Minecraft wiki entry for Walls_and_buttresses, associated text: In modern times, many people still know what these parts of a wall are called, but there is much less appreciation of what they were originally for. As modern houses have damp-proof courses and are made of very uniform, mass-produced materials, some of the old practical reasons these features exist no longer apply. The main reason we still have them is becoming a matter of custom and aesthetics rather than actual need. The following features are listed from the floor upwards: