‘Minecraft’ 1.2 Adventure Update Guide

Fans of Minecraft rejoice! The newest version of the world creation game has been released by Mojang, adding several new features, including a new file system, mobs and more, ensuring Minecraft players will be entertained while we wait for the officially-licensed LEGO Toys to come out this summer.

The first change is a pretty hefty one, as Minecraft will now be operating using a different filesystem to store and access data within the game – meaning the entire experience is now capable of bigger results and less lag. A few days ago, Notch & Jeb announced that they’d been working on a successor to the previous engine, and revealed their new file system: Anvil.

The introduction of this new file format, over the previously used McRegion system, allows for the maximum build height to be increased to 256 from 128. It compresses a fair bit of information for optimal performance and should allow players to have a smoother ride traversing the terrain. Additionally, Notch states that the Anvil system will be friendlier for modifications as well, so it is clear that the new format is a step for both efficiency, and the future. Here’s some of the other things Anvil has introduced to Minecraft:

• Empty sections of world won’t be loaded into active memory until used.
• Unique Block IDs increased to 4,096 (from 256).
• Sending Packet information is now capable for much small chunks, decreasing time it takes to send.
• Block ordering has been changed from x/z/y to y/z/x in order to improve compression.
• Biomes are saved per x/z column, which means they can be altered by tools.

It should be noted that in the Nether, bedrock still exists at the original height setting of 128 blocks, though in Creative Mode, you can pass through to see the world still exists to 256 blocks under the new Anvil system. It is unclear if this sizing is intentional, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Nether gain some space as well in a later patch.

Now that we know the world is functioning on a different level, we can begin to discuss everything that’s going on with it in the new 1.2 update!

• Page 2 (Landscape Changes): Jungle Biome, Desert Wells & New Blocks
• Page 3 (New Mobs): Iron Golems, Ocelots & Cats
• Page 4 (New Items): Redstone Lamps, Fire Charges & Bottles o’ Enchanting
• Page 5 (Misc): Tweaks, Fixes & Trailer

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