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An Enderman can only pick up blocks that appear on its holdable list, so the practical answer to “What blocks can an Enderman not pick up?” is any block that is not on that list. In vanilla Java Edition, that covers most building materials, including stone, wood planks, ores, chests, and bedrock. Bedrock Edition has matched Java’s pickup behavior since version 1.21.100. The rule can also be changed by data packs, and pickup can be switched off entirely with a game rule.
How the holdable rule works
Enderman pickup is an allowlist, not a general ability to carry anything. The Minecraft Wiki’s Enderman reference lists the blocks an Enderman may take, and everything outside that list is ordinarily not pickable. Think of the question in reverse: instead of asking whether a block is “carryable,” check whether it is on the holdable list.
The examples below are inferred from absence on that list. They are not drawn from an official blacklist, so treat them as a reliable guide to vanilla behavior rather than a complete catalogue of every block that can never be taken.
The vanilla holdable list
The Minecraft Wiki’s Enderman page is a community-maintained reference, not a block-by-block document from Mojang. As of the version it describes, the list of vanilla holdable blocks is:
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- Soil and terrain: dirt, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, grass block, podzol, mycelium, mud, moss block, gravel, sand, red sand, and clay.
- Nether and mangrove ground: nylium and muddy mangrove roots.
- Plants and fungi: short flowers, roots, fungi, and mushrooms.
- Crops and other blocks: cactus, melon, pumpkins, and TNT.
Anything not named here, including the common building blocks listed in the next section, falls outside vanilla pickup.
Common blocks that are not on the list
These blocks are absent from the holdable list in vanilla Java Edition, so Endermen do not carry them:
- Stone and other stone variants
- Wood planks and other plank types
- Ore blocks, such as coal, iron, and diamond ore
- Chests
- Bedrock
Because a block’s absence from the list is what excludes it, a block added by a mod or data pack is handled differently. Check the rules of your specific world before assuming anything.
Settings that change the answer
Java data packs
In Java Edition, data packs can modify the minecraft:enderman_holdable block tag. A map or server that uses a custom data pack may therefore let Endermen carry blocks that vanilla does not allow, or remove blocks that vanilla does allow. If you are playing a custom world, check its data pack before relying on the vanilla list.
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Setting mobGriefing to false prevents Endermen from picking up and placing blocks. In Java Edition you can apply this with the command /gamerule mobGriefing false, and you can reverse it with /gamerule mobGriefing true. Use this when you want Endermen to stop reshaping terrain without removing them from the world.
Bedrock Edition and the 1.21.100 update
Bedrock Edition’s official 1.21.100 changelog states: “Endermen can now pick up all block types they are able to in Java Edition.” In other words, Bedrock now matches Java’s set of pickable block types from that version forward.
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This parity applies from 1.21.100 onward. It should not be applied to older Bedrock releases, where the set of carryable blocks may have differed. If you are answering a question for a specific Bedrock world, state the version you are checking.
Microsoft’s developer documentation describes Endermen as mobs that can teleport, pick up, and place blocks. Its Unique Entity Behaviors page covers this general behavior, and its take-block behavior reference describes the action of an Enderman taking a block and carrying it.
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Conditions that limit pickup of eligible blocks
A block on the holdable list is not automatically taken. According to the Enderman reference, an Enderman picks up blocks within a 4×3×4 region around itself, requires line of sight to the block, and cannot pick up blocks in a completely flat area. These are behavior conditions, not changes to the list itself. A block can be on the list and still be out of reach or out of sight.
The 1.21.100 Bedrock changelog also records fixes for two related cases: Endermen taking blocks without line of sight, and placing blocks in invalid locations or states. The same changelog notes that the carried block can be set through commands. A block that appears in an Enderman’s hand because of a command is not evidence of ordinary random pickup from the world.
Quick checks for a specific world
- Confirm your edition and game version. Java and Bedrock may differ for older releases, and the Bedrock parity note applies from 1.21.100.
- Check whether
mobGriefingis set tofalse. If it is, no pickup or placement will happen regardless of block type. - In Java Edition, check whether a data pack modifies
minecraft:enderman_holdable. If one does, the vanilla list no longer applies. - Compare the block against the vanilla holdable list above. If it is not listed, it is ordinarily not pickable.
- If the block is listed but still not taken, check whether the Enderman has line of sight to it and whether the surrounding area is flat.
Minecraft’s pickup rules are updated across releases, so check the current release notes for your edition before relying on a specific version’s behavior.
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