Vertical slabs are coming to Minecraft, but not in the way you'd think

Even though Minecraft has a plethora of blocks that you can use to build structures, the game's vast community continues to crave some very specific blocks that could improve their builds even more. One such block is a vertical slab, since the game only has horizontal slabs, and there is no way to place them vertically.

In the most recent Minecraft Bedrock beta and preview version for the fall game drop, Mojang added an interesting new block that could work as a vertical slab. This block is called a shelf.

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New shelf block might also act as a vertical slab in Minecraft

Shelves can be used as vertical slabs (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Mojang added this new shelf block in the Minecraft Bedrock beta and preview 1.21.110.20 version. The block is extremely slim and has a dent in the middle where the items can be stored. However, when it is placed adjacent to other blocks, it protrudes ever so slightly to create a feel that it is a vertical slab.

Even though the shelf does not look like a traditional slab because of its middle dent, it does act as one since it only takes half the space over a block, and can be vertically stacked on top of each other.

Since the shelf block can be crafted using any wood type in the game, you can create this block in various color variants, and even craft a bamboo variant. Hence, this new block can become a great building and decorative block since it requires six stripped wood logs of any type to craft.

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The primary use of a shelf

A shelf can be used to store three stacks of items (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Though shelves can be used as vertical slabs for building and decorative purposes, their main use is to store items. One shelf can store three stacks of any item. For example, you can either store three full stacks of regular items, with each stack being up to 64 units, or store three items that become a stack with only one unit.

As shown in the picture above, three shelves are placed to store nine different items, some being a single unit stack, while others have multiple units in a stack. When these shelves are activated by redstone, all three items in one shelf become a group, which can be retrieved to your hotbar at once.

In conclusion, shelves can either be used to store items and easily retrieve them to your hotbar, or can act as a unique vertical slab while building structures.

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