TNT duper, one TNT at a time

1 TNT per press · 17 blocks

Each press of its button lights 1 TNT without using up the TNT block.

lights after 33 ticks (1.65 s) · presses at least 100 ticks (5 s) apart · fits in 3×4×4

has its own button

1 TNT per pressTNT duper, one at a time3D view loading (or not available in this browser)

Try it

Press its button (IN under the view): each press throws one lit TNT. Press play under the view to watch a demo on a loop; touch any other control to take over.

How this design does it: One TNT per BUTTON press.

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.

Blocks used: dead tube coral fan obsidian redstone block redstone torch redstone wire slime block sticky piston stone tnt

Details: how it works, measurements and properties

In depth

Each input pulse lights 1 TNT (1.65 s after the pulse) and the TNT block is back in place for the next pulse: the TNT is never used up. Pulses must be at least 5 s apart.

How: 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 while its moved copy lands as a TNT block again.

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 button tagged IN (or the IN button of the bar) to press it.

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). Time runs left to right in game ticks (20 ticks = 1 s).

Swipe the diagram sideways: the whole sequence lasts 921 ticks (46.05 s).

Step by step (14 lines)

pulse 1 at frame 40: 1 primed (at +1.65 s), TNT blocks at the end 1
pulse 2 at frame 170: 1 primed (at +1.65 s), TNT blocks at the end 1
pulse 3 at frame 300: 1 primed (at +1.65 s), TNT blocks at the end 1
pulse 4 at frame 430: 1 primed (at +1.65 s), TNT blocks at the end 1
pulse 5 at frame 560: 1 primed (at +1.65 s), TNT blocks at the end 1
pulse 6 at frame 690: 1 primed (at +1.65 s), TNT blocks at the end 1
spread over 6 spawns: position 0.0000 across, 0.0000 up; motion 0.0000 across, 0.0000 up
blast at frame 152 (2.50, -0.94, -15.22): would destroy 9 blocks on open ground
blast at frame 282 (2.50, -3.94, -17.51): would destroy 9 blocks on open ground
blast at frame 412 (2.50, -3.94, -19.24): would destroy 9 blocks on open ground
blast at frame 542 (2.50, -3.94, -19.24): would destroy 9 blocks on open ground
blast at frame 672 (2.50, -3.94, -19.24): would destroy 9 blocks on open ground
blast at frame 802 (2.50, -3.94, -19.24): would destroy 9 blocks on open ground
useful: every blast clear of fluids, the weakest destroys 9 blocks on open ground

Measurements

metric	value	what it means
per pulse	1	TNT lit by each input pulse
latency	1.65 s	game ticks from the input pulse to the lit TNT
gap	5 s	the shortest time between two input pulses that both light their TNT
safe drop	0 blocks (on the ground)

Notes from its designer

One TNT per BUTTON press. The engine of tnt-triggered-launch-16b with a one-shot hold instead: the obsidian beside the piston is strongly powered by a wall torch under it, which holds the piston; the torch hangs on the stone under the piston (in the obsidian foot's place) and the button is on that stone. A press powers the stone: the stone holds the piston itself and the torch goes dark. At the release the stone goes quiet 2 ticks before the torch relights: the piston drops, the frame comes back, its redstone block repowers the piston through the dust and the push lights ONE TNT, however long the press. Latency: the press, then 5 ticks.

Properties

Study	TNT dupers
Kind	TNT duper, one TNT at a time
Blocks placed	17
Box	3×4×4 (48 blocks of space)
Made of (the blocks that change state)	dead tube coral fan, redstone block, redstone torch, redstone wire, slime block, sticky piston, tnt
Inputs / outputs	IN (button) (no output: it moves blocks)
Flags	its own button as the input
Design file	`tnt-button-17b`

The design file

on GitHub

Design file (38 lines)

# TNT duper, one at a time: 1 TNT per press · 17 blocks
# https://vjeux.github.io/redstonepedia/circuits/tnt/tnt-button-17b.html
# CIRCUIT: safe drop 0 blocks
name: tnt-button-17b
circuit: tnt-duper-triggered
port input: 0 -1 1 button
origin: 0 0 -1
palette:
  B minecraft:oak_button[face=wall,facing=west,powered=false]
  D minecraft:dead_tube_coral_fan[waterlogged=false]
  H minecraft:redstone_wall_torch[facing=east,lit=true]
  N minecraft:stone
  O minecraft:obsidian
  R minecraft:redstone_block
  S minecraft:slime_block
  T minecraft:tnt[unstable=false]
  r minecraft:redstone_wire[east=none,north=none,power=0,south=none,west=none]
  s minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=north]
layer -1:
  .
  .
  BNH
  .
layer 0:
  .
  .SSS
  .sOS
  ...S
layer 1:
  ..T
  .D
  ..rR
  ...S
layer 2:
  .
  .
  ..S
  ..SS