Mojang

Playstation and Xbox Editions get humongous update

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 10:36:00 +0000

Hello!

We’ve just updated Minecraft for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, and Playstation 4 with a staggering amount of features. Yes, we’re constantly improving Minecraft on all platforms but this is actually our biggest update ever, bringing the console versions closer to the current PC build than they’ve ever been before.

To prove this, I present the following changelog which will require significant amounts of vertical scrolling. From henceforth, this update will be known as “Update 1.8.8.”

Two quick notes about 1.8.8 on other consoles before we get into it: the update is slightly delayed for Minecraft on Playstation Vita so expect it to arrive in the next few days. And, though we’re working hard to bring these features to Nintendo’s console, 1.8.8 won’t be available on Wii U until some time next year.

OK! Enough chatter. Let’s go!

New items for all modes

Armour Stand, Raw Rabbit, Cooked Rabbit, Rabbit Stew, Raw Mutton, Cooked Mutton, Rabbit’s Foot, Rabbit Hide, Potion of Leaping, Potion of Water Breathing, Salmon, Cooked Salmon, Clownfish, Pufferfish, Blue Orchid, Allium, Azure Bluet, Tulips, Oxeye Daisy, Sunflower, Lilac, Poppy (replaces Rose), Rose Bush, Peony, Double Tall Grass, Large Ferns, Prismarine Crystals, and Prismarine Shard have all been added!

New items for Creative Mode

Rabbit Spawn Egg, Endermite Spawn Egg, and Guardian Spawn Egg can now be used in Creative Mode.

New blocks

Podzol, Granite, Polished Granite, Andesite, Polished Andesite, Diorite, Polished Diorite, Prismarine, Dark Prismarine, Prismarine Bricks, Red Sand, Red Sandstone, Smooth Red Sandstone, Chiseled Red Sandstone, Red Sandstone Stairs, Sea Lanterns, Wet Sponge, Slime Blocks, Coarse Dirt, Packed Ice, Acacia Saplings, and Dark Oak Saplings are now available in-game.

New mobs

Endermite, Guardian, Elder Guardian, Rabbit, and Chicken Jockey now roam the lands!

New biomes

Mesa, Mega Taiga, Roofed Forest, Birch Forest, Forest, Savanna, Extreme Hills+, Deep Ocean, and Snowless Taiga are all available for exploration.

More features that I’ll list using bullet points to save bandwidth

Treasure can now be caught while fishing. There are a lot of cool things to find!
Enchanting now consumes Lapis Lazuli, and enchanting books can receive multiple enchants at once.
Villagers now have additional professions, and will harvest crops and breed. To encourage that kind of behaviour, give them 3 bread, 12 carrots, or 1 potato. They’ll also turn into Witches when struck by lightning.
Now any rectangular shape from 4x5 to 23x23 will work as a Nether Portal. Ghasts can travel through them too.
You can use Pumpkins or Wither Skeleton Skulls to spawn Golems and Withers.
We’ve rebalanced the Anvils.
Moss Stone, Mossy Stone Bricks and Chiseled Stone Bricks are now obtainable via crafting.
You can now use a furnace to create Cracked Stone Bricks and Sponge.
Empty Furnaces will now only accept fuel and empty Buckets in the fuel slot.
Item Frames now emit a Redstone signal, and can rotate in 8 directions.
Redstone comparators can now detect the rotation of an item in an item frame and output an equivalent power signal.
Buttons can now be placed on the top and bottom of blocks.
Powered Activator rails now dismount entities riding Minecarts.
Water-filled Cauldrons will put out burning entities, taking away one water level each time.
When harvested with Silk Touch enchantment, Huge Mushroom Blocks drop blocks with corresponding Mushroom texture (red or brown) on all sides.
We’ve reintroduced Sponge to Survival Mode with new behaviour and texture.
Sugar Cane colour is now affected by biome.
Baby Zombies now drop XP Orbs.
Creepers can now be ignited with Flint and Steel.
Adult Zombie Pigmen will now forgive after a short time.
Witches now drink a Potion of Water Breathing when they are trapped underwater and can drop a Potion of Water Breathing upon death.
Melons can now be found in patches similar to Pumpkins in the Jungle Biome.
Swamp Biomes now feature Blue Orchid Flowers.
Plains Biomes now generate Azure Bluets, Oxeye Daises, Tulips, and Double Tall Grass.
Extreme Hills Biomes now feature Snow at higher elevations.
Ocean Biomes now only feature Gravel on the floor instead of Sand, Dirt and Gravel.
Desert Temples spawn with Stained Clay instead of Dyed Wool.
Ocean Monuments now feature.
New enchantments - Luck of the Sea (I-III), Lure (I-III), Depth Strider (I-III) -have been added.

More fixes and tweaks which subtly make the game more enjoyable

Sheep now drop Mutton when they die.
Arrows decelerate more quickly underwater and extinguish if on fire.
Most mobs can now swim.
Skeletons flee from wolves.
Creepers, Skeletons, Wither Skeletons and Zombies drop their heads when killed by Charged Creepers.
Spiders no longer see players through solid blocks.
Baby mobs growth can be accelerated by feeding them.
Fix for players adding additional layers above the maximum height in Superflat.
Added Flint and Steel and Fire Charge sound effect when igniting blocks.
Updated audio for Cows and Mooshrooms.
Updated audio for Minecarts.
Created a new Tutorial World.

Phew! I am exhausted. Enjoy 1.8.8, and have a fantastic holiday, kind crafter folk!

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4 out soon! New trailer!

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 16:00:00 +0000

Hello!

We’re happy to announce that Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4: will be available on all platforms this December 22nd! And I have a trailer!

For what it’s worth, Episode 4 is my favourite section of Minecraft: Story Mode so far. It includes cameos from the cutest mobs in the game, a journey to a distant land, and the [REDACTED] of [REDACTED]. It really is quite [REDACTED].

Have a [REDACTED] holiday, everyone!

[REDACTED] - @bopogamel

Minecraft: Wii U Edition now available to download

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Hello!

It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was writing about Nintendo. Now the day has finally come! Minecraft: Wii U Edition is rolling out to eShops worldwide.

Minecraft: Wii U Edition costs $29.99 or equivalent and comes bundled with six of our most popular add-on packs, giving you the chance to tweak the styling of your in-game character and world. The Battle & Beasts Skin Pack, Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack, Natural Texture Pack, City Texture Pack, Fantasy Texture Pack, and Festive Mash-up Pack are all included.

Just like all editions of Minecraft, Wii U Edition will be updated over time with fixes and features. Today, Minecraft: Wii U Edition stands at version 1.6.4 (if you compare it to our other console releases), but we’re working hard to get it synced up with the most recent updates.

Wii U Edition also supports off-screen play, so you can play on the GamePad if your TV explodes, the remote goes missing, or if someone else insists on showing one of those fireplace videos to create some festive ambiance.

Download and have fun, Nintendo fans. We’re extremely thankful to launch our game on another awesome platform, and delighted to introduce a new chunk of players to the world of Minecraft!

Happy holidays everyone!

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft snapshot 15w51b

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 13:46:00 +0000

Update: Snapshot 15w51b is now available and fixes a crash in the AI and pathfinding code.

The snapshots decided to take a vacation to celebrate christmas, but we could convince them of one last appearance before they disappear for the rest of the year. But no worries, the developers are also on vacation, so there won’t be any changes in the game that you could miss.

As a special guest star we have the bug fix for one of our most popular recent bugs included in this weeks snapshot. The world generator will now no longer take a coffee break while the player is riding a horse or using a boat. And I was told that even riding a minecart is on that list.

Notable changes:

Fixed many more bugs
The glow effect is now 23% better looking
Another 12 lines tweaked in the AI code
World generation doesn’t stop anymore when players are riding boats, horses, minecarts or ghasts.

Bugs fixed in this snapshot:

[Bug MC-3564] - Debug message “Unable to locate Sign at (x, y, z)” left inside Minecraft Client
[Bug MC-13046] - Certain supported characters glitch out, clearing out lines of text.
[Bug MC-44493] - Some Enchantment Text is too long
[Bug MC-51725] - Gamerule doMobLoot does not affect the dropping of music discs
[Bug MC-69072] - “/worldborder warning distance/time” throws an error when used without arguments
[Bug MC-73886] - Villager don’t recognize blocked doors correctly
[Bug MC-75256] - Spawnprotection is also spawn randomization size
[Bug MC-85709] - The Enderdragon is incorrect outlined, when it has the Glowing Effect
[Bug MC-86099] - The outline of Glowing Guardian’s tail is bigger than the tail itself
[Bug MC-87559] - Gamerule missing indicator for affected gamerule
[Bug MC-89246] - When the “glowing” effect finishes on an entity it un-renders things for one frame
[Bug MC-89915] - Chunks don’t load when you are in a minecart/on a horse/pig
[Bug MC-89954] - All boat types drop oak wood planks
[Bug MC-90585] - Navigating on a boat wearing Frost Walker Enchantment frosts the water layer below the boat.
[Bug MC-92915] - Items, blocks & XP orbs appear transparent and/or gray when picked up
[Bug MC-93474] - Players can place End Crystal in Adventure mode
[Bug MC-93483] - Spectators opening LootTable Chests will generate the items inside
[Bug MC-93503] - Inner elytra texture not rendered while holding skulls
[Bug MC-93532] - Holding items will minimal brighten elytra
[Bug MC-93614] - Bats fly from creative players
[Bug MC-93622] - Endermen remain hostile after switching gamemodes.
[Bug MC-93772] - Mobs follow player in creative and spectator mode
[Bug MC-93844] - Transparent hat pixels on skull render opaque
[Bug MC-93944] - Default resource pack is ordered topmost until closing and re-entering the resource pack dialogue
[Bug MC-94010] - Wolves joining an attack stay aggressive on player even after changing gamemode
[Bug MC-94252] - ArmorStands’ DisabledSlots incorrect flags implementation
[Bug MC-94295] - Ender dragon respawns on its own in pre-1.9 worlds

Please report any and all bugs you find in Minecraft to bugs.mojang.com. If nobody reports a bug, we can’t fix it!

To get snapshots, open your launcher and press the “New Profile” button. Call it “snapshots” and check the box saying “Enable experimental development snapshots” and save. To switch to the normal version, you can select it in the dropdown at the bottom left corner of the launcher. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (See the “new profile” dialog).

Snapshots can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.

Cross-platform server jar:

Minecraft server jar

Report bugs here:

Minecraft issue tracker!

Pocket Edition gets Festive Skin Pack! Bug fixes!

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:59:00 +0000

Hello!

The holidays are almost upon us! Family, friends, food, fantastic video games.

We know you guys like dressing up at this time of year, so we created a festive skin pack for Pocket Edition as well as the Windows 10 Edition beta. It’s available to download today and costs $1.99 or equivalent.

The pack includes festive classics like Santa, his wife, and an elf, but we’ve also made a bundle of wintery looks that are… like… totes wearable throughout the rest of winter. Dedicated skin enthusiasts will also notice that this is the first pack for Windows 10 Edition Beta and Pocket to include extra geometry. That basically means we’ve tweaked the character models slightly to make them look extra cool.

In other news, we’ve quashed lots of bugs, but they’re so boring I can’t quite bring myself to type them out here. Just play in the knowledge that the game is slightly better than last time you loaded it up.

Oh! One more thing - though the illustration at the top of this post includes a much-requested feature for Pocket Edition and the Windows 10 Edition Beta - maps - they aren’t ready to be patched in quite yet. Think of it as a teaser for the next update.

Have a nice day, everyone!

Owen - @bopogamel

Realms price drop! Free trials!

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:31:00 +0000

Hello!

It seems the holiday spirit has gotten the best of us. We’re reducing the price of Minecraft Realms, and offering free 30-day trials to anyone who hasn’t previously owned a Realm.

I don’t know what Realms is! I am confused

Realms is a safe, simple way to enjoy an online Minecraft world with friends. Realms worlds are always available and only open to people you invite, so you don’t need to worry about mean people blowing up your creations or stealing your resources. Only the host of the world needs to pay, and up to ten players can hang out on a Realm at any one time.

Realms supports loads of exciting mini-games and custom spawns, and the owner of the Realm can switch between them at will. Though we’re excited to bring Minecraft Realms to other editions of Minecraft, it’s currently only available on the PC Java Edition.

You mentioned a trial? A FREE trial?

Anyone who hasn’t previously owned a Realm can now sign up for a 30 day trial via the Realms menu in your client. We don’t even force you to enter your credit card details because we’re nice like that.

Tell me about the lower prices!

I can do that!

A 30 day subscription to Minecraft Realms used to cost £8/€10/$13. Now it’s a mere £6.99/€8.99/$9.99.

90 days of mini-games, cool spawns, and procedurally generated worlds used to cost £21/€26/$35. Now it’ll set you back £18.99/€23.99/$26.99.

180 days of online fun via our 100%-official-online-world-solution-for-dedicated-fans, Minecraft Realms, used to cost £38/€46/$62. Now it’s just £33.99/€42.99/$47.99

You can also pay for Realms on a reccuring subscription that gets conveniently removed from your bank account per month. Pay for Realms this way and you’ll end up paying the same per month as if you bought a six month bundle. On a recurring subscription, Realms now costs £5.59/€7.19/$7.99 per 30 days.

But I just subscribed at the higher price?! Compensate me!

OK! Considering the idea for a price reduction came to us in a moment of kind inspiration, we’re compensating anyone who’s purchased or topped up their Realms subscription in the past 45 days.

If you bought 30 days of Realms since November, you get a bonus 15 days. Anyone who’s bought 90 days gets an additional 45 days free. And if you invested in 180 days of Minecraft Realms you get a whopping 90 days free-of-charge.

All Realms pre-paid cards will now give you an extra 10 days of subscription.

What a clear, well-written post! I have no more questions!

Great! Thanks! In that case, I will bid you farewell and continue on my merry way.

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft snapshot 15w50a

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 14:47:00 +0000

Bugs. More bugs. They are everywhere. But more and more of them get removed every week. So here is another development snapshot that hopefully fixes more bugs than it introduces. If your “favorite” bug is still not fixed in this version, do not worry. All important bugs will be fixed before we even consider releasing a final 1.9 version of the game.

As always, if you want us to look into certain bugs with higher priority, vote for the most annoying bugs on our bug tracker to draw our attention to them. We will eventually dedicate some time to look into the highest voted bugs irrespective of their severity.

Notable changes:

More bugs are fixed
Order of issues on todo list inverted
More sounds are still being added
The AI is now another 1.79% smarter than before
Working on todo list from bottom to top now
Monster try to avoid more dangerous things in the world

Please report any and all bugs you find in Minecraft to bugs.mojang.com. If nobody reports a bug, we can’t fix it!

To get snapshots, open your launcher and press the “New Profile” button. Call it “snapshots” and check the box saying “Enable experimental development snapshots” and save. To switch to the normal version, you can select it in the dropdown at the bottom left corner of the launcher. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (See the “new profile” dialog).

Snapshots can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.

Cross-platform server jar:

Minecraft server jar

Report bugs here:

Minecraft issue tracker!

Check out the new trailer for Pocket and Windows 10

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 14:42:00 +0000

Hey!

As you might have noticed from our last update, Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta have been getting a lot of love over the past few months. To celebrate, we’ve created a brand-new trailer that shows off some of the newer features to a soothing melody. It really is quite charming.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition is available on the Amazon, the App Store, and the Google Play store. Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta runs on Windows 10, obv!

All editions feature snazzy cross-play with the others so you can play with all your buddies, no matter their device. Give them a try if you haven’t already!

Have a great day, everyone.

Owen - @bopogamel

The making of Hour of Code

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 13:21:00 +0000

Hello!

You might remember the Hour of Code tutorial we released a few weeks ago. It’s still around, so give it a try if you’d like to learn the basics of programming through a Minecraft-themed set of challenges.

Creating the Hour of Code was a rewarding experience for everyone involved, and you guys seemed to really like it too. With that in mind, we created this chirpy video that explains some of the thinking behind development.

If you’re having any issues progressing through the challenges, or introducing your friends/family/students to the Hour of Code, this tutorial from Steve Isaacs, a teacher at William Annin Middle School, might help. He manages to complete the Hour of Code in under 38 minutes, which might be some kind of speed run record.

Have a good day, everyone!

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft coming to Nintendo Wii U

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 09:21:00 +0000

Hello!

I bring exciting news!

That’s a surprise, eh?* Anyway, now it’s 100% official. Minecraft is launching on Nintendo’s Wii U console on December 17th. It’ll cost $29:99 or equivalent, will be available to download on the eShop, and comes bundled with six of our most popular add-on packs. There’s even a Festive mash-up included just in time for the holidays.

We’ll be adding more content packs to Wii U Edition in the near future (Wa-hoo!), and updating the core game with free updates, just like our other platforms. As a quick reminder: all DLC packs are optional. You can have significant amounts of fun playing Minecraft without spending extra cash.

Minecraft: Wii U Edition will also feature off-TV play, so you can continue playing on the Gamepad when other people want to use the TV for less fun things like movies or other video games.

We’ll have more to share on Minecraft: Wii U Edition closer to its release. Looking forward to welcoming you to the world of Minecraft, Nintendo fans!

Owen - @bopogamel

*Minecraft: Wii U Edition will have an ESRB rating of E10 and a PEGI rating of 7 for “fantasy violence.”