Minecraft 1.21: How to use all new blocks

Minecraft 1.21, also known as the Tricky Trials update, is introducing more than a few new blocks for players to enjoy. While some are primarily used for building or decoration, others function as automated crafting machines, light sources, crafting materials, or as a way to collect loot or battle enemies when traversing trial chambers in the new update.

If Minecraft fans haven't gotten their hands on the 1.21 update's new blocks yet via Java Edition snapshots or Bedrock Edition previews, then it might not be a bad time to get familiar with them otherwise.

With that in mind, let's take a look at how to use the new blocks introduced in the Tricky Trials update once players have crafted or found them.

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How to use the new blocks introduced in Minecraft 1.21 Tricky Trials

New Copper & Tuff Blocks

Many of the new copper and tuff block variants for Minecraft 1.21 (Image via Mojang)

To help broaden the utility of copper and tuff blocks in Minecraft 1.21, the update introduced several new block variants for both material types, including:

• Chiseled copper blocks
• Copper grates
• Copper doors
• Copper trapdoors
• Copper bulbs
• Tuff stairs
• Tuff slabs
• Tuff walls
• Chiseled tuff blocks
• Polished tuff blocks, stairs, slabs, and walls
• Tuff brick blocks, stairs, slabs, walls, and chiseled tuff brick blocks

For the most part, these blocks are easy to use. Players need only equip them in their hands and place them by right-clicking or pressing the place/use item button on their controller. They can be broken by hand or with tools with a left click or the break block button. The copper blocks will oxidize over time, but players can combine them with a honeycomb to wax them and keep them from oxidizing.

Moreover, if a copper block has gotten too oxidized for a player's liking, they can right-click (or press place/use item on a controller) on the copper blocks while holding an axe to chip away the oxidation. This can also help restore the full light level of the copper bulb.

Speaking of the copper bulb, this new copper block will emit light when powered by a redstone signal and will continue if the signal stops.

Minecraft 1.21's new copper block variants at all their stages of oxidation (Image via Mojang)

As the copper bulb oxidizes, it lowers the light level it produces, so be sure to wax it or chip it with an axe if it isn't making enough light.

The copper doors and trapdoors are also fairly self-explanatory. They will open and close when interacted with and can also be supplied with a redstone signal to automate the process. Otherwise, these blocks are primarily for building and decoration purposes.

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The Crafter

A basic crafter in Minecraft 1.21 that crafts diamond pickaxes when its button is pressed (Image via Mojang)

Arguably one of the most intriguing additions in Minecraft 1.21 is the crafter, a block that will automatically craft an item or block in a similar sense to a crafting table after being supplied with a redstone signal. Once crafted, the item or block will be launched out of the crafter. Using this block is pretty simple, though it has many applications in redstone machinery of various skill levels.

To use the crafter, simply place the block and right-click (or press use item/place via controller) it to open its crafting interface which is very similar to the crafting table.

Insert resources into the crafting grid using an item/block recipe like a crafting table (you can also click empty slots to lock them to avoid other items/blocks getting accidentally made), then supply a redstone signal to the crafter.

Each time the crafter receives a signal, it will craft the item/block outlined by the crafting recipe used by the player. This means if players use buttons, switches, redstone clocks, or other devices that send repeated redstone signals, they can effectively automatically craft any block or item in Minecraft as long as they have the materials to spare.

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Trial Spawners, Vaults, and Ominous Trial Spawners/Vaults

A vault dispensing loot in Minecraft 1.21 (Image via Mojang)

Unlike some of the other blocks listed above, trial spawners, vaults, and their ominous counterparts aren't craftable in vanilla Minecraft 1.21. They naturally generate in trial chambers. Standard trial spawners/vaults can also be found in the Creative Mode inventory. Regardless, players don't exactly use these blocks in the conventional sense so much as these blocks react to them.

When a player enters a trial chamber, approaching a trial spawner will cause it to create various hostile mobs based on its surrounding blocks. If players defeat all the hostiles that these blocks spawn, the spawner block can dispense trial keys. These are used to unlock vaults that can provide players with assorted loot, including ominous bottles.

If players consume an ominous bottle, they'll receive the Bad Omen status effect in Minecraft, which will transform into the Ominous Trial status effect when they enter a trial chamber.

This converts trial spawners into ominous trial spawners, which create tougher hostile mobs to beat but provide ominous trial keys, which can unlock ominous vaults (marked by blue flames) that also generate in trial chambers.

Compared to their standard counterparts, ominous vaults in Minecraft have higher-quality loot they can dispense. Keep in mind though that each vault or ominous vault can only be opened once per player, so fans may need to explore multiple trial chambers to secure the quality loot they desire from the vaults.

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Heavy Core

The heavy core only has two presumptive uses in Minecraft 1.21 (Image via Mojang)

The heavy core is obtained from ominous vaults in Minecraft 1.21, but it only has two defined uses so far. It can be placed like an ordinary building block and could be used for building or decoration. Alternatively, it can be combined with a breeze rod dropped from breeze mobs created by trial spawners to craft the hammer, a powerful new melee weapon in the Tricky Trials update.

Mojang may introduce more uses for the heavy core as time goes on, but for the time being, players can simply regard it as a building/decoration block or as a crafting component.

The heavy core can be used to craft a hammer in Minecraft 1.21 by opening a crafting table, placing the core in the top center slot, and then placing a breeze rod in the slot beneath it.