Beginner's guide to pistons in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta

If you're looking to create some redstone contraptions in Minecraft, you'll likely want to employ pistons in your design. Create hidden doors, hidden stairways, and even traps with these versatile machines. Here's how to craft and use pistons to help you get started with your contraption.

How to craft pistons

There are two types of piston you can create: regular piston or sticky piston. Regular pistons will simply push a block away when engaged, whereas a sticky piston will push away and pull back a block when engaged.

Regular piston

This recipe is made up of any three wood planks, four cobblestone, one redstone dust, and one iron ingot.

A piston can push up to twelve blocks in a row when engaged — powered with redstone — but will not pull any blocks back when disengaged.

Sticky piston

This recipe is made up of a regular piston and a slime ball. Slime balls can generally only be found underground or in swamps during the night. Pro-tip: swamps will be full of slime during full moons.

A sticky piston can push up to twelve blocks in a row when engaged, but will only pull one back with it when disengaged unless you're using a slime block.

How to place pistons

Place the piston in your hotbar, then right-click with the piston in your hand to place it on the ground or against another block. When placing a piston, the head will always face you no matter where you aim your crosshair. This can cause some tricky building, but at least you have a constant idea, unlike stairs, of how the piston will sit.

How to power pistons

The piston must be connected to either powered redstone or to a lever or other redstone switch. In the Windows 10 Edition of Minecraft, you can attach levers or other redstone switches directly to a piston.

If you want one redstone switch to control multiple pistons, you will have to link the pistons with redstone dust and power it. Contraptions using pistons and redstone can be unbelievably intricate, but a good starter project is to create a hidden staircase or hidden door.

Blocks that cannot be used with pistons

Most blocks in the Minecraft world can be pushed and pulled by pistons. There are, however, a few exceptions.

Blocks that will break if pushed or pulled

These blocks, when broken, will turn into a drop that you can pick up and use again, just as if you'd hit it with the applicable tool.

Bed

Cactus

Cake

Door

Item frame

Jack o'lantern

Flower

Flower pot

Melon

Pressure plate

Pumpkin

Mushroom

Redstone comparator

Redstone dust

Redstone repeater

Sugar cane

Torch

Weighted pressure plate

Blocks unaffected by pistons

Some blocks will simply not move or break when used with a piston.

Bedrock

Enchantment table

End portal frame

Monster spawner

Obsidian

How to use slime blocks with pistons

If you manage to collect nine slimeballs, you can craft a slime block.

Attaching a slime block to a sticky piston allows you to move blocks directly adjacent to the slime block.

Keep in mind that a piston can only move 12 blocks in a row, so if you place it on the ground, it will not move. You must create a channel beneath the slime block to allow its movement.

Once you've made the channel beneath the slime block, you can attach the blocks you'd like to move.

When you engage the piston, it will push the slime block as well as any attached blocks. All blocks touching the slime block will return to their regular position when the piston is disengaged.

Your piston contraptions

What is the biggest and most complicated contraption you've created using pistons? Let us know in the comments section below!

Cale Hunt
Senior Editor, Laptop Reviews

Cale Hunt is formerly a Senior Editor at Windows Central. He focuses mainly on laptop reviews, news, and accessory coverage. He's been reviewing laptops and accessories full-time since 2016, with hundreds of reviews published for Windows Central. He is an avid PC gamer and multi-platform user, and spends most of his time either tinkering with or writing about tech.