Java Edition Beta 1.8

Beta 1.8, the first release of the Adventure Update, is a major version of Java Edition Beta released on September 14, 2011, which introduced features that focused mainly on fighting, exploration, and adventuring, as well as other aspects.

Blocks

 * Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Stone Bricks
 * Mossy Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Mossy Stone Bricks
 * Cracked Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Cracked Stone Bricks
 * Stone JE1.png Cobblestone JE4 BE2.png Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Infested Stone
 * Spawns one silverfish when broken.
 * Has no name.
 * Brick Slab JE1 BE1.png Bricks Slab
 * Stone Brick Slab JE1 BE1.png Stone Bricks Slab
 * Brown Mushroom Block JE1 BE1.png Red Mushroom Block JE1 BE1.png Mushroom Stem JE1 BE1.png Mushroom Blocks
 * Drops their corresponding mushroom
 * Melon JE1 BE1.png Melons
 * Stem.png Melon Stems
 * Stem.png Pumpkin Stems
 * Vines JE1 BE1.png Vines
 * Iron Bars (EW) JE1 BE1.png Iron Bars
 * Glass Pane JE1 BE1.png Glass Panes
 * Drops itself when destroyed.
 * Oak Fence Gate Revision 1.png Fence Gates
 * Connect to fences.
 * Open when.
 * Brick Stairs JE1.png Brick Stairs
 * Stone Brick Stairs JE1.png Stone Brick Stairs
 * Stone brick stairs now drop either stone bricks, cracked stone bricks, mossy stone bricks or a type of stone bricks, which looks regular, but does not stack, when broken due to the data value (facing direction) carrying over:

Items

 * Raw Chicken JE1 BE1.png Raw Chicken
 * Restores hunger.
 * Has 30% chance of giving the hunger effect when eaten.
 * Dropped from chickens.


 * Cooked Chicken JE1 BE1.png Cooked Chicken
 * Restores hunger.
 * Cooked raw chicken.


 * Raw Beef JE1 BE1.png Raw Beef
 * Restores hunger.
 * Dropped from cows.


 * Steak JE1 BE1.png Steak
 * Restores hunger.
 * Cooked raw beef.
 * Has the cooked porkchop's old texture.


 * Ender Pearl JE1.png Ender Pearls


 * An item which doesn't serve any purpose in the game for now, and had an uncentered icon.


 * Melon Seeds JE1 BE1.png Melon seeds
 * New seed type that grows melons.
 * Can only be found in abandoned mineshaft chests.


 * Melon Slice JE1 BE1.png Melons
 * Restores hunger.
 * Harvested from melons.
 * Can be used to get melon seeds back.


 * Pumpkin Seeds JE1 BE1.png Pumpkin seeds
 * New seed type that produces pumpkins.
 * Cannot be obtained from a pumpkin as of now, only available in abandoned mineshaft chests.


 * Rotten Flesh JE1.png Rotten Flesh
 * Restores hunger.
 * Has 80% chance of giving the hunger effect when eaten.
 * Dropped by zombies.

Mobs

 * Cave Spider Revision 1.png Cave Spiders
 * Smaller variant of spiders.
 * Has a chance of poisoning the player


 * Enderman.png Enderman
 * New tall mob.
 * As a placeholder, endermen used zombie sounds.
 * Are able to teleport and pick up blocks.
 * Changed from the last pre-release so now they have purple eyes instead of green eyes and emit portal particles instead of smoke particles


 * Silverfish.png Silverfish
 * A small hostile mob.

Non-mob entities

 * Experience Orb
 * Adds to the player's total experience when collected.
 * Entity ID is.
 * Plays low-pitched item pickup sound upon collecting.

World generation

 * Abandoned mineshafts
 * The support beams are wood planks.


 * Ravines


 * Strongholds


 * Villages
 * Unpopulated as of now.


 * Huge mushrooms
 * Do not generate naturally.
 * Can be artificially created by applying bone meal to a brown or red mushroom.


 * Biomes
 * New fractal-based biome code.
 * Biomes got an overhaul, adding and removing some biomes while making all of them more vast than before. Biomes became more distinct terrain-wise, and most biomes were made to be much flatter than before.
 * Oceans
 * Replaces old oceans (generated structures).
 * Deeper and vaster than before.
 * Floor is now made up of sand, dirt, and clay.
 * Clay is now more commonly found due to this.
 * Plains
 * Larger than before.
 * Deserts
 * Larger than before.
 * Extreme Hills
 * Replaces old mountains (generated structures).
 * Forests
 * Wolves now spawn more often.
 * Taigas
 * No longer generates with snow due to problems with the new generator.
 * Swamps
 * Has an exclusive type of oak trees with vines.
 * Rivers
 * Flows through/in between biomes.

Gameplay

 * Flying


 * Only available in creative mode.
 * Press space twice to toggle flying.


 * Achievements
 * Added: "Kill a skeleton with an arrow at 50 meters".


 * Combat
 * Hold-to-charge bows.
 * Critical hits.
 * Players can parry with a sword by holding
 * Hostile mobs perform attack animations.


 * Experience
 * Mobs killed by players drop tiny flashing experience orbs that add to the experience bar.


 * Hunger
 * New food system.
 * There is now a food meter.
 * Food no longer heals directly, but indirectly: if the food meter is above 90%, heals every 4 seconds.
 * Food level decreases when sprinting, jumping and when being hurt.
 * If the food meter is at 0%, the player starves and loses hearts every 4 seconds.


 * Status effects
 * Do not show off particles.
 * They do not have inventory sprites.
 * Added obtainable status effects:
 * Regeneration, which increases health slowly.
 * Obtained after eating a golden apple.
 * Hunger, which decreases the hunger bar.
 * Obtained after eating a rotten flesh or a raw chicken.
 * Poison, which hurts the player.
 * Obtained when being hurt by a cave spider.
 * Added unobtainable status effects, but are functional:
 * Speed, Slowness, Haste, Mining Fatigue, Instant Health, Instant Damage, Water Breathing and Nausea.
 * Added unobtainable and nonfunctional status effects:
 * Strength, Weakness, Jump Boost, Resistance, Fire Resistance, Invisibility, Blindness and Night Vision.


 * Sprinting
 * New way to travel.
 * Gives the player a boost in speed.
 * The player can now jump four blocks horizontally while sprinting.

General

 * Menu screen
 * Updated Mojang logo.


 * Particles
 * Performing a critical hit on any mob will cause 'sparks' to fly.
 * Explosion particles are now shockwaves instead of smoke.
 * Tiny stationary bubble particles can be seen when underwater.
 * Fog is now thicker and darker deep underground, and gives off particles. Due to this, the void appears black.


 * Splash
 * Added the following splash text:
 * Jeb has amazing hair!
 * Casual gaming!
 * Undefeated!
 * Kinda like Lemmings!
 * Follow the train, CJ!
 * Leveraging synergy!
 * This message will never appear on the splash screen, isn't that weird?
 * DungeonQuest is unfair!
 * 110813!
 * 90210!
 * Check out the far lands!
 * Tyrian would love it!
 * Also try VVVVVV!
 * Also try Super Meat Boy!
 * Also try Terraria!
 * Also try Mount And Blade!
 * Also try Project Zomboid!
 * Also try World of Goo!
 * Also try Limbo!
 * Also try Pixeljunk Shooter!
 * Also try Braid!
 * That's super!
 * Bread is pain!
 * Read more books!
 * Khaaaaaaaaan!
 * Less addictive than TV Tropes!
 * More addictive than lemonade!
 * Bigger than a bread box!
 * Millions of peaches!
 * Fnord!
 * This is my true form!
 * Totally forgot about Dre!
 * Don't bother with the clones!
 * Pumpkinhead!
 * Hobo humping slobo babe!

Blocks

 * Chest.png Chests
 * Chests now have a unique block model.
 * Now make sounds.
 * Chest.gif Double Chest.gif Now have an opening/closing animation.


 * Mossy Cobblestone JE2 BE1.png Mossy cobblestone
 * Changed texture from Mossy Cobblestone JE1.png.


 * Leaves
 * User-placed leaves no longer decay.


 * Stone pressure plates & wooden pressure plates
 * Can now be placed on fences


 * Torches
 * Improved model for when the torch is placed on walls.

Items

 * Food
 * Eating food now restores hunger instead of health (but keeps the same amount).
 * All food items (except mushroom stew) are now stackable.
 * Now takes 1.6 seconds to consume, accompanied with an animation.


 * Bows
 * Damage in accordance with the charging time.


 * Cooked Porkchop
 * Changed the texture from Steak JE1 BE1.png to Cooked Porkchop JE2 BE1.png


 * Mushroom Stew
 * Now restores hunger instead of  health.


 * Golden Apple
 * Now restores hunger instead of  health.
 * Now gives the player the Regeneration status effect for 30 seconds.


 * Shears
 * Can now collect grass and vines.

Mobs

 * General
 * Animals no longer despawn which makes it possible to capture them.
 * Arrows that hit a mob visually "stick" into the mob rather than just disappear.
 * Passive mobs will randomly flee if attacked by the player or other mobs (such as wolves).
 * Now drop experience when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.


 * Humans
 * Removed the mob as an entity.
 * Its AI is the only thing that remains of the mob.


 * Pigs
 * Updated model
 * Pig JE2 BE1.png Saddled Pig JE2 BE1.png The snout now protrudes from their head.
 * Previously, their heads were flat Pig JE1.png Saddled Pig JE1.png.


 * Chickens
 * Changed bounding box height from 0.4 blocks to 0.7 blocks
 * Now drop 1 raw chicken.
 * If on fire, they drop cooked chicken instead.


 * Cows
 * Now drop 1-3 raw beef.
 * If on fire, they drop steak instead.


 * Skeletons
 * Now fire arrows slightly slower to be consistent with the change of the bow.
 * Their arrows are shot with more force.
 * Now hold full-size bows.
 * Skeleton arrows originate from about their eyes to the bow, instead of above the head.


 * Zombies
 * Now drop rotten flesh instead of feathers.

World generation

 * Terrain
 * Changed the terrain generator.


 * Far Lands
 * No longer generate due to the change of the world generation.


 * Biomes
 * Removed Rain Forests.
 * Removed Seasonal Forests.
 * Removed Savannas.
 * Removed Shrublands.
 * Removed Tundras.
 * Removed Ice Deserts.
 * Ice deserts did not generate in previous versions, so their removal was not noticeable.

Gameplay

 * Creative


 * Creative mode can now be accessed using the "create new world" screen, and no longer requires a code modification to access.
 * Some code rewritten.
 * New creative inventory GUI.
 * Looks similar to survival inventory, with drag and drop interface.
 * Some non-block items are now available in the inventory.
 * Grass is now available in the inventory.
 * The player can drag items and blocks outside of the GUI to spawn them in dropped item entity form.
 * Previously, it was not possible to do these things in creative, but now is:
 * Kill/damage mobs
 * Kill/damage players who are in survival mode
 * Break bedrock
 * Take damage (via falling out of the world)
 * Mobs now spawn, previously, they would only spawn in Survival mode.


 * Controls


 * Holding the left mouse button with a weapon will now only swing once.
 * Holding the right mouse button to place blocks is slightly slower than before.
 * +Clicking the output item in a crafting square will craft all the items at once, and automatically places them in the inventory.
 * Player list in multiplayer, defaults to.


 * Clouds


 * Height raised to the top of the map.
 * Can no longer phase through blocks.
 * Movement now syncs with the game's time.


 * Damage


 * Unarmed damage was decreased from to  (reverting to the behavior from before Beta 1.5).
 * The game now keeps track of damage sources and types.


 * Daylight cycle


 * No longer requires chunk updates and is a smooth transition.
 * The lighting on a block is given a tint based on the most prominent source of light
 * Reddish from artificial light sources.
 * Artificial light now gives a very subtle 'flicker'.
 * Blue from moonlight.
 * Total darkness keeps the same black tint.
 * Sunlight gives the same white tint.


 * Farming


 * Changed to be less volatile.


 * HUD


 * Armor bar moved to above hearts, due to hunger bar.


 * Lighting


 * Improved lighting system.


 * Multiplayer


 * The 'Multiplayer join screen' has been improved, mainly with a server list.


 * Sunrise & sunset


 * Clouds change color during sunrise and sunset to match the sky color.
 * Horizon, specifically haze changes color more vividly during sunset and sunrise.


 * Weather


 * Rain and snow now render faster.

General

 * Debug screen
 * Mobs are no longer visibly labeled with their entity ID
 * The world's numeric seed is displayed in a field below player position.
 * Changing fog by hotkey now requires debug-view to be open in addition to pressing.
 * The version tag appears in-game again.


 * Mods
 * The game's coding now allows for mods to more easily change the (map) height.


 * Main menus
 * The main menu's background is now an animated scene.
 * The menu panorama uses seed  in Beta 1.7.3 at coordinates (61, 75, -68).
 * The version tag is now displayed on the bottom-left rather than the top-left.
 * New sliders for Field of View and Brightness.
 * 4 new entries in control list
 * "Attack", "Use Item", and "Pick Block" can now be remapped.
 * Operators can switch back and forth between survival and creative mode.


 * Splash
 * Removed duplicate "Check it out!"

Fixes
9 bugs fixed


 * The + Click crash bug from 1.8 Prerelease 2 is fixed.
 * Fixed redstone circuits not working after glitch is now fixed in multiplayer.
 * Destroying boats and minecarts now creates particles.
 * Ghast attack sounds are fixed multiplayer.
 * The Far Lands have been removed; there is now only void.
 * Fixed stairs, cactus, and trapdoor items being too big.
 * Fixed the "smart farms" glitch where the hitbox of a fence would extend past the hitbox of tilled soil and prevent it from reverting to dirt when walked on.
 * Fixed several crash bugs relating to pistons.
 * Increased the z-buffer from 8-bit to 24-bit, fixing graphical issues with AMD graphics cards.

Trivia
This update is considered the most hated update because many biomes were removed along with some of the terrains and many problems and glitches occurred during this time.