diff --git a/doc/lua_api.txt b/doc/lua_api.txt
index 648a29303..6166826af 100644
--- a/doc/lua_api.txt
+++ b/doc/lua_api.txt
@@ -3702,7 +3702,26 @@ Definition tables
     * `image` (name)
 
 ### Tile animation definition
-* `{type="vertical_frames", aspect_w=16, aspect_h=16, length=3.0}`
+
+	{
+		type = "vertical_frames",
+		aspect_w = 16,
+		-- ^ specify width of a frame in pixels
+		aspect_h = 16,
+		-- ^ specify height of a frame in pixels
+		length = 3.0,
+		-- ^ specify full loop length
+	}
+
+	{
+		type = "sheet_2d",
+		frames_w = 5,
+		-- ^ specify width in number of frames
+		frames_h = 3,
+		-- ^ specify height in number of frames
+		frame_length = 0.5,
+		-- ^ specify length of a single frame
+	}
 
 ### Node definition (`register_node`)
 
diff --git a/games/minimal/mods/default/init.lua b/games/minimal/mods/default/init.lua
index f532e7193..2f73b53ef 100644
--- a/games/minimal/mods/default/init.lua
+++ b/games/minimal/mods/default/init.lua
@@ -1044,8 +1044,11 @@ minetest.register_node("default:lava_source", {
 	inventory_image = minetest.inventorycube("default_lava.png"),
 	drawtype = "liquid",
 	--tiles ={"default_lava.png"},
-	tiles ={
-		{name="default_lava_source_animated.png", animation={type="vertical_frames", aspect_w=16, aspect_h=16, length=3.0}}
+	tiles = {
+		{
+			name = "default_lava_source_animated.png",
+			animation = {type="sheet_2d", frames_w=3, frames_h=2, frame_length=0.5}
+		}
 	},
 	special_tiles = {
 		-- New-style lava source material (mostly unused)
diff --git a/games/minimal/mods/default/textures/default_lava_source_animated.png b/games/minimal/mods/default/textures/default_lava_source_animated.png
index aa9d57cf1..54f4c0ddd 100644
Binary files a/games/minimal/mods/default/textures/default_lava_source_animated.png and b/games/minimal/mods/default/textures/default_lava_source_animated.png differ
diff --git a/src/nodedef.cpp b/src/nodedef.cpp
index 21bceb94d..92cdf738e 100644
--- a/src/nodedef.cpp
+++ b/src/nodedef.cpp
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ void ContentFeatures::fillTileAttribs(ITextureSource *tsrc, TileSpec *tile,
 	tile->material_flags = 0;
 	if (backface_culling)
 		tile->material_flags |= MATERIAL_FLAG_BACKFACE_CULLING;
-	if (tiledef->animation.type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES)
+	if (tiledef->animation.type != TAT_NONE)
 		tile->material_flags |= MATERIAL_FLAG_ANIMATION;
 	if (tiledef->tileable_horizontal)
 		tile->material_flags |= MATERIAL_FLAG_TILEABLE_HORIZONTAL;
diff --git a/src/particles.cpp b/src/particles.cpp
index e9ddba986..97f42e2c4 100644
--- a/src/particles.cpp
+++ b/src/particles.cpp
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ void ParticleManager::addNodeParticle(IGameDef* gamedef, scene::ISceneManager* s
 	video::ITexture *texture;
 
 	// Only use first frame of animated texture
-	if(tiles[texid].material_flags & MATERIAL_FLAG_ANIMATION)
+	if (tiles[texid].material_flags & MATERIAL_FLAG_ANIMATION)
 		texture = tiles[texid].frames[0].texture;
 	else
 		texture = tiles[texid].texture;
diff --git a/src/script/common/c_content.cpp b/src/script/common/c_content.cpp
index 6cd1d040b..b9bcfef69 100644
--- a/src/script/common/c_content.cpp
+++ b/src/script/common/c_content.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ struct EnumString es_TileAnimationType[] =
 {
 	{TAT_NONE, "none"},
 	{TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES, "vertical_frames"},
+	{TAT_SHEET_2D, "sheet_2d"},
 	{0, NULL},
 };
 
@@ -334,16 +335,26 @@ TileDef read_tiledef(lua_State *L, int index, u8 drawtype)
 		// animation = {}
 		lua_getfield(L, index, "animation");
 		if(lua_istable(L, -1)){
-			// {type="vertical_frames", aspect_w=16, aspect_h=16, length=2.0}
 			tiledef.animation.type = (TileAnimationType)
 				getenumfield(L, -1, "type", es_TileAnimationType,
 				TAT_NONE);
-			tiledef.animation.vertical_frames.aspect_w =
-				getintfield_default(L, -1, "aspect_w", 16);
-			tiledef.animation.vertical_frames.aspect_h =
-				getintfield_default(L, -1, "aspect_h", 16);
-			tiledef.animation.vertical_frames.length =
-				getfloatfield_default(L, -1, "length", 1.0);
+			if (tiledef.animation.type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES) {
+				// {type="vertical_frames", aspect_w=16, aspect_h=16, length=2.0}
+				tiledef.animation.vertical_frames.aspect_w =
+					getintfield_default(L, -1, "aspect_w", 16);
+				tiledef.animation.vertical_frames.aspect_h =
+					getintfield_default(L, -1, "aspect_h", 16);
+				tiledef.animation.vertical_frames.length =
+					getfloatfield_default(L, -1, "length", 1.0);
+			} else if (tiledef.animation.type == TAT_SHEET_2D) {
+				// {type="sheet_2d", frames_w=5, frames_h=3, frame_length=0.5}
+				getintfield(L, -1, "frames_w",
+					tiledef.animation.sheet_2d.frames_w);
+				getintfield(L, -1, "frames_h",
+					tiledef.animation.sheet_2d.frames_h);
+				getfloatfield(L, -1, "frame_length",
+					tiledef.animation.sheet_2d.frame_length);
+			}
 		}
 		lua_pop(L, 1);
 	}
diff --git a/src/tileanimation.cpp b/src/tileanimation.cpp
index 891478c9f..a23eecc2e 100644
--- a/src/tileanimation.cpp
+++ b/src/tileanimation.cpp
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 
 void TileAnimationParams::serialize(std::ostream &os, u16 protocol_version) const
 {
-	if(protocol_version < 29 /* TODO bump */) {
+	if (protocol_version < 29) {
 		if (type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES) {
 			writeU8(os, type);
 			writeU16(os, vertical_frames.aspect_w);
@@ -41,47 +41,69 @@ void TileAnimationParams::serialize(std::ostream &os, u16 protocol_version) cons
 		writeU16(os, vertical_frames.aspect_w);
 		writeU16(os, vertical_frames.aspect_h);
 		writeF1000(os, vertical_frames.length);
+	} else if (type == TAT_SHEET_2D) {
+		writeU8(os, sheet_2d.frames_w);
+		writeU8(os, sheet_2d.frames_h);
+		writeF1000(os, sheet_2d.frame_length);
 	}
 }
 
 void TileAnimationParams::deSerialize(std::istream &is, u16 protocol_version)
 {
 	type = (TileAnimationType) readU8(is);
-	if(protocol_version < 29 /* TODO bump */) {
+	if (protocol_version < 29) {
 		vertical_frames.aspect_w = readU16(is);
 		vertical_frames.aspect_h = readU16(is);
 		vertical_frames.length = readF1000(is);
 		return;
 	}
 
-	if(type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES) {
+	if (type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES) {
 		vertical_frames.aspect_w = readU16(is);
 		vertical_frames.aspect_h = readU16(is);
 		vertical_frames.length = readF1000(is);
+	} else if (type == TAT_SHEET_2D) {
+		sheet_2d.frames_w = readU8(is);
+		sheet_2d.frames_h = readU8(is);
+		sheet_2d.frame_length = readF1000(is);
 	}
 }
 
 void TileAnimationParams::determineParams(v2u32 texture_size, int *frame_count, int *frame_length_ms) const
 {
-	if (type == TAT_NONE) {
+	if (type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES) {
+		int frame_height = (float)texture_size.X /
+				(float)vertical_frames.aspect_w *
+				(float)vertical_frames.aspect_h;
+		int _frame_count = texture_size.Y / frame_height;
+		if (frame_count)
+			*frame_count = _frame_count;
+		if (frame_length_ms)
+			*frame_length_ms = 1000.0 * vertical_frames.length / _frame_count;
+	} else if (type == TAT_SHEET_2D) {
+		if (frame_count)
+			*frame_count = sheet_2d.frames_w * sheet_2d.frames_h;
+		if (frame_length_ms)
+			*frame_length_ms = 1000 * sheet_2d.frame_length;
+	} else { // TAT_NONE
 		*frame_count = 1;
 		*frame_length_ms = 1000;
-		return;
 	}
-	int frame_height = (float)texture_size.X /
-			(float)vertical_frames.aspect_w *
-			(float)vertical_frames.aspect_h;
-	if (frame_count)
-		*frame_count = texture_size.Y / frame_height;
-	if (frame_length_ms)
-		*frame_length_ms = 1000.0 * vertical_frames.length / (texture_size.Y / frame_height);
 }
 
 void TileAnimationParams::getTextureModifer(std::ostream &os, v2u32 texture_size, int frame) const
 {
 	if (type == TAT_NONE)
 		return;
-	int frame_count;
-	determineParams(texture_size, &frame_count, NULL);
-	os << "^[verticalframe:" << frame_count << ":" << frame;
+	if (type == TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES) {
+		int frame_count;
+		determineParams(texture_size, &frame_count, NULL);
+		os << "^[verticalframe:" << frame_count << ":" << frame;
+	} else if (type == TAT_SHEET_2D) {
+		int q, r;
+		q = frame / sheet_2d.frames_w;
+		r = frame % sheet_2d.frames_w;
+		os << "^[sheet:" << sheet_2d.frames_w << "x" << sheet_2d.frames_h
+			<< ":" << r << "," << q;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/tileanimation.h b/src/tileanimation.h
index d5172ed50..289ce515b 100644
--- a/src/tileanimation.h
+++ b/src/tileanimation.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 enum TileAnimationType {
 	TAT_NONE = 0,
 	TAT_VERTICAL_FRAMES = 1,
+	TAT_SHEET_2D = 2,
 };
 
 struct TileAnimationParams {
@@ -38,6 +39,11 @@ struct TileAnimationParams {
 			int aspect_h; // height for aspect ratio
 			float length; // seconds
 		} vertical_frames;
+		struct {
+			int frames_w; // number of frames left-to-right
+			int frames_h; // number of frames top-to-bottom
+			float frame_length; // seconds
+		} sheet_2d;
 	};
 
 	void serialize(std::ostream &os, u16 protocol_version) const;