Clarification on UID creation I have a series of matrix blocks that use a ton of the same fields and was hoping I could simply duplicate them in the database and update the context and id of the fields. It'd be a LOT faster this way however i'm unsure of the UID column, how/when that is created and if i should leave it blank, or if that column existing means i'm going to have to it all manually
As aberkie pointed out, Craft does use them internally, but they should not be left blank or you'll potentially run into some issues now and you'll miss out on some upcoming features.

You can programmatically create one with StringHelper::UUID or use a site like guidgen.com to get a valid one.