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I've been watching testnet for a few minutes and I haven't seen a block come in yet. I'm testing some code that works with incoming validated blocks, and I'd like to test it out.

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Blocks on testnet3 are intermittent; sometimes there's hundreds of blocks a second, massive reorganisations that strike out tens of thousands of blocks, or no blocks for many hours. This is largely due its zero value and the difficulty adjustment rules that don't deal well with changes in hash rate. Generally no software is tested here other than for public demonstrations as a result.

For more reliable testing the regtest mode exists in Bitcoin Core which allows you to instantly create blocks on demand in your own isolated testnet with as many peers as desirable.

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    My understanding is that "no blocks for many hours" can't happen because of the 20 minute rule.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 0:40
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    Even a difficulty 1 block needs one miner. The way it's implemented in Bitcoin Core is sort of buggy so external miners often don't see the difficulty drop block properly too. There's no point in fixing it at this point.
    – Claris
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 0:41

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