How to Use Redstone

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Redstone dust carries power up to 15 blocks from a source (lever, button, pressure plate, redstone torch) to a mechanism (door, piston, lamp, dispenser). Signal strength drops 1 per block, so use repeaters to extend it and torches to invert it. Master these four parts - source, dust, repeater, torch - and you can build almost anything.

What you need

Redstone dust (mine deep, Y -59 area)
Redstone torches, repeaters, comparators
Levers, buttons, pressure plates
Pistons, dispensers, lamps to power

Step by step

Learn the four core parts. Power sources (levers, buttons, pressure plates, redstone torches and blocks), redstone dust to carry the signal, repeaters to extend and delay it, and torches to invert it. Everything else is combinations of these.
Place dust to make wire. Redstone dust on the ground forms a line that powers the block it points into and the block beneath it. It carries power up to 15 blocks - the brightness shows the strength, fading as it travels.
Extend with repeaters. A repeater refreshes a weak signal back to full strength, adds a 0.1-0.4 second delay (right-click to change), and only lets power flow one way - perfect for long lines and timing circuits.
Invert with torches. A redstone torch on the side of a block turns off when that block is powered and on when it isn't. This NOT-gate is how you make doors that open when a plate is stepped off, or lights that come on at night with a daylight sensor.
Power mechanisms. Run your wire into pistons (push blocks), dispensers (shoot items), droppers, note blocks, lamps, doors and trapdoors. A powered block can also activate any mechanism touching it - that's how hidden wiring works.

Java vs Bedrock

Core mechanics are the same in Java and Bedrock, but Java has quasi-connectivity (pistons and droppers can be powered from one block above like doors) while Bedrock doesn't - so some Java tutorials break on Bedrock. Repeater locking works in both editions.

Versions: Redstone arrived in Alpha 1.0.1 (2010) as 'red ore' and powered the first doors. Repeaters came in Beta 1.3, comparators in 1.5, and observers in 1.11 - the four building blocks have been stable ever since.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my redstone stop after 15 blocks?

That's the signal limit - dust carries power 15 blocks from the source. Place a repeater before it dies to refresh it to full strength and go another 15.

What does a comparator do?

It reads container fullness (chests, hoppers, furnaces), compares or subtracts two signals, and keeps the signal strength instead of refreshing it. The classic uses: item detectors, hopper clocks and password circuits.

Why does my Java piston fire when it shouldn't?

Quasi-connectivity: in Java, pistons treat power one block above them as if it pointed into them. It's a bug-turned-feature; Bedrock doesn't have it.