Using the Most USELESS Block in Scratch

[@maroonmball]

I've tried the block myself many times. You can do so much stuff with it. Like most people said here, it's useful to calculate offline activity (like offline earnings in idle games). But my favorite uses of this block were in two of my projects. On one project, I made some code that allows the transfer of data from one game to another using a special code that expires in a certain amount of time. That expiration time was made possible thanks to the 'days since 2000' block. Another good use of the block is calculating time zones. You can compare the 'days since 2000' block with the 'current hour' block to get the time zone, thanks to the fact that the 'current hour' block uses your system's clock (mostly based on what time zone you use) and the 'days since 2000' block uses the GMT+0 time zone. Another thought I had is thanks to the fact that it counts down time down to the millisecond, it could be useful for pseudo-random number generation if the 'pick random' block wasn't an option.

[@SLSmartMind]

Awesome

[@jaydentplays7485]

Cool! Now make use of the “costume name” block.

[@alooinfinite2912]

hey what is the coed to transfer data between games

[@maroonmball]

​@@alooinfinite2912 It varies depending on what data you want to send. I might make a simple version if I have time.

[@alooinfinite2912]

I see I will keep an eye out for if you drop the code

[@Frezledz]

finally someone who actually explains the true power of the block! I usually use it as a timer so that it doesn't conflict with other sprites when I export and imported a sprite

[@SLSmartMind]

This block deserves some love

[@Ruzzzz57]

just use the timer block bruh 💀

[@Frezledz]

@@Ruzzzz57 seems you don't understand, what if other sprite reset the timer?

[@Ruzzzz57]

@@Frezledz oh

[@tm_yt323]

@@Frezledz ohmygosh that is perfect for thumbnails that use the timer block as a “when stop sign clicked”!!

[@VectorJW9260]

tbh if it were redone as "seconds since 1970" it would make its purpose a LOT more obvious.

[@danik0011]

oh yeahhhhh thats basically unix time

[@markgamez1]

cant you just add 10957 days (incluing leap years) to it and then multiply it by 86400? worked for me

[@iionccub365old]

@@markgamez1I'd make that a function and keep that around

[@markgamez1]

@@iionccub365old i mean I guess it works but then you would have to call it every time you want to retrieve it in variable form. still a cool approach though

[@Sakupenny]

​@@markgamez1if days since 2000 is an int this won't work

[@nucIeer]

It actually works great as an offline timer (a timer that works even when a game is not running) This block is crucial for stuff like idle games and such that need to calculate offline earnings

[@BoyAnMinhTrump]

the *actual* most useless extension is: micro:bit extension, LEGO extensions (3), GDF&A extension. (0 uses)

[@SLSmartMind]

Fr

[@WawaBoi69]

micro:bit extension is useful if you have a micro:bit

[@JulMik]

LEGO extensions are useful if you have that hardware

[@sosman64]

​@@WawaBoi69which is the exact reason why barely anyone uses it

[@Camman18family]

I don’t think it is useless! I use it to calculate Offline Earnings in the game! To calculate, save the current days since 2000 in a variable of list, then, the next time you open the project, subtract the current days since 2000 by the days since 2000 that you’ve saved, and you have how many days you were not in this project! You don’t have to calculate using the current(day) block because its maximum day count changes because the month number different, thus making it pretty annoying for me!

[@SLSmartMind]

Awesome

[@retroboi128thegamedev]

Out of all of the strangest blocks there are in scratch, people chose the most practical one to call the most useless, it's sad that people think that it's useless.

[@SLSmartMind]

It's because this block has no use in platformers 😅😂

[@retroboi128thegamedev]

@@SLSmartMind just make a platformer that changes according to the different seasons ez

[@Icantchangemyhandlehelp]

​@@retroboi128thegamedevohh that sounds so cool

[@electrifiedwits]

@@SLSmartMind just because it doesn’t have a use in platformers doesn’t mean it’s useless instantly. There are countless other game types on scratch and it has proved useful

[@ZphyZphyer]

​@@electrifiedwits it's a joke

[@nguyenvannghia7340]

do you know the y2k bug? that was the block for countdowning the day

[@fuseegelee]

Wrong, scratch released after 2000

[@Camman18family]

NOT THE Y2K BUG 😭 😭 😭

[@stefanalecu9532]

I didn't expect to see an unironic Scratch channel with decent editing, congrats

[@SLSmartMind]

Thanx :D

[@spieleflo8543]

This block is also very good for calculating some kind of offline progress (I did that in one of my projects and it's working very well)

[@spieleflo8543]

(let's say you want the difference between some "saved" amount of days and the days now and you multiply it by 86,400 for the seconds, then multiply it by some gain per second and BOOM, you have offline progress)

[@FunnyAnimatorJimTV]

@@spieleflo8543 what do you mean "progress"?

[@DrGiggleTouch67]

It should be days [since (input)]

[@maxybg]

that would be kinda cool

[@Blue_Animations_Official]

The most useless block is honestly the if on edge, bounce block

[@SLSmartMind]

Fr

[@trwn87]

True.

[@SomeGuilStuff]

Nah its pretty useful

[@chrisk6637]

It would be *_MUCH_* more useful if it was a if () bounce

[@trwn87]

@@chrisk6637 MUCH more useful! And they literally REJECTED that idea... Because "it wasn't needed". What do you mean, it's not needed!? I am LITERALLY asking you for this, Scratch Team!

[@ThemeMusicz]

My friend who’s project “set” got featured used this block to generate a random puzzle every 15 minutes

[@SLSmartMind]

Awesome

[@Despatra]

You can use it to get the device's time zone since the days since 2000 blocks seems to be based on UTC. By converting your computer's time via the "current (second/minute/hour/day/month/year)" block to days since 2000 you can get the offset.

[@SLSmartMind]

Interesting indeed

[@FunnyAnimatorJimTV]

Haven't watched the full video yet but this is block is very useful, I would be very sad if it was removed. The thing that makes it special is that it is in sync globally (it outputs the same number no matter where you are in the world). It allows you to make countdown timers that are in sync globally, it allows you to make timezone detector and automatic language switcher, and FPS detector without worrying about resetting the timer. Edit you said everything exactly in the video lol

[@FunnyAnimatorJimTV]

Thanks for showing my countdown!

[@SLSmartMind]

Exactly This block deserves more love. Also I love your countdown, awesome work on that

[@jkdraws1617]

for the independant timers i just use a forever loop and calculate the difference between what the timer was last and what it is now and then add that to a timer variable instead of the day since 2000 block

[@NumbersTada]

"useless" i literally use it for unix time

[@yarandgamersmrgdfnf8613]

if it was (days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries) (since/until) (year, month, date) (2024, 2023, 2022 or January, February, September, June or (2024) (january) (1)) then what would be the most useless block with that

[@Meletion1]

days since today

[@BLUEGD12]

Underrated??

[@Programming_N]

Wow that’s cool I will implement this in my projects on my channel

[@two_squared]

It’s really helpful for animations!

[@wescomvallen2.0]

I forgot that this block exists. thank you for the help!

[@SebasTubeOFFICIALXD]

If there is a "seconds since 1970" block, it would be 2³¹-1 as a limit, because of you know, the 32-bit limit, and how all 32-bit systems use it.

[@RadioactiveBluePlatypus]

People who hate this block just don't understand it at all.

[@N3oN6735]

FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS VERY USEFUL

[@Илья3000-ж6н]

Most useless block in scratch is... When on edge, bounce

[@SLSmartMind]

That's pretty handy thou for beginners

[@marmaladetoast2431]

This block is particularly useful because unlike the timer block, it updates *during* the execution of a block that runs without screen refresh

[@felipecardope]

What we want: days since (year) What we need: (days, years, months, hours, etc.) since (year) and () to ()

[@RadioactiveBluePlatypus]

Wow so it took 6 days between you recording the video and you publishing it! wowie

[@pcc404]

its not useless it allows you to get unix time

[@48-_]

+pcc404 unix time is since 1970 so you need subtraction

[@pcc404]

@@48-_ ohh i forgot sorry

[@Prime-p2q]

thank you for saying this i agree

[@SLSmartMind]

:D

[@Freis_fries_14]

Fun fact: the timer blocks is the lowest amount of block (only 2 or 3) Happy scratching again!

[@Cleacat]

No its the flag blocks

[@1_1bman]

how about using it floored to calculate a random seed for a daily challenge game like a wordle clone

[@garywalker8446]

What if we could chose what year instead of it always being the 2000th year ma ey that be a future update

[@FunnyAnimatorJimTV]

if you needed "days since 2016" you could subtract (365*16)(may have error with leap year). but this is still a little vague because its not obvious if it's days since january 1 2016 or days since december 31 2016.

[@garywalker8446]

Thanks

[@IrishCoder]

Current date block...... it does the same thing

[@SLSmartMind]

It doesn't

[@IrishCoder]

@@SLSmartMind what do you mean?

[@-JAM58-]

@@IrishCoder Current date block is based on the time zone you’re in, so the dates will be different for everyone. Days since 2000 is based on a universal point in time and gives the same result no matter what time zone you’re in

[@-JAM58-]

The only reason people think this block is useless is because they haven’t figured out how to use it - it’s so much more useful than people think

[@Cheese-R02]

Hello

[@SLSmartMind]

Hello

[@CreatorofGodzillainanutshell]

@@SLSmartMind hello

[@hassaaniftikhar5468]

Thanks😊

[@crLmsin]

Question - is there a way to check things around a sprite but not touching the sprite?

[@SLSmartMind]

You can create a workaround using the "distance to (sprite)" block

[@GoldyMagma]

@@SLSmartMind or create another sprite as a hitbox to detect if a sprite is near.

[@paaged]

I used it for an analog clock I made in scratch to make the second hand sweeping instead of ticking

[@SLSmartMind]

Awesome

[@trwn87]

days since 2000 is among the MOST useful blocks in all of Scratch... Apart from trivial ones like operators, control blocks and the green flag hat of course.

[@simplicityd8703]

So besides from all the others? 😂

[@trwn87]

@@simplicityd8703 The more I think about it, the more I am inclined to agree. 😂😂😂

[@King-n00bi3]

Also variables.

[@trwn87]

@@King-n00bi3 They are SO trivial I forgot. Also, lists.

[@klegos]

I used it to count down for a video game’s release, I think.

[@th1v5]

this is an... incredibly useful block? What do you mean it's the most useless? It's literally the most accurate timer in scratch, and I use it regularly, from syncing, to timers, to calculating FPS.

[@SLSmartMind]

Exactly

[@6464NPC]

Yea i dont think its useless, theres a fnf thing on scratch called add yourself singing. the charting system requires days since 2000 block somewhere. so yea, consclusion, days sinse 2000 is good for non simple things(by simple i mean clickers, generic platformers)

[@thatonedumbe]

5:09 what is that game

[@SLSmartMind]

Arena

[@Skankphone]

Idea:make a game only using one sprite one script and for visuals you use pen not sprites

[@SLSmartMind]

Nice idea

[@lindseylopez35]

Na the most useless is the sensing block, loudness

[@Cleacat]

So luxky it has decimal points 🎉

[@Ariensen]

cool vid! i also did this in scratch when flag clicked move 9132 -10^ of days since 2000 steps (which means move - infinite steps) click green flag boom your y counter says NaN (you can also do this my doing move steps to timer / 0 steps and also works) so yea and you make very interesting vids smart mind ! keep up the work!

[@Sprouttheberry]

Nice

[@JulMik]

It should be [days v] since (date) to make it more useful.

[@taniagarda6312]

Actually, you can make "appear on a specific date" just using "current (year, months, day ect)" block

[@takingitupto12next]

Also the stage # of stage is the best 100% becuase u can change it so u dont need to do wack variables

[@AsteriskForTheWin]

i recently made a timer!

[@iMakeStuffSC-Dev]

"Switch backdrop to () and wait" is the most useless block. Literally No one uses it

[@chrisk6637]

True but it's still useful

[@SLSmartMind]

I would say the loudness hat block

[@MaxwellCatAlphonk]

Uhm Actually 🤓👆 It is more accurate than the timer plugin

[@SLSmartMind]

Exactly

[@sonicramdomchannel]

nah, that will forever be the if on edge bounce

[@AyanVerma-g6q]

hi

[@SLSmartMind]

Hello

[@kunfukid8401]

Super

[@Lightz-here]

The most useless is "If on edge bounce" block

[@DevanCruz-sj5rp]

my classmates will be shocked to see the most useless block in my projects

[@RouxManOnYT]

W

[@JacksonMoczygemba]

I axauly used it to make a countdown

[@thtdrgnmn]

It's just a different calculation of the epoch

[@cheesepop7175]

This block is not useless, you can calculate stuff like FPS using it

[@WITHER_2013]

we have day since 2000 but nu uh, what we want: day since (when cave man is alive)

[@SLSmartMind]

Haha

[@Tha10n3m3me]

Days since Y2K

[@eunicemuthini4336]

He's on turbo warp

[@johanneseloff6219]

no way!!

[@Blue_Stickman09]

SnailIDE Exploring When?

[@SLSmartMind]

🐌 IDE doesn't have good documentations :( some stuff break when I try, but I will try to upload a vid on that

[@Blue_Stickman09]

@@SLSmartMind Thanks!

[@StxrberryCreator]

I genuinely dont use this for a second timer ToT. I just use a variable cuz i forget the timer block exists half the time

[@GreenerBlob]

You could use it for save files by multiplying the whole save by round(0.001 * dayssince2000) (place this number at the start) and then to load, divide by the number placed at the start. UNTESTED - I WONT BE TESTING THIS BECAUSE I AM LAZY. THIS IS PURELY THEORY, DONT COME AT ME.

[@ItsBin-yj9gp]

0:25 Bro got the uncountable number not countable

[@JamieTheCreator157]

scratch should make it to where with the days since 2000 block it doesn't have to be 2000 but it can be any year like 2023

[@SleepyLuigi]

I made a lot of joke games with that.

[@tanyamclean5056]

YES

[@sunvibs1000]

does the sl in your username mean scratch learning

[@SLSmartMind]

Maybe ;)

[@FunnySquared]

now that i think about it, it can be used as a pseudo-number generation! Every day is not the same, heh

[@SLSmartMind]

Yah, that works too

[@jeromebourgeois9930]

Cool

[@Yeet-u7l]

A use for it is a pendulum

[@Sprunki-Members]

THE TIMERS OF DOOM

[@CardboardBox8]

Me, an intellectual: AYS

[@universe_sandbox2_fan]

scratch moderation sucks no one likes this they have to fix theri, terible moderation or else. scratch might slowly die out

[@ImanRC4230]

The fps counter malfunctioned

[@Abhinava_Playz_YT]

yeah they are nub who says these

[@I_Love_Om_Nom34.]

P.

[@susanabbott3181]

For the last one I just use current day and current month Edit: I liked every comment on the video so far

[@SLSmartMind]

That would work as well

[@rizwana2666]

@@SLSmartMind so doesn't that make it useless

[@sosman64]

​@@rizwana2666has other uses like the video said,delta time and such

[@aþs]

feneraras

[@XFydro]

please don't replace the "0" with "/" in 9011 😭

[@FloppaKitchener]

9/11 is not funny Tragedy

[@XFydro]

@@FloppaKitchener ik, just advising people to not replace the "0" With "/" In 9011

[@Roblox_GamerOfficial]

.

[@elivamos5419]

does anybody else's countdown say it happened months ago??? i don't know what I'm doing wrong...

[@foxxdyeah]

its useful for make a timer in AYS FNF

[@BoyAnMinhTrump]

it’s been a month

[@mine_craft_man8282]

at least tell us the actual most useless block in scratch

[@humayeraislam4272]

@@mine_craft_man8282 you would actually think it is the “current [ Year v ]” block but “days since 2000” helps it a lot such as certain holiday events that happen the same each year such as: if days since 2000 = (whatever number you need) * 365 * current year - 2000 or days since 2000 < (another number you need) * 365 * current year - 2000 then (whatever you want)

[@Josh-vids]

No it for how long it’s been since it has been January 1st, 12:00 am, 2000

[@EvoisEvo]

Scar

[@GreenBaldloon]

It is used in fnf ays.