Dirt is a block found abundantly in most biomes under a layer of grass blocks at the top of the Overworld.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Dirt is found at any altitude, and comprises the majority of the upper terrain layers in most Overworld biomes, bridging the gap between stone and grass blocks in various thicknesses.

There are approximately 1,850 dirt blocks per chunk in plains, forest, snowy plains, jungle, and windswept hills biomes. In villages, dirt generates naturally as part of several different structures. Dirt also generates as part of ancient cities.

Dirt can generate in the Overworld in the form of blobs. Dirt attempts to generate 15 times per chunk in blobs of size 0-160 at any level Y=0 or above in all biomes. It can replace stone, granite, diorite, andesite, tuff, and deepslate.

Breaking

Dirt drops as an item when broken with any tool or by hand, but a shovel is the quickest way to break it.

Block

Dirt

Hardness

0.5

Tool

Breaking time^[A]

Default

0.75

Wooden

0.4

Stone

0.2

Iron

0.15

Diamond

0.1

Netherite

0.1

Golden

0.1

1. ↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Farmland, dirt paths, grass blocks, mycelium, and podzol drop dirt if broken without Silk Touch. Farmland and dirt paths‌^{[JE only]} drop dirt even if broken with Silk Touch.

Mob loot

An enderman drops a dirt block upon death, if holding one.

Post-generation

Farmland turns into dirt if either a mob jumps on it, a solid block is placed over it, or if nothing is planted on it and it is not within four blocks of water.

Dirt path immediately turns into dirt if a solid block is placed over it.

Coarse dirt can be tilled with a hoe to become dirt.

Tilling rooted dirt with a hoe turns it into normal dirt, and yields a hanging roots item.

Grass blocks and mycelium can die under various circumstances. When they die, they turn into dirt.

Renewable acquisition

By tilling coarse dirt, the player can convert gravel into dirt. Two blocks each of gravel and dirt become four blocks of coarse dirt, which can then be placed and tilled. Since gravel is renewable through bartering with piglins, this makes a renewable source of dirt.

In Java Edition, another way to obtain renewable dirt makes use of moss blocks. Since large spruce trees can convert moss blocks into podzol, and moss can be grown on renewable stone (generated with water and lava), dirt can be renewably created as long as there is access to water, lava, moss, spruce saplings and bone meal. Azalea can also convert moss blocks into rooted dirt when grown into a tree, but since only one block is converted at a time, it is much less efficient than large spruce trees.

A third way to obtain renewable dirt is by buying podzol from wandering traders. However, only 18 blocks of podzol can be purchased from each trader, so this method cannot be performed on a large scale.

Usage

Dirt's primary use is for farming, but it can also be used as a highly available building block.

Crafting ingredient

Name

Ingredients

Crafting recipe

Coarse Dirt

Dirt +

Gravel

4

Farming

Dirt has the ability to grow saplings, sugar cane, mushrooms, sweet berries, and bamboo, which can be planted directly in dirt under appropriate conditions.

Using a hoe on dirt turns it into farmland, enabling wheat seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, potatoes, carrots and beetroot seeds to be planted on it.

Dirt path

Using a shovel on dirt turns it into a dirt path.

Grass and mycelium spreading

See also: Grass Block

When a dirt block is adjacent to a grass block and is exposed to a light level of at least 4, it is eventually converted into a grass block at random intervals.

Mycelium spreads in a similar fashion, but requires a light level of at least 9.