Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-27388204-20160114100744/@comment-25101089-20160115000903

Nope, fruit leaves can't regrow.

A block type has 16 metadata subtypes available. For leaves, each leaf block is 4 leaf types (apple, cherry, pear, etc) times 2 "can it decay" states (is it natural or player placed?) times 2 "has it checked for decay" states. This comes to 16.

It could be done but it would require recoding the leaf blocks to use new block IDs and manage the 16 subtypes differently, as at least one new state (leaves:off/on?) would be needed. This would destroy all leaf blocks in current worlds and maybe even corrupt worlds.

Also, imagine a whole tree's worth of fruit-bearing leaves. Even if each leaf only drops one fruit and then regrows very slowly, that's ~60 fruits per tree. Massively unbalanced.

So, sorry but not happening any time soon, if ever. This should probably be added to the FAQ since it is one of the most commonly requested features.