With the exception of very few blocks, most blocks in Minecraft are completely static, incapable of movement, and are unaffected by gravity, and those that are (gravel and sand) only move straight down.
With version 1.7, piston has been added as a new redstone block type. If you are not aware, a piston is a machine used to push things, meaning that blocks in Minecraft can be moved about with redstone, something never before possible. Check out the video.
As of now, it seems that blocks capable of holding objects such as chests and forges are immovable due to an engine limitation because of how those blocks work, but will likely be changed in later editions of Minecraft.
Various levels of potential are shown for the video, with simple pushes and pulls with sticky and normal pistons, to secret doors and stairs, and moving blocks in a rotation.
Out of all updates to Minecraft, this is one of the best ones ever done. People have already come up with incredibly elaborate traps in the game, mostly ones that drown you or crush you under a hundred blocks of sand. The potential of this simple addition is simply unfathomable.
I’m telling you, this will make mob factories a lot easier to clean out. Flip a switch and drown ’em all!
