Invisible block

This article needs to be updated.

 

Please update this page to reflect recent updates or newly available information.
Reason:

• Major changes have been made in 2023 to these blocks and their particle behaviour

Certain blocks in the game are designed to be invisible.

Intentionally invisible blocks

• Air
• Cave Air‌
• Void Air‌
• Light Block
• Barrier
• Invisible Bedrock‌
• Structure Void
• client_request_placeholder_block‌

Properties

Block	Solid?	Blocks third-person view?	Visible when held?	Shown by structure blocks?
Java Edition
Air	No	No	N/A[note 1]	Yes: [1]
Cave Air	No	No	N/A[note 1]	Yes: [1]
Void Air	No	No	N/A[note 1]	Yes: [1]
Light Block	No	No	Yes:	Yes:
Barrier	Yes	Yes[2]	Yes:	Yes:
Invisible Bedrock	Does not exist in Java Edition
Structure Void	No	No	No[3]	Yes:
client_request_placeholder_block	Does not exist in Java Edition
Bedrock Edition
Air	No	No	N/A[note 1]	No such functionality
Cave Air	Does not exist in Bedrock Edition
Void Air	Does not exist in Bedrock Edition
Light Block	No	No	No[4]	No such functionality
Barrier	Yes	Yes[5]	Yes:
Invisible Bedrock	Yes	No	No
Structure Void	No	No	Yes:
client_request_placeholder_block	​	​	​

Visibility

Invisible blocks are intended to never be directly visible to those not directly manipulating them, due to being intended for mapmaking and other such purposes. Despite this, there are cases where they can actually be seen, directly contradicting their intended invisibility.

Block	Shown when targeted?		Block particles?
	Highlight	Outline	When breaking	When broken	When sprinted on	When fallen on	When walked on by an iron golem	When dug through by a warden
Java Edition
Air	No such functionality	Never	No	No	No	No	No	​
Cave Air		Never	No	No	No	No	No	​
Void Air		Never	No	No	No	No	No	​
Light Block		Only when held	No	No	No	Yes[6]	Yes[7]	​
Barrier		Always[8]	No	No	No	Yes[9]	Yes[10]	​
Invisible Bedrock	Does not exist in Java Edition
Structure Void	No such functionality	Always[11]	No	No	No	Yes[9]	Yes[12]	​
client_request_placeholder_block	Does not exist in Java Edition
Bedrock Edition
Air	Never	Never	No	No	No	No	No such functionality	​
Cave Air	Does not exist in Bedrock Edition
Void Air	Does not exist in Bedrock Edition
Light Block	Yes			Yes[13]	No	No	No such functionality	​
Barrier	Never[14]	Always	No	Yes[15]	No	No		​
Invisible Bedrock	Cannot be targeted			Yes	No	No		​
Structure Void	Always	Never[16]	Yes[17]	Yes[18]	No	No		​
client_request_placeholder_block	​	​	​	​	​	​		​

Other invisible blocks

This section is missing information about: At a point in time, there were invisible variants of (in Java) doors, ladders, multiple chests, (in Bedrock) end rods and probably more. Could a history section be made on these?.

 

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

The following blocks can also be invisible under certain circumstances:

• Walls, if all states false
• Moving Piston

References