How to Get a Grass Block in Minecraft

Despite the similarities between a Dirt and Grass block in Minecraft, only the latter can be used for certain functions, such as feeding Sheep, producing vegetation, and spawning animal mobs. Thankfully, there are ways to transfer Grass blocks from one place to another.

Every Way to Get a Grass Block in Minecraft

There are three main ways of acquiring a Grass block in Minecraft: allowing grass to spread from a Grass block to Dirt blocks, using a Silk Touch tool to mine a Grass block, or killing an Enderman holding a Grass block.

Spreading Grass to Dirt Blocks

If you only need to turn nearby Dirt blocks into Grass blocks, you should use the spreading method. Place Dirt blocks near Grass blocks and the grass spreads if the following criteria are met:

• The Dirt block must be within five horizontal blocks and three vertical blocks from the Grass block source
• The Grass source block must have a light level of nine or higher to spread grass to nearby Dirt blocks
• Light must be able to reach the Dirt block you want to grow grass on, so don’t cover it with opaque blocks (transparent blocks like Glass are fine)
• There must not be liquid—such as water or lava—on the Dirt block where you want grass to grow

How fast grass spreads is random. However, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes for grass to begin spreading once the above criteria are met.

Using Silk Touch to Get Grass Blocks

For transporting Grass blocks long distances, we recommend using a tool with Silk Touch. The Silk Touch Enchantment allows you to harvest a block in its original state. Put another way, a block mined with a Silk Touch tool always drops itself; never one of its usual drops.

In the case of Grass blocks, they drop as Dirt blocks when mined normally. Conversely, mining a Grass block with a tool that has the Silk Touch Enchantment causes the Grass block to drop itself instead of a Dirt block. When placed, the Grass block can spread grass to nearby Dirt blocks. As such, you can get grass to spread to previously barren patches of land.

To obtain the Silk Touch Enchantment, you can try getting it directly by enchanting an eligible tool (a Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe, or Axe) on an Enchanting Table. However, this can take a while, as you never know what Enchantments will appear next on an Enchanting Table. Instead, try enchanting Books until you get Silk Touch on one of them before then combining the Silk Touch Book with a tool on an Anvil.

Alternatively, you can trade with Librarian Villagers, as there’s a small chance they’ll have a Silk Touch Enchanted Book for sale.

Or, if you get lucky, you can find a Silk Touch Enchanted Book in a Chest in the following structures:

• Jungle Temples
• Strongholds
• Dungeons
• Mineshafts
• Desert Temples
• Pillager Outposts
• Underwater Ruins
• Woodland Mansions

Lastly, it’s possible to reel in an Enchanted Book while fishing—albeit rarely.

Stealing a Grass Block From an Enderman

This method is less straightforward than the others mentioned so far but is still viable if you keep your eyes peeled for an opportunity. On occasion, Endermen will pick up blocks. If an Enderman is in an area with Grass blocks, one may be picked up in their dark and slender arms.

If you kill an Enderman while it’s holding a Grass block, the Grass block will drop along with whatever else the Enderman leaves behind after its death. While brutal, this could be the quickest method of getting a Grass block!

The Uses for Grass Blocks in Minecraft

If you’re after Flowers, Tall Grass, and Ferns, the easiest way to get them is to use Bone Meal on a Grass block. Once you do, you can harvest such vegetation with Shears.

Speaking of Shears, after shearing a Sheep, it needs to eat grass to regrow its Wool. As such, if your Sheep pen has no grass, your livestock won’t ever regrow their wool. This means it is vital to have Grass blocks in your Sheep pen if you want Wool to be a renewable resource.

Note

When Sheep eat, they remove grass from a Grass block, turning it into a Dirt block.

Furthermore, most land-based animal mobs can only spawn on Grass blocks—not Dirt blocks. If you’re looking to start a ranch of some sort, you’ll want to avoid leaving huge swaths of land as Dirt blocks.

For landscaping and farming needs, the underrated Grass block is essential in Minecraft. There’s a reason why it’s the symbol of the game. Think of the indirect effects. For example, if you have no Grass blocks, you’ll have no Flowers. Which, in turn, means no pollen for Bees to make into Honey. The ecosystem in-game is dynamic, so respect it!