Polished Blackstone Bricks
Polished Blackstone Bricks are a dark, smooth nether-stone brick block crafted in a 2×2 grid with 4 Polished Blackstone, yielding 4 bricks.
Description
Polished Blackstone Bricks are prized in dark, gothic, and nether-themed builds for their smooth, dark surface and subtle grid texture. Bastion remnants naturally generate Polished Blackstone Bricks, giving builders a model for nether fortress-style construction. Four in-family variants exist: Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs, Polished Blackstone Brick Slab, Polished Blackstone Brick Wall, and Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks (a furnace smelt of the regular bricks). Polished Blackstone Bricks are not the same as Polished Blackstone (a smooth single block without a brick grid) or Chiseled Polished Blackstone (crafted from 2 Polished Blackstone Slabs).
Block properties
| Item ID |
minecraft:polished_blackstone_bricks
|
|---|---|
| /give command |
/give @p minecraft:polished_blackstone_bricks
|
| Stackable | Yes (64) |
| Best tool | Pickaxe |
| Renewable | Yes |
| Hardness | 1.5 |
| Blast resistance | 6 |
| Java Edition | 1.16 |
| Bedrock Edition | 1.16.0 |
Guide
How to craft and use Polished Blackstone Bricks in Minecraft
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1
Step 1: Obtain Blackstone from the Nether
Blackstone generates naturally in the Nether, especially in basalt deltas, and in underground blobs between Y=5 and Y=31 in every other Nether biome. Blackstone also appears in bastion remnants. Mine Blackstone with any pickaxe — it drops itself without needing Silk Touch.
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2
Step 2: Craft Polished Blackstone
Place 4 Blackstone in a 2×2 grid in a crafting table to produce 4 Polished Blackstone. Polished Blackstone is also found pre-generated inside bastion remnants, so you can skip this step if you have enough from looting.
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3
Step 3: Craft Polished Blackstone Bricks
Place 4 Polished Blackstone in a 2×2 grid in a crafting table to get exactly 4 Polished Blackstone Bricks. The 1:1 ratio means 16 Blackstone yields 16 Polished Blackstone and then 16 Polished Blackstone Bricks with zero waste.
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4
Step 4: Create variants with slabs, stairs, and walls
Use Polished Blackstone Bricks to craft Polished Blackstone Brick Slabs (3 in a row → 6 slabs), Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs (6 in staircase pattern → 4 stairs), and Polished Blackstone Brick Walls (6 in two rows → 6 walls). These variants let you add edges, rooflines, and borders to dark builds.
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5
Step 5: Make Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks for texture variation
Smelt Polished Blackstone Bricks in any furnace (using any fuel) to produce Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks. Mixing Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks with regular Polished Blackstone Bricks in a wall adds weathered, aged texture — a popular technique for ruins and dungeon-style builds.
Polished Blackstone Bricks naturally appear inside bastion remnants in the Nether. If you find a bastion, you can harvest Polished Blackstone Bricks directly and skip the crafting chain entirely — useful for early-game nether builds before you've set up a Blackstone farm.
How to craft this block
Polished Blackstone
x4
Used in crafts
- Polished Blackstone Brick Wall
- Polished Blackstone Brick Slab
- Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs
- Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks
Frequently asked questions
How do you craft Polished Blackstone Bricks?
Arrange 4 Polished Blackstone in a 2×2 pattern in a crafting table to get 4 Polished Blackstone Bricks. Polished Blackstone is itself made from 4 Blackstone in a 2×2 grid, so the full chain is: Blackstone → Polished Blackstone → Polished Blackstone Bricks, all at 1:1 ratios.
Where do Polished Blackstone Bricks naturally generate?
Polished Blackstone Bricks generate naturally inside bastion remnants in the Nether. Bastion remnants appear in four biome types: nether wastes, crimson forests, warped forests, and soul sand valleys (but not basalt deltas). Polished Blackstone Bricks are used in bridge-like structures and walls within these structures.
What is the blast resistance of Polished Blackstone Bricks?
Polished Blackstone Bricks have a blast resistance of 6.0 and a hardness of 1.5. Polished Blackstone Bricks share the same blast resistance as regular stone, cobblestone, Polished Blackstone, and Nether Bricks — all at 6.0.
How do you make Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks?
Smelt Polished Blackstone Bricks in a furnace — one brick in equals one Cracked Polished Blackstone Brick out. Any fuel works, including wooden tools or planks. Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks cannot be crafted back into regular Polished Blackstone Bricks.
What is the difference between Polished Blackstone and Polished Blackstone Bricks?
Polished Blackstone is a smooth, solid dark block with no visible pattern. Polished Blackstone Bricks have a brick-grid texture pattern on all faces. Polished Blackstone Bricks are crafted from Polished Blackstone; both families have stairs, slabs, and walls, but Polished Blackstone Bricks add a cracked smelted variant while Polished Blackstone has a chiseled variant instead.
Do Polished Blackstone Bricks require Silk Touch to mine?
No — Polished Blackstone Bricks drop themselves when mined with any pickaxe, wooden or better; no Silk Touch enchantment is needed. Without a pickaxe, the block drops nothing. Higher pickaxe tiers break it faster: a golden pickaxe takes 0.2 seconds versus 1.15 seconds for wooden.
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