Oak Trapdoor is crafted from six oak planks arranged in two horizontal rows of three on the crafting grid, yielding two trapdoors per recipe. The block is half a block thick and can be placed against any horizontal or vertical surface — top of a floor, bottom of a ceiling, sideways on a wall — pivoting at the edge to swing open ninety degrees. A right-click toggles it; redstone signals also work, locking the open or closed state until the signal cycles.

The most common use case in vanilla is the ladder cover trick: place a ladder against a wall, then a trapdoor at the top opening downward into the ladder space. When closed, the trapdoor disguises the entrance; when opened, the ladder is accessible normally. Players also use trapdoors for floor hatches in cellars and basements, ceiling vents above kitchens, and as horizontal half-blocks for tabletops and shelves where a slab would be too thick. Wood trapdoors are flammable; an iron variant exists for redstone-only operation similar to iron doors.