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Piston Guide

Push 12 blocks, pull 1 with slime.

A piston surrounded by a sticky piston, a slimeball, obsidian and redstone
Quick answer
  • Craft a Piston from 3 planks, 4 cobblestone, 1 iron ingot and 1 redstone dust.
  • Add a slimeball to make a Sticky piston, which pulls blocks back.
  • A piston can push up to 12 blocks in a row.

Pistons move blocks. They're behind hidden doors, farms and almost every redstone build.

Materials PlannerPlan Minecraft build materials and calculate stacks, shulker boxes and chests

Crafting

RowItems
Top3 planks
MiddleCobblestone, iron ingot, cobblestone
BottomCobblestone, redstone, cobblestone

For a sticky piston, put a Slime ball on top of a piston.

Normal vs sticky

  • Normal pistons push and leave the block where it is.
  • Sticky pistons push and pull the block back when they retract.
12blocks max push
1block pulled by a sticky piston

Blocks pistons can't move

  • Obsidian and crying obsidian
  • Bedrock, end portal frames and reinforced deepslate
  • Chests, furnaces and other containers on Java (Bedrock pistons can move them)
Glazed terracottaPistons can push glazed terracotta, but sticky pistons can't pull it back. Slime blocks don't stick to it either.

Cheat sheet

  • 3 planks, 4 cobble, 1 iron, 1 redstone
  • Add a slimeball for sticky
  • 12 block push limit
  • Can't move obsidian or chests

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