String

**String** is an item used in crafting recipes such as bows, fishing rods and leads. When placed as a block, string becomes **tripwire**, which can be combined with tripwire hooks to form a tripwire circuit.

## Obtaining

String can be obtained from drops, breaking cobwebs, fishing, bartering, and as gifts from cats. String can be looted from jungle temples, desert pyramid chests, and dungeons.

### Breaking

Tripwire can be mined instantly with any tool, dropping string. Tripwire is also removed and drops string as an item when:

* Water flows into its space
* A piston pushes it or moves a block into its space

Tripwire is destroyed without dropping string if lava flows into its space.

A cobweb drops string when it is broken in these ways (see also Cobweb § Usage):

* Breaking a cobweb with a sword
* Pushing a cobweb with a piston
* Water breaking a cobweb by flowing over it (flowing lava destroys cobwebs without leaving string)

### Natural generation

Five pieces of tripwire generate naturally in every jungle temple.

### Mob loot

Spiders and cave spiders drop 0–2 string upon death. The maximum is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0–5 string with Looting III.

Striders drop 2–5 string upon death. The maximum is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 2–8 string with Looting III.‌[*JE only*]

Cats drop 0–2 string upon death, unaffected by Looting.

### Fishing

String has a 0.6% (3⁄500) chance of being caught when fishing with an unenchanted fishing rod. The chance decreases to 0.5% (1⁄200), 0.4% (1⁄250), and 0.3% (3⁄1000) if the fishing rod is enchanted with Luck of the Sea at enchantment levels I, II, and III, respectively.

### Cat gifts

Main article: Cat § Gifts

Tamed cats have a 70% chance of giving the player a gift when they wake up from a bed, and the gift has a 16.13% chance to be a string.

### Bartering

Piglins may barter 3-9 string when given a gold ingot.

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## Usage

String can be used as a crafting ingredient and tripwire can be used as a redstone circuit component. It can also be used to keep players from ender-pearling through that space.

### Redstone component

"Tripwire" redirects here. For tripwire hooks, see Tripwire Hook.

See also: Redstone circuits

String can be placed as tripwire, which can be used to detect entities as part of a tripwire circuit. Observers can also be used with a tripwire to generate redstone signals.

Placement
To place tripwire, use string while pointing at a surface facing the space the tripwire should occupy.

**Tripwire Circuit**

In order to activate tripwire hooks, tripwire must be part of a "tripwire circuit": a straight line of blocks consisting of a block with a tripwire hook attached to it, a "tripwire line" (1 to 40 blocks of tripwire), and a second tripwire hook attached to another block.
Activation
Tripwire activates if almost any entity (players, mobs, minecarts, boats, items, arrows, etc.) intersects its collision mask. The tripwire remains active until there are no entities intersecting its collision mask. Thrown potions, some arrows, thrown ender pearls, and thrown eyes of ender do not activate tripwire.

Behavior
An active tripwire updates adjacent blocks (for example, it can activate a BUD circuit). Additionally, active tripwires that are part of valid tripwire circuits cause the attached tripwire hooks to activate (producing redstone power). Active tripwires do *not* themselves produce redstone power.

When tripwire is broken (including by being washed away by spreading water in *Java Edition*) after being part of a valid tripwire circuit, it activates the attached tripwire hooks for 5 redstone ticks (10 game ticks, or 0.5 seconds barring lag). It does not produce the signal if it is broken using shears.

### Trading

Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to buy 20 string as part of their first-tier trade.

Journeyman-level fletcher villagers buy 14 string for 1 emerald as part of their trade.

## Sounds

### Generic

*Java Edition*:

1. ↑ Jump up to:a b MC-177082

*Bedrock Edition*:

1. ↑ MCPE-169612 — Many blocks make very slightly different sounds to stone

### Unique

*Java Edition*:

*Bedrock Edition*:

## Data values

### ID

*Java Edition*:

*Bedrock Edition*:

1. ↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
2. ↑ Unavailable with `/give` command

### Block states

See also: Block states

*Java Edition*:

*Bedrock Edition*:

Metadata Bits

## History

### Tripwire "item"

*The following content is transcluded from Technical blocks/Tripwire.*
**This section is missing information about Pick Block functionality.**

Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

 1.7.2
 ?

#### Appearances

 12w23a
 1.4.2

#### Names

**This section is missing information about**

* Early behavior
* Command announced name.

Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

*Java Edition*
* 12w22a - 13w36b: `Tripwire`

## Issues

Issues relating to "String" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.