Activator Rail

An activator rail is a type of powerable rail that can eject players and mobs from regular minecarts, lock and unlock hopper minecarts and ignite TNT minecarts.

Obtaining

Breaking

An activator rail can be broken by hand or using any tool, dropping itself as an item, but a pickaxe is fastest. To break an activator rail, mine it:

Block	Activator Rail
Hardness	0.7
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	1.05
Wooden	0.55
Stone	0.3
Iron	0.2
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.15
Golden	0.1

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

An activator rail also drops as an item when the block beneath it is removed or a piston moves it into a space with no floor below it.

Chest loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Activator Rail	Mineshaft	Chest	1–4	27.1%
Bedrock Edition
Activator Rail	Mineshaft	Chest	1–4	27.1%

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot + Stick + Redstone Torch	6

Usage

An activator rail can be used as a rail and as a redstone component.

To place an activator rail, use an activator rail item while pointing at a surface facing the space the activator rail should occupy. An activator rail can be placed on:

the top of any full solid opaque block (stone, dirt, blocks of gold, etc.), including full-block mechanism components (command blocks, dispensers, droppers, note blocks, and redstone lamps)
the top of a hopper, upside-down slab, or upside-down stairs.
the top of any transparent block (glass, etc.)

An activator rail cannot be attached to the side or bottom of any block, but attempting to make such an attachment may cause the activator rail to attach to the top of a block under the destination space. For example, if a fence is on the ground, attempting to attach an activator rail to the side of the fence causes the activator rail to be attached to the top of the ground next to the fence instead.

When placed, an activator rail configures itself to line up with any adjacent rails (including detector rails, powered rails, and other activator rails), as well as adjacent rails one block up. The behaviors in Java and Bedrock editions diverge in the following ways.

In Java Edition:

If there are two adjacent rails on non-opposite sides, or three or more adjacent rails, or no adjacent rails at all, an activator rail aligns itself in the direction the player is facing. If an existing activator rail is connected to only one other rail or none at all, and a new rail is placed perpendicular to the activator rail, then the activator rail aligns itself in the east-west direction (if it isn't already facing that way). If a rail it would align with is one block up, an activator rail slants upward toward it (with multiple options to slant upward to, an activator rail "prefers" west or south). Other configurations can be created by placing and removing various rails.^{[needs in-game testing]}

In Bedrock Edition:^{[needs in-game testing]}

If there are two adjacent rails on non-opposite sides, or three or more adjacent rails, an activator rail aligns itself in the east-west direction. If there are no adjacent rails, an activator rail aligns itself in the north-south direction (but if a rail is later placed to the east or west, the activator rail re-orients itself in the east-west direction even if it is already connected to another rail to the north or south). If a rail it would align with is one block up, an activator rail slants upward toward it (with multiple options to slant upward to, an activator rail "prefers", in order: west, east, south, and north). Other configurations can be created by placing and removing various rails.

It cannot be placed suspended in midair, even with commands.^[1]

Rail

Activator rails (and other rails) can be used as "roads" for minecarts. A minecart that enters an activator rail's space from either end of the activator rail continues to move, losing only a little velocity (which can then be increased again with powered rails). A minecart that enters an activator rail's space from the side turns east or south (depending on the activator rail's orientation), or in the downward direction for a slanted activator rail.

Redstone component

Activator rails can be used to affect minecarts that travel over them.

Activation

An activator rail is a redstone mechanism and can be activated by:

an adjacent active power component (for example, a redstone torch, a block of redstone, a daylight sensor, etc.)
an adjacent powered block (strongly-powered or weakly-powered)
a powered redstone comparator or redstone repeater facing the activator rail
powered redstone dust configured to point at the activator rail, or configured as a plus sign.‌ An activator rail is not activated by adjacent powered redstone dust that is configured to point in another direction.

An activated activator rail also activates any adjacent activator rails it is connected to, up to eight away from the original activation source. Thus a single activation source can activate up to 17 rails (one original in the middle and eight on either side). An activated activator rail does not activate adjacent rails not connected to it.

Behavior

An activator rail affects minecarts above it with varying effects that occur as soon as any part of the minecart is on the activator rail.

An active activator rail:

starts shaking, and ejects mobs (including players) from minecarts — the destination location is picked the same way as when dismounting a minecart
repeatedly activates command block minecarts — a command block minecart executes its command every four game ticks until the command block minecart is no longer on the activator rail
disables hopper minecarts — a disabled hopper minecart cannot pick up items it travels through until it is enabled by an inactive activator rail (or until it is broken and re-placed)
primes TNT minecarts — primed TNT minecarts explode after four seconds with an explosive power proportional to their speed over the activator rail.

An inactive activator rail enables hopper minecarts — an enabled hopper minecart picks up items it travels through until it is disabled by an active activator rail.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.metal.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	1.2	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.metal.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	1.2	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.metal.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.75	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.metal.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	1.25	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.metal.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.5	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.stone`	1.0	1.1-1.2
Blocks	When the block is placed	`use.stone`	1.0	1.2-1.25
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.stone`	0.3	0.75
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.stone`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.stone`	0.35	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.stone`	0.12	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.stone`	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Item tags	Translation key
Activator Rail	`activator_rail`	Block & Item	`prevent_mob_spawning_inside` `rails`	`rails`	`block.minecraft.activator_rail`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Activator Rail	`activator_rail`	`126`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.activator_rail.name`

↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
↑ Available with /give command.
↑ The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.

Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
powered	`false`	`false` `true`	True if rail is activated.
shape	`north_south`	`east_west` `north_south`	Specifies the rail's orientation.
shape	`north_south`	`ascending_east` `ascending_north` `ascending_south` `ascending_west`	A rail that ascends toward the direction noted. For example, an `ascending_west` rail is a straight rail that goes upward from the east toward the west.
waterlogged	`false`	`false` `true`	Whether or not there's water in the same place as this rail.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
rail_data_bit	`0x8`	`false`	`false` `true`	`0` `1`	True if rail is activated.
rail_direction	`0x1` `0x2` `0x4`	`0`	`0`	`0`	flat track going north-south
			`1`	`1`	flat track going east-west
			`2`	`2`	sloped track ascending to the east
			`3`	`3`	sloped track ascending to the west
			`4`	`4`	sloped track ascending to the north
			`5`	`5`	sloped track ascending to the south
			`6` `7` `8` `9`	`Unsupported`	Unused

History

Java Edition

1.5

13w02a

Added activator rails.

13w02b

The crafting recipe of activator rails has now been changed to include sticks and redstone torch. Previously, it required only 6 iron ingots vertically at the end.

13w04a

Activated activator rails now disable minecarts with hoppers.

1.7.2

13w39a

Activated activator rails now activate minecarts with command blocks.

1.8

14w05a

Activated activator rails now eject players and mobs from minecarts.

14w10a

Activator rails with numerical metadata variants 6, 7, 14 and 15, which are inaccessible through normal gameplay or even commands and as such require the use of external editors to exist, now have no model. Their appearances prior to this point were unknown.

14w25a

Activator rails are now defined via block states rather than by numerical metadata. Prior to this version, the numerical metadata variants of the activator rail were as follows:

	DV	Description
	0	Unpowered north-south
	1	Unpowered east-west
	2	Unpowered ascending east
	3	Unpowered ascending west
	4	Unpowered ascending north
	5	Unpowered ascending south
	6-7	Inaccessible - behavior unknown
	8	Powered north-south
	9	Powered east-west
	10	Powered ascending east
	11	Powered ascending west
	12	Powered ascending north
	13	Powered ascending south
	14-15	Inaccessible - behavior unknown

14w26a

Activator rails with metadata values 6, 7, 14 and 15 have now been completely removed from the game.

1.9

15w39a

The dismounting location of activator rails is now predictable. Entities now dismount from vehicles (boats, minecarts, horses) by the right side relative to the motion of the vehicle. If the right side is unavailable, the other potential locations are tested in this order: Right, Left, Back Right, Back Left, Front Right, Front Left, Back, Front.

15w44a

Activator rails can now be found in chest minecarts in mineshafts.

1.11

16w32b

All rail types', including activator rails, hitbox heights have now been decreased from a full block to a half block.

1.13

17w47a

Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 157.

1.14

18w43a