Java Edition Beta 1.7

Beta 1.7 is a version of Java Edition Beta released on June 30, 2011, which adds pistons and shears among other changes.

Blocks

 * Pistons
 * Can push blocks when powered by redstone.
 * Sticky Pistons
 * Can push and pull blocks when powered by redstone.

Items

 * Shears
 * New tool.
 * Used to pick up leaves.
 * Used to obtain wool from a sheep without harming it.
 * Yields more wool than killing sheep.

Mobs

 * Silverfish
 * Texture was added
 * It cannot be summoned, as there was no AI for it.

Blocks

 * General
 * The gray textures in the breaking animation have been replaced with opacity.


 * Bricks
 * Texture changed from Bricks JE2 BE1.png to Bricks JE3.png.


 * Cobblestone
 * Texture changed from Cobblestone JE3.png to Cobblestone JE4.png.


 * Cobwebs
 * Now requires shears or a sword to be broken properly, and drops 1 string when destroyed.


 * Fences
 * Can now place any block on the top.


 * Slabs
 * Single slabs now use the bottom half of the full block's texture.

Items

 * Flint and steel
 * Now required to trigger TNT.

General

 * Controls
 * When pressing in-game, a value ("F") from 0 to 3 will appear to indicate direction.


 * Texture packs
 * The bed side texture has been moved in the texture pack file, as well as the cake texture.

Mobs

 * Sheep
 * No longer drop wool from punching them, they must be either sheared or killed.

Fixes
2 bugs fixed
 * Fixed clay generation.
 * Squid can now despawn.

Trailer
An official video documenting some of Beta 1.7's major features was released on Mojang's official YouTube channel on May 24, 2011. The video was made by Hat Films. Made before Java Edition was officially released (and long before 1.7 came out), the trailer omits “Beta” when referring to the version number.