Slab

Transparency	Double slab: No Single slab: Partial (blocks light)
Luminance	No
Blast resistance	Wood: 15 Stone: 30
Tools
Renewable	Stone: Yes Wood: Yes (except Petrified Oak) Cobblestone: Yes Stone Brick: Yes Purpur: Yes Quartz: Yes^{[Legacy Console Edition only]} Prismarine: Yes All others: No
Stackable	Yes (64), same type only
Flammable	Wood: Yes Stone: No
Drops	Single Slab: Itself Double Slab: 2 Petrified Oak Slab: ^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
Data values	See Data values
Name	See Data values

Slabs are half-versions of their respective blocks.

Smooth blocks are full blocks featuring the top texture of their respective slabs on all six sides.^{[Java Edition only]}

Obtaining[edit]

Stone-type slabs and smooth blocks require a pickaxe to mine. Wooden slabs can be mined with anything, but an axe is quickest.

Block	Stone	Wood	Petrified Oak
Hardness	2	2	2
Tool
Breaking time^{[note 1]}
Hand	10	3	3
Wooden	1.5	1.5	1.5
Stone	0.75	0.75	0.75
Iron	0.5	0.5	0.5
Diamond	0.4	0.4	0.4
Golden	0.25	0.25	0.25

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.

Block	Smooth Stone	Smooth Sandstone
Hardness	?	?
Tool
Breaking time^{[note 1]}
Hand	?	?
Wooden	?	?
Stone	?	?
Iron	?	?
Diamond	?	?
Golden	?	?

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.

Natural generation[edit]

Stone slabs can be found naturally in villages lining the roof of blacksmith shops and inside the Butcher's Shop and the Blacksmith where they form counters. They are also found in strongholds where they are used in some of the stairs, ledges and torch pillars. Sandstone slabs can be found naturally in desert villages, desert wells, and desert temples. Double stone slabs can be found in villages, in the butcher's shop and in blacksmiths. A spruce wood slab serves as a table in igloo basements. Oak, birch, spruce, stone and cobblestone slabs can also be found in woodland mansions.

Creative inventory[edit]

Smooth blocks can be found in Creative inventory.

Crafting[edit]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Stone Slab	Stone	6	Can use stone only, no variants.^{[Java and Bedrock editions only]}
Stone Slab	Any Stone	6	Can use stone and its variants interchangeably.^{[Legacy Console Edition only]}
Sandstone Slab	Any Sandstone	6
Cobblestone Slab	Cobblestone	6
Brick Slab	Bricks	6
Stone Brick Slab	Any Stone Bricks	6
Wood Slab	Matching Planks	6 6 6 6 6 6
Nether Brick Slab	Nether Bricks	6
Quartz Slab	Any Quartz Block	6
Red Sandstone Slab	Any Red Sandstone	6
Purpur Slab	Any Purpur Block	6	Can use purpur block and pillar interchangeably.
Prismarine Slab	Prismarine	6
Prismarine Brick Slab	Prismarine Bricks	6
Dark Prismarine Slab	Dark Prismarine	6

Usage[edit]

Placement[edit]

Slabs can occupy either the top half or the bottom half:

Pointing at the top of a block or the bottom half one of its sides will place the slab in the lower half.
Pointing at the bottom of a block or the top half of its side will place the slab in the top half.

Slabs cannot be oriented sideways.

Crafting ingredient[edit]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Armor Stand	Stick + Stone Slab
Chiseled Quartz Block	Quartz Slab
Chiseled Sandstone or Chiseled Red Sandstone	Sandstone Slab or Red Sandstone Slab
Chiseled Stone Bricks	Stone Brick Slab
Daylight Detector	Glass + Nether Quartz + Any wood Slab
Purpur Pillar	Purpur Slab

Behavior[edit]

An example of how upside-down slabs can make redstone travel compactly "up stairs".

Slabs do not block a vertical redstone connection as it is a transparent block.

Slabs are treated as a whole block by other blocks and liquids. Two slabs can be piled on top of one another to make a full-size block, but different slab types cannot be mixed in this way.

Double slabs are handled as a single block instead of two different slabs; as such, breaking one will destroy the whole block and drop two slabs, as opposed to only breaking one slab within the block. "Double slabs" that are not aligned to the grid (i.e. a bottom slab on top of a top slab) are handled as separate blocks and are broken individually.

Redstone can be connected to the wire on the side of the slabs. Redstone placed on top of an upside-down slab can receive signals from an adjacent block of redstone one block lower, but cannot transmit signals to it. This is why "ladders" made from upside-down slabs, as pictured to the right, can transmit redstone signals up, but not down.

Mobs see a slab as a full block. Mobs can also spawn on the tops of upside-down slabs and double slabs, but not on lower slabs.

In Bedrock Edition, mobs standing on right-side up slabs fail to pathfind correctly. They seem to perceive the slabs beneath them to be unwalkable, and will often end up spinning around in a small circle when they try to move. The block directly beneath the slab must be air or another right-side up slab to disturb pathfinding. Also in Bedrock Edition iron golems will not spawn on a slab even if it is the top half of a block.

Due to the way blast rays propagate from an explosion, bottom-half slabs provide extremely effective absorption to explosions directly on top of them.

Sneaking only reduces the player's hitbox height to 1.65 blocks, and so does not allow the player to walk over a single slab with one block of air above it, which is 1.5 blocks of space. A player cannot walk from a block of soul sand directly up to a slab without jumping – this applies not just to soul sand, but to any block ⁷⁄₈ of a block high or shorter, because the maximum step height of the player is 0.6 of a block. The player can walk off a slab while sneaking, because the sneaking only prevents falling when the distance is higher than one half block.

If a slab is placed underwater, the empty half of that slab's block will be waterlogged if the block it is in was a source block. If the slab is placed in flowing water upside down, not only can the player grab a quick breath of air there, but the player can see as clearly as if they were above the surface.

Minecarts on powered rails will not be repelled from a slab. They will, however, be repelled by a slab with a minecart on top.

Falling block entities (like sand, gravel, and concrete powder) will turn into their dropped form if they land on a slab, exactly like what occurs when they fall on a torch.

Slabs do not block light.^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Fuel[edit]

Wooden slabs can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 0.75 items per slab in the Java Edition and Legacy Console editions, and smelting 1.5 items per slab in Bedrock Edition.

Data values[edit]

ID[edit]

Java Edition:

Block	ID Name
Red Sandstone Slab	`red_sandstone_slab`
Purpur Slab	`purpur_slab`
Stone Slab	`stone_slab`
Sandstone Slab	`sandstone_slab`
Petrified Oak Slab	`petrified_oak_slab`
Cobblestone Slab	`cobblestone_slab`
Brick Slab	`brick_slab`
Stone Brick Slab	`stone_brick_slab`
Nether Brick Slab	`nether_brick_slab`
Quartz Slab	`quartz_slab`
Oak Slab	`oak_slab`
Spruce Slab	`spruce_slab`
Birch Slab	`birch_slab`
Jungle Slab	`jungle_slab`
Acacia Slab	`acacia_slab`
Dark Oak Slab	`dark_oak_slab`
Prismarine Slab	`prismarine_slab`
Prismarine Brick Slab	`prismarine_brick_slab`
Dark Prismarine Slab	`dark_prismarine_slab`

Bedrock Edition:

Block	ID Name	Numerical ID
Double Stone-type Slabs	`double_stone_slab`	43
Stone-type Slabs	`stone_slab`	44
Double Wooden Slabs	`double_wooden_slab`	157
Wooden Slabs	`wooden_slab`	158
Other Double Stone Slabs	`double_stone_slab2`	181
Other Stone Slabs	`stone_slab2`	182

Block data[edit]

See also: Data values

In Bedrock Edition, slabs use the following data values:

Double stone slab

	DV	Description
	0	Double Stone Slab
	1	Double Sandstone Slab
	2	Double (Stone) Wooden Slab
	3	Double Cobblestone Slab
	4	Double Bricks Slab
	5	Double Stone Brick Slab
	6	Double Quartz Slab
	7	Double Nether Brick Slab

Double stone slab 2

	DV	Description
	0	Double Red Sandstone Slab
	1	Double Purpur Slab
	2	Double Prismarine Slab
	3	Double Prismarine Brick Slab
	4	Double Dark Prismarine Slab

Stone slab

	DV	Description
	0	Stone Slab
	1	Sandstone Slab
	2	(Stone) Wooden Slab
	3	Cobblestone Slab
	4	Bricks Slab
	5	Stone Brick Slab
	6	Nether Brick Slab
	7	Quartz Slab
	8	Upper Stone Slab
	9	Upper Sandstone Slab
	10	Upper (Stone) Wooden Slab
	11	Upper Cobblestone Slab
	12	Upper Bricks Slab
	13	Upper Stone Brick Slab
	14	Upper Nether Brick Slab
	15	Upper Quartz Slab

Stone slab 2

	DV	Description
	0	Red Sandstone Slab
	1	Purpur Slab
	2	Prismarine Slab
	3	Prismarine Brick Slab
	4	Dark Prismarine Slab
	8	Upper Red Sandstone Slab
	9	Upper Purpur Slab
	10	Upper Prismarine Slab
	11	Upper Prismarine Brick Slab
	12	Upper Dark Prismarine Slab

Double wood slab

	DV	Description
	0	Double Oak Slab
	1	Double Spruce Slab
	2	Double Birch Slab
	3	Double Jungle Slab
	4	Double Acacia Slab
	5	Double Dark Oak Slab

Wood slab

	DV	Description
	0	Oak Wood Slab
	1	Spruce Wood Slab
	2	Birch Wood Slab
	3	Jungle Wood Slab
	4	Acacia Wood Slab
	5	Dark Oak Wood Slab
	8	Upper Oak Wood Slab
	9	Upper Spruce Wood Slab
	10	Upper Birch Wood Slab
	11	Upper Jungle Wood Slab
	12	Upper Acacia Wood Slab
	13	Upper Dark Oak Wood Slab

Block state[edit]

See also: Block states

Name	Value	Description
type	`top` `bottom`	Where the slab is within its block.
type	`double`	The block is a double slab.
waterlogged	`true` `false`	Whether or not there's water in the same place as this slab.

Video[edit]

Note: This video is outdated, as red sandstone slabs were added in 1.8, purpur slabs were added in 1.9, and prismarine slabs were added in 1.13.

History[edit]

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Please remove this notice once you've added suitable images to the article. The specific instructions are: Upload what corresponds to the missing image links.

Classic
May 17, 2009				Slabs were suggested on the TIGSource forums.
0.26 (October 22, 2009, 1)				Dirt slab test.
0.26 (October 23, 2009, 2)				Half block has nearly been finished.
0.27 SURVIVAL TEST				Stone slabs have now been introduced to the game.
				Stone slabs can be obtained by mining coal ore because of the lack of inventory and crafting.
				At the time, slabs were called "stair" blocks before the introduction of what are currently called stairs in Infdev (June 29, 2010).
Indev
0.31			0.31 (January 29, 2010)	Slabs have now received a crafting recipe: 3 slabs from 3 cobblestone.
0.31			0.31 (January 29, 2010)	Slabs are now no longer dropped from coal ore.
Infdev
March 27, 2010				Stone slabs will now case shadows on adjacent blocks.^[verify]
March 30, 2010				The above bug has now been fixed.
Beta
1.3				Added sandstone, "wooden" and cobblestone slabs as variants of the stone slabs. All had the same properties as stone slabs, apart from using different textures.
				The original wooden slabs will now the oak plank texture, the only plank type at the moment. Being variants of the stone slabs, they have to be mined with a pickaxe to collect, were not affected by fire, and had stronger blast resistance than wooden planks, making them a useful building material. The only way to obtain this slab on current versions is by using commands. The item tooltip will now say "Wooden Slab" rather than "Oak Wood Slab", and the item form is now a large full block with a missing texture.
				Before the additional slabs were added, a double stone slab would only yield one slab when broken. Since this update, all double slabs will now yield 2 of their respective single slabs when broken. Destroying double slabs with TNT, however, still only yields single slabs (when the slabs aren't simply destroyed by the explosion).
				Before Beta 1.3 came out, stone slabs were made with cobblestone instead of stone, but this update has now introduced cobblestone slabs to the game and changed the recipes for pressure plates and stone slabs, so that there wouldn't be any conflicting recipes.
1.7				32px 32px Bottom slabs will now use the bottom half of the double slab texture rather than the top.
1.7				The texture of the cobblestone slab has now been updated.
1.8			?	Added the stone brick, bricks, and smooth stone double slab. (Smooth stone double slab are only obtainable through inventory editing.)
1.8			?	The sprinting feature has been added in this update. While stairs will the player's sprinting, slabs allow a player to continue sprinting.
Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5	The textures of bricks and planks have now been updated, and by extension that of the slabs.
1.2.1			1.2-pre	All types of slabs are now able to be placed upside down and under blocks; these occupy the top half of their block space rather than the bottom half.
1.2.1			1.2-pre	The crafting recipe has now been changed, so that 6 slabs would be crafted rather than 3. The prior restriction was likely due to the fact that the slab types were differentiated by their damage values instead of by different data values, similar to wood, coal or charcoal, and colored wool.
1.3.1			12w17a	New slabs have now been added for the four different types of wood planks, replacing the old wooden oak/"stone" slab. These new slabs are vulnerable to fire, and can be collected faster with an axe than with a pickaxe. Wooden slabs already crafted or placed in the world will remain the old 'stone' type.
			12w21a	Sandstone slabs will now generate in desert temples.
			12w25a	Redstone (including repeaters, torches. levers and pressure plates) and rails can now be placed on slabs and stairs positioned upside down.
			12w26a	Mobs can now spawn on upside down slabs.
1.4.2			12w39a	Slabs will now interact properly with lighting.
				When slabs are placed upside down, they will now accept light from light sources themselves, and no longer block light to surrounding blocks.
				Slabs will now no longer cast the shadow of a full-sized block.^[1]
1.4.6			November 28, 2012	Jeb tweeted a picture of himself crafting nether brick slabs.
1.4.6			12w49a	Added nether brick slabs, which has now caused the smooth stone double slab to change its data value to 43:7.
1.5			January 22, 2013	Jeb states that the "smooth stone full half-slab" will be re-implemented with a data value of 43:8. Other slabs with data values of 43:9-43:15 will also use the top texture on all sides, resulting in a "smooth sandstone block" with a data value of 43:9. He also stated that they may be obtained legitimately later.^[2]
			13w01a	Wooden Slabs can now be used to craft daylight sensors.
			13w02a	Added quartz slabs, featuring the top quartz texture on all six sides. The formerly unused slab type, known as the smooth stone slab, has now been removed from the game. Its data values have been replaced with the nether quartz slab.
			13w04a	The smooth stone double slab has now been re-implemented with a data value of 43:8.
				The smooth sandstone double slab has now been added, with a data value of 43:9.
				Seamless data values of 43:10-43:15 have now been added, but are unused and appear identical to their normal counterparts.
			13w09c	Quartz slabs and double slabs will now use the top, side and bottom textures of the block of quartz.
			13w09c	The quartz slab's seamless counterpart, with a data value of 43:15, retains the top texture on all 6 sides.
			?	The texture of sandstone slabs have now been changed slightly.
1.7.2			1.7-pre	Added acacia and dark oak slabs.
1.8			14w02a	Stone brick slabs can now be used to craft chiseled stone bricks.
			14w02a	Stone slabs can now be crafted using granite, diorite, andesite, or their polished counterparts.
			14w25a	Double stone slabs and double wooden slabs can now no longer be obtained as an item.
			14w32a	Added red sandstone slabs and double slabs, as well as smooth red sandstone double slabs.
			14w32a	Armor stands are now crafted using any slab.
			14w32b	Armor stands can now only be crafted using stone slabs.
			14w33a	Stone slabs can now no longer be crafted using granite, diorite, andesite, or their polished counterparts.
1.9			June 22, 2015	Jeb reveals purpur slabs on Instagram, with the words "MINECON 2015 HYPE!"
			15w31a	Added purpur slabs and double slabs.
			15w43a	A spruce slab will now act as the middle of a table generated within igloo basements.
1.11			16w39a	Oak, birch, spruce, stone, and cobblestone slabs will now generate in woodland mansions.
1.13			17w47a	The different variant block states for `stone_slab`, `stone_slab2`, `wooden_slab`, `purpur_slab`, `double_stone_slab`, `double_stone_slab2`, `double_wooden_slab` and `purpur_double_slab` IDs have now been split up and merged into their own IDs depending on variant.
				Old non-flammable wooden slabs, which are now called "Petrified oak slabs", have been re-implemented into the creative inventory.
				"Bricks slab" has now been renamed to "Brick slab".
				"Stone bricks slab" has been renamed to "Stone brick slab".
				<Wood type> wood slab has now been renamed to <wood type> slab.
				Smooth double slabs, now smooth blocks, have added to the creative inventory. Smooth blocks will now drop themselves, instead of slabs when mined.
				Prior to The Flattening, these blocks' numeral IDs were 43, 44, 125, 126, 181, 182, 204 and 205.
			18w07a	Added slabs for prismarine, prismarine bricks, and dark prismarine.
			18w10c	Water can now be placed on the same block as slabs.
April 17, 2018				Dinnerbone confirms that 1.14 will contain many new stairs and slabs.
1.13			18w20a	Changed the name of "Prismarine Bricks Slab" to "Prismarine Brick Slab."
1.13.1			18w32a	Purpur slabs can now be crafted with purpur pillars.
October 10, 2018				Dinnerbone tweets that there will be 14 new slabs.
October 10, 2018				Polished diorite slabs are tweeted out by LadyAgnes.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0				Added stone slabs.
0.3.0				Added wood (original oak), brick and cobblestone slabs.
0.6.0				Added sandstone and stone brick slabs.
				Slabs can now be placed on the top half of blocks.
				The recipes for crafting slabs will now give 6 slabs, instead of 3 slabs.
0.7.3				Added quartz slabs.
0.7.3				Wooden slabs can now be crafted during and after this update are now flammable. Existing wooden slabs (which have stone properties) are now tagged "Fake Wood Slab" and drop real wooden slabs.
0.8.0			build 2	Added birch, spruce and jungle wood slabs.
0.9.0			build 1	Added acacia and dark oak wood slabs.
			build 1	Stone slabs will now generate naturally in villages.
			build 11	Added crafting recipe for jungle wood slabs.
?				Changed wooden slab name from [woodtype] Slab to [woodtype] Wood Slab.
0.12.1			build 1	Added nether brick slabs.
0.13.0			build 1	Wooden slabs are now used to craft daylight sensors.
0.14.0			build 1	Added red sandstone slabs.
0.14.2				32px The nether brick slab texture has now been brightened.
Pocket Edition
1.0			build 1	Added purpur slabs.
1.0			build 1	A spruce slab will now act as the middle of a table generated within igloo basements.
1.1			build 1	Oak, birch, spruce, stone, and cobblestone slabs will now generate in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.13			build 3	Added slabs for prismarine, prismarine brick and dark prismarine as part of Experimental Gameplay.
1.2.14			build 1	Fully implemented the slabs for prismarine, prismarine brick, and dark prismarine.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	Added stone, wood (original oak), sandstone and cobblestone slabs.
TU5				Added stone brick and brick slabs.
TU9				Added birch wood, spruce wood and nether brick slabs.
TU9				Wooden slabs crafted during and after this update are now flammable. Existing slabs (which have stone properties) are not stackable with the new slabs.
TU12				Added jungle wood slabs.
				Slabs can be now placed upside down.
				Items can now be placed directly on upside down slabs.
TU14		1.04		Added quartz slabs.
				The placement of half blocks and other blocks on half blocks has now been changed.
				The placement of upside down slabs has now been changed.
TU27	CU15	1.18		Added acacia and dark oak wood slabs to the creative inventory.
TU46	CU36	1.38	Patch 15	Added purpur slabs.
TU69	CU36	1.76	Patch 38	Added slabs for prismarine, prismarine bricks, and dark prismarine.

Issues[edit]

Issues relating to "Slab" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[edit]

Slabs let a small amount of light pass through their edges. This light is only visible when Smooth Lighting is turned on, and does not affect mob spawning or other light-dependent processes.
- The exception of this is that any light directed through a slab does not affect any block's light values north of the source.
Whereas 1x1 dents in a flat floor using slabs are darkened as one would expect, 1x1 dents created using 2x1 or 2x2 stairs will darken less, due to having fewer surrounding solid blocks. This is a completely intentional feature.^[3]
When water or lava are on top of an upside-down slab, the water dripping particles will appear in midair below the slab instead of from the slab itself, this was fixed in Java Edition 1.13-pre7^[4], but is an intentional feature in Bedrock Edition.^[5]

Gallery[edit]

Brick slabs.
Stone brick slabs.
Double stone slab (left) compared to smooth full half-slab.
Naturally occurring stone slabs in a butcher shop.
Naturally occurring stone slabs in a village blacksmith.
First image of upside down slabs as shown on Jeb's Twitter.
Slabs used to create the impression of half-aligned full blocks.
All six types of wooden slabs.
Trapdoors on slabs.
Example of slab shelving by placing slabs below other slabs.
Smooth sandstone double slabs compared to smooth stone double slabs.
A wooden "stone" slab house with a netherrack fireplace.
Light passing through the sides of a brick slab from above. A normal block would render complete darkness.
Fake wooden slabs.