Minecraft 1.8 update

The latest update to the massively popular open world survival/creation game, Minecraft, was released earlier today. It's been a long time coming, and lead developer Jens Bergensten has revealed extensive details on the 1.8 update — also known as “Bountiful” — for the PC version of the game earlier today on the Mojang website.

The update adds many new features to the game, not the least of which is a Spectator Mode allowing players to fly through other worlds without interacting with them. There are also a bevy of new blocks for players to use, including granite, andesite, diorite and (most interestingly) slime. Players will also have to contend with new kinds of mobs that will attack them by both land and sea. Sea-based gameplay has received extra attention in this update, with Prismarine blocks, Guardian enemies, and Ocean Monuments.

That’s not to mention the killer bunnies. Yes, there are now rabbits in Minecraft which can be killed, tamed, or bred by the player. Most rabbits are passive and will try to avoid you, but every once in a while you’ll encounter the dreaded Rabbit of Caerbannog (a teasing nod to a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Unlike their docile cousins, these rabbits will instead attack the player on sight. Yesterday, Minecraft also celebrated an important anniversary: the 5th birthday of The Creeper.

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Scroll down for the full and bountiful list of changes added by the 1.8 update:

  • Added Granite, Andesite, and Diorite stone blocks, with smooth versions
  • Added Slime Block
  • Added Iron Trapdoor
  • Added Prismarine and Sea Lantern blocks
  • Added the Ocean Monument
  • Added Red Sandstone
  • Added Banners
  • Added Armor Stands
  • Added Coarse Dirt (dirt where grass won’t grow)
  • Added Guardian mobs, with item drops
  • Added Endermite mob
  • Added Rabbits, with item drops
  • Added Mutton and Cooked Mutton
  • Villagers will harvest crops and plant new ones
  • Mossy Cobblestone and Mossy Stone Bricks are now craftable
  • Chiseled Stone Bricks are now craftable
  • Doors and fences now come in all wood type variants
  • Sponge block has regained its water-absorbing ability and becomes wet
  • Added a spectator game mode (game mode 3)
  • Added one new achievement
  • Added “Customized” world type
  • Added hidden “Debug Mode” world type
  • Worlds can now have a world barrier
  • Added @e target selector for Command Blocks
  • Added /blockdata command
  • Added /clone command
  • Added /execute command
  • Added /fill command
  • Added /particle command
  • Added /testforblocks command
  • Added /title command
  • Added /trigger command
  • Added /worldborder command
  • Added /stats command
  • Containers can be locked in custom maps by using the “Lock” data tag
  • Added logAdminCommands, showDeathMessages, reducedDebugInfo, sendCommandFeedback, and randomTickSpeed game rules
  • Added three new statistics
  • Player skins can now have double layers across the whole model, and left/right arms/legs can be edited independently
  • Added a new player model with smaller arms, and a new player skin called Alex?
  • Added options for configuring what pieces of the skin that are visible
  • Blocks can now have custom visual variations in the resource packs
  • Minecraft Realms now has an activity chart, so you can see who has been online
  • Minecraft Realms now lets you upload your maps
  • Difficulty setting is saved per world, and can be locked if wanted
  • Enchanting has been redone, now costs lapis lazuli in addition to enchantment levels
  • Villager trading has been rebalanced
  • Anvil repairing has been rebalanced
  • Considerable faster client-side performance
  • Max render distance has been increased to 32 chunks (512 blocks)
  • Adventure mode now prevents you from destroying blocks, unless your items have the CanDestroy data tag
  • Resource packs can now also define the shape of blocks and items, and not just their textures
  • Scoreboards have been given a lot of new features
  • Tweaked the F3 debug screen
  • Block ID numbers (such as 1 for stone), are being replaced by ID names (such as minecraft:stone)
  • Server list has been improved
  • A few minor changes to village and temple generation
  • Mob heads for players now show both skin layers
  • Buttons can now be placed on the ceiling
  • Lots and lots of other changes
  • LOTS AND LOTS of other changes
  • Removed Herobrine

In another wink to the fanbase, Mojang also listed “Removed Herobrine” as one of the features of the update. Herobrine is actually a fan-created character which has never existed within Minecraft, but is a popular subject of various myths and fanfiction in the Minecraft community. Yesterday, Minecraft also celebrated an important anniversary: the 5th birthday of The Creeper.

Fans have waited quite a long time for this update. But as Bergensten notes, the update "has taken the longest time to create (over 300 days), and is the result of many, many changes.” The sheer breadth of the update explains the length of time needed to build it. Along with the new features, the update also includes major structural changes and performance enhancements which dramatically change how Minecraft runs under the hood. Which of the updates and changes are you most interested to see?

Originally created by Markus “Notch” Persson, Minecraft has sold 50 million copies and is available on PC, iOS, Android, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The game will also soon be available on the Xbox One, while the PlayStation 4 version of the game has been slightly delayed after failing to pass Sony’s bug test.

Source: Mojang