WOODEN PRESSURE PLATE
Outputs signal strength 15 when any entity, dropped item, or arrow lands on it. More sensitive than stone pressure plates.
Crafting Recipe
2 Wooden Planks → 1 Wooden Pressure Plate
Signal Behavior
Input
InputAny entity, item, or projectile
Output
OutputSignal strength 15 while activated
Max Signal Strength
Max Signal Strength15
Delay
Delay5 redstone ticks after entity/item removed
Modes
- Active while entity/item present
Overview: what the Wooden Pressure Plate is and does
Outputs signal strength 15 when any entity, dropped item, or arrow lands on it. More sensitive than stone pressure plates.
As a power source it sits at the start of a circuit, generating the signal that everything downstream reacts to. Its sensitivity to items and arrows makes it the trigger of choice for item-drop detectors and arrow traps.
The Wooden Pressure Plate was added to Minecraft in Alpha 1.0.1 and everything described here reflects its behaviour in Java Edition 1.21.
How it works: the redstone mechanics
On the input side, any entity, item, or projectile. On the output side, signal strength 15 while activated.
Any entity, dropped item stack, or projectile that lands on it pushes the output to signal 15. The same 5-tick (0.5s) release delay applies once everything has left it. A single item stack resting on the plate will hold it on indefinitely.
Timing-wise, factor in 5 redstone ticks after entity/item removed when you wire it into a sequenced circuit.
It can output a maximum signal strength of 15, which travels 15 blocks through bare redstone dust before fading to nothing.
It operates in the following modes: active while entity/item present.
How to set it up
- 1Craft the Wooden Pressure Plate: 2 Wooden Planks → 1 Wooden Pressure Plate.
- 2Decide where the signal needs to start or land, then place the Wooden Pressure Plate against a solid surface so it can feed the rest of your circuit.
- 3Run redstone dust away from it toward the component you want to control, remembering the signal will fall by 1 per block.
- 4Test in a creative-mode plot first: trigger the input and confirm the Wooden Pressure Plate behaves exactly as the timing above predicts before committing it to a survival build.
Uses & applications
- ▸Item detection
- ▸Animal traps
- ▸General-purpose trigger
- ▸Arrow traps
Tips & common mistakes
- !Too sensitive for player-only mechanisms
- !Items can keep it activated indefinitely
- !Because thrown items and even fishing-rod bobbers can set it off, it is too twitchy for player-only mechanisms — use a stone plate there instead.
Wooden Pressure Plate FAQ
What is the Wooden Pressure Plate used for in Minecraft redstone?
The Wooden Pressure Plate is most often used for item detection, animal traps, general-purpose trigger, and arrow traps. As a power source it sits at the start of a circuit, generating the signal that everything downstream reacts to.
What signal strength does the Wooden Pressure Plate output?
Signal strength 15 while activated. Its maximum signal strength is 15.
How do you craft the Wooden Pressure Plate?
2 Wooden Planks → 1 Wooden Pressure Plate. It was introduced in Alpha 1.0.1.
Does the Wooden Pressure Plate add any delay to a circuit?
Yes — 5 redstone ticks after entity/item removed. Account for that timing when chaining it with other components, especially in clocks and fast doors.