Vertical slabs rank high among the most requested features in the Minecraft community. Given the presence of horizontal slabs in-game, it’s only logical to extend this functionality vertically. Today, we delve into the potential appearance and behavior of vertical slab blocks, exploring their merits and drawbacks for potential integration into the game.
Visualizing Vertical Slabs in Minecraft
Let’s examine vertical slabs in-game. The screenshots below showcase vertical slabs using a mod from CurseForge. This mod is straightforward and intuitive, making it easy to grasp. Notice how the upper texture of horizontal slabs matches the side texture of vertical slabs when rotated 90 degrees.
Vertical slabs are positioned along one edge of the block, resulting in four rotations per block. Contrast this with placing them at the block’s center, which allows only two orientations.
Within this mod, the orientation of the vertical slab is determined by a right-click or the secondary action button on the block’s edge. This placement mechanic allows for precise wall designs.
Placing a vertical slab on a block’s side results in a flush placement against it. Additionally, you can rotate it upwards, facilitating the creation of intricate shapes.
Vertical Slabs: Pros and Cons
Now, let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of vertical slabs.
Advantages
Vertical slabs offer significant creative opportunities. Their orientation and smaller size facilitate the creation of intricate wall features, decorative side builds, and custom statues.
These slabs address many past builder challenges. While trapdoors resemble vertical slabs, the latter offer advantages like increased thickness and a wider color range beyond wood and iron options. Having both options ensures versatility.
Vertical slabs aren’t just another crazy modded feature, they seamlessly integrate with Minecraft’s vanilla aesthetic. They’re user-friendly and offer additional decorative options.
Cons
However, let’s examine the potential drawbacks of vertical slabs. While they enable impressive wall designs, they may diminish the need for traditional wall blocks. This could lead to walls being overlooked or repurposed, particularly in complex redstone constructions, relegating them primarily to decorative elements.
When players lack the exact block they need, they often experiment with available blocks, fostering creativity and encouraging them to try different designs until successful.
Adding vertical slabs may alter priorities away from creativity. However, this seems unlikely, as vertical slabs would simply provide more options for players to choose from, potentially enhancing Minecraft house builds. Do you believe vertical slabs might hinder community creativity? Share your thoughts in the comments.
What Might Serve as the Closest Alternative to Vertical Slabs?
For some time now, people have requested vertical slabs, yet Mojang hasn’t implemented them. This could be because developers don’t perceive vertical slabs as adding value to Minecraft. Let’s consider what benefits vertical slabs might bring if they aren’t added.
Many blocks lack regular slab and stairs versions. Mojang could address this by expanding this category. Such an update would provide numerous additional decorative and building possibilities, greatly valued by the community. The upcoming Minecraft 1.21 update, focusing on combat experiences, doesn’t include this feature.
It would be great if you could place two different slabs in the same block space. This is also one of the frequently asked-for features and shouldn’t be too difficult to implement.
Finally, Mojang could add vertical slabs without actually adding them. What I mean is if there was a command to rotate a horizontal slab into a vertical one. For example, with the setblock command, you can rotate blocks with data related to them.
Wooden logs display their axis alignment on the F3 debug screen. This means you can rotate a log in any of the three directions with a command. The same is possible with stairs in Minecraft. However, for slabs, there is only type data, which can be top or bottom. If there were also values like facing or rotation, then you could create vertical slabs without much effort.
Pritam Chopra is a seasoned IT professional and a passionate blogger hailing from the dynamic realm of technology. With an insatiable curiosity for all things tech-related, Pritam has dedicated himself to exploring and unraveling the intricacies of the digital world.
