Java Edition 1.5

1.5, the first release of the Redstone Update, was a major update to Minecraft (Java Edition), released on March 13, 2013, which added a number of new redstone-related blocks and a new decorative block – the block of quartz. Also included was a scoreboard system, a new texture pack format and a lighting engine optimization.

A pre-release for 1.5 was released on March 7, 2013, though the full release of 1.5 is identical to this pre-release.

Blocks

 * Activator rail
 * The crafting recipe is 2 sticks, 6 iron ingots and 1 redstone torch
 * Used to trigger minecart with TNT
 * Used to stop item passing on minecart with hopper
 * Needs to be powered by redstone
 * Transmits redstone signal to 8 activator rails far.


 * Block of redstone
 * The crafting recipe is 9 redstone.
 * Emits constant redstone signal, the same as a redstone torch.
 * Works as pushable redstone power source.


 * Daylight sensor
 * The crafting recipe is 3 wooden slabs, 3 nether quartz and 3 glass blocks
 * Outputs a signal with a strength corresponding to the intensity of the sun
 * Only works with the sun's light (not man made light such as torches)
 * Rain affects the sensor's output


 * Dropper
 * The crafting recipe is 7 cobblestone and 1 redstone
 * Places items in containers in front of them, if there is no container it will dispense the item without using it
 * A dispenser “shoots" items at you, while a dropper “throws" items at you
 * Can face all 6 directions, with a different texture when facing up or down
 * Need redstone signal to drop items
 * Fires once when the input becomes powered
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on its fullness


 * Hopper
 * The crafting recipe is 5 iron ingots and 1 chest
 * Places and takes out items in hoppers, chests, furnaces, minecart with chests, minecart with hoppers, dispensers, droppers, and brewing stands
 * Allows for the automation of many processes collecting drops
 * Powering the hopper stops it from [taking] in items and releasing them
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on its fullness
 * 1 item will give a signal strength of 1, a third of a stack (21 for items which stack to 64) gives a signal strength of 2
 * The number of full stacks × 3 = Signal strength


 * Redstone comparator
 * Based on the idea of the Capacitor mentioned at Minecon 2012
 * The crafting recipe is 3 redstone torches, 1 nether quartz and 3 stone
 * It is the same as a repeater, but with 2 inputs
 * If input A is stronger or equal to input B, it either repeats the signal or outputs the difference between A and B, so this can be used as an easier way make redstone contraptions like piston doors
 * Output is toggleable by right clicking
 * If input A is weaker than input B, then there is no output
 * All containers output a redstone signal when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly. The strength of it depends on how full the container is and what disc number is used in a jukebox
 * This works with trapped chests as well, meaning it can provide two redstone signals with different causes at the same time


 * Trapped chest
 * The crafting recipe is 1 chest, and 1 tripwire hook
 * Gives out a signal depending on the amount of players looking inside
 * Large trapped chests can be staggered with Large Chests to allow more compact storage
 * Transmit signal downward through one block. This does not apply horizontally
 * Texture is slightly different than a normal chest, with a red stain around the latch


 * Weighted pressure plate
 * Used to detect item drops
 * Gold (light) version reaches full strength at 60 items
 * Iron (heavy) version reaches full strength at 600 items
 * Proportional, so 10 strength signal means twice as many items as a 5 strength signal


 * Nether quartz ore
 * Drops 1 nether quartz item when mined
 * Can be smelted in a furnace to obtain nether quartz
 * Can be legitimately obtained with Silk Touch enchantment
 * Drop more when mined with Fortune enchantment


 * Block of quartz
 * The crafting recipe is 4 nether quartz in a square
 * Decorative block


 * Quartz slab
 * The crafting recipe is 3 blocks of quartz
 * Can be placed upside down
 * Decorative block


 * Quartz stairs
 * The crafting recipe is 6 block of quartz in a usual stair recipe
 * Can be placed upside down


 * Chiseled Quartz Block
 * The crafting recipe is 2 quartz slabs
 * Decorative block


 * Quartz Pillar
 * The crafting recipe is 2 vertical block of quartz
 * Decorative block
 * Pillar quartz blocks can be placed sideways, using the side of the block to place similar to sideways log


 * Multiple snow heights
 * Fully implemented - previously, a world editor could be used for different heights of snow
 * Drops one snowball for every layer of snow
 * Each level of snow has its own height collision
 * The topmost layer of snow does not have collision, so the player is always slightly sunken in the snow
 * Visually, four layers of snow is the same height as a slab. However, five layers of snow has the same collision height as a slab
 * Crafting recipe is 3 snow blocks in a row to create 6 snow layers
 * For each thin layer of snow crafted, the player loses exactly half the snowballs required to produce it


 * Sandstone double slab
 * The block ID is

Items

 * Nether brick (item)
 * Obtained by smelting netherrack
 * Used to make nether brick
 * Renamed to Nether brick in a later version


 * Nether quartz
 * Picked up when you break or smelt nether quartz ore
 * Is a crafting ingredient for daylight sensors and redstone comparators
 * Can be crafted into decorative blocks

Non-mob entities

 * Minecart with hopper
 * Crafting recipe is a hopper on top of a minecart
 * Can only be emptied by passing over a hopper
 * Can pick up items from containers when it passes over


 * Minecart with spawner entity
 * Only obtainable with world editors
 * Have only the entity not the item
 * Uses the same NBT format as a normal spawner


 * Minecart with TNT
 * The crafting recipe is 1 TNT and 1 minecart
 * Triggered by activator rails
 * Explodes even more violently the faster it goes
 * Doesn't destroy rails and supporting blocks
 * Still blows up redstone materials

World generation

 * Nether quartz ore
 * Found in the Nether
 * Drops nether quartz when mined
 * There is an average of roughly 70 ores per chunk
 * As common as iron ore in the Overworld
 * Works with both Fortune and Silk Touch enchantments

Gameplay

 * Scoreboard system
 * Intended for map makers or server administrators.
 * Used via command or command block
 * Track, edit and display certain objectives per player, such as kill count or health (read-only)
 * Group players into teams to have the option to assign custom nametag colors, disable friendly fire and allow invisible teammates to be seen


 * NBT related
 * Minecarts can now carry any block and have any minecart function (TNT, hopper, chest, furnace, ridable)
 * FallingSand can now be a TileEntity
 * Named entities can display their nametag when in nametag range
 * Minecarts can now act as spawners
 * Entities can now permanently ride other entities
 * Can be achieved by using Sethbling's MCEdit filter (Stack Entities). Can be found here
 * No longer dismount upon reload
 * Allows for a lot of customization, including "riding" bats by spawning a bat with a minecart on top, spider jockeys etc

Command format

 * Tests for whether specified player is online (testfor [player]), or at specified coordinate and/or in radius (,  or  )
 * Signal output to any redstone comparators surrounding the command block like testing content of a chest
 * Signal output to any redstone comparators surrounding the command block like testing content of a chest


 * Usage:
 * To remove effects:
 * Maximum number of seconds is 1,000,000
 * Amplifier increases level of the chosen status effect
 * Amplifier increases level of the chosen status effect


 * Used to interact with the scoreboard system.
 * Used to interact with the scoreboard system.

General

 * Minecraft Realms
 * Currently a preview
 * Subscription-based vanilla server rental service provided by Mojang
 * Server can't be modded, no ops can be appointed and a whitelist is mandatory
 * Only added to 100 randomly chosen players
 * Used on Menu Screen, when activated

Blocks

 * Beacon
 * Increased range
 * 1 layer: 20 blocks (previously 16)
 * 2 layers: 30 blocks (previously 24)
 * 3 layers: 40 blocks (previously 32)
 * 4 layers: 50 blocks (previously 40)


 * Brewing stand
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on its fullness


 * Chest
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on its fullness


 * Detector rail
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on the fullness of the container on the rail
 * Added activated detector rail texture


 * Dispenser
 * Now equip armor to players that are up to 1 block away
 * Can place and activate TNT
 * Now use Bone Meal on a crop or sapling in front of them
 * Can create fire in front of them with flint and steel, which consumes durability
 * They can now face all 6 directions, and use a different texture when facing up or down
 * No longer fire while updated, instead they fire when their input becomes powered
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on its fullness


 * Jukebox
 * Redstone signal emitted when a redstone comparator is placed against it directly - signal length depends on the disc used.


 * Lava
 * Updated texture
 * Flows faster in the Nether
 * Can be found as hidden single blocks in the Nether


 * Locked chest
 * Textures put in individual files, nothing for the locked chest to use.
 * Now uses the "Missing Texture" texture


 * Nether brick
 * The crafting recipe is 4 nether brick
 * Renamed to Nether bricks in a later version


 * Stairs
 * Improved lighting
 * Stairs no longer prevent sprinting


 * Stone Double Slab
 * Double stone slabs now have a block ID of


 * Water
 * Creating an infinite water source no longer needs a block underneath, but has to have a water source block.
 * This means you won't ruin rivers or oceans with buckets

Items

 * Bone meal
 * Nerfed a bit
 * Now picks a random stage of growth each time as opposed to automatically pushing them to the final growth stage
 * Saplings take 2-4 bone meal to sprout into a tree
 * Gives off green particles when used

Mobs

 * All mobs
 * Mobs no longer walk over rails unless they are pursuing the player


 * Skeleton
 * Now shoot from 1 block away, instead of 10
 * They now shoot faster when their target is closer
 * Their accuracy changes depending on difficulty


 * Slimes
 * Slime spawn rates in swamps now depend on the current moon phase


 * Zombie
 * Now group up on targets
 * They can now set players on fire when on fire themselves
 * Now are stronger the more damaged they are
 * Increased player detection range

World generation

 * Abandoned mineshaft
 * Now spawn items in minecarts with chests, instead of chests

Gameplay

 * Inventory management
 * Double click items to fill the stack up as much as possible.
 * Drag item stacks around to divide them up over the dragged-over slots.
 * Drag item stacks around with the right mouse button to place one of that stack in each dragged-over slot, if that slot is not occupied already.
 * + double click items in a crafting area to place all items in the inventory.
 * + double click an item stack to move all other item stacks of that kind to that part of the inventory.
 * Pressing while the mouse is over an item in the inventory or a container will drop it.
 * Held armor can be equipped by right-clicking.


 * Death Messages
 * Include the cause of death, the player the deceased player was fighting at time of death and name of the item used to kill.
 * Player fell off a ladder
 * Player fell off some vines
 * Player fell out of the water
 * Player fell from a high place
 * Player was doomed to fall
 * Player was doomed to fall by Player or Mob
 * Player fell into a patch of fire
 * Player fell into a patch of cacti
 * Player got finished off by Player or Mob using Weapon
 * Player walked into a fire whilst fighting Player or Mob
 * Player was burnt to a crisp whilst fighting Player or Mob
 * Player tried to swim in lava while trying to escape Player or Mob
 * Player walked into a cactus while trying to escape Player or Mob
 * Player was shot by Player using Weapon
 * Player was slain by Player or Mob using Weapon
 * Player was killed trying to hurt Player or Mob


 * Renaming
 * Renamed item containers will now display that name when viewing the container's contents
 * Renamed Command Blocks now use their name instead of @ in the chat
 * Renamed Spawn Eggs will now give mobs spawned with it that name, which also appear in the death message
 * Renamed boss mobs show their name above their health bar
 * Nametags will be displayed when looking at a renamed entity


 * Language files
 * Language files can be updated via the background downloader
 * A new Minecraft release is not needed to update the language files


 * Options & Title Screen
 * Moved Texture Packs button to options menu, instead of title screen
 * New chat settings in Multiplayer Settings
 * Scale, Focused Height, Unfocused Height and Width is configurable
 * Smooth Lighting can be changed to Minimum, Maximum & Off
 * Minimum uses the old Smooth Lighting, and Maximum fixes a bug with stairs


 * Creative Mode
 * All potions are categorized
 * In Creative mode, you can hit mobs or players from five blocks away

General

 * Lighting
 * Engine optimizations
 * Support for more realistic lighting
 * Lighting interacts correctly with slabs and stairs
 * Note: Active furnaces still emit light only from the front surface (as before), and black spots have not been fixed


 * Texture packs
 * Textures now use one file per block/item, which are stitched together at runtime
 * Each texture can have its own resolution and may be animated by putting the frames underneath each other - A text file is needed to specify frame order and duration
 * Special rules apply for water & lava (double size) and compass & clock (non-animatable, frames are used for moving parts)
 * Vanilla textures will be used for missing texture files
 * Fonts are changeable as well, even to HD fonts
 * Support for HD texture packs.


 * Server list
 * The Direct Connect IP is now saved even after closing the game


 * Enchantments
 * Fortune now affects apples and potatoes.
 * Tools enchanted with efficiency now only speed up the mining of blocks that the tool is intended for, (a diamond pickaxe with efficiency no longer breaks dirt or wood faster).

Release fixes
These fixes occurred between the last snapshot for 1.5, 13w10b, and the full release of 1.5.

Trivia

 * Before September 2018, 1.5 was the only release version which was not immediately available to play from the launcher.