What is long, brown, and cannot be picked up? No, I’m not referring to the largest stick in the world. The answer to this riddle is our weekly feature in the world of Minecraft PE – grass paths!
Grass paths were introduced in Minecraft with version 1.9, known as the combat update, although they aren’t particularly combative. They are created by right-clicking on grass with a shovel, effectively compressing the ground for easier walking. In fact, they can be quite satisfying. Take that, grass! Okay, maybe they’re slightly combative.
You’ll know you’ve done it correctly when the grass turns brown, and the block loses its top layer, making it slightly lower than the surrounding blocks. Additionally, your shovel will lose one durability point in MCPE. Grass paths naturally generate in villages where there are grass blocks on the ground. However, they can easily be destroyed; placing any solid block on top will revert them back to dirt.
There are rumors that you move slightly faster on grass paths compared to regular grass in Minecraft PE. In reality, that’s not true—they serve merely as decorative elements. However, they do have a significant advantage: hostile mobs won’t spawn on them, which can be handy in animal pens or other areas where creepers tend to ruin your day. You also can’t place torches or ladders on them.
As of now, you cannot obtain them—if you break them in Minecraft Pocket Edition, they simply drop a dirt block. They aren’t even available in the creative inventory. But this will change in the upcoming patch 1.13, which will allow players to place paths in creative mode without needing a shovel.
In the real world, footpaths have existed as long as humans have walked. Long before people evolved, animals often traveled the same routes, compacting the earth beneath their feet and creating trails that would be followed by their offspring. If you look closely in forests, you might spot these animal trails.
The types of paths shown in the images arise naturally and are not pre-planned; they are also created by humans. These are referred to as “desire paths,” and once you start looking for patches of dirt in grassy areas, you’ll see them everywhere. They often form when there’s a shortcut between two frequently visited locations, such as from a parking lot to a store.
Some of these paths become official. Perhaps the most famous example is Broadway in New York City, which was originally a trail called Wickquasgeck carved out by Native Americans on Manhattan Island. You can tell it’s old just by looking at a map since it doesn’t fit into the rest of the city’s grid system. Can you find any other ancient paths by examining maps of different cities?
In Minecraft Pocket Edition, you have complete freedom to create paths wherever you like. They look especially nice around homes and along routes you frequently travel. My favorite tip for using paths is to lay them down while exploring the MCPE world. Create a path during your travels, and then you can easily follow it back to where you started. You’ll never get lost again!
