Some people get this Cantrip right, and some also get this Cantrip wrong. First, lets start with the Spells Description of Mold Earth:

First: "You choose a portion of Dirt  or Stone  that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You Manipulate it in one of the following ways:

1. Casting the spell gives "The Caster" a 5ft cube, which is an area of Magical effect that you target  = PHB pg. 204
2. What is a 5ft cube?  It is a 5ft x 5ft x 5ft that has Length, Width and Height in a 3_Dimensional space.
3. You can "Manipulate" Dirt / Stone within that Cube's Magical effect in that 3_Dimensional space
4. What is Manipulate?  Simply it is to handle and / or  to control of something. In this case it is Dirt / Stone.
5. The Spell is a Transmutation: "Transmutation spells change the properties of a creature, object or environment." PHB 203
6. Example of Transmutation:  The Caster casts the spell Mold Earth which Transmutes the Dirt / Stone into a Malleable Wibbly Wobbly Wimey workable Material, which the magical material can be Manipulated to be given Length, Width and Height within the Cube's area of effect and holds it's Magic for the duration of the spell before reverting back to it's normal state. (or if you cast it multiple times, your first cast will revert back to normal)

This is my Interruption of the Spells Mechanics . Please comment if I missed anything.

Second: Descriptions of the following ways:

1. If you target an area of loose earth, you can instantaneously excavate it, move it along the ground, and deposit it up to 5 feet away. This movement doesn’t have enough force to cause damage.
2. You cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the dirt or stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.
3. If the dirt or stone you target is on the ground, you cause it to become difficult terrain. Alternatively, you can cause the ground to become normal terrain if it is already difficult terrain. This change lasts for 1 hour.

Number One and Three, some people have no issues with and follow the Spell's Description on that. As a Note: Number One gives the Spell a bonus effect by giving 5ft of Movement, this is the only Movement that the spell can do.

Number two is where "The Grey Area" is for some people when it comes to the "Spell's Full Description". Let me give you the correct reading of this, but first I will remove: "in one of the following ways:" from the Spell's Description and "You" from the beginning in the Number two description of the following ways.

• Which reads this: (I only add the Word to , which completes the sentence as a whole.)
• You choose a portion of Dirt  or Stone  that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You Manipulate it  to  cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the Dirt  or Stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.

1. Fact: The Spell Description states, you can Manipulate the Dirt / Stone in a 5ft cube.
2. Fact: The Spell / Magic of Transmutation allows you to Manipulate Dirt / Stone in 3_Dimensional space to cause 3_Dimensional shapes.

The Cube's area of effect, if you place your 5ft Cube in 2 cubic feet of Dirt / Stone, you have 3 cubic feet of empty space. This gives your Manipulation "Reach" within that Empty Space, now don't let this be confused with "Movement" if someone claims your moving stone, your not. You have "Reach" within your Manipulation of the Cube effect.

Examples of which could become: extensions (or indention's)  for hand holds / foot pads, extending to make 1/2 - 3/4 cover, anchor points for tying rope, restraining an enemy on a Stone Wall, a scary face popping out...etc,..etc... As a reminder, all your manipulations will appear on the Dirt / Stone as 3_Dimensions with "Reach" if you place your 5ft Cube right.  

Now some have claim that the wording is only used for Imagery or is just for the Surface because it states "Appears On" the Dirt / Stone, or that Mold Earth cannot shape / reshape stone? (I laughed and I asked: "Are you Serious").

1. Flaming Sphere: A 5-foot-diameter Sphere of Fire "Appears In" an unoccupied space of your choice within range and lasts for the duration.
2. Does it mean a Flaming sphere "Appears In" the ground of an unoccupied space?....... because it states "Appears In"????

Ok, back to post:

• It does not State: You "Create Imagery" of shapes, colors or both to appear on the dirt or stone, spelling out words, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.

If it was worded like that, then it would be meant as only Imagery or Surface Manipulation of Dirt / Stone.... But...

• It States: "Cause Shapes, Colors or both to appear on the Dirt or Stone" with examples of spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns.
• You can Cause 3 dimensional shapes, because you can Manipulate Dirt / Stone within the Magical Effect of a 5FT Cube, because the spell is Base in Transmutation.

 Please let me know what you think.

 ops, I see that you've duplicated the post from https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/54625-mold-earth-cantrip 

I'll pass on commenting here since somebody has already answered your post with the same answer I was going to put here.

Quote from Farling >>

 ops, I see that you've duplicated the post from https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/54625-mold-earth-cantrip 

I'll pass on commenting here since somebody has already answered your post with the same answer I was going to put here.

 Go for it, honestly I would like to hear it. I'll do my best to give you my response.

I came and saw the other's response and I debunked it.

Well you have confidence, I'll give you that.

I don't really want to get into this, but I'll just say that having the Transmutation key word doesn't give any spell some kind of blanket transmutation powers. Transmutation is not a "base," it is simply a category for the purposes of organization. This spell manipulates earth in a few ways, so it falls into the transmutation spell school. That doesn't give it a bunch of hidden transmutation properties. It doesn't give it the properties of any other transmutation spells. Spells do what they say they do in their descriptions, then based on that description they are put in the most apt category, and any effects beyond that - implied or otherwise - are not strictly RAW.

Thank you for the compliment, this is not towards you.

1. I will try to make this simpler for others:
2. You choose a portion of Dirt  or Stone  that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You Manipulate it  to  cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the Dirt  or Stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.

• Magic itself is fluid and flows in a weave of sorts. (Not trying for a Yoda with a example of the force)
• Lets use a Wooden box of 3ft x 3ft x 3ft filled up to 2/3 of dirt. Let's say the Box is the Cube Effect, as stated in PHB pg. 204
• Now Lets say the I use 2 - 3ish cups of Water, that is the spell's transmutation ability to change the properties. As stated in PHB pg. 203
• The spell allows the Magical Transmuted Material to be Manipulated, will use the mind or Mind's eye.
• So lets use my Hands as my mind. I mix the water and collect the effected material
• I Manipulate it to raise the material into 1/3 of the empty space of the Cubic Effect, 8 inches high, 8 inches wide and 8 inches long
• I make a 4 shapes: 1 of an oval (head), 1 of a triangle (nose /snout), and 2 partially concave sphere's (eyes) within the material.
• I color it Green, I use shaping patterns of scales.
• I just made a 3_dimensional lizard head within the Mechanics Spell's Description to "Appear On" the Dirt.
• Not "Appear In" the Dirt as a surface Image, others would say or believe.

You really can't any simpler than this.

1. Did this break the spell's description or mechanics of it?
2. Did this not follow the spell's description or mechanics of it?

I'm ready for the Next Post.

The discussion is already happening in the other thread. There's no reason to repeat all that discussion here.

Just to be clear: Almost everything you can do with this cantrip, you can also do with a shovel. With the cantrip you do it faster, of course, but I don't know if it's worth it.

For me, as a utility cantrip, it falls well short of others like shape water.  Actually the creative use of Mold Earth is very limited. I've seen a lot of people pretend to use it like they would Stone Shape, and that's outside of what this cantrip does. With this cantrip you can only:

- Dig
- Create images or change the color
- Put or remove difficult terrain

So why do you think it can not cause a shape in stone? Honest question, and second is this description accurate?

• You choose a portion of Dirt  or Stone  that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You Manipulate it in one of the following ways:
• Second Bullet: You cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the dirt or stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.

1. Which I streamed lined the sentence by removing "in one of the following way" and "You" in the second Bullet which reads for simplicity. 
2. You choose a portion of Dirt  or Stone  that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You Manipulate it  to  cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the Dirt  or Stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.

• Lets use a Wooden box of 3ft x 3ft x 3ft filled up to 2/3 of dirt. Let's say the Box is the Cube Effect, as stated in PHB pg. 204
• Now Lets say the I use 2 - 3ish cups of Water, that is the spell's transmutation ability to change the properties. As stated in PHB pg. 203
• The spell allows the Magical Transmuted Material to be Manipulated, will use the mind or Mind's eye.
• So lets use my Hands as my mind. I mix the water and collect the effected material
• I Manipulate it to raise the material into 1/3 of the empty space of the Cubic Effect, 8 inches high, 8 inches wide and 8 inches long
• I make a 4 shapes: 1 of an oval (head), 1 of a triangle (nose /snout), and 2 partially concave sphere's (eyes) within the material.
• I color it Green, I use shaping patterns of scales.
• I just made a 3_dimensional lizard head within the Mechanics Spell's Description to "Appear On" the Dirt.
• Not "Appear In" the Dirt as a surface Image, others would say or believe.

As mentioned previously, only one thread is needed for this.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/54625-mold-earth-cantrip