Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w42a introduces Minecraft 1.20 features
What you need to know
Minecraft 1.20 is the next major content update for the ongoing survival game, revealed during Minecraft Live 2022.
As part of its renewed committment to transparency, Mojang Studios only announced four features.
It was announced that all four of the features were far along in development and almost ready for testing.
Less than a week later, all the initial Minecraft 1.20 features are available in Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w42a.
Players have been waiting with bated breath for news of the next named content update for Minecraft, the never-ending creative-survival title from Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Less than a week ago, the silence was finally broken and the first handful of features from the upcoming update was revealed. On Wednesday, Mojang Studios released the first Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot testing these nascent features.
Minecraft players will be able to get their hands on four brand-new features from the 1.20 update as part of an experimental toggle within the new snapshot. This quick turnaround is part of Mojang Studios' efforts to improve its communication and transparency with the community, and to only show off or announce features that are far along in development. This shift allows the Minecraft team to rapidly release new content for testing shortly after its reveal.
Minecraft 1.20 was initially revealed as a part of Minecraft Live 2022, although many details are not available at the moment. We know that the future Minecraft update is centered around player expression, creativity, and representation, and that Mojang Studios will continue to announce and co-develop new features with the community as they're ready. The finished Minecraft 1.20 update should release sometime in 2023.
Thanks to its far-reaching community and deeply-rooted mod support, Minecraft: Java Edition is an indelible part of the best games on PC. Now, players of the legacy Minecraft version can be among the first to test new Minecraft 1.20 features in Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w42a, available now. Even if you don't own this edition, Minecraft: Java Edition is now offered through PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
The full changelog for Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w42a includes:
Experimental 1.20 features
General
Some experimental features now need to be enabled to appear in worlds
Such features are enabled by adding a built-in datapack when creating a world
Feature toggles are meant to hide unfinished or experimental features, to make sure your existing worlds remain unaffected
Worlds that are using experimental features will be marked as “Experimental” in world selection list
Experimental features cannot be toggled for existing worlds
Bamboo wood set
A new set of Bamboo wood blocks are now available when Update 1.20 experimental features are enabled
New wood blocks:
Bamboo Planks
Bamboo Door
Bamboo Trapdoor
Bamboo Sign
Bamboo Stairs
Bamboo Slab
Bamboo Fence
Bamboo Fence Gate
Bamboo Button
Bamboo Pressure Plate
Bamboo Planks can be crafted with 2x2 Bamboo items
Added a new “Mosaic” plank variant that is unique to Bamboo called Bamboo Mosaic
It can be crafted with 1x2 Bamboo Slabs in a vertical strip
You can craft Stair and Slab variants of Bamboo Mosaic
Added a unique Bamboo Raft and Bamboo Chest Raft which can be crafted like normal boats, but with Bamboo Planks
They function the same as ordinary boats, but have a unique look to them
Camels
Camels are now available when Update 1.20 experimental features are enabled
Camels can be equipped with a saddle and ridden by two players
Camels spawn naturally in Desert Villages
Camels are tall
Most hostile mobs will not be able to reach you when you are on a Camel
They can walk over fences without a sweat
Camels are very graceful, but grumpy mobs
They randomly sit down
While sitting, it is difficult to convince them to move
Camels can either walk slowly or sprint quickly
They can also dash forward but will lose stamina for a while when doing so
Chiseled Bookshelves
A new, chiseled variation of the Bookshelf is now available when Update 1.20 experimental features are enabled
Crafted with 6 planks and 3 wooden slabs
Can store Books, Book and Quills, Written Books, and Enchanted Books
Holds up to 6 books
Keeps the stories and lore of your world safe
Comparators can detect the last book placed / removed
Perfect for hiding secrets in your spooky library
Hanging Signs
Ever wanted to hang up your signs? Fetch a few chains, strip some logs, and now you can! Hanging signs are now available when Update 1.20 experimental features are enabled
Hanging Signs are a more expensive version of normal Signs
Crafted with 2 chains and 6 stripped logs of your preferred wood type
Crafting results in 6 Hanging Signs
Can be hung up in the following ways:
Underneath a block that can provide support in the center, like a full block or a fence
Attached to the solid side of a block
Attached to the side or underneath another Hanging Sign
Unlike normal Signs, they cannot be placed directly on the ground without support from the side or above
However, Hanging Signs that have a horizontal bar will not pop when the supporting block is removed
Sounds
Various wood types now have unique sounds when placed, broken, or walked on
There are three sets of unique sounds: Overworld wood types, Nether wood types, and Bamboo
Features & bug fixes
Features
Some experimental features are now available through built-in experimental datapacks
Bundles are now available as an experimental feature
Added a new “Panorama Scroll Speed” accessibility option
Changes
Reworked the Creative Inventory tabs
Changes to chat
The Realms News button will now show a confirmation screen before opening the link
Stronghold placement code has been changed to be more efficient, causing stronghold positions to shift
They are still placed in concentric rings, but their positions in the rings may change by a few degrees
Chat
Removed Chat Preview
Chat messages deleted by server moderators will no longer be completely hidden, but rather replaced with text stating “This chat message has been deleted by the server.”
Deleted chat messages will now be displayed in the chat window for at least 3 total seconds before being hidden
The Chat Trust Status indicators have been tweaked:
The ‘Modified’ tag will no longer display for server-modified messages where only style has been changed
The ‘Modified’ tag icon and indicator is now dark gray
The ‘Not Secure’ tag is now light gray and does not have an icon
Partially filtered chat messages now show the filtered text as gray hashes with a hover text saying that it was filtered
Creative inventory
The ordering of tabs and the contents in the Creative Inventory have been tweaked to make the experience of finding relevant blocks and items easier
Blocks and items have been moved into categories that fit them better
Blocks are now ordered by their material as much as possible
For example, all Oak blocks and variants are now next to each other
Some items can now be found in more than one tab
Various tabs have been renamed or collapsed into others
The search tab now lists items sequentially grouped by the other tabs
For example, items found in Building Blocks will always appear before items in Redstone Blocks
Petrified Oak Slab has been removed from the Creative Inventory
It can still be accessed through commands
This is a first iteration to bring a better experience to the Creative Inventory, and we will look closely at the feedback for these changes to iterate as needed
Fixed bugs
Mobs build up fall damage when dangling on a lead
Rabbits sometimes don’t drop any raw rabbit upon being killed
Jumping on farmland pushes the player a bit
Can’t hold "Q" to drop items rapidly from container inventories
Clicking a settings button when there’s a slider under the mouse in the next screen plays the click sound twice
The “Programmer Art” resource pack is internally called “programer_art”
Mobs can spawn on scaffolding
Jukebox music sound originates from north-west edge of the block
Mobs are able to spawn on Chorus Flowers
Chest latch doesn’t rotate properly
Click sound of sliders in the video settings noticeably louder than anywhere else
Composter filling sounds originate from the bottom northwest corner of the block
Spawnpoint set on respawn anchor using `/spawnpoint` depletes glowstone charge, and doesn’t stay on respawn anchor if its charge is depleted
Nether and warped wart blocks do not come after leaves in the Creative inventory
Donkeys, mules and undead horses cannot be saddled by right-clicking
The sounds for collecting honey in a bottle and collecting honeycomb with shears is categorised under friendly creatures
Villagers breed when not standing up
You can set your spawn point inside an end portal, causing the player to become stuck in the End
Horse armor and carpets cannot be equipped onto horses or llamas by right-clicking them whilst having these items held in your hand
One farmland block in `plains_large_farm_1` has moisture level `0`
Torches and soul torches aren’t grouped together in the creative inventory
Obsidians aren’t grouped together in Creative
Cat can get off lead by teleporting when it gives a gift after sleeping
Multiplayer warning and Chat Preview warning are off center
Basalt and blackstone are not grouped together with other “polishable” stone types in the Creative inventory
Wart blocks and shroomlights are in different Creative tabs
Blackstone stairs & slabs are not grouped with the other stone type stairs & slabs
Beds and respawn anchors are not grouped in the Creative inventory
Inconsistency: Barriers and structure voids produce particles when broken, but light blocks do not
Netherite scrap comes after netherite ingot in the creative inventory
Mob pathfinding fails under certain circumstances / mobs fall on closed turns
Axolotls pathfinding to water can sometimes fall in wide holes
Inconsistency: Blocks are not placed correctly in Creative inventory
Pointed dripstone is not grouped with dripstone blocks in the creative inventory
Moss Block appears in the wrong creative inventory tab
Emerald block in creative inventory looks out of place
Melons can generate underwater
Worldgen data packs don’t work on servers at first launch
Pressure plates don’t activate even though visually they should
Water rendering incorrectly through frogspawn hitbox / model
Frogs can sometimes fall into deep holes when pathfinding to entities
The sounds of splashing when creating mud aren’t controlled by the “Blocks” sound slider
Rabbits ignore the `MoreCarrotTicks` value, causing them to always try to eat carrots
Map color for mud brick slab is no longer consistent with map color for other mud brick blocks
Shulkers in boats with chests are lowered
Frogspawn is not grouped with turtle eggs in the Creative inventory
Allay’s wings are not attached to its body
Allays don’t render semi-transparent when invisible where appropriate
Allay renders too low in boat, boat with chest, minecart and entities
Allays attempt to pathfind to items that are outside of the world border
Parity Issue: Allays hesitate for a few seconds before following, throwing items, or doing other actions in Java
New advancement “Birthday Song” grants no experience
Parity Issue: Allays pick up arrow / potion items with other effects than the ones they’re holding
The `minecraft:entity.tadpole.grow_up` sound event doesn’t have a translation key
Frog frequently fails to long jump to small blocks
`minecraft.used:minecraft.goat_horn` doesn’t increase when using goat horns
Allay has a transparent texture but it is not transparent in game
Allay’s poses, flying animations, and dancing animations for duping differ from Bedrock’s, causing intense clipping, inconsistencies, choppy movements, and strange item positioning
Chat preview can overlap chat contents if the message is long enough
The chat preview warning menu is forcibly closed when the player dies or changes dimensions
Bedrock Edition’s new 1.19.10 splash text is not available on Java 1.19
Allay duplicates Items when its NBT data is updated every tick
Allays can dance while panicking
Allays with NoAI can dance
The screen is sometimes flashed with the “Loading terrain…” screen after proceeding with the chat preview warning when all nearby chunks are loaded
Vibration particle faces at a constant pitch of about 60 degrees, not pointing towards the target
Breeding a Screaming Goat and a Regular Goat never results in a screaming goat
Command suggestions can overlap the chat preview field when the chat preview option is set to “When Sending”
Secure Chat warning toast can appear on singleplayer worlds
Nether portals cannot replace snow layers
“Narrator Disabled” pop-up doesn’t render fully
Crash when a villager with a gossip of value 0 shares gossips
`net.minecraft.client.Camera#getMaxZoom(double)` issue
Sculk Shrieker warning level resets to 0 after player’s death
Menu panorama stops spinning after several days
Explosions create ghost blocks on servers at high coordinates
Technical changes
General
Added Feature Flags — world options to enable or disable some experimental or unfinished features (like blocks, entities and items)
Network protocol changes
Instances of recipe types that have recipe books now have field `category` to determine placement
Network protocol
The network protocol now supports adding player entities to the world without being added to the `tab` player list
Servers can now lazily distribute players’ profile public keys along with their first chat packet
Message `headers` within the Secure Chat protocol no longer need to be distributed when private messages are sent
Contextual message references are now deduplicated for efficiency within the Secure Chat network protocol
Recipes
Crafting book categories / tabs can now be controlled by recipe definitions
Categories available for `shaped` / `shapeless` and various special crafting recipes:
`building`
`redstone`
`equipment`
`misc` (default)
Categories available for `smelting`, `blasting`, `smoking`, `campfire_cooking`
`food`
`blocks`
`misc` (default)
Some crafting books collapse multiple categories into a single tab
The exact mappings might change in the future
Resource packs
The Resource Pack version is now 11
Removed “fixers” for resource packs with versions 3 and 4 (pre-flattening)
The game will no longer try to adapt packs with those versions to the current version
Feature Flags
General
Feature flags are options that enable or disable certain groups of game elements (like blocks, entities and items), later called “features”
Game elements controlled by flags are hardcoded
Feature flags are stored in world
Configuration & datapack changes
Feature flags are enabled by datapacks
New pack metadata section called `features` is added, containing enabled feature flags in list named `enabled`
The game now contains built-in datapacks (similar to the “Programmer Art” resource pack) that enable features and provide associated recipes, advancements, loot tables, etcetera
Added new fields to `server.properties` to allow initial selection of packs (works only during world creation)
`initial-enabled-packs` — comma-separated list of packs to be enabled (feature packs need to be explicitly enabled)
`initial-disabled-packs` — comma-separated list of packs to not auto-enable
Datapacks discovered after world creation will be disabled if they require features that are not enabled for loaded world
Effects
Blocks
Disabled block ids are not recognized by commands that can create new blocks
Block items for disabled blocks are disabled
Disabled blocks won’t spawn in structures
Disabled blocks won’t be loaded as part of entities (for example as falling sand or blocks carried by Endermen)
Players can’t interact with disabled blocks
Entities
Disabled entity ids are not recognized by commands that can summon new entities
Disabled entities will not spawn or load
Spawn egg items for disabled entities are disabled
Items
Disabled items are hidden from creative menu
Recipes and loot tables are prevented from creating disabled items
Disabled item ids are not recognized by commands that can create new items
Disabled items can’t be used for interactions or attacking
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Mere days after first being revealed during Minecraft Live 2022, the first Minecraft 1.20 snapshot is now available to players with the initial four features in tow. Minecraft: Java Edition is available through PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.