Adding a BlockEntity

A block entity is primarily used to store data within blocks. Before creating one, you will need a Block. This tutorial will cover the creation of your BlockEntity class, and its registration.

The simplest block entity simply extends BlockEntity, and uses the default constructor. This is perfectly valid, but will not grant any special functionality to your block.

DemoBlockEntity.java

public class DemoBlockEntity extends BlockEntity {
    public DemoBlockEntity(BlockPos pos, BlockState state) {
        super(TutorialBlockEntityTypes.DEMO_BLOCK, pos, state);
    }
}

Please ensure that the constructor only takes the two parameters, otherwise the method reference DemoBlockEntity::new that we write later will be invalid. The TutorialBlockEntityTypes.DEMO_BLOCK field will be created later.

Block entities support a variety of methods to enable functionality such as serialization to and deserialization from NBT, providing inventories, and more. This tutorial covers the most common implementations of block entity functionality.

Once you have created the BlockEntity class, you will need to register it for it to function. The first step of this process is to create a BlockEntityType object in our TutorialBlockEntityTypes class, which links your Block and BlockEntity together. Create a Block object as the static final field DEMO_BLOCK in the TutorialBlocks class we created earlier. In this tutorial, the ID of the block entity is tutorial:demo_block.

The BlockEntityType can be registered in the initialization of class or in your onInitialize method. This is to ensure it gets registered at the correct time. In this example, we register them in separate classes (see blocks).

TutorialBlocks.java

public final class TutorialBlocks {
    [...]
 
    public static final DemoBlock DEMO_BLOCK = register("demo_block", new DemoBlock(AbstractBlock.Settings.create()));
 
    [...]
}

TutorialBlockEntityTypes.java

public class TutorialBlockEntityTypes {
  public static <T extends BlockEntityType<?>> T register(String path, T blockEntityType) {
    return Registry.register(Registries.BLOCK_ENTITY_TYPE, Identifier.of("tutorial", path), blockEntityType);
  }
 
  public static final BlockEntityType<DemoBlockEntity> DEMO_BLOCK = register(
      "demo_block",
      // For versions 1.21.2 and above,
      // replace `BlockEntityType.Builder` with `FabricBlockEntityTypeBuilder`.
      BlockEntityType.Builder.create(DemoBlockEntity::new, TutorialBlocks.DEMO_BLOCK).build()
  );
 
  public static void initialize() {
  }
}

Remember to refer to the initialize method in the ModInitializer:

ExampleMod.java

public class ExampleMod implements ModInitializer {
    [...]
 
    @Override
    public void onInitialize() {
        [...]
 
        TutorialBlockEntityTypes.initialize();
    }
}

For old versions, if you cannot access BlockEntityType.Builder.create, try FabricBlockEntityTypeBuilder.create.

The block entity type defines that only the TutorialBlocks.DEMO_BLOCK can have this block entity type. If you want the block entity type to support more blocks, just add them in the parameters of BlockEntityType.Builder.create. If the method reference DemoBlockEntity::new does not parse, check if the constructor of DemoBlockEntity has the correct parameters.

Note: Like other blocks, the block also needs a block model and an item model, and may also need a loot table, see blocks for how to create them. As for loot tables, subsequent tutorials will cover how to improve the loot tables to include block entity data.

Once your BlockEntityType has been created and registered, you'll need a block that is associated with it. You can do this by extending BlockWithEntity (or implementing BlockEntityProvider) and overriding createBlockEntity. Each time your block is placed, your block entity will be created.

DemoBlock.java

public class DemoBlock extends BlockWithEntity {
    public DemoBlock(Settings settings) {
        super(settings);
    }
 
    @Override
    protected MapCodec<? extends DemoBlock> getCodec() {
        return createCodec(DemoBlock::new);
    }
 
    @Override
    public BlockEntity createBlockEntity(BlockPos pos, BlockState state) {
        return new DemoBlockEntity(pos, state);
    }
 
    @Override
    protected BlockRenderType getRenderType(BlockState state) {
        return BlockRenderType.MODEL;
    }
}

Overriding getRenderType is because BlockWithEntity makes it invisible by default.

Ticking means the block should run something on every tick (which is 1/20 second). For your block to tick, you would normally use getTicker in Block, linking back to a static tick method in the BlockEntity. See below for the common implementation of ticking.

In your Block class:

DemoBlock.java

public class DemoBlock extends BlockWithEntity {
    [...]
 
    @Override
    public <T extends BlockEntity> BlockEntityTicker<T> getTicker(World world, BlockState state, BlockEntityType<T> type) {
        // Make sure to check world.isClient if you only want to tick only on serverside.
        return validateTicker(type, ExampleMod.DEMO_BLOCK_ENTITY, DemoBlockEntity::tick);
    }
}

And in your BlockEntity class:

DemoBlockEntity.java

public class DemoBlockEntity extends BlockEntity {
    [...]
 
    @Override
    public static void tick(World world, BlockPos pos, BlockState state, DemoBlockEntity blockEntity) {
        [...]
    }
}

You should now have your very own BlockEntity, which you can expand in various ways to suit your needs. You registered a BlockEntityType, and used it to connect your Block and BlockEntity classes together. Then, you extended BlockWithEntity, and used its interface BlockEntityProvider to provide an instance of your new BlockEntity.

You also learned how to add ticking for it. Next step, you can try some other complex operations for the block entities, such as:

• Modifying block entity data
• Storing items in the block entity as an inventory
• Using block entity renderers to dynamically render
• Creating a container block