The Locked chest or Steve Co. Supply Crate was a block intended to direct players to the Minecraft Store, a site created as an April Fools' gag.
Obtaining
Breaking
When first introduced in Beta 1.4, locked chests were indestructible except to explosions, which allowed it to drop.
From Beta 1.4_01 up until its removal, locked chests were broken the same as normal chests.
Natural generation
In Beta 1.4, if the date is April 1st of any year, the game picks a random location to generate a locked chest in every new chunk. If the chosen location is air and has a solid block below, a locked chest generates.
Usage

The locked chest's initial purpose was to direct players to the Minecraft Store. Clicking the use button would result in the dialog box to the left being displayed.
This functionality was exclusive to Beta 1.4; all later versions did not trigger this.
Placement and orientation
Locked chests would decide their facing direction according to the blocks around them, generally making an attempt to face outward from walls. If their face was obstructed by a block, they would rotate accordingly to face away from said block.
Prior to Beta 1.8, said behavior was standard for directional blocks such as chests and furnaces. From Beta 1.8 onward, said blocks would instead face toward the player placing them, and would not change their facing direction depending on nearby blocks. The locked chest, being an unsupported block, was not subject to this change, and retained its old behavior up until its removal, making it unique in this aspect.
Fuel
Locked chests could be used as fuel, lasting 1.5 items, the same as a regular chest.
Sounds
Locked chests did not have any unique sounds, such as an opening sound.
Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sound | Once the block has broken | dig.wood | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
Sound | When the block is placed | dig.wood | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
Sound | While the block is in the process of being broken | step.wood | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
Sound | Falling on the block with fall damage | step.wood | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
Sound | Walking on the block | step.wood | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
Data values
ID
Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|---|
Locked chest | chest_locked_aprilfools_super_old_legacy_we_should_not_even_have_this | 95 | Block & Item | tile.lockedChest.name |
History
Java Edition Beta | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.4 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
![]() | |||||
Locked chests use the models and textures of chests. | |||||
Locked chests randomly spawn in worlds if the date is set to April 1, 2011. | |||||
They would even generate in strange locations such as on top of trees or in midair. | |||||
The server console outputted "added a chest!!" each time a chest was generated. | |||||
April 1, 2011 | Notch states that he planned to remove them at midnight on April 2nd, but didn't due to illness. | ||||
1.4_01 | Locked chests no longer naturally generate. | ||||
Locked chests have not been removed from the game entirely; instead code has been added for locked chests in the world to disappear, to avoid crashes, causing them to decay in a fashion similar to leaves. If locked chests are stored in the inventory, they remain until they are placed in the world. | |||||
Removed large locked chests. | |||||
Java Edition | |||||
1.3.1 | 12w21a | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
12w22a | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
1.5 | 13w01a | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
13w02a | Since the textures have been put into individual files, the locked chest now has nothing to use, which causes the game to crash if a world containing one is loaded. | ||||
13w03a | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
No particle texture is defined for the locked chest. As such, it defaults to using the texture at (0,0) on the atlas. Coincidentally, in the default textures, this is also the missing texture. | |||||
1.6.1 | 13w18a | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
As the missing texture is no longer 64x64, the texture atlas arrangement has shifted as a result. The texture at (0,0) is now flowing lava, and as such this is the particle locked chests use. | |||||
1.7.2 | 13w37a | Locked chests have been removed as an item. | |||
Locked chests can now be placed only with the block-placement command such as /setblock . | |||||
13w38a | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
13w41a | The locked chest has been effectively removed and replaced with stained glass. See #Data history for more information. | ||||
Legacy Console Edition | |||||
? | Added locked chests.[1] | ||||
1.66.0033.0 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
Like with locked chests in Java Edition, it emits light and decays over time. | |||||
Unlike in Java Edition, it can be broken instantly. | |||||
The locked chest has no description in the inventory unlike many other items. | |||||
If dropped on the ground in a multiplayer world, all players are automatically disconnected. | |||||
TU9 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
TU12 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Data history
Java Edition | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.7.2 | 13w37a | Locked chests have been given a dedicated namespaced alphanumeric ID: minecraft:chest_locked_aprilfools_super_old_legacy_we_should_not_even_have_this - this is currently the longest such ID in the history of Minecraft.[is this the correct version?] | |||
13w41a | Added stained glass, which has now replaced the ID of locked chest (95). As such, any existing locked chests would seamlessly convert over to stained glass upon updating to this version. | ||||
The alphanumeric ID for block 95 has been changed from chest_locked_aprilfools_super_old_legacy_we_should_not_even_have_this to stained_glass . | |||||
Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
? | Locked chests have never existed in this edition. Their numeric ID, 95, is instead used by invisible bedrock. | ||||
? | Locked chests, however, have a dedicated translation string: tile.lockedchest.name | ||||
Legacy Console Edition | |||||
1.66.0033.0 | The locked chest has numeric ID 95. |
Issues
Locked chest is a removed block and as such issues relating to it cannot be fixed.
Trivia
- Steve Co. Supply Crate is a reference to the Mann Co. Supply Crate[3] from Team Fortress 2, where a key must be purchased for $2.49 in the in-game shop called Mann Co. Store in order to open the crate.[4]
- At the time of the locked chest being added into Minecraft, it looked identical to a normal chest. However, after Beta 1.8, when the chest model was updated to be smaller than a full block, the locked chest, a deprecated block at that point, remained with the old model, and as such became larger than an ordinary chest.
- Unlike normal chests, locked chest luminates the world with a light level of 15.
Gallery
References
Beta 1.4 |
| ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minecraft 2.0 |
| ||||||||||||||||||
15w14a |
| ||||||||||||||||||
1.RV-Pre1 |
| ||||||||||||||||||
3D Shareware v1.34 |
| ||||||||||||||||||
20w14∞ |
| ||||||||||||||||||
22w13oneBlockAtATime |
| ||||||||||||||||||
23w13a_or_b |
|