Introduced in Minecraft version 1.13, coral is a solid block that comes in various color variants. However, the coral will bleach and die under certain conditions, much like in the real world, since coral is particularly sensitive to environmental stimuli.
Fortunately, coral blocks in Minecraft aren’t as fragile as their real-world counterparts. As long as a player follows a particular rule, their coral will stay alive and vibrant indefinitely.
Depending on your plans for your coral blocks, it may be a little tricky, but the rules are easy to follow. That is unless players want dead coral blocks as decoration. In this case, the rule doesn’t need to be followed at all.
Keeping Coral Blocks alive in Minecraft
Do remember that changing the random tick speed through the use of commands must be done very carefully. If the speed is at any point set to zero, coral blocks will die even if they’re adjacent to water blocks. This is due to the nature of ticks, which are considered one complete cycle of Minecraft’s core program loop.
With random tick speeds set to zero, many in-game functions won’t simulate as they normally do, including coral blocks “checking” if they’re still alive by sensing nearby water blocks.
It’s also important to note that, much like in the real world, there’s no reviving dead coral blocks through typical vanilla gameplay methods. Once a coral block is bleached and dead, it’s dead for good, no matter where you place it or how much water is involved.
For players who don’t utilize commands or the Creative Mode inventory, this means you can’t exactly replace your coral blocks without dropping into the ocean and mining fresh blocks.
Since coral can’t be grown, it can’t be renewed. Minecraft’s coral is precious, much like it is in real life, so if players plan to use it in Survival Mode without the aid of commands or Creative Mode, it’s best to do so wisely to avoid bleaching your entire coral supply.
This is part of the reason why coral must be carefully harvested through the use of a Silk Touch-enchanted pickaxe. Otherwise, players won’t be able to receive the block in its normal, colorful state.
At any rate, as long as players have an abundance of water available, coral is relatively easy to keep alive. Just be careful with water and coral placement, and no problems should arise during your decorative or building pursuits.