Custom block geometry in Minecraft Bedrock Edition: Everything you need to know

Much of Minecraft's appeal lies in a player's ability to build things in a vast world. It's one of the biggest reasons the game has remained so popular 13 years after its initial release.

The latest addition to Minecraft Bedrock Edition, custom block geometry, is set to enhance this creativity.

Mojang announced the release of custom block geometry in Bedrock Edition via their official blog:

"You heard it loud and clear – we have released custom block geometry in version 1.19.40 of the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft! This means that anyone can make a custom block with their own custom geometry and textures WITHOUT turning on the Holiday Creator Features experimental toggle in settings, and custom geometry and textures for blocks are now fair game on the Marketplace!"

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Minecraft Bedrock players can mold the game into anything they want with custom block geometry

According to Mojang, custom block geometry is exclusive to Bedrock Edition. The studio also mentioned that the feature will essentially give players the ability to create any block they can imagine. Here's how it will work, according to the official blog post:

"This ability arrives in the form of the 'geometry' and 'material_instances' block components, which you must use to specify the geometry and textures to be used to render your custom block."

The geometry component is what tells a pack what model to use when rendering a block. All players have to do is create the model, put it in a resource pack, and link it to the right behavior pack.

The material instance component is what controls the texture. It tells the block which texture to render, so it can essentially look like anything players want.

There are so many options. Players can apply opaque, double_sided, alpha_test, or blend to their block with its render method.

Minecraft players can also set the ambient_occlusion or face_dimming fields to whatever they want in order to make the block even more unique. They can use trial and error to find the right combination for their block.

However, there are a few restrictions to keep in mind. The custom block geometry's size cannot exceed 1.875 x 1.875 x 1.875 or 30 x 30 x 30 pixels. According to Mojang, "the absolute bounds that a custom block geometry must remain within are 1.875 (or 30 pixels) from the origin on each axis." Additionally, one pixel on each axis must be contained within the base 1 x 1 x 1 block.

These limitations are far bigger than the ones for a single block, so the creativity has also expanded.

Some custom blocks are made possible with this new feature (Image via Mojang)

Thanks to custom block geometry, players have even more creative options on their hands. They can continue creating their own worlds, but they can now make even a single block totally unique.

With this feature, Bedrock players can mold the game into anything they want within reason. This is one of the biggest changes to Mojang's sandbox sensation in recent memory.

For more information on custom block geometry, readers can check out the official Minecraft blog post.