Compressing Gems into Blocks and Back

Every gem in the mod has a matching block: Block of Air Malachite, Block of Dive Aquamarine, Block of Divine Beryl, Block of Fire Ruby, Block of Haste Peridot, Block of Heart Rhodonite, Block of Ice Sapphire, Block of Kinetic Opal, Block of Lucky Citrine, Block of Power Pyrite, Block of Spider Kunzite, Block of Spirit Garnet, and Block of Unbreaking Iolite.

Why Compress

Blocks are compact storage. Nine gems fit into one block, so a chest of loose gems becomes a handful of blocks. This matters most while you are stockpiling for Paragon armor or an Ultima tool, because those recipes consume several gem types at once.

Crafting the Block

Use the standard shaped recipe: arrange nine of the same gem in a full 3x3 grid to produce one Block of that gem. The block recipes are shaped, so the gem must be the exact item — a Fire Ruby makes a Block of Fire Ruby, not any other block.

Decompressing

Blocks are not one-way. Use the shapeless crafting recipe to break a Block of a gem back into nine loose gems. This is how you recover materials when you finally have enough for a recipe and need loose gems rather than blocks.

Build Use

Gem blocks also work as decorative building blocks. If you have surplus after crafting your gear, use the leftover blocks as accent material instead of leaving them in a chest.