Piston/Technical components

Pistons and sticky pistons have 2 technical blocks that cannot be obtained. These include the piston head and moving piston blocks.

Piston head

Piston Head

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No
Tool
Blast resistance	1.5
Hardness	1.5
Luminous	No
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	11 STONE
Note block instrument	Default (Harp)

The piston head (in Java Edition) or (sticky) piston arm collision (in Bedrock Edition) is a technical block that appears as the front part of an extended piston. It is not available in the Creative inventory and does not drop anything when removed.

Normally, piston heads are created automatically when a piston extends. However, they can also be placed manually using the /setblock command. Alternatively a debug stick‌^{[Java Edition only]} can be used to change the facing direction of a piston head that's currently attached to a piston base. Piston heads that do not have a valid support block behind them will be removed when receiving a shape update from behind in Java Edition, or when receiving a block update from any direction in Bedrock Edition.

In rare cases, a client-side, duplicate piston head can appear when placing a piston next to a power source in Java Edition, due to client-server desync issues.^[1] These client-side piston heads cannot be broken directly but can be removed by placing another block in the same location.

In Java Edition, normal and sticky piston heads are distinguished by a block state. In Bedrock Edition, they use separate block IDs. The normal and sticky piston heads can be obtained as items in Bedrock Edition with the commands /give @s piston_arm_collision and /give @s sticky_piston_arm_collision. They face down when placed.

In Bedrock Edition, piston head blocks do not actually have a texture, as the piston arm texture is part of the piston block entity, and piston heads that aren't connected to a piston base have neither collisions nor an interaction box.

Natural generation

Heads of sticky pistons powered with redstone generate in jungle pyramid and ancient city.

Block states

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:
Piston Head:

Sticky Piston Head:

Moving piston

Moving Piston

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No
Tool	None
Blast resistance	0
Hardness	-1
Luminous	No
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	11 STONE
Note block instrument	Default (Harp)

The moving piston (in Java Edition) or moving block (in Bedrock Edition), also known as block 36 due to its pre-flattening block ID, is an unobtainable technical block that holds a block entity (unless it was placed with a command) which contains the block the piston is currently moving. Since moving blocks vary in how much of each grid cell they occupy, they can't be stored as normal blocks and are instead stored as block entity data. Multiple moving piston blocks may be used during the extension/retraction process, depending on how many blocks the piston is moving. At the end of the piston stroke, the moving piston blocks are replaced with either the carried block, the piston head (during extensions), or the piston itself (during retractions); but if it is placed with the use of commands it remains indefinitely.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

When placed by commands, the game does not assign a block entity to the moving piston block, therefore its properties are different than usual: it's invisible, has no collisions, and cannot be broken without the use of TNT, commands, or a structure generating over it (such as the end platform). Although it is non-solid, fluids cannot pass through it. It also prevents players from building at its location. Mobs can see through it, but cannot walk through it. The game treats the block as a stone block when it comes to the player's footstep sounds. It is similar to invisible bedrock in properties with the exception that the player can walk through the moving piston but not invisible bedrock.

Block states

Java Edition:

Block data

The moving piston has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Piston Head	piston_head	Block	None	block.minecraft.piston_head
Moving Piston	moving_piston	Block	dragon_immune wither_immune	block.minecraft.moving_piston

Name	Identifier
Block entity	piston

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Alias ID	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Piston Arm Collision	piston_arm_collision	pistonArmCollision	34	Block & Ungiveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.piston_arm_collision.name
Sticky Piston Arm Collision	sticky_piston_arm_collision	stickyPistonArmCollision	472	Block & Ungiveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.sticky_piston_arm_collision.name
Moving Block	moving_block	movingBlock	250	Block & Ungiveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	—

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	MovingBlock

History

Java Edition Beta
1.7							Added piston head and moving piston blocks.
Java Edition
1.8			14w17a				The models for piston and related blocks when facing up and down have been changed.
			14w27b				The moving piston block no longer has a selection outline.
			14w29a				There are now "short" piston heads. Their model is used during a piston's extension/retraction to avoid having part of the head's texture poke out of the back of the piston.
1.14			18w43a				The textures associated with piston heads have been changed.
							While the texture for oak planks was later updated in subsequent snapshots, the piston texture is yet to be changed to reflect this.[2]
1.19			22w17a				Changed piston textures, to match the color of the oak planks on the piston head.

Data history

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Trivia

• Mobs can spawn inside the piston head block.
• In Bedrock Edition, the piston head is invisible and non-solid when placed with commands. The moving piston disappears shortly after being placed with commands in this edition.
• The moving_piston is transparent and does not emit light.
  • If a light-emitting block is moved, the player can see it turn dark briefly. If an opaque block is moved, the player may see light passing through it.

References