Minecraft is getting some redstone changes for Windows 10 and Pocket versions

In the PC edition of Minecraft, pistons can receive redstone power from a distance of two blocks when they are placed in a very specific diagonal position, rather than from a block right next to it. But blocks only get updated when something affects adjacent blocks. It means that you can power a piston and then remove the power without the piston detecting it! It puts the piston in this state where it actually needs to be deactivated, but doesn't know yet. Clever minecrafters exploit that to build elaborate trigger mechanisms known as Block Update Detectors: when something happens to a block next to a piston - like a block being placed or destroyed, gravel falling, fire igniting, rails re-orientating or even cake being eaten - the piston will "wake up", notice that it isn't powered any more, retract and trigger something else.

It checks for changes in the environment and, if triggered, switches between emitting a strong signal and an unpowered state - but without relying on a bug to do so. We've tested this with lots and lots of different builds, and we can't wait to see what you lot do with it. We've also added some other cool stuff: pistons can now push chests and many other things!