Rooted Dirt blocks in Minecraft are as rare as Azalea Trees and Lush Cave biomes. This is because these blocks only spawn beneath Azalea Trees and in the ceilings of Lush Caves. Although rare, it isn’t very valuable.
How Rooted Dirt Spawns
Rooted Dirt will always spawn below an Azalea Tree. Specifically, it will generate within a five-by-five-by-X area around the base of an Azalea Tree. Starting from the block directly below the Azalea Tree, such blocks can spawn up to two blocks away in any of the four main horizontal directions.
However, in terms of vertical distance from the base of an Azalea Tree, there is more space for Rooted Dirt to generate. This happens due to it being able to spawn anywhere between the base of the tree and the ceiling of a Lush Cave.
When Rooted Dirt spawns, it will overwrite Dirt, Coarse Dirt, and Moss blocks. Regarding the collection of this block, you can get it by breaking it with any tool or even your bare hands.
Other Ways to Get Rooted Dirt
Besides finding it in the wild, the only other way to get this type of block in Survival Mode is to buy it from a Wandering Trader. If such a merchant has this trade option, they will sell you two blocks of Rooted Dirt for one Emerald.
What Rooted Dirt Is Used For
It can be used to enclose areas of Mycelium and Grass, as these surface coverings cannot spread onto Rooted Dirt. Also, you can use a Shovel on it to create paths. On top of that, you can turn it into a couple of other types of blocks.
If you use a Hoe on a block of Rooted Dirt, it will turn into a regular Dirt block. This will also make it drop Hanging Roots as items. If you need more of the latter kinds of blocks, be sure to use a Hoe on the former.
Using water containers (Water Bottles, Splash Water Bottles, or Lingering Water Bottles) on Rooted Dirt blocks will turn them into Mud blocks. This can be a convenient conversion method if you require a lot of Mud for building.
What Do Hanging Roots Do?
Pretty much nothing as of yet. They’re almost totally for decorative purposes. However, if you have some on the underside of Rooted Dirt blocks, you can grow the roots by using Bone Meal on them. This can create a spooky forest vibe for underground lairs.
Besides aesthetics, you can compost Hanging Roots for a 30% chance to increase the compost level by one. However, this is one of the lowest odds for increasing your compost level. For comparison, common plants like Lily Pads and Flowers have a 65% chance to increase your compost level by one.
What Does Mud Do?
For the most part, Mud blocks are used for decorative reasons. You can combine Mud blocks with Mangrove Roots to make Muddy Mangrove Roots—which are purely decorative blocks.
If combined with Wheat, Mud blocks can be turned into Packed Mud. Together, four blocks of Packed Mud can be turned into four Mud Bricks. Mud Bricks look like a brown version of normal Bricks, and are also only useful as decorative blocks.
It should also be mentioned that Mud in the Java Edition of the game is not a full-sized block. Nor is it completely solid. This gives it some unique properties that cause falling blocks to turn into items when dropped onto Mud blocks. Mobs will also slightly sink if standing in Mud, but won’t be slowed.
