Java Edition Beta 1.8

Beta 1.8, the first release of the Adventure Update, is a major version of Java Edition Beta released on September 14, 2011, which introduced features that focused mainly on fighting, exploration, and adventuring, as well as other aspects.

Blocks

 * Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Stone Bricks
 * Mossy Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Mossy Stone Bricks
 * Cracked Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Cracked Stone Bricks
 * Stone JE1.png Cobblestone JE4 BE2.png Stone Bricks JE1 BE1.png Infested Stone
 * Spawns one silverfish when broken.
 * Has no name.
 * Brick Slab JE1.png Bricks Slab
 * Stone Brick Slab (centered) JE1 BE1.png Stone Bricks Slab
 * Brown Mushroom Block JE1 BE1.png Red Mushroom Block JE1 BE1.png Mushroom Stem JE1 BE1.png Mushroom Blocks
 * Drops their corresponding mushroom
 * Melon JE1 BE1.png Melons
 * Stem.png Melon Stems
 * Stem.png Pumpkin Stems
 * Vines (N) JE1.png Vines
 * Iron Bars (EW) JE1 BE1.png Iron Bars
 * Glass Pane JE1 BE1.png Glass Panes
 * Drops itself when destroyed.
 * Oak Fence Gate Revision 1.png Fence Gates
 * Connect to fences.
 * Open when.
 * Brick Stairs JE1.png Brick Stairs
 * Stone Brick Stairs JE1.png Stone Brick Stairs
 * Stone brick stairs now drop either stone bricks, cracked stone bricks, mossy stone bricks or a type of stone bricks, which looks regular, but does not stack, when broken due to the data value (facing direction) carrying over:

Items

 * Raw Chicken JE1 BE1.png Raw Chicken
 * Restores hunger.
 * Has 30% chance of giving the hunger effect when eaten.
 * Dropped from chickens.


 * Cooked Chicken JE1 BE1.png Cooked Chicken
 * Restores hunger.
 * Cooked raw chicken.


 * Raw Beef JE1 BE1.png Raw Beef
 * Restores hunger.
 * Dropped from cows.


 * Steak JE1 BE1.png Steak
 * Restores hunger.
 * Cooked raw beef.
 * Has the cooked porkchop's old texture.


 * Ender Pearl JE1.png Ender Pearls


 * An item which doesn't serve any purpose in the game for now, and had an uncentered icon.


 * Melon Seeds JE1 BE1.png Melon seeds
 * New seed type that grows melons.
 * Can only be found in mineshaft chests.


 * Melon Slice JE1 BE1.png Melons
 * Restores hunger.
 * Harvested from melons.
 * Can be used to get melon seeds back.


 * Pumpkin Seeds JE1 BE1.png Pumpkin seeds
 * New seed type that produces pumpkins.
 * Cannot be obtained from a pumpkin as of now, only available in mineshaft chests.


 * Rotten Flesh JE1.png Rotten Flesh
 * Restores hunger.
 * Has 80% chance of giving the hunger effect when eaten.
 * Dropped by zombies.

Mobs

 * Cave Spider JE1 BE1.png Cave Spiders
 * Smaller variant of spiders.
 * They can poison the player.


 * Enderman.png Enderman
 * New tall mob.
 * As a placeholder, endermen use zombie sounds.
 * They are able to teleport and place and destroy blocks.
 * Changed from the last pre-release so now they have purple eyes instead of green eyes and emit portal particles instead of black particles.


 * Silverfish.png Silverfish
 * A small hostile mob.
 * The can spawn from infested blocks found in strongholds.

Non-mob entities

 * Experience Orb
 * Adds to the player's total experience when collected.
 * Entity ID is.
 * Plays low-pitched item pickup sound upon collecting.

World generation

 * Mineshafts
 * The support beams are wood planks.


 * Ravines


 * Strongholds


 * Villages
 * Unpopulated as of now.


 * Huge mushrooms
 * Do not generate naturally.
 * Can be artificially created by applying bone meal to a brown or red mushroom.


 * Biomes
 * New fractal-based biome code.
 * Biomes got an overhaul, adding and removing some biomes while making all of them more vast than before. Biomes became more distinct terrain-wise, and most biomes were made to be much flatter than before.
 * Oceans
 * Replaces old oceans (generated structures).
 * Deeper and vaster than before.
 * Floor is now made up of sand, dirt, and clay.
 * Clay is now more commonly found due to this.
 * Plains
 * Larger than before.
 * Deserts
 * Larger than before.
 * Extreme Hills
 * Replaces old mountains (generated structures).
 * Forests
 * Wolves now spawn more often.
 * Taigas
 * No longer generates with snow due to problems with the new generator.
 * Swamps
 * Has an exclusive type of oak trees with vines.
 * Rivers
 * Flows through/in between biomes.

Gameplay

 * Flying


 * Only available in creative mode.
 * Press twice to toggle flying.


 * Achievements
 * Added: "Kill a skeleton with an arrow at 50 meters".


 * Combat
 * Hold-to-charge bows.
 * Critical hits.
 * Players can block with a sword by holding.
 * Hostile mobs perform attack animations.


 * Experience
 * Mobs killed by players drop tiny flashing experience orbs that add to the experience bar.


 * Hunger
 * New food system.
 * There is now a food meter.
 * Food no longer heals directly, but indirectly: if the food meter is above 90%, heals every 4 seconds.
 * Food level decreases when sprinting, jumping and when being hurt.
 * If the food meter is at 0%, the player starves and loses hearts every 4 seconds.


 * Status effects
 * Do not show off particles.
 * They do not have inventory sprites.
 * Added obtainable status effects:
 * Regeneration, which increases health slowly.
 * Obtained after eating a golden apple.
 * Hunger, which decreases the hunger bar.
 * Obtained after eating a rotten flesh or a raw chicken.
 * Poison, which hurts the player.
 * Obtained when being hurt by a cave spider.
 * Added unobtainable status effects, but are functional:
 * Speed, Slowness, Haste, Mining Fatigue, Instant Health, Instant Damage, Water Breathing and Nausea.
 * Added unobtainable and nonfunctional status effects:
 * Strength, Weakness, Jump Boost, Resistance, Fire Resistance, Invisibility, Blindness and Night Vision.


 * Sprinting
 * New way to travel, activated by double-tapping.
 * Gives the player a boost in speed.
 * The player can now jump four blocks horizontally while sprinting.

General

 * Menu screen
 * Updated Mojang logo.


 * Particles
 * Performing a critical hit on any mob will cause 'sparks' to fly.
 * Explosion particles are now shockwaves instead of smoke.
 * Tiny stationary bubble particles can be seen when underwater.
 * Fog is now thicker and darker deep underground, and gives off particles. Due to this, the void appears black.


 * Splash
 * Added the following splash text:
 * Jeb has amazing hair!
 * Casual gaming!
 * Undefeated!
 * Kinda like Lemmings!
 * Follow the train, CJ!
 * Leveraging synergy!
 * This message will never appear on the splash screen, isn't that weird?
 * DungeonQuest is unfair!
 * 110813!
 * 90210!
 * Check out the far lands!
 * Tyrian would love it!
 * Also try VVVVVV!
 * Also try Super Meat Boy!
 * Also try Terraria!
 * Also try Mount And Blade!
 * Also try Project Zomboid!
 * Also try World of Goo!
 * Also try Limbo!
 * Also try Pixeljunk Shooter!
 * Also try Braid!
 * That's super!
 * Bread is pain!
 * Read more books!
 * Khaaaaaaaaan!
 * Less addictive than TV Tropes!
 * More addictive than lemonade!
 * Bigger than a bread box!
 * Millions of peaches!
 * Fnord!
 * This is my true form!
 * Totally forgot about Dre!
 * Don't bother with the clones!
 * Pumpkinhead!
 * Hobo humping slobo babe!

Blocks

 * Chest.png Chests
 * Chests now have a unique block model.
 * Now make sounds.
 * Chest.gif Large Chest.gif Now have an opening/closing animation.


 * Mossy Cobblestone JE2 BE1.png Mossy Cobblestone
 * Changed texture from Mossy Cobblestone JE1.png.


 * Leaves
 * User-placed leaves no longer decay.


 * Stone pressure plates & wooden pressure plates
 * Can now be placed on fences


 * Torches
 * Improved model for when the torch is placed on walls. (clarify)

Items

 * Food
 * Eating food now restores hunger instead of health (but keeps the same amount).
 * All food items (except mushroom stew) are now stackable.
 * Now takes 1.6 seconds to consume, accompanied with an animation.


 * Bows
 * Damage in accordance with the charging time.


 * Cooked Porkchop
 * Changed the texture from Cooked Porkchop JE1.png to Cooked Porkchop JE2 BE1.png


 * Mushroom Stew
 * Now restores hunger instead of  health.


 * Golden Apple
 * Now restores hunger instead of  health.
 * Now gives the player the Regeneration status effect for 30 seconds.


 * Shears
 * Can now collect grass and vines.

Mobs

 * General
 * Animals no longer despawn which makes it possible to capture them.
 * Arrows that hit a mob visually "stick" into the mob rather than just disappear.
 * Passive mobs will randomly flee if attacked by the player or other mobs (such as wolves).
 * Now drop experience when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.


 * Humans
 * Removed the mob as an entity.
 * Its AI is the only thing that remains of the mob.


 * Pigs
 * Updated model
 * Pig JE2 BE1.png Saddled Pig JE2 BE1.png The snout now protrudes from their head.
 * Previously, their heads were flat Pig JE1.png Saddled Pig JE1.png.


 * Chickens
 * Changed bounding box height from 0.4 blocks to 0.7 blocks
 * Now drop 1 raw chicken.
 * If on fire, they drop cooked chicken instead.


 * Cows
 * Now drop 1-3 raw beef
 * If on fire, they drop 1-2 steak instead.
 * Skeletons drop arrows, bows as normal drop, they drop the same loot if on fire.
 * Now fire arrows slightly slower to be consistent with the change of the bow.
 * Their arrows are shot with more force.
 * Now hold full-size bows.
 * Skeleton arrows originate from about their eyes to the bow, instead of above the head.


 * Zombies
 * Now drop rotten flesh instead of feathers.

World generation

 * Terrain
 * Changed the terrain generator.
 * Removed the Far Lands from the game's code

Gameplay

 * Creative


 * Creative mode can now be accessed using the "create new world" screen, and no longer requires a code modification to access.
 * Some code rewritten.
 * New creative inventory GUI.
 * Looks similar to survival inventory, with drag and drop interface.
 * Some non-block items are now available in the inventory.
 * Grass is now available in the inventory.
 * The player can drag items and blocks outside of the GUI to spawn them in dropped item entity form.
 * Previously, it was not possible to do these things in creative, but now is:
 * Kill/damage mobs
 * Kill/damage players who are in survival mode
 * Break bedrock
 * Take damage (via falling out of the world)
 * Mobs now spawn, previously, they would only spawn in Survival mode.


 * Controls


 * Holding the left mouse button with a weapon will now only swing once.
 * Holding the right mouse button to place blocks is slightly slower than before.
 * +Clicking the output item in a crafting square will craft all the items at once, and automatically places them in the inventory.
 * Player list in multiplayer, defaults to.


 * Clouds


 * Height raised to the top of the map.
 * Can no longer phase through blocks.
 * Movement now syncs with the game's time.


 * Damage


 * Unarmed damage was decreased from to  (reverting to the behavior from before Beta 1.5).
 * The game now keeps track of damage sources and types.


 * Daylight cycle


 * No longer requires chunk updates and is a smooth transition.
 * The lighting on a block is given a tint based on the most prominent source of light
 * Reddish from artificial light sources.
 * Artificial light now gives a very subtle 'flicker'.
 * Blue from moonlight.
 * Total darkness keeps the same black tint.
 * Sunlight gives the same white tint.


 * Farming


 * Changed to be less volatile.


 * HUD


 * Armor bar moved to above hearts, due to hunger bar.


 * Lighting


 * Improved lighting system.


 * Multiplayer


 * The 'Multiplayer join screen' has been improved, mainly with a server list.


 * Sunrise & sunset


 * Clouds change color during sunrise and sunset to match the sky color.
 * Horizon, specifically haze changes color more vividly during sunset and sunrise.


 * Weather


 * Rain and snow now render faster.

General

 * Debug screen
 * Mobs are no longer visibly labeled with their entity ID
 * The world's numeric seed is displayed in a field below player position.
 * Changing fog by hotkey now requires debug-view to be open in addition to pressing.
 * The version tag appears in-game again.


 * Mods
 * The game's coding now allows for mods to more easily change the (map) height.


 * Main menus
 * The main menu's background is now an animated scene.
 * The menu panorama uses seed  in Beta 1.7.3 at coordinates (61, 75, -68).
 * The version tag is now displayed on the bottom-left rather than the top-left.
 * New sliders for Field of View and Brightness.
 * 4 new entries in control list
 * "Attack", "Use Item", and "Pick Block" can now be remapped.
 * Operators can switch back and forth between survival and creative mode.


 * Splash
 * Removed duplicate "Check it out!"

World generation

 * Biomes
 * (old)
 * These did not generate in previous versions, so their removal was not noticeable.
 * (old)
 * These did not generate in previous versions, so their removal was not noticeable.
 * These did not generate in previous versions, so their removal was not noticeable.
 * These did not generate in previous versions, so their removal was not noticeable.
 * These did not generate in previous versions, so their removal was not noticeable.


 * Structures
 * Beach (old)
 * Gravel beach
 * General
 * Far Lands

General

 * Distance effects
 * The famous high-distance world rendering offset bug has been fixed (except for moving pistons)
 * Redstone repeater top faces are no longer weirdly broken
 * Rails, powered rails and detector rails are no longer stretched
 * Ladders are no longer offset nor stretched
 * Upwards travelling redstone wire no longer appears offset from the block it's on
 * The side faces of flowing water and lava are no longer broken


 * World boundary
 * Has now been moved to 30,000,000 from 32,000,000

Fixes
9 bugs fixed


 * The + Click crash bug from 1.8 Prerelease 2 is fixed.
 * Fixed redstone circuits not working after glitch is now fixed in multiplayer.
 * Destroying boats and minecarts now creates particles.
 * Ghast attack sounds are fixed multiplayer.
 * The Far Lands have been removed; there is now only void.
 * Fixed stairs, cactus, farmland, pressure plate, fence, cake, snow layer, button, and trapdoor items being too big.
 * Fixed the "smart farms" glitch where the hitbox of a fence would extend past the hitbox of tilled soil and prevent it from reverting to dirt when walked on.
 * Fixed several crash bugs relating to pistons.
 * Increased the z-buffer from 8-bit to 24-bit, fixing graphical issues with AMD graphics cards.

Trivia

 * This was the first version to have modern terrain.
 * This was the first version to have villages.
 * However, villagers weren't added yet.
 * Strongholds also were added in this version as well, but didn't have an end portal.