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That may be the case, but layers are not handled the same in an xref as they are in a block. The layers in a block are assumed as normal layers in a drawing. Layers in an Xref appear as XREF|Layer, and therefore are treated separately. Yes, you still need to watch the layer it is inserted on, but the layers inside can be any name because they are kept separate from the current drawing. Our standard is to insert all Xrefs on the XREF layer.
A "BLOCK" is simply a collection of entities put into a package with a name. That's why XREFs and BLOCKs are basically the same. I have the worst time trying to explain to co-workers that when you WBLOCK (write block) something out of a drawing, the written BLOCK is just another DWG file that can be opened and edited. They always say "I thought I was creating a block, not a drawing file".
Technically, a DWG file is a block also. Ever notice when you create a block INSIDE of a drawing with a couple of entities in it on layer 0 and then write that block (as a block) out to a drawing file, it keeps the current layer at the time the block was written to DWG inside the new DWG file? Even though there are no entities on that layer?
Regardless, we use layer 0 in our blocks also but only for symbol blocks. Larger blocks that aren't necessarily xrefs (Building footprints, etc.) have all kinds of layers and linework in them and the process works great for us.