REDSTONEPEDIA › Circuits › Piston extenders
Sand elevator: lifts a sand block and lets it fall back (gravity piston extender)
lifts 2 up · 6 blocks
Turn the input on and a block of sand is lifted 2 blocks up; turn it off and it falls back into place.
out in 7 ticks (0.35 s), back in 12 ticks (0.6 s) · fits in 3×5×1
no slimehas its own lever
Try it
Flip the lever marked IN (or tap IN under the view): the sand rises 2 blocks; flip it back and it falls into place.
How this design does it: SAND ONLY, UPWARD ONLY: lifts a sand block two cells straight up and lets it fall back down by itself (gravity does half the work, so it is not a general extender).
Build it
Download .litematic Download the design as text
The .litematic opens in Litematica (Minecraft 26.3): every block of the design in one region. The text file is the same build written as plain text, block by block.
Blocks used: observer piston sand sticky piston stone
Safe to flip back any time, 1 block bigger: Sand elevator: lifts 2 up · 7 blocks.
Details: how it works, measurements and properties
In depth
Turning the input on pushes a block 2 cells out of the machine; turning it off brings the block back exactly where it was, with nothing left behind. A plain piston only reaches 1.
Extending takes 7 ticks (0.35 s), retracting 12 ticks (0.6 s).
How to try it
Press play under the view to watch the demo on a loop (the badge reads demo with the step it is on; the same sequence is drawn as a timing diagram below). Touch any control to stop it and try the circuit yourself.
To try it: click the lever tagged IN (or the IN button of the bar) to switch it on or off.
Inputs and output over time
The input follows this schedule (the 3D view's demo plays the same). Lime: an input is on; orange: the output is on (taller = a stronger signal, 1 to 15). Blue: where the pushed block is, 0 = home, up to N = fully out (the dashed line); it must reach N while the input is on and come all the way back. Time runs left to right in game ticks (20 ticks = 1 s).
Swipe the diagram sideways: the whole sequence lasts 1178 ticks (58.9 s).
PAYLOAD: out to N = 2 in 7 ticks (0.35 s), back in 12 ticks (0.6 s).
Step by step (5 lines)
cycle 1: extended at +7 ticks (0.35 s), restored 12 ticks (0.6 s) after the off edge cycle 2: extended at +7 ticks (0.35 s), restored 12 ticks (0.6 s) after the off edge cycle 3: extended at +7 ticks (0.35 s), restored 12 ticks (0.6 s) after the off edge reflip 5: off 5 ticks (0.25 s) then on again: not extended 22 ticks (1.1 s) later after flips: a full cycle works
Measurements
| metric | value | what it means |
|---|---|---|
| N | 2 | the reach: how many cells the block is pushed out |
| extend | 7 ticks (0.35 s) | game ticks from switching the input on until the block is fully out |
| retract | 12 ticks (0.6 s) | game ticks from switching the input off until the block is back |
Notes from its designer
SAND ONLY, UPWARD ONLY: lifts a sand block two cells straight up and lets it fall back down by itself (gravity does half the work, so it is not a general extender). How it works: two sticky pistons stacked under the sand; an observer under the lever blinks on every flip and pulses the bottom piston, which throws the top piston and the sand up one cell, and the lever holds the top piston up (sand one more cell); switching off, the top piston drops back, the sand falls onto it, and the bottom piston grabs the top one back down with the sand riding home.
Properties
| Study | Piston extenders |
|---|---|
| Kind | Piston extender |
| Blocks placed | 6 |
| Box | 3×5×1 (15 blocks of space) |
| Made of (the blocks that change state) | observer, piston, sand, sticky piston |
| Inputs / outputs | IN (lever) (no output: it moves blocks) |
| Flags | its own lever as the input, no slime or honey |
| Design file | pext-n2-sand6 |
The design file
Design file (21 lines)
# Sand elevator: lifts 2 up · 6 blocks # https://vjeux.github.io/redstonepedia/circuits/pext/pext-n2-sand6.html name: pext-n2-sand6 circuit: piston-extender 2 travel: 0 1 0 port input: 1 2 0 lever port payload: 0 2 0 palette: A minecraft:sticky_piston[facing=up] B minecraft:piston[facing=up] X minecraft:sand O minecraft:observer[facing=up] P minecraft:stone K minecraft:stone L minecraft:lever[face=wall,facing=west] layer 0: AP. layer 1: BO. layer 2: XLK