Within the next few months, Minecraft will be rolling out its 16th massive update since the game's release back in 2011. The developers at the recently-rebranded Mojang Studios have been releasing developmental versions, or "snapshots," of the game since the start of February, so players have been able to take a deep-dive into what the official release will look like.
This version update is all about the revamped Nether dimension. While going to the Nether has always been exciting for players, it has not seen many turnovers since its debut back in the game's alpha days. With all the new additions that will be made to it and the game as a whole, it's worth looking at the best and worst of the upcoming 1.16 update.
10 Nether Biomes (Best)
The Nether has had one biome for the entirety of its lifespan, which for players, became boring to look at even with all the chaos that the dimension brings. This will change in 1.16, with four new biomes taking over the Nether landscape. There's the crimson forest, the new biome that generates most frequently, which grows crimson fungi that the player can chop down for wood in the Nether. These biomes also serve as the main stomping grounds of two of the Nether's new mobs, Piglins and Hoglins. There are also warped forests, a more peaceful Nether biome that also provides a dense, blue aura and plenty of blue fungi trees.
Also included are soul sand valleys, which include fossils made of bone blocks and basalt pillars that come shooting out from the ground. Finally, there are basalt delta, a volcanic biome that is home to magma cubes and treacherous terrain. Don't be too worried about missing the old Nether look as it will still be around as its own biome, known as the "nether wastes."
9 Hoglins (Worst)
As stated above, two new mobs added to the game will be Piglins and Hoglins. Piglins are neutral mobs that will only come after the player if they attack them or they aren't wearing gold armor. If they can make peace with the Piglins, the player can even barter with them. But the real pain of this update is the Hoglins, a hostile boar that will chase and toss the player in the air whenever it gets the chance. With these creatures running around, it makes it even more difficult to navigate the dimension, and if they make it to the overworld, they become zombified and wreak havoc on every mob and individual they see.
8 Bastion Remnants (Best)
Want more action in the Nether? The bastion remnants are castle-like structures that generate in most Nether biomes that serve as dungeons of the hell world. There are four elements that can generate in a bastion remnant structure, including bridges, Hoglin stables, housing units, and a treasure room. Piglins mainly spawn in the remnants, but Hoglins are also frequent if their stables are generated. If a player is able to handle the heat of these massive rooms, they could collect a lot of great loot, from blocks of gold to a new music disc, Pigstep.
7 Ruined Portals (Worst)
The overworld has been roped into this Nether update with the additions of ruined portals. While walking around the world, the player may come across these broken portals surrounded by netherrack and magma blocks. They may get lucky and find a chest with some goodies in it, but the downside of these structures is that they generate rather frequently. For those who like finding structures and loot, this may not be a bad thing. However, their spawn rate makes it a lot less exciting to find them. They don't blend into the environment either and are not easy to get rid of if a player wants to do some landscaping.
In other words, it feels like an unnecessary addition to an already filled-to-the-brim update.
6 Netherite (Best)
What can possibly be more powerful than diamond tools and armor? Introducing netherite, a rare material that can be obtained by digging deep into the depths of the Nether and finding ancient debris. By smelting ancient debris, a player can get netherite scraps that can be turned into a netherite ingot using four scraps and four gold ingots. Using a smithing table, the player can combine their diamond tools and armor with a single ingot to turn them into netherite gear, which is more powerful than anything we have seen in vanilla Minecraft thus far.
5 Ancient Debris (Worst)
As great as it is that they added a stronger material than diamonds, the method of obtaining it is tedious and boring for many players, mainly because of the generation of ancient debris. As of now, a vein of 1 to 3 debris generates on y levels 8 to 22 every chunk, with a chance that an additional vein of 1 to 2 debris generates on levels 8 to 119. With most of the generation happening below all of the action of the Nether, the player will be forced to do a lot of strip mining to obtain netherite, which takes up a ton of time and lacks the action of caving in the overworld. While the player does have a 2.2 percent chance of getting ancient debris or netherite scraps in a chest within the bastion remnants, that does not make it better that it will take a lot of digging to get themselves decked out in netherite.
4 Setting Spawn In The Nether (Best)
It is now completely possible to live entirely in the Nether, with variants of wood, stone, and food available at the player's disposal. There's even a way to set the spawnpoint in the Nether with the new "respawn anchor." Crafted using three glowstone and six crying obsidian (which are obtained through nether loot chests, bartering or ruined portals), the respawn anchor can be placed in the nether and fueled with glowstone. When a player right-clicks on it, they instantly reset their spawn to the block. If they die in the nether, they can respawn at their block. The player will just need to keep in mind that they need to keep fueling the block with glowstone because if it runs out, they will not respawn back in the nether but rather the overworld.
3 Redstone Changes (Worst)
One non-Nether change that is coming to the game is some basic changes to redstone. It's a complicated topic, but the gist is that the latest changes have made it so that a single redstone dust now appears as a cross. This is able to show that when redstone is not directly connected to a block, it will not power it, unlike past versions when this could happen. How redstone powers blocks has also changed as a low signal strength can now power a block by simply touching the side, as long as it's connected to redstone on top of said block.
While quality-of-life redstone improvements are nice, this could lead to a lot of broken contraptions in current worlds and custom maps, which is a shame for those who have worked hard to get their machines to work.
2 Striders (Best)
One more mob that was added to the Nether are these goofy-looking creatures known as striders. They are the only completely passive mob in the Nether and they serve as a great transportation tool for the player. Get a saddle and equip a strider with it. With a fungi-on-a-stick in hand, the player can ride the strider across massive lava pools. They are not as convenient as boats are to water, and they are relatively slow, but with no water to pour over the lava, it beats building long bridges over a scary situation.
1 R.I.P. Zombie Pigmen (Worst)
With the revamped Nether comes a revamp of one of the long-standing mobs of Minecraft. With the introduction of Piglins and the unique design they have, the Zombie Pigmen stand out as not fitting in with their new brethren. The developers decided to give them an all-new look and give them a new name, "Zombified Piglins." They function the same way as Pigmen, but it is a sad sight that the most recognizable mob of the Nether has undergone such a massive aesthetic change.