How to get and use suspicious sand in Minecraft

Minecraft version 1.20 may not have arrived quite yet, but players have been able to try out some of its upcoming features. Thanks to Java Edition's snapshots and Bedrock Edition's previews, players have been able to tinker with new blocks, mobs, and gameplay additions.

One such addition is the archeology update, which has finally arrived after quite some time in development. While it isn't finished, it's one of the major features in the latest round of Minecraft betas. The feature allows players to take a new brush tool and dust suspicious sand blocks, which release items when brushed.

At the moment, suspicious sand blocks only offer pottery shards. However, Mojang has stated that more is in store for them.

But how exactly do suspicious sand blocks function, and how can players obtain and use them?

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Obtaining and using suspicious sand blocks in Minecraft's latest snapshot and preview

Suspicious sand is incredibly fragile in Minecraft, and players will need to exercise care around it (Image via Mojang)

Suspicious sand is a peculiar block compared to many introduced in Minecraft 1.20's previews. This is due to its incredibly fragile nature. It cannot be broken and picked up, even if players use a tool enchanted with Silk Touch.

Furthermore, if a player breaks blocks underneath suspicious sand, the sand will fall from gravity and break when it lands. This means players will have to be very careful when searching for suspicious sand to brush, as one mistake can remove the opportunity to collect pottery shards.

Since suspicious sand breaks so easily in Survival Mode, Minecraft players won't be able to collect it in the latest snapshot and preview. Instead, they'll need to use commands or Creative Mode's inventory to collect these delicate sand blocks.

Here's how you can obtain suspicious sand via commands and Creative Mode in Minecraft:

1. Enter your world in Java snapshot 23w07a and above or its Bedrock equivalent. Make certain that experimental features are toggled on, as suspicious sand won't be obtainable otherwise. Cheats will also need to be enabled.
2. To collect these blocks in Creative Mode, either enter the world in Creative Mode from the beginning or use the command "/gamemode creative" to switch the current mode to Creative Mode. Afterward, open the inventory screen, select the compass icon, and enter "suspicious sand" into the search bar. You should now be able to collect suspicious sand and place it in your inventory and hotbar.
3. Alternatively, if you'd like to use a command instead, enter "/give @s suspicious_sand X" (where X is the number of blocks you'd like to place in your inventory). After entering the command, you should collect as many pieces as your inventory will allow depending on what number of blocks you entered in the command.

Suspicious sand in Minecraft only has one use as of snapshot 23w07a and its Bedrock counterpart. It can only be brushed with a new brush tool to excavate pottery shards. This can be accomplished in Survival Mode by finding suspicious sand in the right desert structure, so there's no need to use Creative Mode or commands to collect the blocks first.

Here's how to get pottery shards from suspicious sand in Minecraft:

1. Find either a desert pyramid or desert well structure. Both are found in Minecraft's desert biomes, and players can also use the command "/locate structure desert_pyramid" to receive the coordinates of the nearest pyramid. Unfortunately, wells cannot be found this way, as they are considered generic structures.
2. Create a brush by combining two sticks and three pieces of string on a crafting table.
3. Hunt the pyramid or well for suspicious sand. These blocks have a slightly different texture from standard sand blocks, as they have small pits on their surface that ordinary sand does not have.
4. Equip your brush and right-click or press the use item button, then hold the button to continue brushing. Eventually, pottery shards will pop out of the suspicious sand block, and the block will revert to an ordinary sand block.

It should be noted that archeology and suspicious sand are still in development, as they won't be fully complete until their release in Minecraft 1.20. New functions and capabilities may be added in future previews and snapshots accordingly, but for the time being, suspicious sand is primarily used to collect pottery shards.

Players who collect suspicious sand in Creative Mode and via commands can also use it in decorations if they want, but it is somewhat limited at the moment.