The Minecraft Update — Open Beta (Full description & features)
Thank you for choosing the Minecraft Update open beta!
If you'd like to download an older version, find this mod on PlanetMinecraft for the legacy download link.
NOTICE: there are planned features that are not fully implemented.
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COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF CURRENT FEATURES (organized by release)
Beta 0.1
- Starter House
- A starter house now spawns on world generation containing basic materials (armor, tools, a minecart & tracks, and a bed). Spawns only once per world — take good care of it!
- Baobab Savannah
- Tall, dense baobab trees have killed most grass in this biome. Good place for wood; visually distinctive.
- Dry Forest
- A decaying forest where behemoths have become fossils. Shulkers can be found here; wood is rarer than other forests.
- Desert Plateau
- A flooded desert generating beaches and crystal-clear saltwater — a scenic spot for a base or vacation.
- Dreams
- Sleeping can (rarely) take you to a dream dimension — a foggy, monster-dense nightmare. There is one non-death way to escape; can you find it?
- Rhodium
- A rare metal that grants extreme protection but is poisonous. Causes a burning sensation — prolonged holding will kill the player.
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Beta 0.2
- Pine Forest — rare pine trees (logs are 5× stronger than normal wood). Boars spawn here.
- Boars — aggressive pig-like creatures that spawn in groups (previously up to 24). They retaliate as a pack; feeding baked potatoes pacifies them. More taming features planned.
- Hide — dropped by boars; can be "eaten" to obtain bonemeal (now also gives a small saturation in later updates).
- Watermark — displays the running version; will be removed in final release.
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Beta 0.3
- Updated to Minecraft 1.20.
- Hide now grants a small amount of saturation when consumed.
- Boar updates:
- Spawn weight changed — now as common as chickens.
- Group size reduced to 3–14 (was 8–24).
- Boars no longer spawn in dungeons.
- Pine logs can no longer replace stone during generation.
- Coal tools added — very low durability (coal tools have 10 durability).
- Villager trade changes: diamond pickaxe trade cost reduced from 18 → 12 emeralds; trade now grants more villager XP.
- Rhodium toxicity reduced (it takes twice as long to kill; damage now 0.5 per tick instead of 1).
- Starter house book updated.
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The Minecraft Update 0.4.0 (First Full Release)
> Although no longer labeled "beta", development and suggestions continue.
- Villager trades updated for diamond and netherite tools — moved to toolsmith trades rather than armorer.
- rhodium_dust.png sprite updated with differently-colored green dots.
- Friendly Zombie texture updated (normal-looking eyes).
- Friendly Zombie mob: attacks "monster" mobs and avoids boars; can spawn in dungeons.
- Dreams behavior changed: you now get sent to the dream dimension when going to bed (not when waking up).
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The Minecraft Update 0.5.0
- Sorcerer villager profession added — uses the Enchanting Table as its profession block; has unique trades.
- Removed annoying sounds from the SandCaves biome (replaced with Soul Sand Valley loop; removed Additions sounds).
- Ruined portals can now generate in the SandCaves biome.
- Willem Dafoe painting added.
- FrozenCliffs biome added — frozen wasteland with pine trees and taiga villages.
- Achievement Sorcery! added (receive a pig spawn egg from the Sorcerer).
- Silver added — 7× stronger than iron (very powerful). Silver dust can be crafted into ingots, and dust is edible for extra saturation when you are full. Silver generates only at the deepest depths.
- Watermark moved from in-game to the main menu.
- SandCaves generation fixed — corrected an earlier bug that caused biomes to generate at unrealistic rates; overall biome generation tuned.
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The Minecraft Update 0.6.0
- Updated to Neoforge 1.21.1 for cross-mod compatibility.
- Began porting features from the unfinished Better Biomes mod (original 1.16.5 demo used as inspiration; Predators & Fire Shooters not ported yet).
Additions from Better Biomes (ported in 0.6.0)
- Biomes
- Dead Jungle (dark_forest_alt) — jungle-style trees made from dark oak; raining disabled.
- Acacia Forest — greener than savannah grass; Bogged mobs can spawn here.
- Volcanic Mountains — blackstone and ash replace stone/dirt; large lava pools; Blazes may spawn.
- Ores
- Cobalt — 0.7× iron strength (no armour set).
- Topaz — 1× iron strength; wearing a full Topaz set grants Jump Boost I.
- Block of Ash — slows player slightly when walked on.
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The Minecraft Update 0.6.1
- Small bugfixes and re-tests for stability.
- Pause menu HUD now shows correct version number.
- Removed trees from FrozenCliffs and tweaked generation.
- Added music to Volcanic Mountains and adjusted generation.
- Changed which biomes can generate in the dream dimension.
- dark_forest_alt now has more trees.
- Tweaked SandCaves generation and spawn pools (added more mobs).
- Fixed Friendly Zombie's texture.
Planned fixes: biome generation sometimes produces unnatural/too-small patches due to similar parameters — will be fixed in a future update.
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The Minecraft Update 0.6.2
- Tinkeria added — an experimental/test dimension.
- Portal: cracked deepslate bricks; lit with Midnight Clock.
- Generation: end-style but includes oceans with lava pools.
- Intended as a staging area for trial features prior to main-dimension inclusion.
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The Minecraft Update 0.6.3
- Fixed GUI version number.
- Adjusted generation parameters for Pine Forest and Desert Plateau.
- Baobab leaves now have a loot table and can drop Acacia Saplings.
- Baobab natural wood generation removed (still exists in-game to avoid breaking worlds).
- Baobab trees now generate using Acacia wood instead.
- dark_forest_alt now generates normal trees instead of giant trees.
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The Minecraft Update 0.7.0
- Updated workspace and tooling.
- Added dimension: Slip
- You must have a Slip Tether to travel into the Slip; otherwise you will die and lose your items.
- Added Slip Compound & related items
- Raw Slip Compound: combine Silver Dust, Cobalt Dust, Topaz, Glowstone Dust, Rhodium Dust, Redstone Dust, and a Diamond to craft Raw Slip Compound.
- Slip Compound: refine Raw Slip Compound in a Blast Smelter.
- Slip Compound Block: crafted from 4 Raw Slip Compound — used to construct the portal to the Slip.
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The Minecraft Update 0.7.1
- New gamerules
- enableDreaming — true by default. Enables traveling to the Dream dimension when using a bed.
- dreamingChance — 10 by default. Sets the roll ceiling affecting chance of dreaming. (Example: 10 = 10% chance; 20 ~ 5% chance.)
- New recipes
- Slip Tether: craft by surrounding a Fishing Rod with Slip Compound.
- Slip Knot: craft by surrounding Shears with Slip Compound (used to light Slip portals).
- Fixed GUI version number (again).
- Updated broken procedures and fixed several functional issues.
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Less-obvious / Developer notes (high-effort/edge changes you might have missed)
- Rhodium toxicity tuning: damage per tick was reduced (0.5 dmg/tick) so players survive slightly longer when exposed. This change reduces one-shot-like deaths from holding Rhodium.
- Coal tools are intentionally very short-lived (10 durability); meant as a low-cost disposable option.
- Villager economy changes: diamond pickaxe trade price lowered (18 → 12) and yields more XP — affects early-game trading balance.
- Baobab tree generation: natural Baobab wood removal avoids massive world-gen churn — but wood still present so updates won't break existing builds.
- Watermark relocation: moved to menu (less intrusive during gameplay).
- Neoforge update (1.21.1) was applied for mod compatibility — expect fewer conflicts with other modern mods.
- Friendly Zombie: behavior intentionally targets hostile mobs (useful for defensive strategies) and avoids boars.
- Multiple small generation/generation-weight tweaks across biomes to prevent over/under-generation.
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Known issues & planned fixes
- Biomes occasionally generate in unnatural or too-small patches due to overlapping parameters — fix is planned for the next update.
- Some experimental features (Tinkeria, Better Biomes ports) are still being tuned — expect additional balance/cleanup.
- If you find visual/loot/spawn regressions after updating, report them so they can be prioritized.
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How to download & report bugs
- Legacy downloads: PlanetMinecraft (look for the mod page).
- Bug reports / feedback: use the mod page comments on PlanetMinecraft or the post thread where you downloaded the release. Include your mod version, Minecraft version, and a short reproduction case.
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Thanks for testing, as your feedback shapes the next update.
