Iron Bars

This article is about the decorative block. For the item, see Iron Ingot.

Iron Bars

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Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	6
Hardness	5
Luminant	No
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

Iron bars are blocks that serve a similar purpose to glass panes, but made of iron instead of glass.

Obtaining

Breaking

Iron bars can be mined using any pickaxe. If mined without a pickaxe, it drops nothing.

Block	Iron Bars
Hardness	5
Tool
Breaking time
Default	25
Wooden	3.75
Stone	1.9
Iron	1.25
Diamond	0.95
Netherite	0.85
Golden	0.65

Natural generation

Iron bars can be found in parts of strongholds, woodland mansions, desert and plains villages, igloo basements, and ruined portals.

In the End, 2–3 obsidian pillars have iron bars around their end crystals.

Post-generation

Iron bars regenerate on end pillars when the ender dragon is respawned.

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot	16

Iron bars are not a source of iron. Once crafted, iron bars cannot be smelted into iron nuggets or ingots.

Usage

File:Arrow Slits.png

Iron bars used to create arrow slits.

Iron bars can be used to create narrow slits when placed between a door and a solid block. This creates a small gap between the door and the iron bars that mobs can see through (and attempt to attack the player through), and through which arrows can be shot. Arrows cannot be shot through iron bars themselves, despite the latter appearing to have gaps (at least while using the default texture pack) inside the block. If shot between the bars, an arrow appears to float between the bars.

Endermen seen through iron bars do not become angry. The ender dragon cannot destroy iron bars (some of the end crystals are protected by them), which makes them a useful material in the End.

Placement

Iron bars can be placed in much the same way as fences or glass panes. If no solid block is adjacent to the bars, they have appearance of a slim, tall column. If something is placed next to iron bars, they appear either flat, File:Curve.png shaped, File:T junction.png shaped or File:Cross.png shaped, depending on the blocks surrounding it.

Curing

Iron bars speed up the curing process of zombie villagers.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Form	Translation key
Iron Bars	iron_bars	Block & Item	block.minecraft.iron_bars

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Iron Bars	iron_bars	101	Block & Item	tile.iron_bars.name

Block states

See also: Block states

History

Java Edition Beta
July 11, 2011					Notch revealed two new screenshots of a stronghold (in two different brightness settings) where the bars can be clearly seen alongside other common stronghold blocks. The lighting differences have been explained a bit (though not necessarily completely correctly) by a user on the forums.
1.8		Pre-release			36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px 32px Added iron bars.
					32px Iron bars currently do not render their side edge faces. Also, their top and bottom faces are correctly not rendered when connected to other blocks.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6			The breaking time for iron bars is now greatly reduced, and depends on the pickaxe's material.
1.4.2		12w32a			Zombie villagers can now be cured. Putting iron bars close to the zombie villager helps speed up the process.
1.7.2		13w41a			Iron bars now connect to glass, stained glass and glass panes.
1.8		14w03a			32px Iron bars now appear completely opaque.
		14w03b			Iron bars now render as normal again.
		14w10a			32px Iron bars on top of one another display now a texture at the top/bottom joint of the two blocks.
1.9		15w31a			36px Iron bars without any connecting blocks are now 2x2 pixels in footprint (rather than 36px.)
					36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px The outside edges of iron bars now have textures.
					The tallest obsidian pillars had iron bars around their end crystals, until 16w07a.
		15w43a			Iron bars now generate within igloo basements.
		15w46a			Iron bars center beams now have both edge side texture, which has changed the textures from 36px36px to 36px36px.
		16w07a			Iron bars have been removed from obsidian pillars.
		pre1			Two of the shorter, thinner obsidian pillars in the End now have a cage of iron bars around their end crystals.
1.11		16w39a			Iron bars now generate in woodland mansions.
1.12		17w15a			Iron bars now connect to the solid back sides of stairs.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 101.
		18w10c			Water can now be placed on the same block as iron bars.
1.14		18w43a			36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px The textures of iron bars have been changed.
1.14.3		pre3			Torches can now be placed on iron bars.
1.16		20w15a			Walls now connect to the bottom and sides of iron bars.
		20w16a			Iron bars can now generate as part of ruined portals.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.8.0		build 2			36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px 32px Added iron bars.
v0.9.0		build 1			Iron bars now spawn naturally in strongholds and villages.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Iron bars now generate on top of end pillars.
					Iron bars now generate within igloo basements.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Iron bars now generate in woodland mansions.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			36px Iron bars without any connecting blocks are now 2x2 pixels in footprint (rather than 36px.) [is this the correct version?]
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px The textures of iron bars have been changed.
1.16.0		beta 1.15.0.51			The inventory icon of iron bars has now been changed to match Java Edition's.
		beta 1.16.0.57			Iron bars can now generate as part of ruined portals.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px 32px Added iron bars.
TU54	CU44	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Iron bars now connect to the solid back side of stairs.
		1.90			36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px The textures of iron bars have been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px36px 32px Added iron bars.

Issues

Issues relating to "Iron Bars" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• In Java Edition, a 2×2 area made of iron bars can make a square-shaped hole big enough for the player and most mobs to fit through, but not rain, water, etc. that can be used as an easy entrance for an underwater house, and even an exit if pistons are used. Glass panes work in the same way.
• If a sign or a painting is placed on iron bars, it appears to float in the air.
• Despite apparently being thin enough to do so, iron bars do not let a ghast's explosion touch the block beneath them as long as the block is protected from other angles of the explosion affecting it.
• If an iron bar is connected to a block and a rail is placed on the block, the top texture of the iron bar disappears.
• While curing a zombie villager, iron bars placed nearby speed up the healing process. The same happens with beds, and both these things occur in the stereotypical prison cell.
• Arrows cannot be shot through iron bars.
• Because iron bars are 1 block high, the player can normally jump over iron bars, unlike fences.
• In the code, iron bars are known as fenceIron.

Gallery

• Iron bars connected to stone bricks.png

  The first image of the bars that Jeb posted, where the iron bars can be seen to the right of the center.

• Ruins1.png

  Image posted by Notch, here we can see iron bars to the left and right of the center.

• Iron bars next to lava in village.png

  Naturally occurring iron bars at a blacksmith's shop in a village.

• Cell 1.8.png

  A jail cell made out of iron bars and cobblestone.

• Underwater iron bars.png

  Water does not flow through the holes in the bars, but the player can fit inside them.

• CagedEnderCrystal.png

  Natural-generated iron bars found in the end surrounding an end crystal.