Minecraft wiki entry for Things_not_to_do, associated text: Many players use torches to break gravel after having built a large tower of it. Unlike gravel, sand, and the dragon egg, if anvils fall on torches, the torch is destroyed without dropping itself as an item, and an anvil falling on a player deals damage. Use different non-solid blocks such as slabs, signs, cakes, and soul sand to break anvils, all of which cause the anvil to drop as an item.