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Thanks to the Minecraft 1.20.3 update's addition of the tick command in recent developmental betas, players have been coming up with some pretty interesting applications. One such player by the name of FreeToaster_127 devised a means of using the command and pistons to create slabs out of ostensibly any in-game block that can be pushed by pistons.
According to FreeToaster_127, since Minecraft takes two in-game ticks to move a block with a piston, it's possible to halt ticking with the tick command, separating the top and bottom of a single block and creating the equivalent of a slab.
This method works even for blocks that don't have ordinary slab variants as long as a piston is capable of pushing or pulling them.
Minecraft fans react to FreeToaster_127's brilliant use of the tick command
Put plainly, Minecraft fans were surprised and impressed with the method shared by FreeToaster_127. Sure, some players may have deduced that the tick command could perform a task like this before. However, not much talk about it has circulated on social media since the 1.20.3 update's new additions began making their way to the game's betas.
FreeToaster_127 did point out that when using this method, employing a piston to retract a block tends to work better before players use /tick freeze to halt the process of in-game ticks. According to them, pushing a block and freezing ticks can occasionally create lighting issues that normally wouldn't appear on their own.
One Minecraft fan named Fluger69 wondered if it was possible to create vertical slabs with the same methodology. Though FreeToaster_127 surmised that the same method would likely work, pistons would probably need to be hidden somehow to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb in builds.
In that light, FreeToaster suggested that using block display entities with command blocks may be better.
Many players recommended the use of block display entities for similar results. However, it should be noted that as entities, Minecraft requires more resources to render and update them across in-game ticks. Block display entities don't have the collision boxes they should, compared to FreeToaster's piston and tick command method.
The topic also left some players to wonder why more in-game blocks didn't have slab variants. It's a fair question to ask, as slabs are one of the most utilized building materials, and introducing new variants would only help unlock players' creativity even further. Mojang may have its reasons, but adding more slabs would remove the need for tricks like those FreeToaster shared on Reddit.
In reaction to that suggestion, more than a few fans poked fun at Mojang's rationale for excluding certain in-game features from future updates, parodying the developer's line that somehow adding slabs would ruin the "creative balance" of the game or let players have too much fun with their builds.
Although tactics to create slabs with shulkers, certain falling blocks, and other commands, FreeToaster's method gives Minecraft players an additional tool in their kit. Though the fact that a zero-tick environment is required to pull off this method, it could still be quite useful for screenshotting builds or creating exploration maps.
All in all, it may not be the most practical way to create pseudo slabs in Minecraft, but FreeToaster's trick with the tick command is certainly worth keeping in mind when fans are experimenting with the 1.20.3 update.
