Six-sided Piston

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An official name has not been given. Please update the name if confirmed by reliable sources.

This page describes content that has been removed from Minecraft.

This feature was present in earlier versions of Minecraft, but has since been removed.

Six-sided Piston

Java Edition

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Renewable	Yes
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	0.5
Hardness	1.5
Luminous	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Note block instrument	Default (Harp)

A six-sided piston was an extreme metadata variant of the piston. It could be used as update suppression agents.

Obtaining

Breaking

Six-sided pistons can be broken in the same way normal pistons can. They cannot be obtained as an item, instead dropping normal pistons.

Block	Six-sided Piston
Hardness	1.5
Tool
Breaking time (sec)[A]
Default	12.25 (JE) 2.25 (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

BUD piston method

Six-sided pistons of metadata value 7 could be created if a placed piston updates a BUD-powered piston, such that it pushes or pulls the placed piston.

Block transmutation

Multiple block transmutation methods can be used to create Six-sided Pistons in Java Edition. From Beta 1.7.2 to Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5, Six-sided Pistons can be created using moving piston merge transmutation, from Beta 1.7.3 to 1.2.3, can be created using water transmutation, and from 13w36a-1 to 1.7.5 and 14w02a to 14w11b, can be created using arrow transmutation.

/setblock and /fill method

Six-sided pistons can be obtainable using the /setblock and /fill command. (e.g /setblock ~ ~ ~ piston (or sticky_piston) metadata value beyond 6)​

Usage

Update suppression

When powered, six-sided pistons of metadata 6 immediately crash the game. This game crash happens so quick that block updates are not processed correctly, and this can allow for otherwise-impossible arrangements of blocks to be achieved.

Every time the six-sided pistons is updated while receiving power, the game crashes again, so having it be in a position where it receives constant updates is not recommended due to effectively softlocking the world. Depowering the six-sided pistons should make it safe again. This has a possibility of corrupting singleplayer worlds, and it is much safer to perform this on a hosted server.

Analysis of the behavior of metadata 6 six-sided pistons using 1.7 releases and 1.8 snapshots suggests that they remain at data value 6 permanently, even upon loading a world, as opposed to converting to data value 14 - if they do indeed convert, this conversion is not saved.

History

Java Edition

Java Edition Beta
1.7							Six-sided pistons and six-sided sticky pistons exist. There are eight types: the normal piston with data values 6, 7, 14 and 15, and the sticky piston with data values 6, 7, 14 and 15.
							The variants with metadata 6 crash the game when powered, allowing for update suppression.
							The variants with metadata 7 can be obtained via the BUD piston method.
							The variants with metadata 14 and 15 crash the game immediately when updated in any way, likely also allowing for update suppression. However, they are not known to be obtainable in a stable state at this point.
1.7_01							Six-sided pistons of metadata 15 appear to convert to metadata 7 upon loading the world again after updating them.
1.7.3							Six-sided pistons of other metadata values are now obtainable in survival via block transmutation using the water method.
Java Edition
1.2.4			release				Water transmutation has been patched, preventing six-sided pistons from being obtained this way.
1.3.1			12w26a				Patched the BUD piston method, preventing six-sided pistons from being obtained this way.
			12w27a				Six-sided pistons of metadata 15 no longer crash the game when updated.
1.7.2			13w36a				"Added" arrow transmutation, allowing for the obtaining of six-sided pistons this way.
1.7.6			pre1				Patched arrow transmutation in the 1.7 branch, preventing six-sided pistons from being obtained this way.
1.8			14w02a				Six-sided pistons with data value 6 no longer crash the game when powered, rendering them no longer usable for update suppression.
							In addition, six-sided pistons with metadata 14 can be obtained in a stable state with commands or arrow transmutation, as they no longer crash the game either.
			14w17a				Six-sided pistons no longer have a model.
							Patched arrow transmutation in the 1.8 branch, preventing six-sided pistons from being obtained this way.
			14w25a				Due to blocks using block states instead of metadata from this version onward, since six-sided pistons were not associated with any valid block states, approaching one would result in a game crash.
			14w26a				Six-sided pistons have been fully removed from the game alongside other invalid metadata variants of blocks.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.15.0			build 1				Six-sided pistons and six-sided sticky pistons exist. In this edition they appear extremely mutilated, with the side texture on all six sides instead of the head texture, and a piston arm lodged partway inside it, causing visible Z-fighting.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				Piston-related textures have been updated.
1.13.0			beta 1.13.0.1				Six-sided pistons have been removed.[1] Existing six-sided pistons are automatically converted to data value 0 pistons.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
?							Six-sided pistons and six-sided sticky pistons exist.
?							Six-sided pistons can be obtained via the BUD piston method.
?							Patched the BUD piston method, preventing six-sided pistons from being obtained this way.

Issues

Six-sided Pistons effectively were issues themselves, due to resulting from a quirk of block metadata handling at the time. As they have since been removed with several reworkings of block metadata, they can be considered already fixed.

References