Peat blocks are flammable

[turtletechy 37]

This would make more sense. I remember just a bit ago, I made my first home in a little dugout bit of peat. Then I started a campfire. And the fire didn't spread. And it didn't start a huge peat fire. I'm just wondering why this is. It should start on fire, very easily even.

[Buczkowski 36]

You're complaining that you didn't manage to accidentally burn down your house?

[turtletechy 37]

You're complaining that you didn't manage to accidentally burn down your house?

Actually, yes. I'd prefer that peat was highly flammable as it really is. I only built a house there knowing that peat shouldn't start on fire in the game for some inane reason.

[Omicron 62]

The problem with making peat blocks flammable is the fact that fire ticks are very performance heavy. And with peat occupying whole stretches of landscape several layers deep, you'd totally kill the world simulation with an unchecked fire.

I mean, it's a common thing on multiplayer servers that forest fires randomly disconnect nearby players, effectively locking down an entire area and making it unusable for days (because the fire won't even burn itself out when nobody is near to load the chunks). Vanilla Minecraft already nerfed fire spread four times, to the point where it's borderline impossible to intentionally burn something down without leaving random blocks floating in midair. And even so, some servers still disable fire simulation entirely just to be safe.

Having another such problem source isn't going to be popular...

[Eleazzar 33]

Peat in nature is usually not highly flammable. It is usually waterlogged. Its a feature of wetlands! To be used as fuel it needs to be compressed to drive the water out and dried.

While spreading huge peat fires are possible, for instance during an extreme drought, they are rare.

Reality and good gameplay side against Turtletechy. Do i need to point out the irony of someone complaining that "it's not realistic!" who hasn't bothered to find out how that bit or reality works?

[turtletechy 37]

Peat in nature is usually not highly flammable. It is usually waterlogged. Its a feature of wetlands! To be used as fuel it needs to be compressed to drive the water out and dried.

While spreading huge peat fires are possible, for instance during an extreme drought, they are rare.

Reality and good gameplay side against Turtletechy. Do i need to point out the irony of someone complaining that "it's not realistic!" who hasn't bothered to find out how that bit or reality works?

Well, wouldn't it be dried out by the fire directly atop it, that had burned for a half a day ingame? And as such, it'd easily start on fire.

[Eleazzar 33]

Well, wouldn't it be dried out by the fire directly atop it, that had burned for a half a day ingame? And as such, it'd easily start on fire.

Maybe. I don't live in a peat-producing area, but i expect, that the result would be that the fire would burn slightly higher-- not that the country-side goes up in flames. I've never read that campfires in peat-zones were particularly dangerous.

[turtletechy 37]

But I'm talking about having a campfire directly atop the peat.

[Eleazzar 33]

If you want to argue the point that realism demands huge, ground peat fires, then find evidence.

[transcengopher 349]

If you want to argue the point that realism demands huge, ground peat fires, then find evidence.

Well, there were a peat fires in Russia two years back (I think), when it was very hot and dry. Probably also some shattered-bottle-lenses and/or other arson activities, but mostly very hot and dry. I don't think we should get this fires. I see no reason to, why whould I want to just burn it with this little outcome?

EDIT:

I don't think I can deliver the proof on information I just dug up, because it's on Russian wikipedia section and I can't seem to find English version of it immediately.

Basically, peat fires can start when peat is dry enough (about 40% humidity). Burning peat has temperature of about 600 C and can not be put out by water - its particles are hydrophobic, so water just goes deep into soil, and peat is keepin' on burnin'. History knows (winter 2002 AD, Russia) precedents of peat burning under the snow.

The only way to stop fire spreading is to cut it off from anything flammable and wait for it to burn out. Well, water works too, but you kind of don't have this technology in minecraft/TFC, because you would need to soak it very fast and furiously.

Also, burning peat produces about ten times more poisonous smog than burning forest.

It can be a dangerous hazard, but as I've said, there's no outcome, no real danger without smog mechanics implementation, and not much you can do once it starts apart from digging and waiting.

EDIT 2:

There's a bit in English about these fires.