As far as I know, on EMC there is a special rule that allows wither skeletons to spawn on any nether brick block (but I can't find it in the Changes w.r.t. vanilla page). So I have 2 questions: 1. is that still true? 2. does it apply only to nether brick blocks, or also to the red variant?
Yes, it is true that they will spawn on nether brick block anywhere in the nether. They will NOT spawn on the red nether brick. Essentially EMC made it so ALL Fortress mobs will spawn on the netherbrick block no matter where placed in the nether. It doesn't matter how you get a nether brick block either. If you either mine them outta fortresses or smelt up rack and craft the brick block they will spawn fortress mobs.
It was mentioned somewhere back when there was an issue with fortresses and spawners. I forget what convo that fell under. It happened quite a while ago... If I had to guess 2018??? But yes, netherbrick placed anywhere in the nether will spawn Fortress mobs. Even just 1 block. OFC rates are stupid low on just 1 block but I can verify it works like that.
That is really good to know. It's a change from vanilla where fortress spawns only happen in the area of a fortress. I think my next build might be a wither skelly spawn area with that knowledge. I'm sitting on several DCs of Nether Brick. Thank you for that valuable information. I think that needs to be in the wiki or something. Maybe an area of the wiki where it shows what EMC does as opposed to vanilla. Simple things like this here. Anyway thanks for asking that question Fred.
Thanks to Jewel_King(because Im blind/couldn't find it) this is what was found. https://empireminecraft.com/threads/compass-update-performance-bug-fixes-5-30-2020.82689/ Nether Fortresses no longer require Vanilla Fortress placement to spawn Wither Skeletons. They will spawn on any Netherbrick floor now, to resolve issues with nether fortresses from previous versions being lost.
that's what I mean, "any Netherbrick" to me is ambiguous: is it "only Netherbrick blocks, wherever placed" or "all Netherbrick variants, wherever placed"?
Does this mean that we can go out in the middle of nowhere and build a blaze or wither skeleton farm just by placing down some nether bricks, or is it a bannable offense similarly to intentionally exploiting a glitch or lying to obtain duplicate voter's items? Also, can they spawn on nether brick stairs, slabs, walls and fences too, or is it just the full blocks?
I think some of those questions are answered in the original thread. I would like to ask to keep this thread on its rails. the question here is about normal vs red netherbricks.
I would assume it is solely nether brick blocks, no variants - the change was intended to to allow for old nether fortresses to continue to spawn the skellies
Given that they can’t spawn any mobs, no however I still doubt top side slabs or upside down stairs spawn wither skeletons as well, so if a farm is being built, go for the full block to avoid rebuilding anything