> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://items.lodemc.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Blocks

> Full blocks, logs, see-through and walk-through blocks, stairs, slabs, trapdoors and doors.

## A first block

```yaml items/ores/ruby_ore.yml theme={null}
ruby_ore:
  type: block
  name: "<red>Ruby Ore"
  texture: ruby_ore.png     # all six sides
  hardness: 3               # optional; stone is 1.5
  tool: pickaxe             # optional; the default
```

Reload, run `/lodeitems give ruby_ore`, and place it like any other block.

You never choose *how* the block is shown to players (note blocks, mushroom blocks and so on). Lode Items picks that for you and remembers it, so placed blocks stay the same across reloads and restarts.

Custom blocks are real blocks on the server. They cost the same as vanilla blocks to store and to load, so they're fine for building whole areas and for pasting with [WorldEdit](https://items.lodemc.net/integrations.md#worldedit).

> **[Mining and drops](https://items.lodemc.net/blocks/mining-and-drops.md)**
>
> Hardness, tools, drops, light, sounds, tags and stripping.

> **[Looks and rotation](https://items.lodemc.net/blocks/looks.md)**
>
> One texture, per-face textures or a model; logs and furnace-style turning.

> **[Connected textures](https://items.lodemc.net/blocks/connected-textures.md)**
>
> Glass and tiles that join into one surface.

> **[Stairs, slabs and doors](https://items.lodemc.net/blocks/shapes.md)**
>
> Blocks that work like vanilla stairs, slabs, trapdoors and doors.

> **[World generation](https://items.lodemc.net/blocks/world-generation.md)**
>
> Ores in veins in new chunks.

## See-through and walk-through blocks

```yaml theme={null}
ruby_glass:
  type: block
  texture: ruby_glass.png
  transparent: true      # see-through, still solid (like glass or leaves)

ruby_flower:
  type: block
  texture: ruby_flower.png
  solid: false           # walk through it; breaks instantly, like plants
```

Blocks you walk through always break instantly, so they can't have a `hardness`.

## How many blocks

| Kind | Looks available | Slots in `config.yml` (default) |
| - | - | - |
| Solid blocks | 1,489 | `blocks.slots` (1000) |
| See-through (`transparent: true`) | 143 | `blocks.transparent-slots` (200) |
| Walk-through (`solid: false`) | 111 | `blocks.passable-slots` (100) |

Each direction of a rotating block uses its own slot and look: an `axis` block uses 3, a `horizontal` one 4 and a `facing` one 6. [Connected textures](https://items.lodemc.net/blocks/connected-textures.md) use 4 to 64.

* **Looks** are how many different-looking blocks the game can show. That is a limit of Minecraft itself.
* **Slots** are reserved when the server starts. New blocks need no restart as long as slots are free. Changing the number needs a restart.

> [!WARNING]
>
> Never lower a slot count below what you use. Placed blocks in the slots you remove would disappear.

A block keeps the kind it was first given. Changing a placed block from solid to `transparent` gives a warning and has no effect, because placed blocks can't move to another pool.

## Deleting a block

When you delete a block's config, its placed copies stay in the world and show as stone. Its slot stays reserved, so if you add the config back, they come back as they were. The assignments are saved in `cache/blocks.json` and `cache/shaped_blocks.json`. Keep those files.


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