Breaking

Breaking, digging, punching, or mining is a common activity in Minecraft, performed (by default) by holding the left mouse button or right trigger while the crosshair is pointing at a block, or by long-pressing on the block on touch screens. Breaking is the primary way to remove unwanted blocks and acquire blocks for future placement or crafting.

By holding down the destroy button while looking at a block within range, the player's hand begins swinging, making a repetitive "thump" sound as the player hits the block. Cracks appear on the block, which show that it is being broken.

In Java Edition, this range is 5.2 blocks in Creative mode, and 4.5 blocks otherwise. In Bedrock Edition, the range is 5 blocks when using a keyboard/mouse or controller input; when using touch input, the range is 12 blocks in Creative mode and 6 blocks otherwise.