The first thing to say here is: you decide how you want to play your game. No one can tell you what you can or cannot do, it’s your game, you make the rules.
But there are some beheaviors that are generally frowned upon and considered bad etiquette. One of them is leaving trees floating in Minecraft. But is it just this, or does it also have some consequence in the gameplay? Let’s find out!
Mobs spawning
The first in-game consequence to a floating tree is shadow. In Minecraft it doesn’t matter where the sun is (if it’s low on the horizon or if it is at the zenith): the light will always come directly from above. If there is a floating block, the block under it will not have a light level of 15 in the day (to know more about light level: Torch spacing: how to do it efficiently in Minecraft?)
Thats why if you leave a floating tree, this will cast shadows underneath it, and mobs will be able to spawn there even during the day. A Creeper suddenly appearing in the middle of the day could be as dangerous as falling into Lava. You can solve this by simply placing a Torch under the tree.
What happens if you only leave the Leaves floating
If you remove all the wooden trunk of the tree and you leave only the leaves blocks floating, the Leaves blocks will start disappearing.
Obviously Leaves shouldn’t survive without their tree, so in Minecraft they added this mechanic to make it a bit more realistic.
When they disappear, Leaves blocks can drop Sticks, Saplings and Apples (related topic: How to heal a Horse in Minecraft).
If you leave even only one block of wood directly in contact with the Leaves blocks, it will prevent the Leaves from disappearing. And this would be a waste of resources, because all you need to do (after removing all the trunk blocks) is wait for the Leaves blocks to disappear and to drop their “loot”. You can also plant the Sapling to grow another tree, that will give you more resources, more Saplings that you can plant again and so on.
Floating trees in multiplayer
Leaving floating trees in a multiplayer environment is generally regarded as bad form and goes against the spirit of cooperation and communal gameplay. Minecraft is known for its cooperative and creative nature, and floating trees can disrupt the sense of harmony and shared experience among players.
Minecraft is a game where aesthetics and attention to detail matter to many players. While there might not be direct consequences imposed by the game itself for leaving floating trees in multiplayer, the repercussions are more social in nature.
To share a positive multiplayer environment, it’s encouraged to adhere to certain community norms and etiquettes. Taking the time to properly remove floating trees and integrate them into the environment shows respect for both the server and other players.
Remember, multiplayer Minecraft is an opportunity to collaborate, build, and explore together. There are some things that are completely fine in singleplayer, but not acceptable in multiplayer. To have examples of this, you can check What is considered cheating in Minecraft?.
Loading screen
In Minecraft Bedrock edition and Pokect edition, you can see the tip
DON’T LEAVE TREES FLOATING
during the loading screen. Many players wonder if it is just a joke, or if it is supposed to be a very basic tip for newer players, that could be harmed by mobs spawning under trees or that should take advantage from the resources of those trees.
Conclusions
If you leave trees floating in Minecraft, the only direct consequence would be to offer shelter to dangerous mobs. This assuming that you didn’t remove the wooden trunk, that would cause the Leaves to decay. It is also frowned upon in multiplayer, where it is considered bad form since it is not nice to see. Thank you very much for reading the article this far and I hope I’ll see you again around here. See you and take care!
