Block reinforcement

Block reinforcement is a "soft" method of protecting your property in multiplayer. It allows you to reinforce most hard blocks, requiring other players to break the block multiple times (up to 800 times!) before it actually breaks and drops. There are also locks which let you lock doors and chests, which can be used in combination with reinforcing the door or chest itself.

Another, much more secure method of protecting is Land claiming.

Details

Reinforcement is an immersive way to protect your placed blocks. It has a high material cost but is worthwhile for your high-value blocks. It can also be used for random blocks in the world (e.g. ores or translocator or wild beehive, though servers could make rules against doing that if it is seen as unfair). Effectively reinforcement 'tags' the block so that another player who tries to break the block will at least be informed that it is reinforced. For materials which require a tool to break, it will take a very long time to break a reinforced block and will have a substantial tool cost. For blocks which break without a tool, there is no significant cost, though the reinforcement is still informative as a 'Please don't touch' notice. (Any additional consequences for breaking another player's reinforced block may depend on server rules.) In this way reinforcement ought to discourage casual griefing and accidental breakage. It will not, however, deter a determined griefer.

In a PvP setting, reinforcement could be used to build strong walls and other fortifications, though a determined opponent would still be able to break through eventually.

Servers have the option making reinforcement more secure by giving players the privilege denybreakreinforced: this will prevent players from being able to break other player's reinforced blocks using any tool. Other game systems such as fire or explosions or landslides or cave-ins can still destroy some reinforced blocks, however.

Blocks which can be reinforced

Hard blocks are defined as anything made out of stone, metal, wood, clay or ceramic, also regular dirt blocks and ice. Every chiselled block can be reinforced, it doesn't matter about the material. Fences and doors and chests are constructed of wood and can therefore be reinforced. Reed baskets can be reinforced. The solid wood trunks and branches of growing trees can be reinforced, growing bamboo can be reinforced (these are all wood). Exceptionally, even though they are plants, berry bushes, saplings and most flowers can be reinforced - in real life a precious one might be chained or attached to metal stakes or similar. Even small wooden or ceramic objects or placed lanterns or bunch o' candles can be reinforced - think of it as bolting that thing down firmly!

Game updates: As from game version 1.15, plants, leaves, liquid blocks, sand and gravel and snow, and anything else made from these materials, cannot be reinforced. Plants here includes grass and all crops, also placed pumpkins and hay blocks (made from grass). Berry bushes, saplings and flowers are the only exception, these can still be reinforced, see above. All those other weaker blocks were able to be reinforced in game version 1.14 and below: in older saved games where any of these weaker types of blocks were reinforced, that reinforcement will be automatically removed in 1.15. It was never intended for crops etc. to be reinforceable using plumb and square!

Server owners can choose to change which blocks are reinforceable, by editing the JSON files for specific blocks.

Guide

• Craft yourself a plumb and square
• Collect reinforcement material and put it anywhere in your hotbar. These are the available ones:
  • Rock (Granite, Peridotite, Andesite, Basalt or Obsidian): 50 Strength
  • Copper ingot: 150 Strength
  • Tin and Bismuth bronze ingot: 300 Strength
  • Black bronze ingot: 400 Strength
  • Iron ingot: 800 Strength
• Shift-Right click with the plumb and square in hands on a block, to reinforce it (consumes one item of the reinforcement material)
• Left click with the plumb and square to remove your own reinforcement. (Other players can only remove your reinforcement if they have the 'all' permission, see commands below)

Other capabilities

• Right-click pickup: Blocks such as lanterns or ceramics can normally be picked up by any player by right-clicking on them. But if the lantern or ceramic is reinforced (at any level) it cannot be picked up - think of it as bolting the item down firmly!
• Locking: On the anvil you can smith bronze and iron padlocks. If you right click with a padlock in hands on a door or chest or reed basket, then these can no longer be opened by other players
• Granting access: A number of commands are available for players to grant access to their locked blocks
  • /bre grant [playername] use grants the named player the ability to open your own chests and doors. Use /bre revoke to revoke it again
  • /bre grantgroup [groupname] use grants the named player group the ability to open your own chests and doors. Use /bre revokegroup to revoke it again
  • /bre grant [playername] all grants the named player the use permission described above, and also the ability to remove reinforcement from blocks you have reinforced, using their own plumb and square
  • /bre grantgroup [groupname] all is similar for groups

JSON editing and Modding

A weak block can be made reinforceable by including the following line in its blocktype JSON.

attributes: { reinforcable: true },

Note the spelling! If attributes are already present in the JSON, then reinforcable: true, should simply be added within the existing list of attributes.

Video Tutorials

English guide how to use Block reinforcement	German guide how to use Block reinforcement