Most efficient way to prevent PP updates in blocks Minecraft, to create floating sand
I was successful in my headless piston quest.
The idea is that the first piston's head is blown away by tnt. Then you extend another piston beside it. When you retract the original piston, it takes it's head away, but because of the glitch described in the question, there is no PP update. this allows it to have a full vertical face, so you can place a torch upon the piston head, something that was not previously possible
I have attached steps below:
First step You want to build an obsidian floor. Because you are using explosives, this step is just to ensure it does not destroy your world. The floor should be 6x7, with these four blocks removed:
Step two
Next, you add walls along the left, bottom, and top (the torches are for clarity, you can add them or not):
Step three Add redstone. You want to add two pistons in the top-right corner, an activator rail in the bottom left, and a lever in the very bottom left. You want there to be exactly forty ticks of delay between the activation of the lever, and the extension of the upper piston:
Step four
This is a fun step, you get to blow thing up!
Get a tnt minecart, and place it upon the activator rail. Whenever you're ready, flick the lever, and the minecart will explode at the same time the piston pushes. This will result in a headless piston. You may need to try multiple times.
Step five Now, you want to power the other piston, DO NOT UNPOWER THE LEVER. If you do, you will have to repeat step 4.
Step six Place whatever block you would like on top of the piston, I'll use a snow layer. Also, build an 'L' shape with slime blocks around the vertical piston
Step seven Is to depower the lever. Then, destroy everything you placed except the snow layer. If everything was done correctly, you should now have a floating snow layer. Keep in mind that placing or breaking a block directly beside, above, or below will trigger a PP update, destroying that precious floating snow layer you worked so hard for.