Explosives · Mining · 1.21
How to Make TNT
Five gunpowder, four sand, and a four-second fuse. TNT is the fastest way to move a lot of stone, as long as you are well clear when it goes off.
Light the fuse and step back, four seconds to detonation.
The recipe
Gunpowder and sand in a checkerboard, gunpowder in the corners and centre.
Grab the grid on Astroworld crafting or look up gunpowder and sand.
Ways to set it off
TNT is inert until something ignites it. Any of these will do it.
Flint & steelRight-click the block. The classic manual fuse-lighter.
RedstoneAny redstone signal, a lever, button or pulse, primes it instantly.
🔥Fire or lava
Flames spreading onto it, or a flaming arrow, light it from range.
Another blastA nearby explosion sets it off, so chains and cannons cascade.
Know the blast
The fuse runs about four secondsthen the blast damages both terrain and anything nearby. It only drops roughly a third of the blocks it breaks.
The trick: detonate it underwater. Water cancels the block damage so terrain stays intact, but the explosion still clears mobs, handy for safe mining once you understand the area.
What it is used for
Fast mining
Blast through stone and dig tunnels far quicker than a pickaxe, at the cost of some drops.
TNT cannons
Water + pistons launch primed TNT across the map. A classic redstone build.
Traps
A pressure plate or tripwire wired to TNT guards a base or a vault, for those who like risk.
Boss fights
Stacks of TNT are one way to soften up the Wither in an enclosed arena.
Quick answers
What is the recipe?
Five gunpowder and four sand in a checkerboard: gunpowder in the four corners and centre, sand in the edges. Red sand works too.
How do I set it off?
It will not blow on its own. Light it with flint and steel, a redstone signal, fire, a flaming arrow, or another explosion.
How long is the fuse?
About four seconds, eighty game ticks, once primed. The block flashes white the whole time, so back away fast.
Why did my TNT destroy the loot?
A blast only drops about a third of the blocks it breaks. Mine over water, which cancels block damage, to keep every drop.
Is TNT good for mining?
Yes, for fast tunnelling and clearing, though it eats some of the yield. Underwater blasts keep the drops while still clearing stone.
Can I move primed TNT?
Yes, the primed entity drifts and can be pushed by pistons or water, which is the basis of TNT cannons and flying machines.
Light it with flint and steellook up TNT, gunpowder and sand in the items database, or open the crafting recipes for the exact grid.
Gunpowder, sand and what the blast leaves behind
Five gunpowder is the real cost
The four sand blocks are free anywhere near a desert or a beach, so a stack of TNT is a stack of creeper drops. That is why mining TNT is a mid game project: you need a mob farm or a lot of night walking first, and skeletons and creepers spawn in the same darkness.
It does not drop everything it breaks
The blast destroys a portion of what it mines rather than dropping all of it, so blowing up an area to gather materials always loses some. For ores that matter, it is cheaper to blast the stone and mine the ore by hand than to blast the ore itself.
Water changes the rules
TNT primed in water still damages entities but breaks no blocks, which is exactly why cannons and underwater digging both use it. Flooding a room before you set off a charge is the standard way to clear mobs without touching the build.
Water Still
Red Sand
Piston