Java Edition 1.5

1.5, known as the Redstone Update, is an update which added a number of new redstone-related blocks and a new decorative block – block of quartz. Also included was a scoreboard system, a new texture pack format and a lighting engine optimization.

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 few "randomly" chosen players
 * Used on Menu Screen, when activated

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
 * Commands
 * 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
 * Usage:
 * To remove effects:
 * Maximum number of seconds is 1,000,000
 * Amplifier increases level of the chosen status effect
 * Used to interact with the scoreboard system
 * 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.
 * 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.

Console
The console additions got 1.5 in 1.6.2

World Generation

 * Nether quartz ore
 * Found in the Nether
 * Drops nether quartz crystal 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

Blocks & Items

 * 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
 * Stores 9 redstone
 * Emits constant redstone signal = same as the 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * Linear, so 10 strength signal means twice as many items as a 5 strength signal
 * Nether Brick (item)
 * Obtained by smelting netherrack
 * Used to make nether brick
 * 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
 * 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
 * Pillar Quartz Block
 * 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 wood
 * 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

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.

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

World Generation

 * Abandoned mine shaft
 * Now spawn items in minecart with chests, instead of chests

Blocks & Items

 * 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)
 * Bone meal
 * Slightly nerfed
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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 (item)
 * 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

Mobs

 * All mobs
 * Mobs no longer walk over rails unless they are pursuing the player
 * Skeleton
 * Now shoot from 16 blocks away, instead of 10
 * They now shoot faster when their target is closer
 * They shoot players one block away
 * 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

Fixes
115 bugs fixed:
 * – TP Bug when you sit in Minecart/Boat/Riding pig
 * – Minecart going in a circle will make any minecart close to them go super fast.
 * – Sounds: Fire extinguish sound does not work in survival
 * – Spawning in the air after creating a new world
 * – Pigs constantly jumping, when player control them on half slabs and stairs
 * – Signs light up when mousing over creative inventory slots
 * – Unicode font text shadow misaligned
 * – Piston extended and retracted at the same time
 * – Visual glitch on retracting piston
 * – Pushing TNT with a Piston and activating it at the same time duplicates it
 * – Clocked piston arm turns invisible when exiting game/dying/etc.
 * – Powered redstone doesn't update right
 * – Flowing water still drags the player while flying
 * – Z-fighting of iron bars / glass panes with the block below / above
 * – Players and Mobs fall off vehicles and other ridden entities upon world reload, glitching through blocks
 * – Placing a solid block near TNT and above redstone torch won't update the TNT
 * – TNT explosion delayed until exiting and re-entering world
 * – You can place Vines into Vines
 * – Leaves replace transparent blocks
 * – Chest glitch that lets them appear as if they are opened while they are not
 * – Achievements lost after update
 * – Arrows Don't land properly
 * – Breeding cows can consume more than one wheat
 * – Dying stacked leather armor duplicates the armor
 * – Spawn Protection not working properly
 * – Redstone and components stay powered after unloading chunks
 * – Map scaling breaks the map sometimes
 * – In the server log, /say commands performed by the server do not appear to the console but do appear to the players.
 * – Dispenser and Dropper shooting out when updated
 * – Graphical piston glitch
 * – Water does not form source blocks properly on top of existing source blocks
 * – Command block/Repeater interacting unusually
 * – /difficulty command doesn't produce any messages
 * – crowdin.net: Entry entity.WitherBoss.name is missing - German translation is "Withern"
 * – Self-Powered Redstone Lamp / Breaking a repeater with a piston pointing at a block won't stop the circuit
 * – Different timings on pistons in near same environment
 * – Grass fades under upside-down stairs (except oak wood ones)
 * – Breaking a Dragon Egg in Survival with a high Haste effect crashes the game
 * – Baby mob collision boxes are too large
 * – Fence Glitch
 * – Levers have random orientation when placed
 * – Trying to walk from a block with a collision box shorter than 1 block to another block that is also shorter causes the player to momentarily glitch into the ground
 * – Infinite rail duplication glitch
 * – Minecart noise gets stuck on long cart rides | Bumping, choppy sound
 * – Potatoes are not affected by the Fortune enchantment
 * – Dragon Egg falling render problems
 * – Breaking doors occasionally moves the other part of the door
 * – Hash size breaks redstone
 * – Mob spawners sometimes show up as pig spawners
 * – Redstone torches sometimes update instantly (not the North/South quirk)
 * – Map item placed in item frame experiences Z-fighting
 * – Inconsistent pulse length/delay with torch and repeater combination
 * – Minecraft very slow to join/update a server, takes a long time to login (30 seconds/ 1 min)
 * – Suffocation/jittering/stuck when spawning in a newly created world
 * – Boats and minecarts should not be dropped in Creative
 * – Village lamp post floating torches
 * – Rain animation glitches through the ceiling
 * – Powered/activator rail on slope stays powered/activated
 * – Jukebox crashes when breaking with no record inside
 * – Anvils will sometimes hit the edge of a block and break instead of being placed.
 * – Anvil name change cost
 * – The player cannot sprint while ascending stairs
 * – Block "resets" when right clicked with a food item
 * – Map not updating
 * – Activated detector-rails moved by a piston keep their activated state
 * – Withers in Peaceful difficulty spawn very glitchy
 * – Long redstone wire does not update/behaves strange in newly loaded chunks
 * – Inconsistency with pistons pushing items
 * – Armor enchantments (besides Thorns) have no effect on mobs
 * – Tile entity crashing bug
 * – Single player mode, creative mode, E to select block, select block from grid, E to return to game, game freezes, crash log created
 * – Block breaking resets when the item the player is holding changes
 * – Server crashes if spaces are input on the console
 * – Floating minecart tracks when pushed by one-pulse piston
 * – Pistons and other non-solid blocks
 * – Issues with name colors in tab list
 * – Anvils don't do enough damage
 * – Dispensers no longer dispense items through blocks in the downward direction.
 * – When a repeater is placed when facing the direction f=0 it flashes on for one tick then goes of
 * – Powered mechanisms react to change in redstone power level
 * – SpawnPotentials list working incorrectly
 * – Wither skeletons have wrong hitbox
 * – Items in equipment slot / Crashes if CanPickUpLoot is set to 1 in level.dat/player.dat files
 * – Chat Shown: commands only broken - displays all chats but prevents the player from submitting commands with "cannot send chat message"
 * – Minecart does not make sounds when riding it
 * – All the different Firework stars stack
 * – Mining with tools resets cracking action when damage values are updated
 * – Items with NBT data do not stack correctly due to serialization
 * – Swords do not lose durability when used on the Ender Dragon
 * – Blocks like redstone dust, redstone repeaters, doors, levers do not drop when the underlying block is pushed by a piston
 * – 1.4.6 - Windows 8 64x - Mouse: View issues/Accuracy error?
 * – Command Block Gamerule Update Problem
 * – Crash upon reloading texture pack
 * – Night Vision Potions that are edited to last longer create a potentially seizure-inducing flashing sky background.
 * – Creative Menu potion values are not the same as when brewed (issue redo)
 * – Reading Bytes in Minecraft code has a possible flaw
 * – Upon creating the wither, ghost blocks are created
 * – Nether cave/tunnel generator produces incorrect/cut tunnels
 * – Named tools/armor disappearing from inventory
 * – Furnace Tile Entities reproducing - Internal performance bug
 * – Trapdoor is closed when redstone repeater is one block below and powered
 * – URL parser does not detect 4 letter TLDs
 * – Wither doesn't generate health when in minecart
 * – Gamerule doMobLoot doesn't affect XP drops
 * – Death messages not translatable
 * – Infinite duration bug
 * – FallingSand support for block IDs > 128
 * – Hitting mobs with a sharpness I wooden sword and weakness III crashes the game
 * – Unnecessary delay of "Done" button in the texture pack menu
 * – Multiplayer, slow chunk loading and or read timeout kick
 * – /clear with command blocks not working with armor that has been worn with custom damage values
 * – Last Direct Multiplayerconnection does not get saved
 * – Boats show water splashes when falling from high places, even if not in water
 * – Animals can breed over distances up to almost 8 blocks when only separated by fences