Minecart

For other uses, see Minecart (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Minecraft.
Minecart
Minecart.png: Infobox image for Minecart the item entity in Minecraft
Invicon Minecart.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Minecart
Rarity tier

Common

Renewable

Yes

Stackable

No

Size

Height: 0.7 blocks
Width: 0.98 blocks

Drops

(1)

Health points

6HP♥♥♥

There is a related tutorial page for this topic!
 

A minecart is a train-like vehicle entity that runs on rails.

Obtaining

Once placed, minecarts can be retrieved by attacking them for some time. One attack from a pickaxe, sword or axe is enough for a minecart to drop in item form, provided the player's attack cooldown is reset‌. A minecart is also destroyed if it makes contact with a cactus, or if shot with a bow/crossbow. Critical hits are not applied to minecarts, although the particles suggest otherwise.

Crafting

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot
Invicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron Ingot
Invicon Minecart.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Minecart

Entity loot

Minecart with command blocks can be given to the player with the /give command or through the Creative inventory under certain conditions‌; minecart with spawners‌ are available only via the /summon command. Each drop 1 minecart when broken.

Usage

A rideable minecart on rails surrounded by wooden slabs

A minecart can be placed in the same manner as most blocks, but only on top of a rail. Once placed, it may be derailed by pushing it off the end of the track. After this, it can be railed again by placing a rail directly below it or pushing it onto a track.

Crafting ingredient

Anything crafted with the minecart functions similar to a regular minecart, but cannot be ridden.

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Minecart with Chest Chest +
Invicon Chest.png: Inventory sprite for Chest in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Chest with description: ChestInvicon Minecart.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Minecart
Invicon Minecart with Chest.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart with Chest in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Minecart with Chest with description: Minecart with Chest
Minecart with Furnace Furnace +
Invicon Furnace.png: Inventory sprite for Furnace in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Furnace with description: FurnaceInvicon Minecart.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Minecart
Invicon Minecart with Furnace.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart with Furnace in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Minecart with Furnace with description: Minecart with Furnace
Minecart with Hopper Hopper +
Invicon Hopper.png: Inventory sprite for Hopper in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Hopper with description: HopperInvicon Minecart.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Minecart
Invicon Minecart with Hopper.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart with Hopper in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Minecart with Hopper with description: Minecart with Hopper
Minecart with TNT TNT +
Invicon TNT.png: Inventory sprite for TNT in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to TNT with description: TNTInvicon Minecart.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Minecart
Invicon Minecart with TNT.png: Inventory sprite for Minecart with TNT in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Minecart with TNT with description: Minecart with TNT

Transportation

Steve riding a minecart
See also: Transportation and Riding

Minecarts can be ridden by pressing the "use" control on them. Once inside, an external impulse may be needed to make the minecart start moving. The player can slowly move the minecart forward at about 8 blocks per second while riding it, by pressing forward. If the Minecart Experiments experiment is enabled, the minecartmaxspeed gamerule can be used to change minecart speed. If a mob walks in front of a moving empty minecart, it is pulled into the cart.

After rolling off of the end of a track, a minecart can be pushed around on open blocks. If a minecart is pushed onto or falls onto tracks, it "snaps" to those tracks. When riding a minecart, if the minecart lands on a rail, the player does not take any fall damage.

Unlike with beds, there is no message above the hotbar‌ or in chat‌ for attempting to enter a fully occupied minecart.[1]

Dismounting

Players can exit the minecart by sneaking while riding it. When a player or mob dismounts a minecart, either by choice, by breaking the minecart, or by passing over a powered activator rail, the minecart tries to find a safe ejection destination for the player one block away. First it checks the eight horizontally adjacent blocks in the following order of priority relative to direction of travel: right, left, rear right, rear left, front right, front left, rear, front. A valid destination has a block underneath with a solid (not necessarily full) top surface and a space with enough headroom and width for the passenger to fit in when standing at the center. The space can even contain liquid or have open trapdoors if the mob is slim enough, and presence of other mobs doesn't matter. If no valid destination exists on same horizontal level, the minecart then checks the blocks one above, then one below. For a player, the minecart also checks for crawlable destinations. If still none, the minecart chooses its own location. Once the minecart picks a destination, it actually ejects the passenger one block up in the air and the passenger settles down on its own. Under a low ceiling this may cause one tick of suffocation damage. The air drop exists to allow passengers to land on carpet or bottom slabs.

Behavior

Speed

Minecarts have a predefined speed limit of exactly 8 blocks per second per axis of travel. A minecart traveling diagonally can, therefore, travel up to 11.314 blocks per second.[note 1] When a minecart comes to a turn it moves diagonally across that turn.

Powered rails powered by redstone give minecarts a boost of speed. Speed is gradually decreased if there are no powered rails to assist its movement, and an unpowered powered rail slows down a minecart rapidly. The speed decreases at a faster rate when going uphill, compared to when moving horizontally. A minecart does not need powered rails to assist its movement down a hill.

Anything in the way of the minecart brings it to a stop. Once a minecart has left the track, it rapidly decelerates within one or two blocks. When mobs touch a minecart, they affect it in the same way a player would, i.e. mobs that move up against a still cart set it in motion.

If a minecart is moving fast enough, it can skip across one block without a track and reattach to a track on the other side, at significantly reduced energy and speed. A minecart's hitbox can skip turns if the minecart is boosted using enough powered rails.[2]

The speed and momentum of a minecart can differ depending on whether or not it is empty, and in the case where a minecart has a container, the speed can differ depending on the quantity and type of items inside.

Moving minecarts become frozen when more than one chunk beyond the simulation distance of the nearest player, but resume their motion when a player comes within range.

Merged minecarts

In Java Edition, two or more minecarts can be merged by pushing them into each other so that they overlap. Merged minecarts move as a collective, like a train, and can be useful for long-distance transport because while moving in a straight line, they do not need powered rails to keep their speed.

To summarize:

  • Minecarts can also be merged by dropping a minecart on another minecart, but only if that minecart is on a rail.
  • Merged minecarts do not lose speed while traveling on straight rails
  • Corners in the rails might cause merged minecarts to unmerge.
  • Minecarts with chest (even fully filled) can also be merged and also do not require powered rails.
  • Merged minecarts can travel off-rail at half-speed (4 blocks/second). They can travel diagonally if the last rail is a turned rail.

Distance traveled by empty carts starting on a downward slope

This table shows the distance traveled by an unoccupied minecart, in meters, on a downward slope, with a boost (or no boost). The most efficient way is to use only 1 boost at the bottom of the incline on the flat surface. Using 2 increases distance by about 20% or 1.5 blocks. All distance trends based on the height seem to be logarithmic. The carts started from rest, on a slope Height blocks up.

Height No boost Bottom Bottom and top All boosts on incline and bottom
1 2.77m 8.77 10.8 10.8
2 4.59m 9.59 10.83 13.37
3 5.81m 9.81 11.66 15.12
4 7.04m 10.04 12.46 16.95
5 7.87m 10.87 12.29 17.95
10 11.65m 13.38 15.12 21.68
100 15.87m 17.05 17.54 25.34

Collision

Minecarts are about the same size as a block (1×1). Because of this, a ladder, door, or trapdoor prevents it from falling down a 1×1 hole. Carts on rails also ignore collision in certain situations. A cart traveling uphill, downhill, or on a curve with a block placed in front of it, goes through the block.[3]

A minecart that reaches the end of a rail up against an opaque solid block bounces back, but if the block is transparent then it stops. The minecart can even bounce against an opaque block from a standstill if the rail underneath is powered. A player or mob riding in a minecart does not collide with or suffocate in any transparent blocks but suffocates inside opaque blocks.

Minecarts are completely unaffected by ice, packed ice, and blue ice[4]; they can also be destroyed by coming in contact with lava, fire and cactus, causing it to drop itself as an item. The last block can be used to automatically destroy the cart and collect it (with a hopper) at the end of a track.

Uphill and downhill movement

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.
 
This section describes content that will likely be removed in a future update of Java Edition.
 
This content has been removed in development versions for Java Edition, but the full update removing it has not been released yet.
This feature can only be accessed through the "Minecart Improvements" experimental data pack in Java Edition.
A
B
The cart collides with A instead of B.

A cart on an ascending rail performs its horizontal movement at a higher position, with the following effects:

  • A cart traveling downhill does not collide with a block in front of it, but collides with a block one block higher.
  • A cart can trigger a pressure plate or tripwire above its bounding box in this process, which can't detect the cart when checking for entities. If deactivated when the cart has not moved away, the pressure plate or tripwire is immediately retriggered.
    • If updates originating from the pressure plate or tripwire break the rail, the cart appears at the higher position.

Mobs

Minecart shaking due to being on top of an activator rail.

Most mobs can be picked up when a minecart collides with them. The following mobs, however, cannot be picked up:

This is much different from boats, which can be entered only by mobs smaller than the boats; even large mobs like ghasts can enter minecarts. In addition to mobs, minecarts can also pick up boats in Java Edition,[5] and armor stands and cameras in Bedrock Edition.

A mob is picked up when a moving minecart on rails collides with the mob, or if the mob walks into a minecart on rails. Additionally, in Bedrock Edition, a minecart can pick up a mob even if stationary or off-rails. It is easier to pick up a mob when a minecart is turning. For the purposes of picking up mobs, the bounding box of a minecart is extended by 0.2 (approx. 316) blocks on each direction on the X and Z axes. This means that a minecart can pick up a mob even if the mob is not intersecting the minecart's hitbox.

In Java Edition, mobs in minecarts (except unnamed endermites) don't despawn, and don't count toward the mob cap.[6]

Mobs cannot control the minecart, unless they are a jockey in Java Edition,[7] and cannot exit the minecart unless the minecart is destroyed or moves onto an active activator rail. In Bedrock Edition, it is also possible to force a mob out of a minecart by reeling it in using a fishing rod.

Tamed pets, as well as endermen, cannot teleport out of minecarts.[8]

Sounds

This section is missing information about: bug reports exist about minecarts not using subtitles - link those here.
 
Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

Java Edition:
Minecarts use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.[sound 1]

Sounds
SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
None[sound 6]Friendly Mobs [sound 1]While the player or mob is inside of a moving minecartentity.minecart.insideNone[sound 6]0.0-0.75 [sound 2]1.016 (technical) / rider only (effective)
None[sound 6]Friendly Mobs [sound 1]While inside of a moving minecart when the player's eye level is underwaterentity.minecart.inside.underwaterNone[sound 6]0.0-0.75 [sound 2]1.016 (technical) / rider only (effective)
​Minecart rolls [sound 3]Friendly Mobs [sound 1]While a minecart is movingentity.minecart.ridingsubtitles.entity.minecart.riding0.0-0.35 [sound 4]0.0-1.0 [sound 5]16
  1. a b c d "[MC-42132] The sounds of minecarts aren't controlled by the correct sound slider - Jira"Mojira, December 13, 2013.
  2. a b Based on horizontal speed; it is clamped between 0.0 and 0.75 and does not play if speed is less than 0.01
  3. Shows far less often than it should - see MC-181831
  4. Relates linearly with horizontal velocity (max 0.5)
  5. Increases by 0.0025 per tick if the minecart's horizontal velocity is more than 0.01
  6. a b c d MC-278135

Bedrock Edition:

Sounds
SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
Friendly Creatures‌
Friendly Mobs​
While the player or mob is inside of a moving minecartminecart.inside??
Friendly Creatures‌
Friendly Mobs​
While a minecart is movingminecart.base??

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

ItemIdentifierFormTranslation key
ItemSprite minecart.png: Sprite image for minecart in Minecraft MinecartminecartItemitem.minecraft.minecart
EntityIdentifierTranslation key
EntitySprite minecart.png: Sprite image for minecart in Minecraft Minecartminecartentity.minecraft.minecart

Bedrock Edition:

ItemIdentifierNumeric ID FormTranslation key
ItemSprite minecart.png: Sprite image for minecart in Minecraft Minecartminecart370Itemitem.minecart.name
EntityIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
EntitySprite minecart.png: Sprite image for minecart in Minecraft Minecartminecart84entity.minecart.name

Entity data

Minecarts have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the entity.

Java Edition:

Main article: Entity format
  • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
    • Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
    • Tags common to all minecarts see Template:Nbt inherit/vehicle/template

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format

Achievements

IconAchievementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)Gamerscore earnedTrophy type (PS)
PS4Other
On A RailTravel by minecart to a point at least 500m in a single direction from where you started.Travel by 500 blocks in a straight line away from the player's starting point.40Gold

Video

History

Java Edition Infdev
20100618 Added minecarts.
Minecarts are not rideable but instead are used to store things in.
Right-clicking minecarts opens them like a chest (with the container called "Minecart"). Filling them up makes the dirt layer inside them rise.
20100624 The entity model and item texture of minecarts have been changed.
The minecart mechanics have been changed to being rideable, removing their ability to store items.
Minecarts now render a chest inside for unknown reasons.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.4 Removed the phantom chest from minecarts.
A sitting animation for riding minecarts has been added.
v1.0.14Minecarts are now used to craft minecart with furnace and minecart with chest.
A glitch creates a new method of speeding up Minecarts known as "Boosting" with putting two Minecarts perpendicular together going the same direction, increases the speed of both carts.
v1.2.2Minecarts now appear to other players and can be ridden in multiplayer.
Minecarts are no longer fully solid - they no longer block movement, and can no longer be stood on top of.
v1.2.3Players in minecarts and boats now receive terrain updates.
Java Edition Beta
1.5Minecarts now break faster with hands.
Powered rails have been introduced, which enables minecarts to move automatically, although previous methods of boosting no longer work or do not work as effectively.
The detector rails have been introduced for use in detecting minecarts. Prior to this update, minecarts were detected by using pressure plates in line with cart tracks. This had the often undesirable effect of dramatically slowing or even stopping the minecart, which limited the use of this design mostly to boosters.
1.6Test Build 3A minecart now transfers any fall damage it suffers onto its rider and is not destroyed upon impact.
1.8Pre-releaseIf the player punches a minecart when descending from a jump, it shows the critical hit animation. This also happens if the player punches the cart while still in it.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 PrereleaseC418 posted a sound showing the sound that minecarts make.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6The texture of minecarts has changed slightly.
1.3.112w15aMinecarts can now be shot out from dispensers.
12w21aWhile sitting inside of a minecart, pushing the directional keys makes it move the direction player is pressing. This only works while the minecart is sitting on rails.
12w21bMinecarts can now be destroyed in one hit in Creative mode.
The player no longer spawns on top/inside of the minecart after getting out. Instead, the player gets out a few blocks away. Also, the player can nudge a stationary minecart while inside it to move onto a powered rail, etc.
1.4.212w38bSounds for minecarts have been added.
1.513w02aMinecarts can now be edited with a third-party program to show any block inside of it (it does not take on the characteristics of this block), as well as make it take on the characteristics of any cart.
Minecarts are now used to craft TNT minecarts.
13w03aMinecarts are now used to craft hopper minecarts.
13w06aAdded minecart with spawner.
1.6.113w16aMinecarts are now dismounted using the sneak key; previously, this was achieved by right clicking on the minecart a second time.
1.6.2releaseA player in a moving minecart no longer turns with the minecart.
1.7.213w39aAdded minecart with command block.
1.814w11aMinecart physics have been changed - they now go faster and further, can derail at corners if going too fast and refuse to go uphill and they can also (if going fast enough) go over 1 block.
The collision and position handling of minecarts have been improved.
14w17aAll changes to old minecart physics used before 14w11a have been reverted.
1.9.1pre2Extreme typos in minecarts with hoppers and chests, reading "container.minecart'' have been fixed.
1.1116w32aThe player's hunger bar is now visible when riding in a minecart.
1.1418w43a The textures of minecarts have been changed.
19w13aMinecarts now move much slower when pushed along standard rails using the W key, even slower on unpowered powered rails, and cannot be pushed off of unpowered powered rails without the player looking at a certain angle.
1.1620w09aMinecart now checks dismount position height against entity height.
20w16aMinecarts no longer have subtitles for movement.
20w18aMobs in minecarts no longer despawn.
1.1720w45aMinecarts can now move in water.
1.18pre2Minecarts no longer contain the hidden dirt layer left over from their introduction in Infdev.[9]
1.1922w13aMinecarts no longer drop when breaking a minecart with chest, hopper, furnace, or TNT.[10]
1.2023w16aSniffers can now enter minecarts.
1.21.224w33aPressing the movement controls while riding a boat or a saddled pig that has been picked up by a minecart no longer moves the minecart at a high speed.[11]
1.21.2
Experiment
Minecart Improvements
24w33aThe speed of minecarts is now determined by the game rule minecartMaxSpeed, which is set to a default of 8.
Whether or not the player follows the rotation of minecarts is now controlled by the accessibility setting "Rotate with Minecarts".
Minecarts can no longer be placed by players or dispensers if the spot is already occupied by another minecart. Dispensers simply drop the minecart as an item if this is the case.
Minecarts now retain their vertical momentum when its track ends with a slope, and now visually correspond to it by tilting while in the air.
Minecarts no longer make any movement noise while in the air.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.8.0build 2 Added minecarts.
build 3Minecarts now ride smoother.
v0.13.0build 1Sounds for minecarts have been added.
build 2Minecarts now stack on top of each other.
v0.14.0build 1Minecarts can now be used to craft storage, TNT, and hopper minecarts.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3 The textures of minecarts have been changed.
Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360Xbox OnePS3PS4PS VitaWii USwitch
TU1CU11.001.001.00Patch 11.0.1 Added minecarts.
Minecarts are now twice the speed than in other editions.
TU12Minecarts are now slower.
Minecarts can now be placed by dispensers.
TU13Minecarts have had their speed increased again.
TU19CU71.121.121.12Minecarts are now used to craft TNT minecarts and hopper minecarts.
A player in a moving minecart no longer turns with the minecart.
Minecarts are now dismounted using the sneak key; previously, this was achieved by pressing use on the minecart a second time.
TU20CU81.131.131.13A player in a moving minecart once again turns with the minecart.
TU21CU91.141.141.14The minecart limit has been increased.
TU31CU191.221.221.22Patch 3Minecart sounds have been updated.
TU34CU221.251.251.25Patch 4An option to enable or disable minecart sounds has been added to the audio settings.
1.90 The texture of minecarts has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0 Added minecarts.

Data history

Java Edition
1.513w02aMinecart types no longer all share the same entity ID – Minecart – and are no longer distinguished by a Type field. They have been given separate entity IDs.
1.1116w32aThe entity ID has been changed from MinecartRideable to minecart.
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 328.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • Minecarts appear to float above the track, as their model has no wheels.
  • If the player views their inventory while riding in a minecart, they appear sitting down in mid-air.
  • The player can teleport to another minecart while sitting in a minecart by right-clicking a minecart in their range. This can be used as an elevator to quickly rise up when minecarts are placed on top of each other.
  • If the sound is muted in the options while riding a minecart, and then turned back up, the minecart no longer makes noise in the client until the player exits the minecart.
  • A minecart (alongside rails and powered rails) are used as Steve's Side-Special in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
  • Minecart are twice as fast in Legacy Console Edition.

Gallery

Screenshots

Mojang screenshots

In other media

Notes

  1. The square root of 82 + 82. See Pythagorean theorem.

References

  1. MC-161251 — Attempting to enter an occupied bed displays a message over the hotbar, but attempting to enter an occupied vehicle does not — resolved as "Works As Intended".
  2. MC-179971 — Minecart skips turns if too fast
  3. MC-8004 — Minecarts glitch through the stop block of a track that ends with a turn or a downward slope
  4. MC-8265 — Minecarts don't slide on any sort of ice
  5. MC-113871 — Boats and rafts can ride minecarts
  6. MC-182897 — Some passenger mobs don't count to the mob cap — resolved as "Works As Intended".
  7. MC-71998 — Minecarts that have passengers within them riding mobs can move automatically when not on rails
  8. MC-3866 — Endermen, Tamed Wolves and Ocelots cannot teleport when in a Minecart — resolved as "Works As Intended".
  9. MC-206303 — Minecarts have old textures on the bottom — resolved as "Fixed".
  10. MC-249493 — Breaking a minecart with chest/furnace/TNT/hopper separates the minecart and the block it contains — resolved as "Fixed".
  11. MC-200318 — Pigs can be controlled without carrot on a stick when in a minecart — resolved as "Fixed".
  12. "January 9, 2013"@jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X (formerly Twitter), January 9, 2013

External links

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