Dropped Items
Description
Dropped items are the miniature 'floating' blocks that you can pick up (if you have room in your inventory). They can be created in several ways. Simply dropping an item from inventory is one way. Animals cannot pick up dropped items but they can eat some.
What items can be dropped?
Any item / block in your inventory can be dropped and picked back up.
Dropped Item Sources
Any time you break a block with the proper tool or better, the block 'drops' so you can pick it up. Regular terrain will usually drop a copy of itself. Ore blocks usually drop 1 or more of their ores or crystals. Breaking granite will drop cobblestone while breaking gravel may drop a gravel block and/or stone chunk. Some blocks such as glass, will drop nothing.
Animals can also drop items. When an animal is killed, it may drop meat, fur, leather, a saddle, or feathers***. When birds are alive, they may drop eggs randomly (but only on softer terrain).
An explosion will create debris and some of this may become dropped items that you may pick up.
Notes
- Dropped items will remain available for pickup for 1.5 (if there are 60 or more dropped items) to about 4.94 minutes (if there is 1 dropped item).
- Most items will be burned and lost if you drop them in fire or magma. Some may explode.
- Please note that dropping an item is NOT the same as throwing an item.
- Not all animals drop items when killed. See individual animal pages for descriptions.