Daylight Detector

Using it inverts it, causing it instead to output a redstone signal based on the darkness of the sky.

Obtaining

Breaking

Daylight detectors can be broken fairly easily by hand, but can be broken faster by using an axe. Inverted daylight detectors cannot be collected directly; they drop a regular daylight detector. In Bedrock Edition, the inverted sensor may be obtained via inventory editing or add-ons.

Crafting

Usage

Redstone component

A daylight detector can be used to produce redstone power in proportion to the daylight cycle.

A daylight detector is 0.375 blocks high (3/8ths of a block). Daylight detectors can be moved by pistons.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} Water and lava flow around daylight detectors without affecting them.

Placement

To place a daylight detector, use the "Use Item/Place Block" control.

A daylight detector can be "inverted", which reverses the power levels produced by the daylight detector. To invert a daylight detector, aim at the placed daylight detector and use the "Use Item/Place Block" control.

Activation

A daylight detector activates when exposed to sufficient daylight (daylight detector mode) or when exposure to daylight is low enough (inverted daylight detector mode).

Sources of block light (torches, glowstone, etc.) cannot activate a daylight detector.

Behavior

An active daylight detector:

• powers adjacent redstone dust, including below it, and redstone comparators facing away from the daylight detector, to a power level that depends on the time of day, the weather, and the internal sky light level (see tables below)
• powers adjacent redstone repeaters facing away from the daylight detector to power level 15
• activates adjacent redstone mechanisms, including above and below, such as pistons, redstone lamps, etc.

A daylight detector has no effect on other adjacent blocks (for example, it cannot power a block the way a repeater can).

The output signal of daylight detectors in the loaded chunk is updated every 20 gametime‌^{[JE only]}/daytime‌^{[BE only]}. Block update have no effect on daylight detectors.

Daylight Detector

The daylight detector power level depends on the time of day, the weather, and the internal sky light level.

Inverted Daylight Detector

Using a daylight detector inverts it. However, the output of the inverted detector is not a simple inversion of the daylight detector's output; it uses a much simpler algorithm that depends only on the internal sky light level. Specifically, it outputs a signal strength of 15 minus the current internal sky light level, where values over 15 or below 0 are taken as 15 or 0 respectively. This means that an inverted daylight detector actually outputs a strength of 11 at midnight when it's clear weather, if it has line of sight with the sky. The effects of shade are applied before inverting, so shade increases the signal strength when it isn't already full, and prevents it from reaching zero.

Fuel

Daylight detectors can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per block.

Note Blocks

Daylight detectors can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass" sounds.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Block states

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Block data

A daylight detector has a block entity associated with it which stores only its entity ID and position (the minimum data for a block entity). Although the daylight detector's block entity stores no additional data, the block entity ensures that the daylight detector is updated every game tick.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

History

July 6, 2010					Notch suggests that he may implement daylight sensors (in the blog post mentioning Alpha 1.0.2_01).
November 24, 2012					Jeb stated that there may be a daylight sensor.
January 2, 2013					Jeb tweeted an image of the daylight sensor.
Java Edition
1.5		13w01a			Added daylight sensors.
1.8		14w31a			Daylight sensors can now be toggled between day and night by using them.
1.9		15w47a			Daylight sensors no longer emit signal during the night when sufficiently shaded.
					Inverted daylight sensors now emit a variable signal at night.
1.11		16w32a			The block entity ID has now been changed from DLDetector to daylight_detector.
1.13		17w47a			"Daylight Sensor" has been renamed to "Daylight Detector".
					The different block IDs for the daylight detector have now been merged into one ID.
					Added an inverted block state to daylight detectors.
					Prior to The Flattening, these blocks' numeral IDs were 151 and 178.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.13.0		build 1			Added daylight sensors.
v0.15.0		build 1			Daylight sensors can now be moved by pistons.
Legacy Console Edition
TU19	CU7	1.12	Patch 1		Added daylight sensors.
TU25	CU14	1.17			Daylight sensors can now be toggled between day and night by using them.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added daylight detectors.

Gallery

• 
  First image of a daylight detector.
• 
  The 13w01a snapshot image released by Mojang.
• 
  A graph visualising the states of a Daylight Detector under different weather conditions (ends rounded to the nearest quarter of a thousand Game-ticks)

Issues

Issues relating to "Daylight Sensor" or "Daylight Detector" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Notes

References