Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # Block From the spelunky.ai wiki: . *For the block the player can push, see [Push Block](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/push-block).* A Block is terrain in Spelunky Classic, the rock each area's levels are built of, which bombs and the Mattock break and which can hide gold and gems. ![A block of brown earth flecked with gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/sprites/sBrickGold/frames/0%404x.png) | Block | | | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Effect | Solid; some hide gold, gems or an item | | Destroyed by | Bombs, the Mattock, boulders | | Objects | `oBrick`, `oLush`, `oDark`, `oTemple`, `oBlock`, `oHardBlock`, `oBrickSmooth`, `oXocBlock`, `oAlienShip`, `oAlienShipFloor` | | Found in | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines), [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves), [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple), [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair), [Snake pit](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake-pit), [Black Market](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/black-market), [Flooded level](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/flooded-level), [Moai](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/moai), [Mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership), [Yeti Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-lair), [Sacrifice pit](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sacrifice-pit), [Tutorial](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tutorial), [High scores room](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/high-scores-room), [Sun Room](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sun-room), [Moon Room](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/moon-room), [Stars Room](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/stars-room), [Title screen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/title-screen) | | Drops | [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk), [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget), [Big Ruby](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-ruby), [Big Sapphire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-sapphire), [Big Emerald](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-emerald), [Diamond](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/diamond) | Each area is built of its own rock: [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines)' brown earth, [the Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle)'s mossy earth, [the Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves)' dark blue rock (and [Ice](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice)), [the Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple)'s stone bricks. Grey stone blocks are mixed in, and around every level runs a border of blocks that can't be destroyed. A block is solid: nothing walks or falls through it. Most break to a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb) or a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock), and as a level is made, each block of rock rolls for a vein of gold or a hidden gem. ## How it works ### Kinds | Block | Where | Breaks into | | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------ | | Brick, the Mines' earth | The Mines' rooms and border; one rock tile in ten is a stone block instead | Brown rubble | [^1][^2] | | The Jungle's earth | The Jungle's rooms and border | Green rubble | [^3][^4] | | Dark rock | The Ice Caves' rooms, beside their ice, and border | Dark rubble, which lands off-centre ([Dark rubble landing off-centre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dark-rubble-off-centre)) and can fall through rock ([Dark rubble falling through the rock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dark-rubble-falls-through)) | [^5][^6][^7] | | Temple stone | The Temple's rooms and border, [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair)'s border, the Jungle's ruins | Green rubble; gold in the City of Gold | [^8][^9][^10][^11] | | Stone block | One rock tile in ten in the Mines, the Temple and Olmec's Lair; some become [push blocks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/push-block) | Green rubble; nothing at all on a Temple level ([Stone blocks without gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold-stone-blocks)) | [^12][^13][^14] | | Smooth earth | Shop floors | Tan rubble | [^15][^16] | | Hard block | The rooms outside the levels: the Tutorial, the title screen, the bonus rooms | Nothing: it can't be destroyed | [^17] | | Lady Xoc's blocks | The statue of a [City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold) room | Gold, and two gems from six of its thirty blocks | [^18][^19] | | The ship's hull | The [mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership), its floor drawn with another picture | Dark rubble, as the Ice Caves' rock | [^20][^21] | In [the City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold), the Temple stone is gold, and every block of it breaks into three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) and a [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget)[^22][^23]. Its stone blocks are drawn gold too, but break without a trace[^24] ([Stone blocks without gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold-stone-blocks)), and some blocks there are Jungle earth all the same ([Jungle earth in the City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-jungle-earth)). ### Gold and gems As each block of the Mines', the Jungle's, the Ice Caves' or the Temple's rock is made, it rolls 1 to 100: below 20, a small vein of gold shows in it; from 20 to 29, a big one. A block with neither, if it's in a level and off the level's edge, rolls for a big gem inside it, hidden, then for an item, each roll only once the ones before it fail[^25]: | Area | Small gold vein | Big gold vein | [Big Sapphire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-sapphire) | [Big Emerald](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-emerald) | [Big Ruby](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-ruby) | An item | | | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ----- | | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) | 19 in 100 | 10 in 100 | 1 in 100 | 1 in 120 | 1 in 140 | 1 in 1,200 | [^25] | | [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle) | 19 in 100 | 10 in 100 | 1 in 80 | 1 in 100 | 1 in 120 | 1 in 1,200 | [^26] | | [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) | 19 in 100 | 10 in 100 | 1 in 40 | 1 in 60 | 1 in 80 | 1 in 1,200 | [^27] | | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | 19 in 100 | 10 in 100 | 1 in 60 | 1 in 80 | 1 in 100 | 1 in 1,200 | [^28] | Broken, a small vein lets out three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk), and a big one three Gold Chunks and a [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget); a gem or item inside simply drops out[^29]. The first clip shows it: a [Boulder](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/boulder) rolls along a corridor of the Mines, breaking the bricks in its way, and the gold-veined ones spill gold[^30]. Stone blocks, smooth earth and hard blocks hold nothing. ### Breaking them - **[Bombs](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb)** break every block their blast touches, unless it's one that can't be destroyed, as long as the blast is near the view (or anywhere in the Tutorial)[^31] ([Explosions break blocks off screen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/explosions-break-blocks-off-screen)). - **The [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock)** breaks a block a swing. - **A [Boulder](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/boulder)** rolling fast enough breaks the blocks in its way[^32]. Breaking a block of the areas' earth, rock or Temple stone, or smooth earth or the ship's hull, takes [Spikes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spikes) and a [Tiki Torch](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tiki-torch) on top of it with it, brings down a lamp hanging under it as a [Lamp](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/lamp), and lets water around it drain[^33][^34]. Many other blocks have destroy events of their own that don't run that code, so none of it happens when one breaks: a stone block, a [Push Block](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/push-block), [Ice](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice), both altars (the idol's [Altar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/altar) and [Kali's](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/kalis-altar)), Lady Xoc's blocks, the traps' blocks, a [Shop Sign](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shop-sign) and a grave[^13][^35]. A bomb breaking the stone block a Dice House's lamp hangs from leaves the lamp in the air[^36]. ### Blocks that can't be destroyed A block marked so ignores bombs and the Mattock: the border around every level[^37], the block a level's exit stands on[^38], the ones under the gold door and under the Black Market's hidden door[^39][^40], and the hard blocks[^17]. ## Interactions - **Shops.** A shop's walls, bricks or one time in ten stone blocks, and its smooth floor are marked as the shop's, and breaking one angers its [Shopkeeper](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shopkeeper)[^41][^42], unless it's a stone block, whose own destroy event skips the check[^13][^35]. - **[Spectacles](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spectacles)** and the [Udjat Eye](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/udjat-eye) draw the treasure hidden in the rock in front of it, so it shows[^43]. - **Crushing.** A player whose middle ends up inside a block is crushed, losing every heart[^44]. ## Tips - A block showing gold is worth a bomb or a swing of the Mattock: nearly three rock blocks in ten have some. - The deeper areas hide more gems in their rock: an Ice Caves block is two and a half times as likely to hold a Big Sapphire as a Mines one. ## Trivia - In custom levels, the [level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor)'s rock tiles set each block's picture back to plain earth after it's made, so no block of a custom level shows or holds gold; its gems and items still roll[^45]. - One brick in ten in the Mines is drawn with a second picture[^46]. - The game has an object for the mothership's floor that nothing makes: the floor is hull with the floor's picture[^20][^47]. ## FAQ ### How do you break blocks in Spelunky Classic? With a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb), whose blast breaks every block it touches but the few that can't be destroyed, or a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock), a block a swing. A rolling [Boulder](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/boulder) breaks the blocks in its way too. ### How do you get gold out of the walls in Spelunky Classic? By breaking a block that shows gold: about one block of rock in five has a small gold vein, which breaks into three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk), and one in ten a big one, three Gold Chunks and a [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget). ### Are there gems inside the blocks in Spelunky Classic? Yes. A block of rock without gold can hold a big gem, hidden until the block breaks: in the Mines a [Big Sapphire](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-sapphire) 1 in 100, and more often deeper down, as much as 1 in 40 in the Ice Caves. ### Which blocks can't be destroyed in Spelunky Classic? The border around every level, the block a level's exit stands on, the blocks under the gold door and the Black Market's hidden door, and the hard blocks of the rooms outside the levels. A bomb's blast and the Mattock leave them be. ## Gallery **Clip: Gold in the rock.** In the Mines, a boulder rolls along a corridor, breaking the bricks in its way; the ones veined with gold spill gold chunks and a nugget as they break. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/block/boulder/clip.mp4)) **Clip: Gold dug out with a mattock.** The player digs along a tunnel with a mattock. Two of the blocks it breaks are veined with gold, and each lets out three gold chunks, which he collects as they appear. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/gold-chunk/mattock/clip.mp4)) **Clip: Bomb breaking bricks.** In the Mines, the player drops a bomb at his feet and walks off. The explosion blows six bricks out of the rock around it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/bomb/brick/clip.mp4)) ## See also - **Related:** [Push Block](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/push-block), [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb), [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock), [Spectacles](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spectacles), [Dark rubble falling through the rock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dark-rubble-falls-through), [Dark rubble landing off-centre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dark-rubble-off-centre), [Explosions break blocks off screen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/explosions-break-blocks-off-screen), [Jungle earth in the City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-jungle-earth), [Stone blocks without gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold-stone-blocks) ## References [^1]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:325-340`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L325-L340) [^2]: [`objects/oBrick/destroy.gml:3-7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/destroy#L3-L7) [^3]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:117-124`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L117-L124) [^4]: [`objects/oLush/destroy.gml:3-10`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLush/destroy#L3-L10) [^5]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:295-304`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L295-L304) [^6]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:84-92`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L84-L92) [^7]: [`objects/oDark/destroy.gml:3-7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDark/destroy#L3-L7) [^8]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:317-327`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen4#L317-L327) [^9]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:95-125`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L95-L125) [^10]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:339-343`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen2#L339-L343) [^11]: [`objects/oTemple/destroy.gml:3-32`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTemple/destroy#L3-L32) [^12]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:327`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L327) [^13]: [`objects/oBlock/destroy.gml:1-25`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBlock/destroy#L1-L25) [^14]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:497-500`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L497-L500) [^15]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:422-426`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L422-L426) [^16]: [`objects/oBrickSmooth/destroy.gml:3-11`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrickSmooth/destroy#L3-L11) [^17]: [`objects/oHardBlock/create.gml:3`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oHardBlock/create#L3) [^18]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:378-392`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen4#L378-L392) [^19]: [`objects/oXocBlock/destroy.gml:12-28`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oXocBlock/destroy#L12-L28) [^20]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:413-418`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L413-L418) [^21]: [`objects/oAlienShip/destroy.gml:3-5`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAlienShip/destroy#L3-L5) [^22]: [`objects/oTemple/create.gml:7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTemple/create#L7) [^23]: [`objects/oTemple/destroy.gml:21-32`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTemple/destroy#L21-L32) [^24]: [`objects/oBlock/create.gml:4`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBlock/create#L4) [^25]: [`objects/oBrick/create.gml:7-16`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/create#L7-L16) [^26]: [`objects/oLush/create.gml:5-15`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLush/create#L5-L15) [^27]: [`objects/oDark/create.gml:3-15`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDark/create#L3-L15) [^28]: [`objects/oTemple/create.gml:5-16`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTemple/create#L5-L16) [^29]: [`objects/oBrick/destroy.gml:9-29`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/destroy#L9-L29) [^30]: Clip [block/boulder](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/block#clip-block-boulder) [^31]: [`objects/oExplosion/collision_oSolid.gml:1-15`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oExplosion/collision_oSolid#L1-L15) [^32]: [`objects/oBoulder/collision_oSolid.gml:1-25`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBoulder/collision_oSolid#L1-L25) [^33]: [`objects/oSolid/destroy.gml:9-35`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oSolid/destroy#L9-L35) [^34]: [`objects/oBrick/destroy.gml:1-2`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/destroy#L1-L2) [^35]: [“Most blocks but an area's plain rock skip what breaking a block does.”](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/docs/quirks.md?plain=1#L74), [docs/quirks.md §1](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/docs/quirks.md#1-bugs-and-leftovers-in-the-11-source) [^36]: Replay [`fidelity/replays/terrain-stone-block-lamp.txt`](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/fidelity/replays/terrain-stone-block-lamp.txt) [^37]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:66-128`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L66-L128) [^38]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:345-357`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L345-L357) [^39]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:400-406`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L400-L406) [^40]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:215-223`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L215-L223) [^41]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:413-426`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L413-L426) [^42]: [`objects/oSolid/destroy.gml:1-7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oSolid/destroy#L1-L7) [^43]: [`objects/oTreasure/step.gml:63-66`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTreasure/step#L63-L66) [^44]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1490-1511`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1490-L1511) [^45]: [`scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:36-68`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrCreateTileObj#L36-L68) [^46]: [`objects/oBrick/create.gml:3-5`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/create#L3-L5) [^47]: [“Unreachable terrain and effects”](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/docs/quirks.md?plain=1#L61), [docs/quirks.md §1](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/docs/quirks.md#1-bugs-and-leftovers-in-the-11-source) ### Source code - [`objects/oBrick/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/create) - [`objects/oBrick/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrick/destroy) - [`objects/oLush/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLush/create) - [`objects/oDark/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDark/create) - [`objects/oTemple/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTemple/create) - [`objects/oBlock/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBlock/create) - [`objects/oHardBlock/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oHardBlock/create) - [`objects/oXocBlock/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oXocBlock/destroy) - [`objects/oLush/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLush/destroy) - [`objects/oDark/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDark/destroy) - [`objects/oTemple/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTemple/destroy) - [`objects/oBlock/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBlock/destroy) - [`objects/oBrickSmooth/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBrickSmooth/destroy) - [`objects/oAlienShip/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAlienShip/destroy) - [`objects/oAlienShipFloor/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAlienShipFloor/destroy) - [`objects/oSolid/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oSolid/destroy) - [`objects/oExplosion/collision_oSolid.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oExplosion/collision_oSolid) - [`objects/oBoulder/collision_oSolid.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oBoulder/collision_oSolid) - [`objects/oTreasure/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTreasure/step) - [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel) - [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen) - [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen) - [`scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrCreateTileObj)