TNT duper (runs by itself)

explodes each TNT at one exact point in the air · about 22 TNT a minute · 44 blocks

Lights about 22 TNT a minute, and every TNT explodes at the same point in mid-air, without ever using up its own TNT block.

no on/off switch, 22 blocks smaller than the main design · a push every 54 ticks (2.7 s) · first TNT after 1 tick (0.05 s) · fits in 5×5×10

explodes each TNT at one exact point in the airTNT duper3D view loading (or not available in this browser)

Try it

Press play under the view: it runs by itself: watch a lit TNT come out of the machine each cycle while its TNT block stays in place.

How this design does it: Precise air burst, 44 blocks in a 5x5x10 box (250), 22.2 TNT/min: every lit TNT explodes at exactly the same point in the air, bit for bit, safe on the ground.

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.

It works standing right on the ground. Pour in the water where the view shows it.

Blocks used: dead tube coral fan oak fence observer obsidian piston redstone block redstone torch redstone wire repeater slime block sticky piston stone tnt water

Details: how it works, measurements and properties

In depth

It keeps lighting TNT forever without using up its TNT block: about 22 TNT a minute. Every 2.7 s a piston pushes the TNT block: a piston copies every block it moves before it clears the old cells, and a TNT that gets a block update while powered at that instant is lit where it stands (a primed TNT that falls and explodes 4 s, 4 s, later) while its moved copy lands as a TNT block again. Each push lights 1 TNT.

How to try it

The duper runs by itself as soon as it is built: press play under the view to watch it. Watch the piston push the TNT block every cycle and a lit TNT (flashing white) drop out of the machine each time, while the TNT block lands again in its place; a lit TNT vanishes when its fuse runs out instead of exploding. Pause and step one game tick at a time with the bar's buttons; drag to look around, pinch or scroll to zoom.

Measurements

metric	value	what it means
rate	22.2 TNT/min	lit TNT per minute
period	2.7 s	game ticks between two pushes (the engine's cycle)
per period	1	TNT lit by each push
latency	0.05 s	game ticks from the start to the first lit TNT
safe drop	0 blocks (on the ground)

Notes from its designer

Precise air burst, 44 blocks in a 5x5x10 box (250), 22.2 TNT/min: every lit TNT explodes at exactly the same point in the air, bit for bit, safe on the ground. clk-rt's minimum-volume search: the 45-block 250-volume version with one block fewer. the TNT flies into fence posts over a water channel, the current pins it against a fence post standing on a slime block, and the next TNT's push, carried by observers, makes the sticky piston under the slime launch it straight up, so it explodes near the top of its flight, more than 7 blocks from anything a blast could break. obsidian at 5 1 -2 stays for immovability (pistons must not move it: the design fails or changes even with a blast-proof netherite block there); obsidian at 6 0 -7 stays for immovability (pistons must not move it: the design fails or changes even with a blast-proof netherite block there).

Properties

Study	TNT dupers
Kind	TNT duper (runs by itself)
Blocks placed	44
Box	5×5×10 (250 blocks of space)
Made of (the blocks that change state)	dead tube coral fan, oak fence, observer, piston, redstone block, redstone torch, redstone wire, repeater, slime block, sticky piston, tnt, water
Inputs / outputs	none: it runs by itself
Flags	size
Design file	`tnt-airburst`

The design file

on GitHub

Design file (87 lines)

# TNT duper: explodes each TNT at one exact point in the air · about 22 TNT a minute · 44 blocks
# https://vjeux.github.io/redstonepedia/circuits/tnt/tnt-airburst.html
# CIRCUIT: safe drop 0 blocks
name: tnt-airburst
circuit: tnt-duper
port start: 5 2 1 last
origin: 4 0 -8
palette:
  A minecraft:observer[facing=east,powered=false]
  B minecraft:observer[facing=north,powered=false]
  C minecraft:observer[facing=south,powered=false]
  D minecraft:dead_tube_coral_fan[waterlogged=false]
  E minecraft:observer[facing=up,powered=false]
  F minecraft:observer[facing=west,powered=false]
  G minecraft:obsidian
  H minecraft:redstone_wire[east=none,north=none,power=0,south=none,west=none]
  I minecraft:repeater[delay=1,facing=south,locked=false,powered=false]
  J minecraft:repeater[delay=2,facing=south,locked=false,powered=false]
  K minecraft:repeater[delay=3,facing=south,locked=false,powered=false]
  L minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=north]
  M minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=up]
  N minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=west]
  O minecraft:oak_fence[east=false,north=false,south=false,waterlogged=false,west=false]
  P minecraft:piston[extended=false,facing=up]
  Q minecraft:stone
  R minecraft:redstone_block
  S minecraft:slime_block
  T minecraft:tnt[unstable=false]
  W minecraft:water[level=0]
  o minecraft:observer[facing=down,powered=false]
  r minecraft:redstone_wall_torch[facing=north,lit=true]
  s minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=down]
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