Java Edition 1.1

1.1 is a major update to Minecraft released on January 12, 2012, which added spawn eggs, new languages, although the languages weren't accurately correct. It also added the Superflat world type, and re-added beaches.

Items

 * Spawn eggs
 * Spawns mobs when.
 * 20 types of spawn eggs, each spawning their respective mob:
 * The types were blaze, cave spider, chicken, cow, creeper, enderman, ghast, magma cube, mooshroom, pig, sheep, silverfish, skeleton, slime, spider, squid, villager, wolf, zombie, and zombie pigman.
 * Are a creative-exclusive item.

World generation

 * Biomes
 * Beaches
 * Re-added beaches.
 * Are now separate biomes instead of generated structures.


 * World types
 * Re-added world types to the Create World menu.
 * Types are Default and Superflat.
 * Superflat world type
 * Generates completely flat worlds composed of bedrock, dirt, and grass blocks.
 * Villages can generate.

General

 * Languages
 * Added 56 new translations.
 * Includes constructed and fictional languages such as Pirate Speak, Klingon, and Quenya.


 * Server.properties
 * New settings:

Blocks

 * Fence gates
 * The collision box on fence gates now matches that of fences.
 * Fence gates can now be opened and closed using redstone.


 * Ladders
 * Removed collision box from ladders.


 * Melons and pumpkins
 * Can now grow onto dirt instead of only farmland.


 * Oak leaves
 * Oak leaves now have a $1/200$ chance of dropping apples.

Items

 * Bows
 * Bows are now enchantable, with four new possible enchantments specific to bows: Power, Punch, Infinity, and Flame.


 * Golden apples
 * Golden apple recipe has been changed to use gold nuggets instead of gold blocks.
 * Golden apples now restore and provide Regeneration I for 5 seconds.


 * Music discs
 * All music discs except for disc 11 can now be dropped when a creeper is killed by a skeleton.


 * Wheat
 * The distance that wheat attracts mobs has increased from 2–3 blocks to 8–9 blocks.

Mobs

 * Mob AI
 * Added the infrastructure for improved mob AI.
 * Allowed for more complicated behavior than before.
 * These behaviors themselves have not been implemented yet.


 * Magma cubes
 * Can now drop magma cream upon death.


 * Sheep
 * Sheep now can eat grass and tall grass, which regrows their wool.
 * Baby sheep now eat faster than before.
 * Sheep now drop 1–3 wool per shearing rather than 2-4.

Non-mob entities

 * Arrows
 * Arrows that are burning now set entities on fire when hit.

World generation

 * Biomes
 * Biomes have more varied elevations of land in previously flatter biomes.
 * These biomes include Desert, Forest, and Taiga.
 * Smoothed color transitions between biomes.
 * Swampland grass, foliage, and water smoothly transition into other biomes.
 * Taigas now contain snow and ice.
 * Hills
 * Villages
 * Blacksmith buildings in villages now have a chest that contains loot.

Gameplay

 * Brewing
 * Reduced brewing time from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.


 * Enchanting
 * Narrowed the various possibility of enchantment levels.


 * The Void
 * Removed the void fog in creative mode.

General

 * Servers
 * Non-operator users are auto-kicked in multiplayer servers if they spam in chat too much.
 * Operators are not notified of the kick; they must assume that the user was auto-kicked.

Fixes

 * 3 bugs fixed
 * Fixed "Sniper Duel" achievement not working.
 * Fixed powered rails not depowering.
 * Fixed powered rails not updating when placed.

Video
An official video documenting some of the 1.1's major features was released on Mojang's official YouTube channel on January 12, 2012. The video was made by Hat Films, who have made update trailers and videos for Mojang in the past.

Trivia

 * This is the first update to begin using snapshots.
 * Unlike all other release versions, this update had no further revisions (minor versions).
 * 1.1 is the only major release version to not introduce any new blocks.