistance of 0 means a single creeper will clear it away.

It stacks to 64. You make it with Gunpowder and Sand. The one thing it makes is Minecart with TNT.

How to get it

Craft it from 5 gunpowder and 4 sand. Gunpowder drops from creepers, witches and ghasts, so a creeper farm is the practical way to get TNT in the quantity a mining project needs.

Tips

TNT in water damages mobs but destroys no blocks at all, which makes underwater demolition completely safe.
It primes for 4 seconds before detonating, which is enough time to sprint about 20 blocks away.
Obsidian, ancient debris and bedrock are immune, so a debris tunnel loses nothing valuable to the blast.
A redstone signal, flint and steel, a flaming arrow or another explosion all prime it — plan your wiring accordingly.

Properties

TNT has a blast resistance of 0, so any explosion nearby destroys it. It blocks light completely and emits no light of its own. Stack size is 64 — the standard full stack. Flammable, at encouragement 15 and burn 100: build with it away from lava, and do not use it as a wall you care about.

Transparent: No
Required tool: Any
Flammable: Yes (15/100)