How to Get Grass Blocks in Minecraft: The Only Ways That Work
To get grass blocks in Minecraft as an item in Survival mode, you must mine a grass block with a Silk Touch enchanted tool or kill an Enderman that is holding one. Regular mining without Silk Touch will only drop a dirt block, because grass blocks cannot be crafted.
Method 1: Mining with a Silk Touch Enchanted Tool
The most direct way to obtain a grass block is to mine it with any tool enchanted with Silk Touch. This works with a shovel, pickaxe, axe, hoe, or shears, the enchantment preserves the block in its original grass form instead of turning it into dirt. This is your guaranteed supply for building, breeding animals, or creating a natural landscape.
To get Silk Touch, you need an enchanting table. Place your chosen tool in the enchanting slot, spend experience levels to roll for the enchantment, and if Silk Touch does not appear, enchant a different tool or level up and try again. You can also find Silk Touch books in dungeon chests, temple chests, or by trading with librarian villagers.
- Craft or locate an enchanting table.
- Place your tool (shovel, pickaxe, axe, hoe, or shears) in the enchanting slot.
- Spend experience levels until Silk Touch appears as an option.
- Select the Silk Touch enchantment.
- Mine any grass block with the enchanted tool to collect it as an item.
Method 2: Killing an Enderman Holding a Grass Block
If you don't have Silk Touch, the only alternative in Survival mode is to kill an Enderman that is holding a grass block. Endermen can pick up grass blocks from the terrain, and when they die, they drop the block they were carrying. This is a rare and situational method, but it works without any enchantments.
To trigger this, find an Enderman in a biome with grass. Wait until it picks up a grass block (you'll see the block in its hands), then kill it. The grass block will drop as an item. Be careful, Endermen become hostile if you look directly at them, so attack while wearing a pumpkin or by aiming at their feet.
Method 3: Using Commands or Creative Mode
The quickest methods for obtaining grass blocks are available if you have cheats enabled or are in Creative mode. In Creative mode, you can simply open your inventory and grab a grass block directly from the creative tab. This bypasses all mining and mob mechanics.
If cheats are enabled, you can use commands to give yourself grass blocks instantly. This is useful for building projects or testing, and it works in both Java and Bedrock Editions.
For Java Edition, type: /give @p grass_block 1 in the chat. For Bedrock Edition, type: /give @p grass 1. Both commands give one grass block to the nearest player.
How to Make More Grass Blocks by Spreading
Once you have at least one grass block, you can grow more by letting the grass spread to adjacent dirt blocks. This is the natural way grass expands across the landscape, and it works in both Java and Bedrock Editions. Place your grass block next to a dirt block, and over time the grass will spread to that dirt, turning it into a new grass block.
For grass to spread, the source grass block must have a light level of 9 or brighter directly above it. The dirt block receiving the grass must have a light level of at least 4 above it. The block directly above the dirt must allow light to pass through, air, glass, fences, and torches all work, but lava, water, or waterlogged blocks will block spreading.
Grass spreads within a 3x5x3 range around the source block. It can spread to dirt at the same height, diagonally, one level above, and up to three levels below. Grass spreads at random intervals, so it is not instantaneous, you may need to wait several minutes for a single block to convert. Grass spreads faster down slopes than up them, so building a dirt staircase downward can speed up the process.
- Place a grass block on the ground.
- Place regular dirt blocks adjacent to it, within the 3x5x3 range.
- Ensure the light level above the dirt is at least 4 (torches or daylight work).
- Wait for the grass to spread to the dirt blocks.
- Mine the new grass blocks with Silk Touch to collect them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Grass Blocks
Can you craft grass blocks? No, you cannot craft grass blocks in a crafting table. They are only obtained by mining with Silk Touch, killing an Enderman holding one, using commands, or in Creative mode.
Why does my grass turn to dirt? If light levels drop too low, existing grass blocks revert to dirt. This happens when a block is shaded by opaque blocks or when the light level above the grass falls below 9. Keep the area lit with torches or sunlight to prevent this.
Does grass spread to coarse dirt? No, grass will not spread to coarse dirt or rooted dirt. Those blocks must be converted to regular dirt first, use a hoe on coarse dirt to turn it into dirt, or break rooted dirt and replace it with regular dirt.
What are the biome color variations? Grass blocks change appearance depending on the biome. The color ranges from bright green in jungles to dull green in savannas, and snowy biomes have grass blocks covered with snow. When you mine a snowy grass block with Silk Touch, it reverts to a normal grass block in your inventory.
