Pocket Edition v0.16.0 alpha

v0.16.0, the first release of the Boss Update, was a major update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition that was released on October 21 and 25, 2016. It added many new features, such as commands, beacons, ocean monuments and guardians, as well as the Wither and elder guardian.

The update was intended to be released on all platforms on October 12, 2016, when discussed at MINECON 2016. However, near the intended release time, a critical bug was discovered, forcing the release to be delayed by a few days. The iOS release did not come out until 4 days after the other platforms' release date due to a long certification process.

Also, the update was the last in the Alpha development phase of the game – the next update, 1.0.0, would mark the "full release" of Pocket Edition.

Blocks

 * Beacons
 * Intended as an endgame block
 * Continuously glows and gives a selected status effect to players within 16 blocks while beaming a beacon of light directly upwards (as bright as glowstone)
 * Activated by building a solid pyramid of iron/gold/emerald/diamond blocks underneath and selecting an effect
 * The cheapest configuration requires 9 blocks, while the best configuration requires 164 blocks
 * Has to be directly exposed to the skylight to work
 * Building square platforms of increasing size and the same material per layer will activate it and increase range and status effect selection
 * Viable materials are iron, gold, diamond, and emerald blocks
 * Changing selected status effects costs 1 emerald, diamond, gold ingot, or iron ingot
 * Unlockable effects, with an increasing amount of required layers of blocks required:
 * Speed and Haste
 * Resistance and Jump Boost
 * Strength
 * When all 4 layers of blocks underneath are built correctly, a second status effect can be chosen
 * This second status effect is Regeneration or tier II of the previously chosen effect
 * Effects given by the Beacon will have less intrusive particles than others on the screen, such as those of potions


 * Prismarine
 * Generates in ocean monuments.
 * Can be crafted with prismarine shards.
 * The cracks in prismarine slowly change color between brown, blue, gray and purple.


 * Sea lantern
 * Generate in ocean monuments.
 * Can be crafted with prismarine shards and prismarine crystals.
 * Emit light at a light level of 15 and have a subtle animated texture.


 * Wet sponge
 * Obtained when a sponge soaks up water.
 * Smelting a wet sponge yields a dry sponge.
 * When smelted, they fill empty buckets in the fuel slot with water if possible.
 * Emits water dripping particles while placed.
 * Dropped by elder guardians on player kills.

Items

 * Nether star
 * Drops from withers
 * Used to craft beacons
 * Glows like an enchanted item
 * When dropped, it will take more than twice as long to despawn than other items


 * Prismarine crystals
 * Drop from guardians.
 * Used to craft sea lanterns.


 * Prismarine shard
 * Drop from guardians.
 * Used to craft all three kinds of prismarine blocks and sea lanterns.


 * Potion of Decay and Splash Potion of Decay
 * Can be crafted into Arrow of Decay
 * Same as wither effect in


 * Spawn eggs
 * Elder guardian
 * Guardian

Mobs

 * Elder guardian
 * A boss-like variant of Guardians, with greater health, greater size and different appearance.
 * There are 3 elders in each ocean monument.
 * A flashing boss guardian appears on screen when close to the boss guardian, and Mining Fatigue III is inflicted on the player for 5 minutes.
 * Drops wet sponge.
 * : Is considered a boss mob.


 * Guardian
 * Spawns in ocean monuments.
 * Attacks squid and players with a beam.
 * The beam itself only warns of an imminent attack.
 * It has a few seconds of cooldown between each shot.
 * When on land it flops around but remains hostile.
 * Unlike squid they don't suffocate.
 * Drops prismarine shards, prismarine crystals and raw fish.
 * Makes wet noises when hurt and squeaky wet noises when flopping around on land.
 * The player also gets damaged with a thorns-like effect if it damages the guardian while their spikes are deployed (as if it's being prickled).


 * Wither
 * Three-headed flying player-created boss mob shooting projectiles at any mob that isn't undead and players
 * Place 4 pieces of soul sand in a T-shape and place 3 wither skeleton skulls on top to summon it
 * After spawning, it flashes blue, builds up health, grows slightly, and is invincible for a few seconds - Then it explodes and starts attacking players and mobs
 * Each head can fire projectiles, so-called wither skulls, at different targets - Projectiles explode on impact
 * Shoots two kinds of projectile - a blue one from the little heads, targeting mobs, and a dark one from the big head targeting players
 * When hit by projectiles, players get the Wither II effect, which acts like a slower poison effect that can kill and turns affected players' health bars' hearts black
 * Constantly regenerates health
 * Gains wither armor when taken down to half health, making it immune to arrows
 * Drops a nether star when killed
 * Darkens the sky when spawned in the Overworld
 * : When its health reaches 50%, it spawns 3-4 Wither Skeletons (Normal and Hard difficulty only)
 * : New animation and sounds when created and killed.
 * : New 'Charge' attack when its health is below 50%.

World generation

 * Ocean monuments
 * New underwater generated structure made out of prismarine, prismarine bricks, dark prismarine and sea lanterns.
 * 8 gold blocks can be found at the center of the monument, surrounded by dark prismarine.
 * Clusters of wet sponge blocks can be found on some rooms.
 * A flashing boss guardian appears on screen when close to an elder guardian, and Mining Fatigue III is inflicted on the player for 5 minutes.
 * Also generates in old worlds.

Gameplay

 * Achievements
 * : More achievements.


 * Add-ons
 * Added user-created resource packs that can be installed by world. Similar to the ones $$
 * : Added user-created behavior packs. These allow the player to change files coded in JSON to change how the game works. Similar to mods, but have an official API
 * Does not work on Windows Mobile in this version

General

 * Options
 * Ability to customize keyboard controls.
 * New settings bar (Android and iOS)
 * Added search tab to creative inventory (Win 10 only).
 * Added mouse UI sensitivity slider in VR options (Win 10 Rift only).
 * New UI for options menu.
 * New UI for creating and editing servers menu.
 * New UI for world option menu.
 * More options.
 * : Toggle Crouch.
 * Added warning before exiting the game.
 * You can import an Add-on, Resource Pack, or World by double-clicking it on Mobile Devices (Currently not working on Android).


 * Realms
 * Realms admin users can add moderators in their Realm.

Commands

 * Clones all the blocks from a given area to a different given area.
 * Up to 32768 (32 ) blocks can be copied at once.
 * The command accepts the tags: ,   or.
 * copies every block (default).
 * copies only non-air blocks.
 * removes specified blocks.
 * It can additionally accept the tags:,   or.
 * moves the selection from the first location to the second location, which may overlap.
 * forces the cloning operation, even if the areas overlap.
 * needs to be specified only if using.
 * Syntax:.
 * Example: Targets the cuboid volume defined by the opposite corners: [1001,3,1002],[1011,3,992] and clones it such that the old corner coincides with the destination (and orientation) at [1001,5,992].
 * Example: Targets the cuboid volume defined by the opposite corners: [1001,3,1002],[1011,3,992] and clones it such that the old corner coincides with the destination (and orientation) at [1001,5,992].


 * Takes op of someone
 * Takes op of someone


 * Used to give specific enchantments to tools and weapons.This change occurred between the 1.4.3 pre-release and the full release of 1.4.4.
 * Used to give specific enchantments to tools and weapons.This change occurred between the 1.4.3 pre-release and the full release of 1.4.4.


 * The syntax of has been split off.
 * Modifier sub-commands can change how the command is run:
 * executes a command using the entity  (but doesn't change position).
 * executes a command using the position, rotation, and dimension of the  (but doesn't change entity).
 * executes a command using the position of.
 * executes a command using the position (x y z) of the, but nothing else.
 * executes a command after aligning the current position to the block grid (rounding down),  is any combination of     and   (for example: , ,  and  ).
 * Examples:
 * using  will become
 * using  will become
 * executes a command as though the executor is facing.
 * executes a command as though the executor is facing the entity's eyes or feet.
 * executes a command as though the executor is rotated in the direction of the entity.
 * will run the command as though the executor is rotated in the specified direction.
 * executes a command as though the executor is in the specified dimension.
 * will make the rest of this command use feet or eyes for ^ ^ ^ coordinates or facing commands.
 * Conditional sub-commands can let the player prevent the command from running at all:
 * executes a command if (or unless)  matches.
 * executes a command if (or unless) the region between  and   matches.
 * executes a command if (or unless)  exists (returns 1 or more entities).
 * {{cmd|execute (if{{!}}unless) score  ( < {{!}} <= {{!}} = {{!}} >= {{!}} > ) 's score relates to  's score based on the chosen criterion.
 * {{cmd|execute (if{{!}}unless) score matches  }} executes a command if (or unless)  's score is in the   (ie ,  ).
 * As replacement for {{cmd|stats}}, a new sub-command  lets players store the result or success of a command somewhere:
 * is the result of a command, which replaces these old stats:,  ,  ,.
 * is how many times the command was successful. This is usually  or , but if the command split up (for example  ) then it may be more than  . This replaces.
 * The value will be stored when the full command has finished executing.
 * If a command isn't successful ( is  ),   will always be set to.
 * It will be made clear what the expected result of each command is.
 * {{cmd|execute store (result{{!}}success) score  }}
 * The value is stored into the scoreboard under  and.
 * The  must exist, but unlike with {{cmd|stats}} the player doesn't need to set an initial value for.
 * {{cmd|execute store (result{{!}}success) block (byte{{!}}double{{!}}float{{!}}int{{!}}long{{!}}short)  }}
 * The value is stored in the nbt data at  of the block at   as a byte, double, float, int, long, or short.
 * {{cmd|execute store (result{{!}}success) entity (byte{{!}}double{{!}}float{{!}}int{{!}}long{{!}}short)  }}
 * The value is stored in the nbt data at  of one   entity as a byte, double, float, int, long, or short.
 * Like {{cmd|data}}, {{cmd|execute store}} can't modify player nbt. Nbt inside the  key of items in the player's   or   is an exception and can be modified by {{cmd|execute store}}.
 * {{cmd|execute store (result{{!}}success) bossbar  (value{{!}}max) }}
 * The value is stored in the  or   setting of the boss bar with ID.
 * Data paths look like this:.
 * means foo's child called bar.
 * means element 0 of bar.
 * "quoted strings" may be used if a name of a key needs to be escaped.
 * Examples:
 * {{cmd|execute store success score @a foo run say hi}}
 * {{cmd|execute as @e[type=pig] at @s store success entity @s Saddle byte 1 if entity @p[distance=..5] }}
 * The player can chain all sub-commands together.
 * After every sub-command the player needs to write another sub-command.
 * When the player is done with chaining sub-commands,  lets them write the actual command to be executed.
 * is no longer allowed before the command.
 * {{cmd|execute as somebody at somebody run say hi}}
 * Example of old commands:
 * {{cmd|execute @e ~ ~ ~ detect ~ ~ ~ stone 0 say Stone!}} is now {{cmd|execute as @e at @s if block ~ ~ ~ stone run say Stone!}}
 * {{cmd|execute @e ~ ~ ~ detect ~ ~ ~ grass 0 summon pig}} is now {{cmd|execute at @e if block ~ ~ ~ grass_block run summon pig}}
 * {{cmd|execute @e ~ ~ ~ say Hello!}} is now {{cmd|execute as @e run say Hello!}}
 * {{cmd|execute @e ~ ~ ~ say Hello!}} is now {{cmd|execute as @e run say Hello!}}


 * {{cmd|experience}}
 * {{cmd|xp}} is now an alias for {{cmd|experience}}.
 * Split up into 3 different subcommands:
 * {{cmd|experience add [points{{!}}levels]}}
 * Adds  of either points or levels to the target   (defaults to points).
 * Adding points can cause players to level up, as usual.
 * Negative numbers are supported, to subtract points instead.
 * Subtracting points can cause players to level down.
 * {{cmd|experience set [points{{!}}levels]}}
 * Sets  of either points or levels on the target   (defaults to points).
 * The player cannot set more points than their current level allows.
 * When changing levels, the points will stay at the same percentage as the previous level.
 * {{cmd|experience query (points{{!}}levels)}}
 * Returns either the number of points or levels on the given.


 * {{cmd|fill}}
 * Fills a given volume with a specified block.
 * It cannot replace or fill block entities with specific data tags.
 * Up to 32768 blocks can be filled.
 * Syntax: {{cmd|fill        [dataValue] [oldBlockHandling] [dataTag]}}.
 * The  parameter determines the fate of the blocks, occupying the volume about to be filled,
 * It takes the same values here as it does in {{cmd|setblock}}:,   and   – as well as two additional values:
 * to fill only the outer layer of blocks, and fill the inner part with air,
 * to fill the outer layer of blocks, and keep the inner part the same.
 * Example: {{cmd|fill 1001 3 1002 1011 5 992 wool 6 replace}} Fills the given area with pink wool.
 * It can be made to filter specified blocks.
 * Syntax: {{cmd|fill [x] [y] [z] [x] [y] [z] [BlockName] [Data] replace [filterBlockName] [filterData]}}.


 * {{cmd|gamemode}}
 * Used for changed the gamemode of entity


 * {{cmd|give}}
 * Gives an item to an entity


 * {{cmd|help}} (with alias {{cmd|?}})
 * Shows commands {{Verify}}


 * {{cmd|kill}}
 * Gives 3.4×10 38 damages to selected entity


 * {{cmd|list}}
 * Lists the players


 * {{cmd|op}}
 * Gives someone op


 * {{cmd|say}}
 * Sends message to chat


 * {{cmd|setblock}}
 * Replaces a block in selected coordinate


 * {{cmd|setworldspawn}}
 * Changes the players world spawn


 * {{cmd|spawnpoint}}
 * Changes the player spawn


 * {{cmd|summon}}
 * Summons a entity to spesific coordinates


 * {{cmd|tell}} (with aliases {{cmd|msg}}, {{cmd|w}})
 * Used for private messagings


 * {{cmd|testforblocks}}
 * Compares two areas of a world, to check if they share the same blocks on the same configuration (including orientation).
 * The mode can be set to  or
 * is the default, while  ignores air blocks.
 * Syntax: {{cmd|testforblocks      <z2> [mode]}}.
 * Example: {{cmd|testforblocks 100 64 100 107 69 107 0 64 0 masked}}.


 * {{cmd|time}}
 * Used for changing the game time


 * {{cmd|toggledownfall}}
 * Changes the weather between sunny and rainy


 * {{cmd|tp}} (with alias {{cmd|teleport}})
 * Usage:
 * Example:
 * Teleports a selected entity to the executor's or player's relative position.


 * {{cmd|testforblock}}
 * Checks for blocks in specific locations.
 * Syntax: {{cmd|testforblock <x> <y> <z> <TileName> [dataValue] [dataTag]}}.


 * {{cmd|weather}}
 * Changes the current weather and optionally set the duration for the new weather


 * {{cmd|wsserver}}
 * Used to connect to a WebSocket server which uses command messages to communicate with clients.
 * Syntax {{cmd|wsserver <serverUri: text>}} {{Info needed|Make it more describle}}

Blocks

 * Sponge
 * Readded to survival mode.
 * Now can absorb water.
 * Now uses Java Edition 1.8 texture.


 * Bed
 * Now have a sound when placed.


 * Furnace
 * Better description (Input, Fuel, Result) for devices that do not use a controller.


 * Chest
 * Custom name no longer appears in GUI.

Items

 * Bucket
 * New sound when using.


 * Maps
 * : Now have different colors for different biomes.


 * Grass path
 * Added sounds when making.


 * Camera
 * Removed completely and is now exclusive to.


 * Cocoa beans
 * No longer has a crafting recipe.


 * Steak
 * : Renamed to cooked beef.


 * Minecarts
 * The player cannot destroy a minecart they are riding on.


 * Monster eggs
 * Added to the creative inventory.

Mobs

 * Husk
 * Add new sounds.


 * Stray
 * Add new sounds.


 * Squid
 * : Added new sounds.


 * Wither skeletons
 * : Now spawn when the wither's health is 50% (Normal and Hard difficulty only).


 * Iron golems
 * : Will now damage player in peaceful difficulty.


 * Wolf
 * : Will now damage player in peaceful difficulty.


 * Villager
 * Non-functional "open" button when sneaking.

General

 * Performance improvements.
 * Skin picker no longer shows the silhouette of the skins behind it when choosing a custom skin.
 * Tweaked mouse sensitivity for vertical vs. horizontal motion in UI in Rift (Win 10 Rift only).
 * Increased maximum view distance for capable GPUs (Win10 and EDU only).
 * Tweaked the clock texture, so it has all the correct pixels.
 * No Generating World Screen when entering Nether Portal

Fixes
From released versions before v0.16.0


 * – Empty buckets can't collect water when underwater (Creative only)
 * – Grass does not grow on dirt under fences or cobblestone walls
 * – Arrows bounce off tamed dogs but not tamed cats
 * – When breaking a block in front of me, it breaks the one I'm on.
 * – Cannot place beds on top half slabs anymore
 * – Creative inventory Mundane potion duplicate bug
 * – Mobs wearing armor drop that armor 100% of the time
 * – Some keyboard keys are dead
 * – Autojump allows you to jump over fences and cobblestone walls
 * – Player can go through solid block walls and fences using a boat
 * – Moving fuel into the furnace draws units from the first stack touched instead of from the one you tap
 * – Milking a cow or mooshroom with a single bucket or bowl immediately consumes the milk, or stew, if the player is hungry
 * – Nether Wart only drops one Wart when broken
 * – Lever, buttons, redstone, etc. can not be placed on monster spawner
 * – Nether mobs can die in any bodies of lava
 * – Water is invisible when you reload the world
 * – Double Flower Duplication Bug
 * – Wolves can be fed with raw and cooked fish
 * – Maps blink red when player take damages
 * – Clocks in item frames have extra pixels
 * – Hoppers suck item entities only one at a time
 * – Mobs do not drop spawned equipment
 * – Strange font behavior (width, size...)
 * – Beds don't make sounds when placing them
 * – All mobs take knockback damage from splash potion of harming II
 * – Creepers are mute when attacked
 * – Undead/Passive mobs still alive when get hit by tipped arrows of healing/harming
 * – Horses show open button before fully tamed
 * – Horse is unrideable while tied to a fence, and ride button is shown
 * – Boats placed halfway inside a wall shake violently
 * – Skins not showing up in skins area
 * – Doors act as tools
 * – Holding Flint and Steel when focusing on a Creeper doesn't show ignite button
 * – Furnace texture bug
 * – Skeleton Horses & Zombie Horses Bug
 * – Villagers get stuck facing 90°
 * – Breaking ice creates water source block in the Nether
 * – Baby horses don't show feed button
 * – Blocks are blinking on piston
 * – The void below bedrock is a bottomless pit
 * – Lead turn red when the leashed mob getting hit
 * – Armor take damage when we break blocks with them
 * – Using A Bed Whilst Riding A Horse / Boat etc. Does Not Dismount Player
 * – Trying to tame horse while holding saddle bug.
 * – Mobs don't burn in sunlight while on soul sand.
 * – Redstone torch burn/turn off when placed on the side of a piston
 * – Wither Skeletons and Blazes Do Not Spawn Again in Nether Fortresses
 * – Inception achievement not unlocking
 * – Chest UI is not accessible when mounted on a pig, boat or minecart.
 * – Items on the ground are facing the opposite direction
 * – Minecarts and their variants always despawn when they are in motion, and the game crashes

Video
Video made by slicedlime:

Trivia

 * This is the third Pocket Edition update to receive an official name by Mojang.
 * There is a developer version of 0.16.0 released on MINECON 2016.