Sandstone

Transparency	No
Luminance	No
Blast resistance	4
Tool
Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	No
Drops	Itself
Data values	Sandstone dec: 24 hex: 18 bin: 11000 Red Sandstone dec: 179 hex: B3 bin: 10110011
Name	See Data values

	“	Sandstone is pretty easy to find in Minecraft. Find a desert and start digging. The upper layers of the ground will be regular sand, but below that the weight has compressed the sand into tougher sandstone blocks that hold their shape and won't fall. If all that digging sounds like hard work, then track down a desert village, well or temple instead - all of which are made of different kinds of sandstone. Or - for the very laziest amongst you - just combine four sand in a crafting grid.	„
		—Duncan Geere^[1]

Sandstone and red sandstone are solid blocks, with sandstone commonly found in deserts and beaches.

Obtaining[edit]

Any sandstone can be mined with any pickaxe. If mined without a pickaxe, the block will drop nothing.

Block	Sandstone Red Sandstone
Hardness	0.8
Tool
Breaking time^{[note 1]}
Hand	4
Wooden	0.65
Stone	0.35
Iron	0.2
Diamond	0.2
Golden	0.1

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.

Natural generation[edit]

Regular sandstone will generate in deserts and beaches, compressed below a few meters of sand blocks. This protects sand from falling into natural caves and ravines. Red sandstone will not generate beneath red sand, as orange stained clay does this instead.

Naturally-generated structures will also comprise normal sandstone if generated in a desert. The desert wells will be made of normal sandstone, NPC villages made of normal and smooth sandstone, and desert temples made of normal, smooth and chiseled sandstone. Also, underwater ruins contain sandstone and its variants.^{[upcoming 1.13]} All of these will also be made partially of sandstone slabs and stairs. No naturally generated structures are made of red sandstone.

Crafting[edit]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Sandstone or Red Sandstone	Sand or Red Sand
Smooth Sandstone or Smooth Red Sandstone	Sandstone or Red Sandstone	4 4
Chiseled Sandstone or Chiseled Red Sandstone	Sandstone Slab or Red Sandstone Slab

Usage[edit]

Unlike sand, sandstone is not affected by gravity, and it will not fall if placed without a supporting block underneath it.

Crafting ingredient[edit]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Red Sandstone Slab	Any Red Sandstone	6
Red Sandstone Stairs	Any Red Sandstone	4
Sandstone Slab	Any Sandstone	6
Sandstone Stairs	Any Sandstone	4

Data values[edit]

ID[edit]

Sandstone has the ID name minecraft:sandstone, while red sandstone has the ID name of minecraft:red_sandstone. Both types of sandstone are further defined by its block data or block state.^{[until 1.13]}

Name	ID name	Block ID
Sandstone (normal, chiseled, and smooth)	`sandstone`^{[until 1.13]}	24^{[until 1.13]}
Red Sandstone (normal, chiseled, and smooth)	`red_sandstone`^{[until 1.13]}	179^{[until 1.13]}
Sandstone	`sandstone`^{[upcoming 1.13]}
Chiseled Sandstone	`chiseled_sandstone`^{[upcoming 1.13]}
Cut Sandstone	`cut_sandstone`^{[upcoming 1.13]}
Red Sandstone	`red_sandstone`^{[upcoming 1.13]}
Chiseled Red Sandstone	`chiseled_red_sandstone`^{[upcoming 1.13]}
Cut Red Sandstone	`cut_red_sandstone`^{[upcoming 1.13]}

Block data[edit]

See also: Data values

Block 24^{[until 1.13]}

	DV	Description
	0	Sandstone
	1	Chiseled sandstone
	2	Smooth sandstone

Block 179^{[until 1.13]}

	DV	Description
	0	Red Sandstone
	1	Chiseled Red Sandstone
	2	Smooth Red Sandstone

Block state[edit]

See also: Block states

sandstone

Name	Value	Description
type^{[until 1.13]}	`sandstone`	Sandstone
	`chiseled_sandstone`	Chiseled Sandstone
	`smooth_sandstone`	Smooth Sandstone

red_sandstone

Name	Value	Description
type^{[until 1.13]}	`red_sandstone`	Red Sandstone
	`smooth_red_sandstone`	Smooth Red Sandstone
	`chiseled_red_sandstone`	Chiseled Red Sandstone

Video[edit]

History[edit]

Beta
1.2				Added sandstone.
1.3				Sandstone is now found below three blocks of naturally generated sand.
1.3				Added the ability to craft sandstone slabs from sandstone.
1.8			?	Sandstone does not occur naturally in chunks generated in this version.
1.8.1				Resolved the issue from Beta 1.8.
Official release
1.2.1			?	Two textures were added to the terrain.png and were to be/would have been used as decorative sandstone variants; however, these textures did not appear in the game at the time.
1.2.4				The textures added in 1.2 were changed, and the blocks which use them were actually implemented,^[2] using the same in-game name as regular sandstone.
1.3.1			12w19a	Distinct names (chiseled sandstone and smooth sandstone) were given to the variants of sandstone. Before this update, chiseled sandstone was often referred to as hieroglyphic sandstone or decorative sandstone.
			12w21a	Added desert temples, which use all three variants of sandstone as building materials.
			12w21a	Added sandstone stairs.
			12w21b	Added crafting recipe for sandstone stairs.
1.8			14w20a	Sandstone now generates at the entrances of caves.
			14w29a	Smooth sandstone can no longer be crafted into itself.^[3]
			August 5, 2014	Dinnerbone tweets a screenshot containing red sandstone.
			14w32a	Added red sandstone.
			14w32a	Red sandstone now generates at mesa caves instead of sandstone.
1.10			16w20a	Sandstone no longer generates at the entrances of caves; the sand is now left unsupported in these locations.
1.10			16w20a	Red sandstone now no longer generates naturally, as it only ever generated at the entrances of caves.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.13			17w47a	The different `type` block states for both the `sandstone` and `red_sandstone` IDs have been split up into their own IDs.
				Smooth (red) sandstone renamed to cut (red) sandstone.
				Added item form for the smooth double slab sandstone
			18w09a	Sandstone now generates in underwater ruins.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0				Added regular sandstone.
0.6.0				Added chiseled and smooth sandstone. Sandstone is now crafted in the stonecutter.
0.7.3				Sandstone stairs were made craftable.
0.13.0			build 1	Sandstone is no longer crafted in the stonecutter.
0.14.0			build 1	Added red sandstone.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	Added sandstone.
TU1		1.0		Added the variants of sandstone. They would drop the original sandstone upon breaking.
TU14		1.04		Added crafting recipes for smooth & chiseled sandstone.
TU14		1.04		Smooth and chiseled sandstone now drop themselves.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Added red sandstone and its variants.

Issues[edit]

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

Trivia[edit]

Chiseled sandstone has the image of a creeper on it, while chiseled red sandstone has the image of a wither on it.
- The idea of the wither appearing on chiseled red sandstone was suggested by Reddit user ULiopleurodon.^[4]

Gallery[edit]

Natural sandstone.
Natural sandstone found at the bottom of a stack of sand.
Natural sandstone blocking sand from entering a cave system.
Natural sandstone well.
A player-made pyramid made out of sandstone, smooth sandstone and chiseled sandstone.
The different kinds of sand-based blocks.
The first image of red sandstone, as tweeted by Nathan Adams.
Red sandstone generating at the entrance of a mesa cave.
Sandstone generating as part of an underwater ruin.