“To stone slab or not to stone slab, that is the question!” – William Stonespeare
Okay, you caught me. That is not an actual quote or person, but the point stands. Many blocks have slab forms and most of them look exactly the same as their full parent block. However, one slab is different from the rest: the stone slab.
What is this “slab of stone” I speak of?
Just from this picture, you can already tell that the stone slab is the most beautiful block in the game. The sleek design really captures its beauty; the way the light pierces its pixels makes me feel- whoops, sorry. Getting a bit off topic there.
You are able to craft a stone slab by placing three stone blocks together on a crafting table, which produces six stone slabs.
The crafting recipe to get six stone slabs.
What can I use stone slabs for?
Lighting, for one!
With stone slabs you create stunning lighting surfaces which are flat, protruding, or recessed. This is shown in the picture below:
In hindsight, using lava isn’t the best idea unless you are into dying a lot, in which case use all the lava you want for your lighting. Of course, you can use glass to separate lava from yourself. I just hadn’t thought of it at the time.
Personally, I find that protruding and recessed lighting floors look a bit odd. It does not allow you to have a smooth floor without any interruptions. The pumpkin peeking out at you (second row, on the far-right) also seems a little bit spooky.
While torches will work on wall surfaces just fine, for those of us that need to protect our stone slab masterpieces without sacrificing our obvious dedication to class and sophistication, a much prettier combination is required. I present to you the ultimate lighting design: a square block inserted in between those decadent stone slabs. The joy created by the mix of stone slabs and lighting is wonder to behold!
For wall lighting, I heavily suggest utilizing blocks with a flat surface for common use. In the display above, the stone slabs compliment every light source (almost) and just look fantastic. Again, I really shouldn’t have used lava for this demonstration, but you live and learn I guess.
Use stone slabs appropriately and they will make everything beautiful! Stone slabs can be a part of every great build, and not just to compliment lighting. They can be used for all sorts of detail, design, or just something to use as a building material. Below you can look at some great designs by AlexC__ of Empire Minecraft, which utilize the stone slab in this way.
An Intricate Pattern
Simply amazing! As you can see, AlexC__ used a mixture of stone slabs and stone brick stairs to create a mesmerizing pattern for a floor. You may be thinking, “Wouldn’t stone bricks look just as good instead of stone slabs?” To that, I reply: No. Having some contrast makes the design pop out, while making it 100% stone brick would reduce the intricacy of the design, and make it boring. Being boring is for those who haven’t discovered the stone slab. Once you use stone slab once, there is NO going back.
A Simple Wall Light
Super elegant! This picture shows a great wall lighting design that you can use. It is similar to that of a rotated square and is a really simplistic way to light up your walls. The sophistication of stone slabs allows this lighting option to be placed in virtually any of your builds, no matter the theme. You can add glass or utilize any of the other lighting blocks to customize this design to your standards.
Modern Lighting Feature
Lip-smackingly delicious! The modern lighting that you see in the picture above can be adapted to be presented on the floor or on the ceiling! I can see this lighting source in futuristic cities, spaceships, or even alien civilizations. The stone slabs offer a modern-to-futuristic look which is complemented by the prismarine, making them a great combination for this building theme!
A Stone Wall with Bonus Lighting
Defensively alluring! Are you trying to protect your village? How about a villager adoption centre? Well, this is the wall for you. As you can see, it offers a dedicated area for torches and little slots for you to shoot your arrows and swords through, or gaps which let you click on villagers. You can switch the polished andesite blocks for any block you wish, but it goes nicely with stone slabs. Watch out, zombies and skeletons, this wall will make you wish you were never spawned!
A Practical Fence
Surprisingly awesome! Some of you may not want intense protection, and if that sounds like you, these fences are for you. They offer more space for you to shoot through with around the same amount of protection from mobs. I’d use this to protect a modern mansion (that I can’t afford) or even a cow pasture, with some pretty flowers plotted around it to brighten up the land.
A Grand Entrance
Scrumptiously contentful! No wall is complete without a grand entrance. Okay, that may not necessarily be true, but the idea behind it still stands: You want an entrance to lead into your mansion, garden, nether base, or pig farm. Stone slabs offer the best of both worlds when it comes to this: they are low-cost, but they are still glamorous. Don’t believe me? Just look at that picture! No fancy hard-to-find items, just stone slabs with some stone brick to make a really attractive entrance.
A More Grand Entrance
Fiscally relatable! This entrance has more shape to it and it even offers rain cover. The use of stone slabs allows the build to slope up gracefully, welcoming your visitors with it’s grandiosity. In fact, forget about the other entrance, use this entrance for your garden instead. It looks magnificent!
More Useful Information about the Stone Slab!
If you are fortunate enough to have access to WorldEdit or /give, you might need to know the item IDs for each variant of the block. Stone_slab:0 refers to the bottom half, stone_slab:8 refers to the top half, and double_stone_slab refers to the double stone slab block.
One of the most useful pieces of information that you should know is that mobs do not spawn on the bottom half of a stone slab (or any slabs for that matter, though they aren’t nearly as gorgeous). If you’re in the Nether, this will stop those pesky Zombie Pigmen from spawning near your rail, and do so stylishly.
While we’re on the topic of mobs, don’t forget that light cannot travel through half an opening. While you can easily see through the hole, be careful when you’re placing slabs near light sources that you rely on for mob protection.
And last, but not least: Stone slabs can be used to make redstone lines more compact, as demonstrated in the picture to the right. Function AND class!
That concludes this tribute to the marvelous stone slab and it’s many glorious uses. I hope that I have shown you the joy of this unique block and encouraged you to use them in literally every single build you will ever make. They truly are the best block in Minecraft.
I use stone slabs as my building slab of choice to put on the bottom block side of floors to prevent mobs from spawning and also on the ceiling especially in the nether because it helps add more even lighting to the area.
BUT the “Stone Slab” was renamed “Smooth Stone Slab” and is made from smooth stone blocks rather than just stone blocks which makes this slab a little harder to make.
You need to change the formula for stone slab on the Blog page.