The first snapshot for Minecraft 1.16, the “Nether Update,” has been released, giving us our first look at upcoming changes to the game. To install the snapshot, open up the Minecraft Launcher and enable snapshots in the “Installations” tab.

Tread carefully, however, as Snapshots can corrupt your saved worlds, so be sure to back everything up, or run the snapshot in a different folder from your main worlds.

  • Added new Nether blocks!Knockback resistance is now a scale instead of a probabilityAdded Crimson Forest biome to the NetherAdded Hoglins – they don’t do much yet, but they have cute flappy ears!Patrols no longer spawn when the player is close to any villageAdded Netherite!Added Soulsand Valley biome to the NetherWalls do not have gaps anymore when stacked verticallyAdded Warped Forest biome to the Nether

Blocks

Many new block types have been added!

  • Two new wood-like materials – Crimson Stems and Warped StemsBasalt blocks – you can find them as pillars but they can be placed in any directionNew ground surface blocks: Crimson Nylium and Warped NyliumNew vegetation: Nether Sprouts, Crimson Roots and Warped RootsTwo types of Fungi: Crimson and Warped – try using bone meal to grow them!Warped Wart blocksWeeping Vines that grow from the bottom of a block downwards!A new natural light source: ShroomlightsAdded Soul Soil! Whenever fire burns on Soul Soil, it burns with a blue flame!Soul Soil can be used to craft Soul Torches – and those can be crafted into Soul Lanterns!Using bone meal on Netherrack can now spread Nylium

Crimson Forest

Crimson Forests can now be found in the Nether!

  • Crimson nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetationHuge Crimson Fungi make up the “trees” of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floorWeeping Vines grow from the cave ceilings and fungiHoglins wander these forestsCrimson spores swirl through the air

Netherite

  • A new high-level material found in the Nether. Use it to upgrade your diamond gear!

How to make Netherite

  • Mine Ancient Debris in the lower depths of the Nether. At own risk. No insurance coverage for thatRefine it into Netherite Scrap in a Furnace (although that’s kind of slow so you might want a Blast Furnace)Combine 4 Nether Scrap with 4 Gold Ingots in a crafting table to make a Netherite Ingot

Netherite Effects

  • Netherite items float in lava so you don’t lose all your gear after that unplanned lava bathNetherite items have higher enchantment value than diamond (but not as high as gold)Netherite tools work faster and last longer than diamondNetherite weapons do more damage than diamondNetherite armor have higher toughness and durability than diamondNetherite armor gives you knockback resistance, so you barely get knocked back at all when hit by arrows and such…and it looks cool!

Soulsand Valley

Soulsand Valleys can now be found in the Nether!

  • An open space made mostly of Soul Sand and Soul SoilBasalt pillars span from floor to ceilingFossil remains of unknown creatures from the past litter the valleyAsh falls through the airA light blue glow envelopes the valleyBeware of Skeletons here!

Sounds

  • Ghasts sounds are now heard at a shorter rangeUpdated block sounds for Bone Blocks, Netherrack, Soul Sand, Netherwart, Nether Bricks and Quartz Ore

Warped Forest

Warped Forests can now be found in the Nether!

  • Warped nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetationHuge Warped Fungi make up the “trees” of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floorA dark blue fog covers the forestWarped spores swirl through the airThe Warped Forests are strange, but also the least hostile place of Nether

World Generation

  • The old Nether biome is now called Nether WastesMade shipwrecks and ocean ruins a bit less common, so you get more excited when you find one!

Technical Changes

  • Added a locatebiome command

Commands

Locatebiome

New command that locates a specified biome. Useful in creative mode when you’relooking for a specific biome and don’t want to fly around randomly searching for it.Syntax: locatebiome Parameters:

  • biome – The id of the biome to find

Particles

  • New particle types: ash, crimson_spore, soul_fire_flame and warped_spore

Rendering

  • Nailed Entity shadows to the ground.

Fixed Bugs

  • MC-17431 – Shift-clicking stacked items with a data tag into the enchanting table GUI removes data tags from the moved itemMC-45619 – Water, Signs, Vines, Torches etc. in the same block as item frame break item frame’s redstone signalMC-52178 – Cape doesn’t move down while sneaking / Cape detaches from body while sneakingMC-59363 – Items in item frames are deleted if both mouse buttons are used simultaneouslyMC-82235 – Baby pigs turn into adult zombie pigmen when struck by lightningMC-92889 – Mending doesn’t always consume experience if the player wears items with mending that are already fully repairedMC-93198 – Throwing potions / throwable projectiles causes both hands to bob up and downMC-93631 – Pistons pop off blocks attached to their back when retractingMC-96436 – Eggs/snowballs/xp-bottles break instantly when thrown while riding a horseMC-97958 – Small slime has no jump or squish soundMC-103655 – Cats don’t stand up when using right click on them while they’re sitting on chests or bedsMC-109370 – Bottom face of column blocks are rotated 180 degreesMC-109844 – en_us.json contains unused stringsMC-109850 – Redstone wire doesn’t have a bottom textureMC-112630 – Carrot on a stick cannot be brokenMC-113381 – Falling dust particles of anvil and concrete powder blocks are blackMC-120335 – Flower pot bottom texture is not rendered because of incorrect “uv” values in the model fileMC-131440 – The message for trying to sleep at the wrong time implies that you can only sleep at night during a thunderstormMC-131770 – Rain particles appear one block below the water or lava surfaceMC-132607 – Splitting slimes and magma cubes do not copy NoAI valueMC-134162 – Item entities can break turtle eggsMC-136868 – Ignited TNT, arrow or trident turns black when it falls on soul sand or snow layersMC-138600 – Cats don’t bring gifts if they have already decided to sit on your bedMC-140544 – Pickaxes don’t speed up piston breakingMC-148474 – Sloped powered detector rails break when pushed or pulled by a pistonMC-149052 – Stonecutter recipe list doesn’t show item tooltipsMC-149776 – Cartography Table requires string for the recipe to show up in the recipe bookMC-150020 – Composter is in the “Miscellaneous” category instead of “Decoration” like the other workstation blocksMC-154867 – Tamed cats remain sitting if the world is reloaded while the cat is sitting on a chestMC-158807 – You can remove cursed enchantments on items by repairing them in inventoryMC-159300 – Villagers that have been infected by a zombie can despawn, even if they have been traded withMC-159773 – Shulkers can teleport to non-solid faces, and don’t teleport to some solid facesMC-159918 – Foxes don’t run from polar bearsMC-159963 – Minecarts can break turtle eggsMC-160897 – Dropping an item using the drop key displays the hand animation but dropping items from within the inventory does notMC-160902 – Arm swings when right-clicking on full minecartMC-161156 – Silverfish and endermites appear black on soul sandMC-161259 – Using the carrot on a stick while riding a pig plays no hand animationMC-162881 – Composter doesn’t display particles when being fed composting items through a hopperMC-163286 – /setblock ~ ~ ~ air destroy does not destroy liquidsMC-164184 – Breaking a shulker box with contents in Creative mode drops the block at an incorrect locationMC-164948 – Entity shadow renders through transparent blocksMC-167077 – Foxes sleep on top of honey blocks, even in broad daylightMC-167512 – Glass in the hand is rendered differently depending on the “Clouds” settingMC-167989 – Spawn point is not set when monsters are nearbyMC-168540 – Threads created by net.minecraft.Util.backgroundExecutor() have misleading namesMC-168772 – Experience orbs can crush turtle eggsMC-169679 – Composters do not make sounds when fed by hoppersMC-169692 – Entity shadow floats slightly above the groundMC-169832 – Transparent item models have inconsistent rendering when a glowing entity is presentMC-170128 – Cannot build an EntityType without a datafixer due to an IllegalArgumentException