Block of the Week: Deepslate

As you’re digging through the deepslate, you’re still likely to encounter the ores that you find above – they just take longer to mine, because the rock surrounding them is harder. Be wary, though – if a block of deepslate crumbles quickly under your pick, it’s probably full of holes dug by silverfish, and these strange creatures will likely attack.

Mojang’s geology teams are still investigating the area where deepslate is found, and several of those teams have gone missing recently. Survivors that did make it back arrived babbling about huge, ancient, palace-like structures deep underground, some sort of shrieking plant, and a terrifying darkness that can only be escaped by staying totally silent. It’s probably just their imagination, so once they calm down a bit, we’ll send them back down again to investigate further.

In the real world, deepslate is just called “slate” and forms in much the same way as it does in Minecraft - far below the ground, under conditions of extreme heat and pressure. In a few places, though, that slate has been heaved upward through the process of plate tectonics, and so you’ll find it at on the surface in a few countries – Spain, Wales, Brazil, China, and Australia. 

Slate’s crystal structure makes it form into sheets that can be separated using special tools. The smoothness and flatness of these sheets, combined with the way they don’t absorb much water, make them really useful in roofing and floor tiles. Slate was also used in many early electrical equipment, as it doesn’t conduct electricity and is fireproof.

In Minecraft, deepslate is mainly decorative. But that doesn’t stop you from making roofing and floor tiles out of it for a rustic countryside mansion feel. The only limit is your imagination!