Java Edition 1.9

 will be the first non-development version of the Combat Update, which is an upcoming major update to Minecraft with no set release date. Dinnerbone has stated that many of the features he has shown for 1.9 are not “100% final”, so things may change later.

Gameplay

 * Dominant hand option
 * An option for players to change their dominant hand on their player model.
 * Also changes the orientation of the offhand slot in the hotbar.
 * Dual wielding
 * Players can now use both hands at the same time to do different actions, with the left and right buttons.
 * For example, if a player has a pickaxe in his/her main hand and a torch in their other hand, right clicking will place the torch.
 * This happens because because a pickaxe lacks a right click use, and therefore the game tries to then treat the other item as if it's being left clicked.
 * The player cannot click both buttons at the same time.
 * This is achieved through an extra inventory slot called the "offhand" slot.
 * Pressing (by default) will switch whatever item is selected in the hotbar with the item in the offhand (including no item).
 * The off-hand slot is displayed next to the hotbar when it's not empty (left for right-hand players and vice versa) and it's also available in the inventory screen.
 * Only the main hand can be used for attacking.
 * Bows can be used even when something is in the other hand.
 * The other hand is invisible in first person view while it's empty.
 * Some attributes and enchantments will apply to the off-hand item, while others will not.
 * Status effects
 * Levitation status effect:
 * Received when the player is hit by shulker projectiles.
 * Makes player involuntarily float high into the air.
 * Can be used to get to higher places.
 * Listed as a negative effect due to the potential to kill from fall damage
 * Higher levels of levitation result in faster floating except for the last two:
 * Effect level 255 results in neither floating up nor down.
 * Effect level 254 results in slow fall (similar to lunar gravity).
 * Glowing status effect:
 * Received when players or mobs are hit by spectral arrows.
 * Makes player's outline glow, seen even through non-transparent blocks.
 * Listed as a negative effect because it prevents you from hiding from players once you are hit.
 * It becomes colored differently, if the player is part of a team to match the team color.
 * This makes it useful in a variety of multiplayer maps.

World generation

 * End City
 * Generates on separate end islands, arranged around the main island in a toroidal configuration (donut-like).
 * Dungeon-type structure fashioned like a branching tower made of endstone and many of the new blocks.
 * Resemble a tree house.
 * End ships
 * Spawns right next to the end city dungeon.
 * Composed of the same materials.
 * Spawns with shulkers in it.
 * Has a speed beacon, a brewing stand with potions of healing and other various loot.
 * The beacon is planned to be removed.
 * Chorus trees
 * Tree-like arrangements of the new chorus plant and chorus flower blocks.
 * The whole structure is destroyed when the bottom-most block is destroyed, like cacti.
 * Can be farmed by planting the chorus fruit flowers that come from the top of the plants.
 * Unlike cacti, chorus plants do not require the supporting block to be below it, but rather adjacent.
 * This allows the structure to grow around obstacles, like other plants.
 * End Gateway Portal
 * A small structure consisting of an end gateway block and two little bulbs of bedrock, at both the bottom and the top.
 * It is an alternative way of traveling to the outer end islands, without having to build or fly all the way over there.
 * Since the bulbs of bedrock only leave a one block slit on the horizontal plane, it is only accessible by using ender pearls, or by riding pigs, boats or minecarts.
 * The player will get teleported to somewhere on the outer end islands
 * The final location of the player depends on what angle he/she entered or at what angle the enderpearl was thrown at.
 * One of them is created for each dragon kill and up to 20 are possible.
 * Placed in a radius around the end portal.
 * Another one is also created everytime the player teleports to a new location, so both gateways are linked, and the player has a way back.

Blocks

 * Chorus flower
 * Spawn on the top of the chorus trees.
 * Breaks if the supporting block below is broken.
 * It only drops when mined directly.
 * Can only be planted on end stone in any dimension.
 * It will show a different texture when it stops growing.
 * Chorus plant
 * Generate in the End.
 * Can be grown using chorus flowers.
 * Breaks in quick succession if the supporting chorus plant below is broken.
 * Drops chorus fruit.
 * Dragon head
 * While a player wears the head and moves, the head's mouth opens and closes repeatedly.
 * When powered with redstone while it's placed on solid block, the jaw starts to open and close.
 * It will keep the mouth position of the exact moment it was unpowered.
 * End Gateway
 * A portal block used to transport the player to the new outer regions of the end.
 * The texture is identical to the end portal block, but the model is that of a full block rather than plane.
 * The player cannot use or  to obtain it.
 * It can only be set by using.
 * Naturally generates after killing the dragon and traveling someplace new in the End with it.
 * Shows yellow beacon beam when created and used.
 * End rod
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Placeable horizontally and vertically.
 * The model has a little base that is oriented against the block it was placed on.
 * If it's placed on top of another rod, then it will have the opposite orientation.
 * Produces white particles.
 * Used as a lighting source with the same efficacy as torches.
 * Unlike torches, they are tangible.
 * Horizontal end rods can be stepped up onto like slabs.
 * End stone brick
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with 4 blocks of end stone.
 * Grass path
 * Are 15/16 block high
 * Obtainable by right-clicking grass with a shovel.
 * Drains the shovel's durability.
 * Drops dirt, even when using silk touch.
 * Cannot be obtained in the creative inventory.
 * But unlike farmland, it can be obtained by using the key in creative.
 * Purpur block
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with popped chorus fruit.
 * Purpur pillar
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur slabs.
 * Purpur stairs
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
 * Purpur slab
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
 * Structure block
 * Only placable via, but unusable.
 * It has an "S" on the texture.

Items

 * Arrows
 * New spectral arrow:
 * The tip is gold colored in both the item and the entity model.
 * Shows mob and player outlines in their respective team color when hit – even when invisible.
 * NBT tag for entities to disable outlines.
 * NBT tag to force outline:.
 * The glowing is a status effect.
 * Crafted by surrounding an arrow with 4 glowstone dust.
 * Yields 2 spectral arrows.
 * Arrows can be tipped with potions.
 * 14 new arrow types in total.
 * Each differently tipped arrow is available in the creative menu, just like enchanted books.
 * Corresponding effect is applied on hit.
 * Beetroot
 * Restores.
 * Spawns naturally in villages.
 * Can be used to craft beetroot soup.
 * Can also be used to craft rose red dye.
 * Beetroot soup
 * Restores.
 * Crafted from 6 beetroots and a bowl.
 * Beetroot seeds
 * Used to grow beetroots.
 * Chorus fruit
 * Obtained from chorus plants.
 * Can be eaten even if the player is not hungry, similar to Golden Apples.
 * Teleports the player to a random nearby location when eaten.
 * Does not heal hunger points if hunger bar is full.
 * Otherwise it will heal
 * Can be cooked in Furnaces to obtain Popped Chorus Fruits.
 * Popped chorus fruit
 * Obtained from cooking chorus fruit.
 * Used to craft purpur blocks.
 * Shulker spawn egg
 * Used to spawn a shulker.

Mobs

 * Shulker
 * Short for "Shell Lurker".
 * A hostile mob with the appearance of a purple block.
 * Only spawns on the ground or at the walls of end cities when they first generate.
 * When attacking, it opens its shell on a spinning animation, revealing the creature inhabiting.
 * The creature looks a like a little white cube with big eyes
 * Its attack consists in shooting projectiles
 * The projectiles chase the player until it's out of range, but they can only move along one of the three grid axes at a time.
 * This means they can only move through taxicab geometry.
 * Projectiles can be knocked away by attacking them.
 * Getting hit by a projectile causes 2 hearts of damage and inflicts the levitation status effect.
 * They take more damage while their shell is open.
 * It can be pushed by pistons, and resists being placed on any position that isn't 3 integers (except if they are on minecarts).
 * It can teleport like an Enderman.
 * It sometimes does this while being attacked or placed in unusual circumstances:
 * Removing its support block.
 * Pushing it into a non-air block (except piston heads).
 * Pushing a non-air block into its position (except piston heads).
 * It's one of the few entities (apart form boats and minecarts) that can be stood upon.
 * It even displaces the player properly during its attacking animation.

General

 * Options
 * Removed Super Secret Settings and the Broadcast Settings section.
 * Removed Alternate Blocks from video settings.
 * Attributes
 * will make the name tag on mobs show in the same way as on players.
 * Entities can now be summoned straight to teams:.
 * and  tags are no longer used.
 * ,,   and   are used instead.
 * Bosses
 * Proper support for multiple bosses’ health bars, so they show at the same time without obstructing each other.
 * Damage tooltips
 * Now read "When in main hand:".
 * Death messages
 * Death messages will now be displayed on the player's death screen as well as in the chat.
 * Models
 * Different models/textures can be used for each different damage value, stack sizes and item states.
 * This works on compasses, clocks, and anything that can have a durability bar.
 * It also contains additional tags for bows and fishing rods.
 * Models can be put together based on block state attributes, such as fences.
 * As a result, the vanilla set of block models was reduced by almost 300 models.
 * Block model JSON is now strict: comments and quote-less identifiers are not allowed.
 * "display" tag defaults have changed, and the  and   tags were replaced with ,  ,  , and.
 * "parent" and "elements" tags can coexist now, though the top level elements tag overwrites all former ones.
 * Resource packs
 * The required pack version number was changed to "2" in.
 * Old resource packs require user acknowledgement to use.
 * Structure data
 * Now comes from /assets/structures.

Gameplay

 * Inventory
 * Rearranged the survival inventory and the creative "survival tab" to accommodate for the new off hand slot.
 * Unified the orientation of many items in the inventory.
 * Status effects
 * Status effects are now displayed on the HUD on the right hand corner, instead of just in the inventory (similar to Pocket Edition).
 * They are ordered by the time of infliction from right to left.
 * Positive effects are on the top row, negative effects on the bottom row.
 * Effects that are about to run out blink.
 * They blink faster when they are closer to running out and start fading away.

World generation

 * The End
 * A set amount of differently-sized obsidian pillars are arranged in a circular fashion.
 * The tallest pillars have iron bars around their ender crystal.
 * This makes it so that you have to climb some of the pillars, making the fight harder.
 * The exit portal is pre-generated at the center of the island, but without the dragon egg and portal blocks.
 * New outer regions of the end with "satellite islands" spread through a radius.
 * Mini islands generate between the center and main islands.
 * End islands and mini end islands have chorus trees spread throughout them.
 * The Nether
 * Removed the Nether fog.
 * Villages
 * Farms now include beetroot crops.

Blocks

 * Dead bushes
 * Will now drop anywhere between 0–2 sticks.
 * Fire
 * The block states flip and alt were removed, and the integer state upper was reimplemented as the byte state up.
 * This reduced the number of states representing fire from 3072 to 512.
 * Trapdoors
 * No longer require supporting blocks.
 * Can be moved with pistons freely.
 * Stairs
 * Are now rotated 90° in the inventory.
 * Pressure Plates
 * Have now a slightly thiner item model.
 * Glass panes & Iron bars
 * Glass panes/iron bars without any connecting blocks are now 2x2 pixels in footprint.
 * This is compared to the big cross configuration that was default.

Items

 * Bows
 * The bow in the hotbar now shows an animation for drawing back an arrow.
 * Arrows in the off hand are prioritized over arrows in the rest of the inventory slots.
 * Ender pearls
 * Can now be thrown in creative mode
 * Maps
 * Now display as a mini map when held in the off hand, or if the off-hand slot is occupied.
 * The (old) large version is visible only when held in the dominant hand with both hands free.
 * Fishing rods
 * Casting fishing rods now has an animation in the hotbar/inventory.
 * Potions
 * Mixed potions' colors now blend.
 * Numeric IDs are no longer used. Instead an NBT "Potion" tag is used.
 * e.g.
 * Splash potions now have a separate data value and ID name and can be created from all potions, including water bottles.
 * Added Mundane, Thick and Awkward potions to the creative inventory.
 * Glowstone dust or redstone can no longer be added to extended or tier-II potions respectively.
 * Most recipes for Potion of Weakness were removed (see: brewing for all recipes removed).

Non-mob entities

 * Projectiles
 * Slightly altered the path of projectiles.
 * Armor stands
 * Can now be summoned to dual wield with commands in creative.

Mobs

 * Mobs have a 5% chance to spawn left-handed through the  boolean tag.
 * Ender dragon
 * Similar to the one on console edition.
 * The dragon can be re-spawned indefinitely many times (planned to be by placing player-made craftable ender crystals), but subsequent dragons don't drop XP.
 * The dragon AI and attacks has been changed:
 * Breathes fire/purple particles on players and mobs, while on top of the portal.
 * Drop fireballs on top of the player.
 * Defend the obsidian pillars more, the further the fight progresses.
 * For now, you can respawn the dragon by drawing a creeper face with clay, but it won’t respawn everything yet.
 * The dragon flies and stops over the portal sometimes, only then can the last blow be dealt.
 * Villagers
 * Farmer villagers now harvest beetroot.
 * Hostile mobs
 * Will now have different animations to show that they are attacking.
 * Skeletons
 * Have an animation for lifting up and drawing back their bow.
 * Mapmakers can make skeletons shoot potion-tipped arrows.
 * Endermen
 * Remain aggravated towards the player despite being in contact with water.
 * Drop the block they were holding when killed.
 * Pigs
 * Can be led and bred with potatoes and beetroots, in addition to carrots.
 * Chickens
 * Can be led and bred with melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, and beetroot seeds, in addition to regular seeds.

General

 * Animations/Entity models
 * Might include model changes within the NBT data.
 * Would be implemented via resource packs.
 * Will make better use of code so that map/mod makers can create better/new mobs.
 * Same as the block data changes in 1.8.
 * Captions/Subtitles
 * Subtitles which display for each sound for the hard of hearing/deaf.
 * An example would be “Creeper hissing”.
 * Would have "<" or ">" to point in the direction this sound is coming from.

Gameplay

 * Brewing
 * Possibly new potions.
 * Enchanting
 * Possibly new enchantments.

Blocks

 * New block type
 * Uncertain if he was referring to an already added block.
 * Craftable ender crystals
 * A version of the ender crystal can be crafted which spawns another dragon when placed

Items

 * Dragon breath
 * Dropped by the ender dragon
 * Shields
 * Will be used for blocking instead of a sword.
 * Can be used to allow attacking and defending at the same time.
 * Shields can be crafted with a banner to add custom patterns.
 * Used to block attacks from the side the shield is held on.
 * Sounds for when you blocked an attack.

Non-mob entities

 * Craftable ender crystals
 * A version of the ender crystal that can be crafted, which spawns another dragon when placed.

General

 * Shaders
 * Switch away from using fixed-function OpenGL to using actual shaders.
 * Gives a performance boost and "extensibility".

Gameplay

 * Clouds
 * New cloud rendering system.

World generation

 * End cities and End ships.
 * Will no longer generate with beacons, as that was a leftover testing feature.

Blocks

 * Command blocks
 * Will have a new UI
 * Will support tab to complete.

Items

 * Swords
 * Can no longer be used for blocking.

Trivia

 * This is now the longest wait for a major update to Minecraft, with 3616 days days now having elapsed since the release of 1.8 on September 2, 2014.
 * Until this point, the longest waits had been those between 1.7.2 and 1.8 (312 days), and between 1.2.1 and 1.3.1 (153 days).
 * This has also been the longest span of time between the release of a major update to Minecraft and a snapshot for the next major update, with 330 days having elapsed between the release of 1.8 on September 2, 2014, and 15w31a on July 29, 2015.
 * Until this point, the longest waits had been those between 1.7.2 and 14w02a (76 days), between 1.4.2 and 13w01a (70 days), and between 1.6.1 and 13w36a (66 days).