Minecraft Redstone Tick Calculator
Editions: Java + Bedrock (repeater timings shared — pulse handling differs, see FAQ) · Verified: Java 26.3 / Bedrock 26.50 · 2026-09-16 · Updated 2026-09-16
A repeater waits one, two, three or four redstone ticks, dust gives up after 15 blocks, and nearly every timing question in a redstone build comes down to those two facts. Put in a delay and get the fewest repeaters that make it. Put in a distance and get how many repeaters the line needs, how fast it can possibly be, and where each repeater sits.
Delay to repeaters
Signal line planner
A straight, flat line from a power source to the block it powers. Count every block between the two, including the ones the repeaters will sit on.
The worked example
Say a lamp should light a second and a half after a lever is pulled. That is 15 redstone ticks, or 30 game ticks. One repeater adds at most 4 redstone ticks, so the chain is 4 + 4 + 4 + 3: four repeaters, three on their last setting and one a click short of it. Three repeaters top out at 12 redstone ticks, which is why the fourth cannot be avoided.
Now put the lamp 40 blocks from the lever. Dust carries a signal 15 blocks and every repeater buys 16 more, so the distance alone needs 2 repeaters, laid out as 15 dust, repeater, 15 dust, repeater, 8 dust. That line can never be faster than 2 redstone ticks, 0.2 s. Ask the planner for 15 redstone ticks over the same 40 blocks and it keeps the four-repeater chain, puts the two repeaters the distance does not need side by side next to the lever, and lays out the rest as 15 dust, repeater 4, 15 dust, repeater 3, 6 dust.
Component timings both sources agree on
| Component | Delay | Redstone ticks |
|---|---|---|
| Game tick | 0.05 s | 0.5 |
| Redstone tick | 2 game ticks, 0.1 s | 1 |
| Repeater, settings 1 to 4 | 2, 4, 6 or 8 game ticks | 1 to 4 |
| Comparator, either mode | 2 game ticks, 0.1 s | 1 |
| Hopper, between item moves | 8 game ticks, 0.4 s | 4 |
| TNT lit by fire or redstone | 80 game ticks, 4 s | 40 |
Repeater settings, dust reach and the redstone tick come from the Minecraft Wiki's pages on the redstone repeater, redstone dust and ticks, read 2026-09-12, and were checked against the redstone tick calculator at crafty.gg/tools/redstone-tick, which agrees on every figure this tool computes with. The planner's repeater counts are also checked against a block-by-block signal simulation in the test suite. The redstone timing guide shows the working.
Questions builders actually ask
What is a redstone tick?
Two game ticks, or a tenth of a second. The game runs 20 game ticks a second, so there are 10 redstone ticks in a second. In Java the redstone tick is a community unit and the game itself counts game ticks; in Bedrock it is the unit the redstone system actually runs on. Either way, a repeater on its first setting waits exactly one of them.
How many repeaters do I need for a delay?
Divide the delay in redstone ticks by 4 and round up, because one repeater adds at most 4. A 1.5-second delay is 15 redstone ticks, so it takes 4 repeaters: three set to 4 and one set to 3. A delay that comes to an odd number of game ticks, such as 0.35 seconds, cannot be built from repeaters alone, since every setting is an even number of game ticks.
How far does redstone dust carry a signal?
15 blocks. The dust next to the source is at strength 15 and each block after it is one lower, so a 16th block of dust would be at 0. A repeater takes any signal of 1 or more and sends out 15 again, and because it occupies a block itself, each repeater adds 16 blocks of reach. A 40-block line needs 2 repeaters; a 100-block line needs 6.
Do repeaters work the same in Java and Bedrock?
The four settings are the same, 2, 4, 6 or 8 game ticks, and so is the 15-block reach of dust; Bedrock stores the setting as 0 to 3 rather than 1 to 4. What differs is pulse handling. Java allows 0-tick pulses and instant repeater circuits, and a Java repeater on its first setting stretches a 0- or 1-tick pulse, while Bedrock splits every redstone tick into two game-tick phases and has repeaters, comparators, redstone torches and observers read their inputs on the first. This tool models delays, not pulses.
Why are pistons and dispensers not in the timing table?
Because the two sources this page is checked against do not agree on them. The wiki gives dispensers and droppers a delay of 4 game ticks, where crafty.gg gives 0.1 seconds. For pistons the wiki gives a start delay of 0 or 1 game tick in Java and a fixed 2 in Bedrock, followed by 2 game ticks of movement, where crafty.gg gives a single 3 game ticks. Until both say the same thing, those rows stay off the page.