The 1.4 update debuted a week ago for Minecraft and while we have at least some idea of what is coming with the next patch, there's always room for a surprise or two.

Achievements and stat tracking have been the next big 'thing' coming to Minecraft although Notch and co. were unable to complete it in time for their April Fools-timed update, so it should be coming in update 1.5. What else is coming in update 1.5? Weather!

We listed 5 things we expected/would like to see in the Mincraft 1.5 update and weather wasn't even something we considered.

Notch tweeted this morning that they're working on rain and snow for the next incremental Minecraft upgrade, and even included a screenshot which shows both weather formats side-by-side as one biome changes to another.

Click to enlarge for a better look at the forecast for Minecraftia:

After announcing this on Twitter, some fan responses got Notch to think of having the rain actually do something - take a look at how it may affect the world:

"Higher odds of catching fish while raining.. Good one. :D I'll try making it fill small holes with water, but it might be annoying.. brb"

So, weather and achievements are the two inclusions we know of so far for the next Minecraft update. There's been no mention of whether or not the next update is addressing the bugs caused by the last two updates which have made it harder to host a server with large numbers of players. The 1.4 Update has also caused crashing of the game for players which I experienced a lot of when I played last.

The updates are welcome, heck, they're needed but I think the community is still waiting on big picture features that keep the game playable for a lengthy period of time. Coming on and checking out the tweaks and additions is cool, but after that there's still not much to do. We've exhausted the existing resources, built our massive castles, towers and flying cities.

The addition of Achievements will certainly go along way, but this creative sandbox still needs objectives so players have an adventure to enjoy. Here's hoping for more on the dungeon/NPC front.

To see what's been added to the game over the last few months, here are Game Rant's Minecraft update guides:

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Follow Game Rant on Twitter @gamerant.

Source: Notch