Minecraft Update 1.5 Details, Releases Next Week [Updated]

Game Rant

By Rob Keyes

Published Apr 13, 2011

The 'Minecraft' 1.5 update will not be available until next week, but we do have loads of details on what it may include.

We have good news and bad news. The good news is that Minecraft has a lot more coming its way. The bad news is that it's not coming this week...

Minecraft headmaster Notch confirmed via his Twitter and blog that the Minecraft 1.5 update will not be ready in time for release this week. Since they don't launch updates on Fridays, it would have had to be ready for tomorrow but there are still some things to be worked on. We do however, have a rather extensive list of what these things are.

[Minecraft 1.5 update is out - read our guide!]

We already know achievements and stats are finally coming to Minecraft after not making the cut in the 1.4 update. We also know that the Mojang crew is adding weather effects to the game as well as the user-made Pistons mod (you need to watch the Pistons mod video). So, what other tweaks or additions may come with the 1.5 update?

Mojang's Jens Bergensten has been a rockstar at responding to questions from fans about what he's working on for Minecraft and after reading through all of the questions and answers, as well as his other hints over the last few days, I've compiled a list of updates coming to Minecraft soon:

The Detector Rail

The detector rail is a new powered (and golden) rail that generates a redstone signal when any type of minecart is on it. It works in both directions and moves any cart, whether empty or occupied.

Weather

We've already seen how the weather takes the form of rain or snow, depending on the biome you're in and that thunderstorms and lightning will be included. Here are some things you may not know, as well as some other clarifications on frequently asked questions:

Lightning can set wood on fire.
Rain will put fires out.
Rain does not convert lava into obsidian.
Thunderstorms darken atmosphere, allowing monsters to spawn outdoors during day.
If pigs get hit by lightning, they turn into zombie pigmen (read: Awesome!).

Miscellaneous

1.5 Servers will have a setting to allow/disallow flight from hackers/modders. Flying however, is not built in.
Water flow is being reverted back to how it was since 1.4 made it overpowered.
Birch Trees will drop birch saplings, instead of regular tree saplings.
The only mod they're currently looking to add is the piston's mod. Likely because they're going to have built-in mod support in the future.
Bee Hives in trees is something they've considered.
Official Mod Support is coming, but it's a major update and certainly won't be in the 1.5 update.