Rail

Rail
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.7
Hardness	0.7
Luminous	No
Transparent	Yes
Waterloggable	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire; from lava	No
Map color (JE)	; 0 NONE

This article needs to be updated.

Please update this page to reflect recent updates or newly available information.
Reason: Much of the information about rail mechanics needs to be checked for accuracy and/or reformatted to reflect modern Minecraft. The effects waterlogged rails have on minecart speeds need explaining. Experimental Minecart Improvements may be worth mentioning in some capacity, even if it is just to mention it exists.

A rail is a non-solid block that provides a path along which minecarts can travel, and can be placed either flat on the ground, as a ramp, or curved.

A curved rail allows minecarts to turn corners, and can rotate to connect to a different rail line while powered.

Obtaining

Breaking

The suitable tool to break a rail is a pickaxe. It will always drop itself when broken.

Block	Rail
Hardness	0.7
Tool
Breaking time (sec)^[A]
Default	1.05
Wooden	0.55
Stone	0.3
Copper	0.25
Iron	0.2
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.15
Golden	0.1
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

↑ These durations ignore other influential factors (e.g., Mining Fatigue) and are measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Natural generation

Rails can be found naturally running along the floor in mineshafts, both in the center of tunnels and under loot chest minecarts, and in the "pumpkin ring room" of woodland mansions.

Generated loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition and Bedrock Edition
Rails	Mineshaft	Chest	4–8	78.4% { "item": "Rails", "stacksize": "4–8", "chance": 0.784, "structure": "Mineshaft", "container": "Chest" }

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot + Stick	16

Usage

A rail can be used as a track for minecarts to move along.

Placement

To place a rail, use a rail item while pointing at a surface facing the space the rail should occupy. A rail can be placed on:

the top of any full block (stone, dirt, blocks of gold, glass, etc.), including full-block mechanism components (command blocks, dispensers, droppers, note blocks, and redstone lamps)
the top of an upside-down slab, upside-down stairs, or trapdoor.
any of the above underwater (making the rail waterlogged)

Rails visually float ¹⁄₁₆ blocks above the ground, with an outline ²⁄₁₆ blocks high.

A rail cannot be attached to the side or bottom of any block, but attempting to make such an attachment may cause the rail to attach to the top of a block under the destination space. For example, if a fence is on the ground, attempting to attach a rail to the side of the fence causes the rail to be attached to the top of the ground next to the fence instead.

More information regarding placement on transparent blocks can be found at Opacity/Placement.

A placed rail configures itself to be straight or curved according to rail blocks around it.

If there are no other rails adjacent, or if placed beside an existing rail line of any type, then in Bedrock Edition the new rail orients itself as a straight north-south rail, and in Java Edition the new rail orients itself in the direction the player is facing.
A new rail placed at the end of an existing rail line continues the existing line in the same direction, either east-west or north-south.
If there are two adjacent rails on its level, or one level up or down, the newly placed rail configures itself as straight or curved as needed to connect the other two.
If placed between three adjacent rails (forming a T-junction) the newly placed rail configures itself as curved to join two of the sides.

T-junction before filling in rails
T-junction after filling in rails

Existing rail lines one block up and down are considered for adjacency in the same manner, and the new rail gets laid as a curve, but unless space is left for sloping rails, minecarts can continue past the curve only on level or one-block-down corners. In one-block-up corners, the cart ends up buried in the ground.

Before placing the top block.
Top block is placed as curve.
Showing cart getting buried.

Some rail placements produce rail layouts that cause minecarts to collide and enter blocks.

Minecarts always buried
Minecarts get through

If placed to form a 4-way junction with no curved rail, it does not form a cross-rail connection.
If placed between four adjacent rails to form a junction, the center rail always curves south-to-east.

Curve controls minecart passage

Existing rails may get re-oriented, become sloping, or even change into curved rails when a new rail is placed adjacent to it:

An existing straight, north-south rail re-orients to east-west when a new rail is placed at the east or west sides.
If placed next to an existing rail that is one block up or down, the new rail becomes a ramp to join it. A rail "prefers", in order: west, east, south, and north. Other configurations can be created by placing and removing rails.
If a rail is placed perpendicular to an existing length of rail, it appears as a straight rail, but is in fact curved according to the patterns for T-junctions as seen above; minecarts going through the junction will turn the corner. Breaking and re-laying rails so that the middle rail is laid last causes it to be updated as a curved rail.

Redstone functionality

A curved rail at a T-junction can be rotated by applying redstone power.

If a rail is not in its most preferred available state, it will change to that preferred state as its default when the rail is updated via redstone power.^[1]

Separate rails are laid adjacent, but at the next level, lower or higher rails can sometimes cause rail reorientation.

Minecart behavior

South-east rule

A minecart travels straight through a T-junction when entering from the "back of" the curved rail. It follows the curve when entering from either of the other two legs.

A minecart passes straight through a 4-way junction constructed to have no curved rail. When entering the 4-way from east or west a cart turns according to the south-east rule.

Downhill rule

At non-curve rail junctions, minecarts always travel downhill if they can, ignoring the south-east rule.

Ramp clearance & one-way effect

A block placed above a rail line at the downhill end of a ramp prevents minecarts from traveling down the slope, but not up. For a minecart to move down a diagonal tunnel, there must be clearance sufficient for a player to walk through it.

Curved rail interactions

A diagram on how minecarts travel according to rail curves.

If a straight rail leads to a curved rail and does not connect to it, a minecart runs over the gap and continues to go straight over the curved rail. This is not applicable for other types of rails.

Notably, minecarts can exceed the normal 8 m/s speed limit while it jumps over the gap. For example, by placing curved rails on every other block of a straight rail, it is possible to travel at 10 m/s in a straight direction.

As with straight T-junctions and 4-way junctions, the practice of making a minecart jump between rails can be used to make one-way entries onto a rail line. For curved rails, the behavior is more intuitive as the cart simply proceeds in the direction it is already going, allowing designs that do not rely on the south-east rule.

Minecart speeds

To accelerate from a standstill to full speed, most minecarts need seven powered rails (a minecart with furnace has a lower top speed). After a certain number of rails, the minecart begins slowing down. This slowdown can be negated using a powered rail. A certain number of rails followed by a single powered rail can then be repeated indefinitely to maintain full speed with the minimum amount of powered rails.

Minecart type	Initial maximum rails at full speed	Subsequent maximums
Empty minecart and minecart with TNT	7	3
Minecart with entity	112	Alternates between 38 and 26
Minecart with chest and minecart with hopper	85	20, then 29 onward

For example, a minecart with an entity would require 112 rails, then 1 powered rail, then 38 rails, then 1 powered rail, then 26 rails, then 1 powered rail, then 38 rails, etc. Note that these rails can go in any direction: going 112 rails diagonally would still require a powered rail.

A minecart with no rider at full speed can climb 10 blocks on an unpowered rail. This suggests that a powered rail is needed at a height of only 10 blocks to keep a cart climbing. However, the cart slows so much that it can reach only another 5 blocks high with 2 lengths of powered rails starting at 9 blocks high. The minimum number of powered rails to keep the cart climbing constantly is 3 every 6 blocks.

Minecarts carrying entities, or minecarts with chests, have more momentum and so climb higher than empty minecarts. With a rider, a minecart can climb at most 24 blocks before stopping and needing powered rails to go higher.

Mob behavior

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

In Java Edition, most mobs avoid walking on rails,^[2] but they ignore rails when they are already on them. Jumping mobs like slimes, frogs^[3], and goats can jump onto rails, but frogs and goats do not walk onto rails. Aquatic creatures like guardians, tadpoles, and fish that flop around on land can flop onto rails. Parrots can land on rails and endermen can teleport onto rails, although they do not walk onto them. In pursuit of their targets, zombies may push other mobs onto the rails. The only mobs that freely walk onto rails are spiders, cave spiders, and wardens.

Piston interactivity

A rail can be pushed by a piston, and can be pulled by a sticky piston. However, the rail breaks and drops as an item when it is unsupported due to being moved.

Sounds

Java Edition:

v t e `metal` sound type
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.metal.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	1.2	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.metal.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	1.2	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.metal.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.75	16
	Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.metal.fall`	`subtitles.block.generic.fall`	0.5	1.25	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.metal.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.5	16

Bedrock Edition:

v t e `metal` sound type
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.stone`	1.0	1.1-1.2
	Blocks	When the block is placed	`use.stone`	1.0	1.2-1.25
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.stone`	0.3	0.75
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.stone`	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	`step.stone`	0.35	1.0
	Blocks	Jumping from the block	`jump.stone`	0.12	1.0
	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.stone`	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Item tags	Translation key
Rail	`rail`	Block & Item	`prevent_mob_spawning_inside` `rails`	`rails`	`block.minecraft.rail`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Rail	`rail`	`66`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.rail.name`

↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
↑ Available with /give command.
↑ The block's direct item form has the same ID as the block.

Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
shape	`north_south`	`east_west` `north_east` `north_south` `north_west` `south_east` `south_west`	The two directions a rail connects to. For example, a `south_east` rail is a curved rail that connects to the south and to the east.
shape	`north_south`	`ascending_east` `ascending_north` `ascending_south` `ascending_west`	A rail that ascends toward the direction noted. For example, an `ascending_west` rail is a straight rail that goes upward from the east toward the west.
waterlogged	`false`	`true` `false`	Whether or not there's water in the same place as this rail.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
rail_direction	`0x1` `0x2` `0x4` `0x8`	`0`	`0`	`0`	Straight rail connecting to the north and south.
			`1`	`1`	Straight rail connecting to the east and west.
			`2`	`2`	Sloped rail ascending to the east.
			`3`	`3`	Sloped rail ascending to the west.
			`4`	`4`	Sloped rail ascending to the north.
			`5`	`5`	Sloped rail ascending to the south.
			`6`	`6`	Curved rail connecting to the south and east.
			`7`	`7`	Curved rail connecting to the south and west.
			`8`	`8`	Curved rail connecting to the north and west.
			`9`	`9`	Curved rail connecting to the north and east.

Achievements


Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		On A Rail	Travel by minecart to a point at least 500m in a single direction from where you started.	Travel by minecart 500 blocks in a straight line away from the player's starting point.	40	Gold

Video

History

This section is missing information about: Did 1.8 change the way rails were shaded? Or was this change made in the 1.15-1.16 era?

Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

Java Edition Infdev
20100618							Added rails in the first "Seecret Friday Update" to Infdev.
20100624							Sloped rails are currently being dropped if the block on the side was destroyed.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0			?				The textures of rails and curved rails have been changed slightly.
Java Edition Beta
1.6			Test Build 3				Before this update, parallel rail lines would be used to create minecart boosters.
1.8			Pre-release				Rails are now found in the new mineshaft chests.
Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease				Rails are now destroyed by snowfall (bug).
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4				Some rail behavior is now affected following the change of the south-west rule to south-east rule.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6				Rails are now broken faster using a pickaxe.
1.3.1			12w25a				Rails can now be placed on upside-down slabs and stairs.
1.5			13w04a				Mobs no longer walk over rails, if they are not currently standing on one.
1.9			15w38a				All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been decreased from 10 pixels of a block to about 2.5 pixels of a block.
			15w44a				The average yield from chest minecarts in mineshafts has been increased by more than 20 times.
			15w44a				Mobs no longer spawn on rails.
1.10			16w21a				All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been increased from about 2.5 pixels of a block to a full block.
1.11			16w32b				All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been decreased from a full block to a half block.
1.11			16w39a				Rails now generate in woodland mansions.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of rails has been changed.
1.14			19w12b				Rails can now be placed on glass, ice, glowstone and sea lanterns.
1.15			19w39a				Placing a new, unconnected section of rails now orients them in the direction the player is facing, rather than always north-south.
October 22, 2020							A leaked screenshot was accidentally posted in a bug report that said "waterlogged-rail", which was later removed.
1.16			20w09a				Rails are affected by ambient occlusion.
1.17			20w45a				All rail types can now be waterlogged.
1.17			20w45a				Rails are no longer swept away by water.
1.19			22w13a				Wardens can now pass over rails.^[4]
1.21.6			25w15a				Rails are no longer affected by ambient occlusion.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.8.0			build 1				Added rails.
v0.8.0			build 2				Rails are now craftable.
v0.9.0			build 1				Rails now generate in mineshafts.
v0.14.0			build 1				Rails can now be found in mineshaft chests.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0			alpha 1.1.0.0				Rails now generate in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0			beta 1.2.20.1				Rails can now be placed underwater.
1.7.0			beta 1.7.0.2				Rails are once again broken by flowing water. Previously it flowed through the rails.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of rails has been changed.
Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU1	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added rails.
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12	Patch 1		Mobs no longer walk over rails, if they are not currently standing on one.^{[is this the correct version?]}
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Mobs no longer spawn on rails.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been increased from 10 pixels of a block to a full block.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	All sloped rail types' hitbox heights have been decreased from a full block to a half block.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Rails now generate in woodland mansions.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		All types of rails can now be waterlogged and are no longer destroyed by flowing water. Instead it flows right through them.
			1.90				The texture of rails has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added rails.

A roller coaster.

Data history

Java Edition

1.8

14w10a

Rails with numerical metadata variants 10 to 15, which are inaccessible through normal gameplay or even commands and as such require the use of external editors to exist, now have no model

. Their appearances prior to this point used the south east curved rail model.

14w25a

Rails are now defined via block states rather than by numerical metadata. Prior to this version, the numerical metadata variants of the rail were as follows:

	DV	Description
	0	North-south
	1	East-west
	2	Ascending east
	3	Ascending west
	4	Ascending north
	5	Ascending south
	6	Curved south-east
	7	Curved south-west
	8	Curved north-west
	9	Curved north-east
	10-15	Inaccessible - behavior unknown

14w26a

Rails with metadata values 10 to 15 have been completely removed from the game.^[verify]

1.13

17w47a

Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 66.

Issues

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

Trivia

When walking on a block that has a rail on top, a player will hear the sound of the block they are walking on, but if they jump (while still walking), they hear the sound of the rail itself.^[5]
Rails are 750 mm (approx. 2-foot 5-inch) narrow gauge (the gauge is the distance between the rails).
A chest of rails has a total length of 64×27 = 1728 meters, which is slightly more than 1 mile (1.074 miles, 0.933 nautical miles).
Rails do not touch the block they are placed on. The flat texture can actually be seen to hover over their supporting block.

Gallery

Renders

North south
East west
North east
East straight
South west
North west
An example of a rail line with curves and ramps.

Screenshots

An example of sticky piston use with rails.
An example of how to use rails as a roller coaster.
A randomly generated misplaced rail found in a mineshaft.
Three more floating rails in a mineshaft.
Villagers riding minecarts with rails below them.
A railroad stop without any redstone switching mechanisms, based purely on the one-way curved rail behavior.

In other media

Kai crafting a rail, in A year in blocks.
Rails in A Minecraft Movie.

References

↑ This is caused by the way rails update when given a redstone signal. A rail's preference inverts when a redstone signal is applied, and then its direction is updated to be the most prefered state. This can easily be observed when placing a rail on a redstone block with a 4-way junction compared to a non-powered block.
↑ MC-33359 — Mobs are unable to cross minecart rails — resolved as "Works As Intended".
↑ MC-263494 — Frogs jump over rails and sometimes land on them — resolved as "Works As Intended".
↑ MC-249642 — Wardens can't pass over rails — resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MC-1691 — Sprinting / falling on level 1 and 2 snow, lily pads and carpet use the block below for the particles

Navigation

[breakingtimenote-1] These durations ignore other influential factors (e.g., Mining Fatigue) and are measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

[bedrock-item-id-5] ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.

[bedrock-give-available-6] Available with /give command.

[bedrock-item-form-7] The block's direct item form has the same ID as the block.

[2] This is caused by the way rails update when given a redstone signal. A rail's preference inverts when a redstone signal is applied, and then its direction is updated to be the most prefered state. This can easily be observed when placing a rail on a redstone block with a 4-way junction compared to a non-powered block.

[3] MC-33359 — Mobs are unable to cross minecart rails — resolved as "Works As Intended".

[4] MC-263494 — Frogs jump over rails and sometimes land on them — resolved as "Works As Intended".

[8] MC-249642 — Wardens can't pass over rails — resolved as "Fixed".

[9] MC-1691 — Sprinting / falling on level 1 and 2 snow, lily pads and carpet use the block below for the particles

[A]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[i 1]

[i 2]

[i 3]

[4]

[5]

Rail

Obtaining

Breaking

Natural generation

Generated loot

Crafting

Usage

Placement

Redstone functionality

Minecart behavior

South-east rule

Downhill rule

Ramp clearance & one-way effect

Curved rail interactions

Minecart speeds

Mob behavior

Piston interactivity

Sounds

Data values

ID

Block states

Achievements

Video

History

Data history

Issues

Trivia

Gallery

Renders

Screenshots

In other media

See also

References

Navigation