Editing Pinball (section)

=== Switches, gates, and stoppers ===

* ''Switch'': A switch is an area that is blocked off after the ball passes through it once. An example of this is the initial firing lane: as a ball passes through the firing lane, it hits a switch and cannot reenter that chute.
* ''Gate'': This block will allow balls to come through one way but will block the ball if it is going the other way.
* ''Stopper'': Also called a ''magic post'', this is a small pole most often found centered between and just below the lowest set of flippers and also rarely next to the outlanes. When activated (typically by hitting a specific target or targets), the pole ascends from inside the machine, blocking the area between the flippers for a limited time, making it more difficult to drain and lose the ball. After time expires, it returns to its resting place just below the playfield.