Budding Amethyst

This article is about the unobtainable block that grows amethyst clusters. For the block that grows to become an amethyst cluster, see Amethyst Bud.

Budding Amethyst

Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	1.5
Hardness	1.5
Luminous	No
Transparent	Partial (blocks light)
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	24 COLOR_PURPLE
Note block instrument	Default (Harp)

Budding amethyst is a fragile block found in amethyst geodes that grows amethyst clusters over time. It drops nothing if it breaks, and cannot be moved from where it is found.

Obtaining

Budding amethyst can only be obtained via the Creative inventory or with commands.
It is unobtainable in Survival; using a tool enchanted with Silk Touch does not drop anything.

Breaking

The suitable tool to break budding amethyst is a pickaxe.

Block	Budding Amethyst
Hardness	1.5
Tool
Breaking time (sec)[A]
Default	17.5 (JE) 7.5 (BE)
Wooden	11.15 (JE) 1.15 (BE)
Stone	10.6 (JE) 0.6 (BE)
Copper	10.45 (JE) 0.45 (BE)
Iron	10.4 (JE) 0.4 (BE)
Diamond	10.3 (JE) 0.3 (BE)
Netherite	10.25 (JE) 0.25 (BE)
Golden	10.2 (JE) 0.2 (BE)
Options
Efficiency	000
Haste	001 1JEBE

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

Budding amethyst drops nothing when it is destroyed.

Natural generation

Budding amethyst generates naturally as part of amethyst geodes, replacing 8.3% of the blocks of amethyst in the innermost layer of the geode.

Usage

Growing into amethyst clusters

An amethyst bud placed on a budding amethyst (rather than any other block) grows over time, regardless whether it was placed by the player or spawned by the budding amethyst itself. That bud goes through three growth stages – small, medium, and large – before reaching its 4th and final growth stage as an amethyst cluster, which drops amethyst shards when mined.

In Java Edition, the below logic can be applied:

1. Per random tick, updates will occur to any given block in the loaded chunk every 68.27 seconds on average.
2. Choose one randomly-selected side of the six-sided block. This random choice is done without considering if growth is possible, so if a direction is chosen that cannot grow an amethyst bud, the random tick does not perform any work.
3. There is a 20% chance to either create a new amethyst bud in air or still water, or to increment the growth stage of an existing amethyst bud, if that bud is attached directly to this block (two adjacent budding amethysts do not speed up growth of a bud between them, as each bud is attached to just one block).
4. There are 4 growth stages.

As such, the math can be applied as:

(68.27 seconds average for random ticks) × (20% chance of growth for any given single side) × (6 sides) × (4 growth stages) = 68.27×5×6×4 = 8192 seconds average, also 2 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds, also 6.827 in-game days.

In Bedrock Edition a new amethyst bud can also form in flowing water, removing the water block in the process.

Sound

Uniquely among other blocks a budding amethyst makes a quiet overlay sound when generally interacted with as well as its block breaking sound when hit with a projectile.

Piston interactivity

Budding amethyst is destroyed when pushed by a piston. It cannot be pulled by a sticky piston, or slime and honey blocks.

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

amethyst sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.amethyst_block.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed​[until: JE 26.4]	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.amethyst_block.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.amethyst_block.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.amethyst_block.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.amethyst_block.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

amethyst_block sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	break.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	1.0
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	place.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	1.0
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	1.0	0.5–1.2
	​Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	1.0	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	step.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	1.0	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Jumping from the block	step.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	1.0	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	step.amethyst_block	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	1.0	1.0

Unique

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Budding Amethyst	budding_amethyst	Block & Item	crystal_sound_blocks mineable/pickaxe	block.minecraft.budding_amethyst

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Budding Amethyst	budding_amethyst	583	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3] (Numeric: -328)	tile.budding_amethyst.name

History

Early mentions

Reveal

October 3, 2020							Amethyst-related blocks are mentioned at Minecraft Live 2020. It was mentioned that, like with monster spawners, blocks that generate amethysts would not be movable by survival means, forcing players to build farms in situ for these resources.
October 6, 2020							Cory Scheviak tweeted a screenshot where budding amethyst was seen, unnamed at the moment.

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.17			20w45a				Added budding amethyst.
			20w46a				The texture of budding amethyst has been changed.
			20w48a				The texture of budding amethyst has been changed again.

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
1.17.0 Experiment Caves and Cliffs			beta 1.17.0.50				Added budding amethyst.
1.17.0			beta 1.17.0.52				Budding amethyst are no longer available only in experimental gameplay.
1.21.50			Preview 1.21.50.24				Budding amethyst is now slower to mine when using an improper tool, matching Java Edition.

Issues

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

Trivia

• JAPPA has said the reasoning for the 'x' pattern on the block is because "the plane-crystals grow out of it."^[1]
• According to Agnes Larsson, budding amethyst cannot be obtained without commands in Survival mode because the developers wanted to encourage players to return to the same amethyst geode repeatedly, rather than mining away the budding amethyst and farming it at their home. This functions in a similar way to the monster spawner.^[2]
• According to Cory Scheviak, budding amethysts were inspired by atium from the fantasy novel series Mistborn.^[3]

Gallery

• 
  Budding amethyst with the surrounding amethyst mined away
• 
  Budding amethyst on artwork for International Women's Day^[4]

References