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Levers and Buttons

One stays on, the other gives a quick pulse.

A lever surrounded by a stone button, an oak button, redstone and an iron door on stone bricks
Quick answer
  • A Lever stays on or off until you flip it. A button gives a short pulse.
  • Stone button: on for 1 second. Oak button (any wood): on for 1.5 seconds.
  • All of them give a full strength 15 signal.

Levers and buttons are the simplest ways to switch redstone on. Which one you need depends on whether the thing should stay on.

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Recipes

SwitchRecipe
Lever1 stick on top of 1 cobblestone
Stone button1 stone or polished blackstone
Oak button1 plank of any wood type

Lever or button?

LeverStone buttonWooden button
Stays onUntil flipped1 second1.5 seconds
Signal151515
Best forLights, farms, things left onDoors, one-off pulsesDoors you walk through
20ticks for a stone button
30ticks for a wooden button

What they power

  • The block they're placed on, if it's a full solid block.
  • Redstone dust, pistons, lamps and doors right next to them.
  • Repeaters and comparators facing away from them.
Hidden switchA lever powers the block it sits on, so you can run redstone from the back of that block into a hidden piston door.

Iron doors

An Iron door can't be opened by hand. Put a button on each side and it opens long enough to walk through, then shuts behind you.

BedrockBedrock also lets you place levers on fences, walls and hoppers, and underwater. On Java, flowing water breaks levers.

Cheat sheet

  • Lever: stick + cobblestone, stays on
  • Stone button: 1 second pulse
  • Wooden button: 1.5 second pulse
  • All give signal 15
Materials PlannerPlan Minecraft build materials and calculate stacks, shulker boxes and chests

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