What does different rails do in Minecraft?

Rails are one of the most useful utility items in Minecraft. They are mainly used to transport players, chests, hoppers, etc., from point A to point B in a minecart. Over the years, players have found several ways to use rails in the game. However, new players might not know what different rails do in the game.

Rails can be crafted with six iron ingots and one stick in the middle of the crafting table. They can also be naturally generated in mineshafts. Only minecarts can be used on them. However, players can add various items to them through crafting. There are several types of rails in the game that serve different purposes.

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Different types of rails and their uses in Minecraft

1) Normal Rail

Normal Rails (Image via Minecraft)

This is the most basic rail that players can craft with iron ingots and sticks. Players can place them horizontally and even diagonally. These are the only ones that are not powered by any Redstone.

Players will have to push minecarts manually if they make a rail system with only these. They are usually used with some powered rail to move the minecarts automatically.

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2) Powered Rail

Powered Rails (Image via Minecraft)

This is a special type of rail used to increase and decrease the speed of the minecarts. They are crafted with gold ingots, Redstone dust, and sticks.

They are usually combined with normal ones to form a railroad. They can be activated and deactivated with any Redstone activator items like levers, Redstone torches, buttons, etc.

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3) Detector Rail

Detector rail activates piston when minecarts are on them (Image via Minecraft)

This is another Redstone component item that gets activated whenever a minecart is on them. They are crafted with iron ingots, Redstone dust, and a pressure plate.

Whenever a minecart is on top of it, the pressure plate is pushed, activating the Redstone circuit. These can be used to make several Redstone contraptions that only work when a minecart is on them.

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4) Activator Rail

Activator rail can activate the content in the minecart itself (Image via Mojang)

This is the fourth and last of the bunch. As the name suggests, these can 'activate' certain minecarts when they roll on them. The simplest way to understand this is with a TNT minecart.

The TNT will get activated the moment it goes on top of one of these rails. It also works with hopper minecarts and minecarts with players or mobs on them.