Java Edition 1.8

1.8, released on September 2, 2014, is the first non-development release in the Bountiful Update. It added and changed many aspects of Minecraft which made it easier for map makers to create adventure maps, and added many blocks and mobs for survival play.

General

 * Splashes
 * "That's Numberwang!"
 * "pls rt"
 * "Do you want to join my server?"
 * "Put a little fence around it!"
 * "Throw a blanket over it!"
 * "One day, somewhere in the future, my work will be quoted!"
 * "Now with additional stuff!"
 * "Extra things!"
 * "Yay, puppies for everyone!"
 * "So sweet, like a nice bon bon!"
 * "Popping tags!"
 * "Now With Multiplayer!"
 * "Very influential in its circle!"
 * "Rise from your grave!"
 * "Warning! A huge battleship "STEVE" is approaching fast!"
 * "Blue warrior shot the food!"
 * "Run, coward! I hunger!"
 * "Flavor with no seasoning!"
 * "Strange, but not a stranger!"
 * "Tougher than diamonds, rich like cream!"
 * "Getting ready to show!"
 * "Getting ready to know!"
 * "Getting ready to drop!"
 * "Getting ready to shock!"
 * "Getting ready to freak!"
 * "Getting ready to speak!"
 * "It swings, it jives!"
 * "Cruising streets for gold!"
 * "Take an eggbeater and beat it against a skillet!"
 * "Make me a table, a funky table!"
 * "Take the elevator to the mezzanine!"
 * "Stop being reasonable, this is the Internet!"
 * "/give @a hugs 64"
 * "This is good for Realms."
 * "Any computer is a laptop if you're brave enough!"
 * Difficulty
 * Difficulty is per world
 * No more global difficulty option
 * Prevents accidentally changing the difficulty when joining the world
 * Can be locked for each world
 * Prevents the temptation to change to an easier difficulty in difficult situations
 * Locking can not be undone without external editors
 * However, using the command will still work
 * Hunger now refills on Peaceful difficulty
 * Options
 * New 'Skin Customization' settings
 * Can toggle cape and skin layers from here
 * Multiplayer settings
 * 'Reduced debug info' toggle to enable/disable reduced information on the F3 debug screen
 * Video settings
 * Alternative Block toggle
 * Can disable/enable (weighted) alternative block models
 * When turned off, the least complex highest priority model will always be used for each block
 * Use VBOs toggle
 * Can enable/disable vertex buffer objects
 * May offer a ~10% performance increase when set to ON
 * Anisotropic filtering has been removed
 * Render distance slider now goes up to 32 when using 64-bit Java
 * Requires 2 GB of allocated RAM
 * Removed Advanced OpenGL
 * Shaders
 * New "creeper" shader (creeper.json), applies a green tint
 * Is applied when spectating from the perspective of a creeper
 * Can also be applied using Super Secret Settings
 * New "spider" shader (spider.json), applies octuple vision
 * Is applied when spectating from the perspective of a spider
 * Can also be applied using Super Secret Settings

Gameplay

 * Statistics
 * Detects how many cm the player has moved while crouching
 * Detects how many cm the player has moved while sprinting
 * Detects how much time has passed (in ticks) since the player's last death
 * Detects how many times the player has talked to villagers
 * Detects how many times the player has traded with villagers
 * Achievement
 * New achievement Overpowered
 * Obtained by crafting an enchanted golden apple
 * Requires first obtaining Getting an Upgrade
 * Spectator game mode
 * Only can be acessed via, either using ,  , or
 * No interaction with the world
 * Only the Void and can damage a spectator
 * Flying mode
 * Landing is not possible – the player can fly through the ground
 * The mouse scroll wheel, the sprint key, and the slowness and swiftness effects all affect the flying speed
 * First-person view through another player or mob’s eyes
 * Certain mobs have different vision
 * Pressing the dismount key (shift by default) returns the player to flying mode
 * Viewing privileges
 * Spectators can see other spectators
 * Invisible players and mobs appear visible, but translucent
 * An optional hotkey to show outlines on players whilst spectating
 * Can be color coded to teams
 * Outline seen when key is held down (like sneaking when shift is held down)
 * Spectators have a UI to teleport to other players
 * Teleportation works across dimensions
 * Worlds can be shared to LAN in spectator mode
 * Particles
 * Shows up at the location of barrier blocks for players holding a barrier item in their hand
 * Are created when a sponge soaks up water
 * Shows up on one's screen when near an Elder Guardian
 * Enchantment
 * "Depth Strider"
 * Allows the player to move faster in water
 * Can be applied only to boots
 * Can go up to level III
 * Are created when a sponge soaks up water
 * Shows up on one's screen when near an Elder Guardian
 * Enchantment
 * "Depth Strider"
 * Allows the player to move faster in water
 * Can be applied only to boots
 * Can go up to level III
 * Can be applied only to boots
 * Can go up to level III

Commands & NBT Tags

 * Target selectors
 * Targets entities
 * Can specify type of entity by entity ID to either include or exclude with  or
 * Example: - kills all chickens within a radius of 50 blocks
 * Example: - any entity within a radius of 5 blocks will be teleported five blocks in the air
 * Commands
 * Modifies NBT data at a specific coordinate, the ,  , or
 * will copy every block (the default behavior)
 * will copy only non-air blocks
 * will remove unnecessary blocks
 * It can additionally be ,  , or
 * will move the selection from the first location to the second location, which may overlap
 * will force the cloning operation, even if the areas overlap
 * only needs to be specified if using
 * Usage:
 * Example:
 * Works similarly to, but for entities
 * Does not work on players
 * Usage: {{cmd|entitydata  argument allows the {{cmd|execute}} command to run only if a block is detected at a specific location relative to the target
 * Usage:
 * {{cmd|execute    }}
 * {{cmd|execute    detect     to only fill the outer layer of blocks and fill the inner part with air, and   to fill the outer layer of blocks and ignore the inner part
 * Works similarly to {{cmd|setblock}}
 * Usage: {{cmd|fill       <TileName> [dataValue] [oldBlockHandling] [dataTag]}}
 * Example: {{cmd|fill 1001 3 1002 1011 5 992 wool 6 replace}} will fill the given area with pink wool
 * Can filter certain blocks
 * Only if it’s used to fill in replace mode with “normal” blocks.
 * It does not work when filling with block entities.
 * Usage: {{cmd|fill [x] [y] [z] [x] [y] [z] [BlockName] [Data] replace [filterBlockName] [filterData]}}
 * {{cmd|particle}}
 * Spawns particles in a given area
 * Usage: {{cmd|particle <x> <y> <z> <xd> <yd> <zd> [count] [force] }}
 * Example: {{cmd|1=particle lava ~ ~1 ~ 1 1 1 0.5 50 normal @e[type=Chicken]}} will create 50 lava popping particles, centred one block above the block/entity running the command, spreading around a radius of 1 block, with a speed of 0.5, relative to all chickens in that world
 * The  argument can be set to   to display particles even if a player has his 'Particles' toggle set to Minimal or Decreased
 * List of particles:,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,
 * {{cmd|replaceitem|<entity{{!}}block> ...}}
 * Can replace items in any inventory, including the inventories of mobs such as zombies
 * Usage:
 * {{cmd|replaceitem entity  [amount] [data value]}}
 * {{cmd|replaceitem block <x> <y> <z> [amount] [data value]}}
 * Example:
 * {{cmd|1=replaceitem entity @e[type=Zombie] slot.weapon minecraft:iron_sword 1 0}} will give all the zombies iron swords
 * {{cmd|replaceitem entity @p slot.hotbar.0 minecraft:fish 4 2}} will put 4 clownfish in the players first hotbar slot
 * {{cmd|replaceitem block ~ ~1 ~ slot.container.5 minecraft:redstone_block 1 0}} will put a redstone block in the 6th slot of a container 1 block above the player
 * {{cmd|stats <entity{{!}}block> ...}}
 * Usage:
 * {{cmd|stats entity }}
 * {{cmd|stats block [x] [y] [z] }}
 * Alternative and more featureful way of interacting with
 * Will update a scoreboard objective based on the number of entities/blocks which have been affected by the command, it updates the objective for the entity that ran the command, fake players can be used when run in a command block
 * After the  there are currently 5 possible stats that can be updated: ,  ,  ,   and
 * For example: {{cmd|stats entity @a set AffectedBlocks @a Test}} will update a scoreboard objective named 'Test' for all players whenever a command is performed relative to them, the objective will update by the number of blocks affected by the command since the stat was set to, this means if the command is {{cmd|fill}} then it will update the objective for whoever is running the command (@a) by the number of blocks filled
 * {{cmd|testforblocks}}
 * Compares two areas of a world
 * The mode can be set to  or ,   is the default while   will ignore air
 * Usage: {{cmd|testforblocks <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> [mode]}}
 * Example: {{cmd|testforblocks 100 64 100 107 69 107 0 64 0 masked}}
 * {{cmd|title}}
 * Can make text display on a players screen in the form of a title and/or subtitle using JSON
 * {{cmd|title @a times <fadeIn> <fadeOut>}}
 * Set the fade in time, the stay on screen time and the fade out time for the title
 * {{cmd|title @a title }}
 * Set and start showing the title and subtitle
 * {{cmd|title @a subtitle }}
 * Set the subtitle (optional)
 * {{cmd|title @a clear}}
 * Clear titles immediately
 * {{cmd|title @a reset}}
 * Reset all title parameters to defaults (fade times)
 * {{cmd|trigger}}
 * Functions the same way as {{cmd|scoreboard players set}} or {{cmd|scoreboard players add}}, but can only modify objectives with the  criteria (referred to as "triggers") and can only modify the score of the player running the command
 * Allows non-op players to use s as well as prevent spamming  s
 * Can be used by non-operator players
 * For a player to run this command, the trigger must be enabled for that player
 * {{cmd|scoreboard players enable }} will enable the specified player to use the specified trigger objective
 * Trigger availability is stored per player, per trigger
 * One trigger may be disabled for a player, but that player can use a different trigger
 * One player may be unable to use a trigger, but another player can use the same trigger
 * Disabled after the trigger has been used (must be re-enabled to use the trigger again)
 * Mostly for use with {{cmd|tellraw}}
 * Usage: {{cmd|trigger <add:set> }}
 * {{cmd|worldborder}}
 * {{cmd|worldborder <set,add,center,damage,warning,get>}}
 * {{cmd|worldborder set <sizeInBlocks> <timeInSeconds>}}
 * Used to set size of border. The first argument sets the size of the border and the second sets the speed of the border to expand or shrink
 * {{cmd|worldborder add <sizeInBlocks> <timeInSeconds>}}
 * Adds blocks to the current size of the world border. Can use negative (-) numbers to subtract the size of the border
 * {{cmd|worldborder center <x> <z>}}
 * Sets the center of where the border will be placed.
 * {{cmd|worldborder damage <buffer{{!}}amount>}}
 * Allows you to customise the amount of damage taken while outside the border, and buffer, the higher value, the further you can be outside the border without taking damage
 * {{cmd|worldborder warning <time{{!}}distance>}}
 * Allows you to customise how far you have to be or the time for how long it takes to activate the world border warning
 * {{cmd|worldborder get}}
 * Tells the player running the command the current width of the world border
 * Gamerules
 * Prevents command block output from being stored in chat logs. In multiplayer, also prevents player-initiated commands from being stored. Unrelated to commandBlockOutput, which is output into the visible chat
 * Controls how often a random tick occurs; random ticks influence how fast plants and crops grow, how fast pigmen spawn from portals, how fast farmland updates, how fast grass and mycelium grow and decay, etc...
 * If set to 0, random ticks never occur
 * Gamerule to enable/disable reduced information on the F3 debug screen
 * Op-only unlike the 'reduced debug info' toggle in multiplayer settings
 * Overrides 'reduced debug info' settings in clients
 * If set to false, player-run commands will not show a success message
 * Prevents death messages like "[player] fell out the world" from appearing in the chat
 * The ability to create gamerule variables
 * These are fake gamerules which don't actually affect your world, but can be used with {{cmd|stats}} with the new  argument to update a scoreboard objective based on the value of that gamerule
 * Declare using {{cmd|gamerule <newRuleName> }}
 * Access using {{cmd|gamerule <newRuleName>}}
 * Scoreboards
 * New objective criteria for team-specific kills, e.g.:
 * New objective criteria '
 * Acts like the  criteria
 * Can be interacted with using the {{cmd|trigger}} command
 * Mostly for use with {{cmd|tellraw}}
 * The ability to iterate over every scoreboard player with
 * This will also affect people who have not yet joined the world
 * Fake players with a name starting with # will never show up on the sidebar
 * New {{cmd|scoreboard}} subcommands: {{cmd|scoreboard reset}}, {{cmd|scoreboard operation}}, {{cmd|scoreboard test}} and {{cmd|scoreboard enable}}
 * The  subcommand can reset all objectives for a player or reset a player's objectives one by one
 * Example: {{cmd|scoreboard players reset @a anObjective}} will reset the scores of an objective named anObjective for all players in the world
 * The  subcommand can apply arithmetic operation to scores (+ – * / % < > =) and accumulate player scores
 * Example: {{cmd|1=scoreboard players operation #teamscores redScore += @a[team=red] blueKills}} adds every red player's count of kills on blue to the red team's score of kills
 * Can be tested with a comparator to see if two scores are greater than, smaller than or equal to each other
 * The  subcommand can be used to test if a scoreboard value is between a min and a max value
 * Example: {{cmd|scoreboard players test #global anObjective 12 19}} checks whether the global score of the given objective is between 12 and 19, inclusive
 * The  subcommand can be used to enable a   objective
 * Example: {{cmd|scoreboard players enable aTrigger}} enables a  named aTrigger
 * Different teams can now have different objectives displayed in the sidebar
 * Example: {{cmd|scoreboard|objectives setdisplay sidebar.team.yellow anotherObjective}} (referring to team color, not team name)
 * Testing for scores now also works in  entity selector
 * Added scoreboard team property to disable name tag visibility: {{cmd|scoreboard teams option nametagVisibility}} with options,  ,   and   (default)
 * Added scoreboard team property to disable death messages: {{cmd|scoreboard|teams option deathMessageVisibility}} with options,  ,   and   (default)
 * Command {{cmd|scoreboard|players}} can now filter by NBT data
 * NBT Tags
 * BlockItem instances can now hold a custom NBT tag that is merged into a block entity when it’s placed
 * Example: {{cmd|give @p command_block 1 0 {BlockEntityTag:{Command:"{{cmd|setblock ~ ~ ~ minecraft:diamond_block}}" }} }} will give a command block that, when placed, will automatically have the command {{cmd|setblock ~ ~ ~ minecraft:diamond_block}} set
 * Mostly for use in adventure mode
 * Items with this tag display the names of the blocks that they can destroy in the item tooltip
 * Example: {{cmd|give @p minecraft:diamond_shovel 1 0 {CanDestroy:["minecraft:sand","minecraft:grass"]} }} to give a diamond shovel that can break grass and sand
 * Putting an invalid item name in will display as "missingno" under the "Can Break" list.
 * Allows placing of certain blocks against other blocks in adventure mode
 * Example: {{cmd|give @p minecraft:stone 16 0 {CanPlaceOn:["minecraft:diamond_block"]} }} to give a block of stone that can only be placed on diamond blocks
 * Putting an invalid item name in will display as "missingno" under the "Can be placed on" list.
 * Allows a command block or sign to increase a certain score in the scoreboard when it runs successfully
 * The command will increase the score based on the number of items/blocks/entities/successes
 * For example, a command block with this tag running a command which affects items (e.g. ) will cause it to update the score based on the number of items given
 * Usage:
 * Defines whether a written book is an "Original" a "Copy of Original" or a "Copy of a copy"
 * Allows hiding of certain parts of the tooltip
 * Bit field determining which parts of the tooltip to hide on an item. 1 for, 2 for  , 4 for  , 8 for  , 16 for  , and 32 for various other information (including potion effects,  , written book   and  ,  , and  ).
 * Examples: Setting bit field to 3 would hide both  and   tags, and setting to 63 would hide everything.
 * A way to lock containers from being opened using NBT tags
 * Mostly useful for adventure maps in adventure mode
 * Containers can be unlocked by clearing their string for Lock
 * Locked containers can only be opened while holding anything renamed to the given string, item is not removed on use
 * The lock can be completely removed utilizing the command
 * Disables an entity's AI
 * Entities without AI do not attack players or move or rotate on their own, and do not despawn, they also do not respond to gravity or collision with other mobs, but can still take damage, die, and ride other entities
 * The number of ticks before an item entity can be picked up.
 * Set to 32767 for items that can't be picked up
 * Controls villagers giving xp for trading, set to 1 or 0
 * Contains the item data of the item currently held in the player's hand
 * Added to compact the process of testing if a player is holding a specific item
 * Previous method required nine commands in command blocks; now requires only one command
 * Option to show or hide all particles for a potion effect, while the  tag only shows fewer particles, set to 1 to show, 0 to hide
 * Determines whether sound is produced by an entity, such as idle and hurt sounds, setting to 1 disables sound
 * A way to lock containers from being opened using NBT tags
 * Mostly useful for adventure maps in adventure mode
 * Containers can be unlocked by clearing their string for Lock
 * Locked containers can only be opened while holding anything renamed to the given string, item is not removed on use
 * The lock can be completely removed utilizing the command
 * Disables an entity's AI
 * Entities without AI do not attack players or move or rotate on their own, and do not despawn, they also do not respond to gravity or collision with other mobs, but can still take damage, die, and ride other entities
 * The number of ticks before an item entity can be picked up.
 * Set to 32767 for items that can't be picked up
 * Controls villagers giving xp for trading, set to 1 or 0
 * Contains the item data of the item currently held in the player's hand
 * Added to compact the process of testing if a player is holding a specific item
 * Previous method required nine commands in command blocks; now requires only one command
 * Option to show or hide all particles for a potion effect, while the  tag only shows fewer particles, set to 1 to show, 0 to hide
 * Determines whether sound is produced by an entity, such as idle and hurt sounds, setting to 1 disables sound
 * Added to compact the process of testing if a player is holding a specific item
 * Previous method required nine commands in command blocks; now requires only one command
 * Option to show or hide all particles for a potion effect, while the  tag only shows fewer particles, set to 1 to show, 0 to hide
 * Determines whether sound is produced by an entity, such as idle and hurt sounds, setting to 1 disables sound
 * Determines whether sound is produced by an entity, such as idle and hurt sounds, setting to 1 disables sound
 * Determines whether sound is produced by an entity, such as idle and hurt sounds, setting to 1 disables sound

World Generation

 * Underground
 * Granite, andesite and diorite generate in pockets within stone terrain
 * Slightly larger size and abundance than gravel
 * Pockets don't reduce ore frequency, since ores can generate inside these pockets
 * 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
 * A flashing boss Guardian will appear on screen when close to an Elder Guardian, and Mining Fatigue III will be inflicted on the player for 5 minutes
 * Will also generate in old worlds
 * Customized world type
 * Highly customisable terrain generation
 * To use, press create new world then ‘world type: customized’ and then press the 'customize' button
 * There are 4 pages to customize the world
 * Page 1: customizes generation of structures, chance of lake generation, size of certain structures, and biome type and size, and sea level
 * There are 18 customization options which affect whether generated structures will spawn in, as well as other environmental factors such as sea level. Some of these presets are Yes/No inputs or sliders.
 * Sea level height, toggles for cave, village, temple, ocean monument, dungeon, water lake, lava lake, stronghold, mineshaft and ravine generation, sliders to control water lake, lava lake and dungeon rarity, toggle to turn oceans into lava oceans, biome selection, biome and river size sliders
 * Page 2: customizes the ore distribution for dirt, gravel, granite, diorite, andesite, coal, iron, gold, redstone, diamond and lapis
 * Rarity, height range and vein size
 * Page 3 & 4: Expert customization of the terrain generation
 * There are 16 customization options which can be used to affect various aspects of Minecraft's terrain generator. These can be changed by moving sliders or by typing in values directly
 * Main Noise Scale X/Y/Z to smooth out terrain, larger values for smoother terrain; Biome scale/depth weight and Biome scale/depth offset to stretch/squash terrain vertically based on the biomes default height settings; Upper/lower limit scale to make terrain more solid/riddled with holes, depending on how close the values are to each other; Height Stretch to pull terrain upward, with smaller values causing more extreme stretching; Height scale, Coordinate scale, Depth base size, Depth noise exponent, Depth noise scale
 * There are seven presets
 * Water World, Isle Land, Caver's Delight, Mountain Madness, Drought, Caves of Chaos, Good Luck
 * Each page has a button to randomize the various values and a button to reset to default values
 * Uses the 'generator-settings' string known from superflat presets for server.properties and world data
 * Generate structures button disappears when selected
 * Debug Mode world type
 * Useful for resource pack makers
 * Hold and cycle through "World Type" to select it
 * Tweaked world creation
 * Other world options are not available
 * Only Spectator mode can be enabled
 * All possible blocks with all possible data values are generated
 * This includes all possible states of redstone wire, fire, tripwire, stairs, etc.
 * They are arranged in a grid across height y=70, with a barrier floor at y=60
 * Every block state generates only once
 * Blocks placed are deleted, and blocks destroyed are restored

Blocks and items

 * Diorite
 * Crafting recipe: 2 cobblestone and 2 Nether quartz in a checker board pattern
 * Can be crafted into polished diorite
 * Andesite
 * Crafting recipe: 1 cobblestone and 1 diorite
 * Can be crafted into polished andesite
 * Granite
 * Crafting recipe: 1 Nether quartz and 1 diorite
 * Can be crafted into polished granite
 * Polished Diorite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 diorite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Polished Andesite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 andesite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Polished Granite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 granite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Coarse Dirt
 * Replaces the grassless dirt variant found in Mega Taiga, Mesa and Savanna biomes.
 * All worlds with grassless dirt blocks will seamlessly change over to coarse dirt as it uses the same block ID and data value as the original grassless dirt block
 * Slightly darker texture than regular dirt
 * Can be picked up with bare hands (silk touch is not required)
 * Tilling coarse dirt with a hoe will turn it to regular dirt
 * Crafting recipe: dirt and gravel in a 2x2 checkered pattern, yields four coarse dirt
 * Red Sandstone
 * Can be crafted with 4 red sand in a square
 * Can be crafted into chiseled, smooth, stair and slab forms
 * Chiseled variant has a wither pattern to complement the normal creeper pattern
 * Slabs have (like stone and sandstone) a smooth variant
 * Comes as a smooth double slab -
 * Generated only in Mesa biomes at cave entrances
 * Prismarine
 * Generates in ocean monuments
 * Can be crafted with prismarine shards
 * The cracks in Prismarine appear to slowly change color between brown, blue, gray and purple.
 * Prismarine Bricks
 * Generate in ocean monuments
 * Can be crafted with prismarine shards
 * Dark Prismarine
 * Generate in ocean monuments
 * Can be crafted with prismarine shards and an ink sac
 * 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 an animated texture
 * Prismarine Crystals
 * Drop from Guardians
 * Can be crafted into sea lanterns
 * Prismarine Shard
 * Drop from Guardians
 * Can be crafted into all three kinds of prismarine blocks and sea lanterns
 * Wet Sponge
 * Obtained when a sponge soaks up water
 * Smelting a wet sponge yields a dry sponge
 * When smelted, they will fill empty buckets in the 'fuel' slot with water if possible
 * Emits water dripping particles
 * Rarely dropped by Elder Guardians
 * Slime Block
 * Players and mobs that land on their top side will bounce, like on a trampoline
 * Bounce rebound velocity is scaled by impact velocity, can reach up to 60%
 * Currently does not affect item entities
 * Prevents fall damage
 * Walking on it is slower than walking on soul sand, close to one's speed whilst sneaking
 * Crafting recipe: 9 slime balls
 * Can be crafted back into 9 slime balls
 * The placing/breaking sounds use hurt sounds of slimes
 * Connected to sticky pistons, slime blocks will now push and pull blocks beside them when moved by pistons
 * Connected to normal pistons, slime blocks will only push blocks, but not pull them
 * Coded by KaboPC and Panda4994
 * Up to 12 slime blocks connected to a piston in any arrangement can be moved as long as the following conditions are met: blocks do not disrupt the chain, non-moveable blocks are not in the way or slime blocks are not attached to the piston itself
 * Follows all the rules that pistons follow, for example blocks which can normally be moved by pistons can be moved if attached to slime blocks
 * Allows for more contraptions, from new redstone clocks, moving devices, farming etc
 * Extending a piston with a slime block attached to it will propel entities (mobs, players, items, launched arrows etc) in the appropriate direction
 * Fence
 * New types of fences for all the different types of wood
 * Different types can connect to each other
 * Original fence renamed to oak fence
 * New crafting recipe for fences to make this work: 2 sticks and 4 planks to make 3 fences
 * Fence Gate
 * New types of fence gates for all the different types of wood
 * Different types can connect to each other
 * Original fence gate renamed to oak fence gate
 * Doors
 * New types of doors for all the different wood types
 * Different types of doors have different textures, with some types having no windows
 * Door recipes now require all 6 wood to be the same type
 * Iron Trapdoor
 * Can only be opened and closed using redstone, similar to an iron door
 * Crafting recipe: iron ingots in a 2x2 pattern, yields one iron trapdoor
 * Banner
 * Can be worn as head gear - but only using commands
 * Over a quadrillion possible combinations
 * Crafted like a sign, just with one color of wool instead of planks
 * Can be stacked to 16
 * Most patterns are created by arranging dyes in certain ways around a banner on a crafting table
 * Additional patterns: creeper, skull & crossbones, brick, flower, curly border and Mojang logo - making these without dyes will result in a black pattern, use dyes to get different colors (items: creeper skull, wither skeleton skull, brick block, oxeye daisy, vines and enchanted golden apple)
 * Many patterns can be produced
 * Up to 6 layers of patterns possible
 * Can be placed on walls or on the ground (16 rotations possible)
 * Sway with the wind
 * Can be cloned by crafting them together with a blank banner
 * Top-most layer can be removed using cauldrons
 * Can be used as fuel in furnaces
 * Armor Stand
 * Can be used to decoratively display armor (including pumpkins, mob heads and player heads)
 * Armor can be right-clicked to be applied to the armor stand and can be applied by dispensers
 * Armor can be applied by dispensers aimed at any part of the Stand
 * Armor can be removed by right-clicking on the piece of armor you want to remove
 * Can render enchanted and dyed armor
 * Can use pick-block on armor stands (will give the stand not the armor equipped)
 * Crafted using a stone slab and 6 sticks
 * Stacks up to 16
 * Armor stands are actually entities not blocks and can therefore can be summoned using and put in minecarts
 * NBT tags can be used to create armor stands which are small, invisible , have arms , have disabled slots , have no base plate , have no gravity and are in a preconfigured position
 * Raw Mutton
 * Restores
 * Drops from sheep
 * Can be cooked into cooked mutton
 * Cooked Mutton
 * Restores
 * Rabbit Hide
 * Can be crafted in a 2x2 arrangement to produce leather
 * Drops from rabbits
 * Raw Rabbit
 * Restores
 * Drops from rabbits
 * Can be cooked into cooked rabbit
 * Cooked Rabbit
 * Restores
 * Rabbit's Foot
 * Brewed to make a Potion of Leaping
 * Drops from rabbits
 * Rabbit Stew
 * Restores and 12 saturation
 * This makes it the best food in the game other than golden carrots
 * Recipe: 1 cooked rabbit, 1 mushroom, 1 carrot, 1 baked potato, and 1 bowl
 * Potion of Leaping
 * Adds effect Jump Boost, for "I" and "II" levels
 * Brewed with a rabbit's foot and Awkward potion
 * The potion and bubbles are bright green coloured
 * Barrier
 * Acts like a full block but is completely transparent
 * Can transfer redstone signals and allows blocks to be placed on it
 * Can only be destroyed in Creative mode
 * Can be obtained using
 * Becomes visible to players who are holding a barrier in their hand
 * Appears to be rendered as particles; always facing the player
 * Guardian Spawn Egg
 * Spawns the Guardian mob
 * Cyan coloured with orange spots
 * Endermite Spawn Egg
 * Spawns the Endermite mob
 * Purple coloured with grey spots
 * Rabbit Spawn Egg
 * Spawns rabbits
 * Brown coloured with brown spots

Mobs

 * Endermites
 * Sometimes spawns when a player teleports using an Ender pearl.
 * Despawns after 2 minutes (unless it is named using a name tag)
 * Have the same sounds as Silverfish
 * Sometimes spawn when Enderman teleport
 * Guardians
 * Spawns in ocean monuments
 * Attacks squid and players with a web/beam
 * When on land, it flops around, unlike squids
 * Drops prismarine shards, prismarine crystals and raw fish
 * Makes wet noises when hurt and squeaky, wet noises when flopping around on land
 * Elder Guardians
 * A boss-like variant of Guardians
 * There are 3 elders in each ocean monument
 * A flashing boss Guardian will appear on screen when close to the boss Guardian, and Mining Fatigue III will be inflicted on the player for 5 minutes
 * Drops wet sponge
 * Rabbits
 * Drops rabbit hide, raw rabbit, cooked rabbit and rabbit's foot
 * They have many different skins similarly to horses and ocelots. They have 8 skins including: Black, White, Brown, Gold, Black & White, Salt & Pepper, Toast, and the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog
 * Naming a rabbit spawn egg or name tag "Toast" will give rabbits a special skin as a memorial to user xyZenTV's girlfriend's rabbit Toast
 * Very low rate of spawning as "The Killer Bunny" (or the "The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog")
 * 1/1000 chance of spawning
 * This type of rabbit is hostile and will attack players within 4 blocks, deals in easy,  in normal difficulty and  in hard
 * A reference to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail
 * It is white with bloodshot eyes, and blood on its legs and mouth
 * Automatically spawns with a name tag titled 'The Killer Rabbit'
 * It can be directly spawned in with the command
 * Rabbits can be bred using carrots, golden carrots or dandelions
 * Rabbits have the same AI like the most other passive mobs, and jump around randomly.
 * Make little squeaky sounds when hurt or killed

General

 * Splashes
 * "OpenGL 1.2!" changed to "OpenGL 2.1 (if supported)!"
 * "Now java 6!" changed to "Now Java 6!"
 * Debug screen
 * Text now has grey background
 * Restructured layout
 * Now displays render distance, sections being rendered currently, sections being updated currently, an aB value for unknown reasons, version id, whether the client is modded, keywords for when clouds/VBOs/VSync are enabled
 * Now displays which block the feet are in
 * When looking at a block, its coordinates, block id and properties will be displayed
 * The "Facing:" line now indicates in which axis-based direction you're looking ("Towards positive Z")
 * Now displays Java version, display resolution and vendor, graphics card model and vendor and OpenGL version
 * The crosshair now turns into 3 short, colored lines indicating the direction of the 3 axis: x/red, y/green, z/blue
 * "Light" is now the light levels at feet, not eyes
 * Player rotation is now displayed for the vertical angle as well as the horizontal one
 * Day counter added
 * Increases by 1 every dawn
 * Now displays difficulty
 * Peaceful - 0.00, Easy - 0.75, Normal - 1.50, Hard - 2.25
 * Looking at a block in the world will show the coordinates of that block on the debug screen
 * F3 hotkeys
 * Debug tooltips now show how many NBT tags an item has - Screenshot
 * When debug tooltips are enabled, items will now show their name id - Screenshot
 * When debug tooltips are enabled, some instances of usernames and entities in the chat will now show the entity's UUID when hovered on
 * + can now be used to clear the chat log
 * + or  +  reloads block models
 * + entity hitboxes now also display entity eye level in red and which direction entities are looking at in blue
 * + tooltips now show how many NBT tags an item has
 * Block IDs
 * Occurences of blocks/items now need to be named ids; old ids slowly being phased out
 * NBT data in commands can now use block/item names in place of numerical ids
 * Example:
 * In scoreboards, the format is
 * Superflat presets also use the new named id format
 * Superflat world type
 * Block ID/number of layers format changed from  to.
 * Preset code version number changed to "3".
 * Internal block handling
 * Now internally use states instead of metadata
 * Metadata will still be used for a while
 * Block states of the block being looked at will now be displayed on the F3 menu - Examples: redstone, door
 * Internally, metadata no longer needs to be calculated out of the 4 bit data value, instead the values of specified properties can now be easily gotten and set
 * Chat
 * Improved chat communication
 * Messages are now either chat, system or action bar messages
 * Action bar messages are always shown, chat and system messages are only shown if chat settings are configured that way
 * Entities now have tooltips in certain chat instances when hovered over
 * These appear when hovered over an entity's name in chat (e.g. the success message for )
 * Shows the name of the entity (e.g. Bob), the Id of the entity (e.g. Creeper (50)) and the entity UUID
 * Shift+Left click while hovering over the entity's name inserts its UUID into your chat bar. They also work in commands like /tp so you can teleport to entities.
 * + clears the chat history (including previously typed commands)
 * UUID
 * All player lists will now be converted to be UUID-based automatically
 * Resource packs
 * Custom block models can be loaded
 * Several blocks in the game are rendered differently using the new block models.
 * The cauldron's feet are cubes instead of faces.
 * Grass blocks, dirt, sand, red sand, stone, Netherrack, bedrock and TNT all have their top texture randomly rotated
 * Custom item models can be loaded
 * Many items's model is rotated 90 degrees in the inventory and in hand.
 * F3+T and F3+S now reload models
 * Resource packs can now be bundled with a world, put it in the map save directory and name it "resources.zip"
 * Example:
 * Skin
 * Added a new default skin: Alex
 * Alex's model is that of Steve but with 3-pixel wide arms
 * A choice to select fat or thin arms on minecraft.net/profile was added shortly after the update.
 * If you don't have a custom skin yet, you are randomly assigned Steve or Alex based on your random user ID
 * Right and left arms and legs are now editable independently
 * Uses a steve.png file with new layout and new dimensions
 * Dimensions for the file are now 64×64
 * Overlay now includes the whole body
 * Overlays are called hat, jacket, sleeves and pants legs
 * New "Skin Customization" button in the options menu
 * Cape visibility is now toggled from here
 * You can toggle the visibility of overlays, independent for each limb/body part
 * Old skins still work, but won't have the new features
 * Servers
 * The server list can now be reordered like resource packs - Use 'up'/'down' to reorder, 'right' to join
 * When editing and adding servers, you can now set how it handles resource packs: Prompt, Enabled or Disable
 * Servers can now customise network compression in  using  :   to compress everything,   to compress nothing
 * Servers can now optionally send a hash for clients to verify resource packs using  in  : Should be a 40 character hexadecimal string, will otherwise only be used as a unique id
 * Servers can now configure how long a tick may take before shutting down using  in
 * Servers can now configure the maximum world size, which will override, using  in
 * Servers can now send messages to be displayed on the action bar
 * The Void
 * Removed fog and particles
 * Options
 * Video Settings
 * F11 fullscreen toggle now affects fullscreen option
 * Optimizations, Rendering & Graphics
 * Significant increase in FPS and performance
 * Each world (Overworld, Nether, End) now runs on its own thread
 * Chunk rendering and chunk rebuilds are now multi-threaded - super fast chunk rendering!
 * Rewrote chunk sorting
 * Better visibility culling code
 * Mob pathfinding is now multi-threaded
 * Rewrote the inventory system
 * Ore generation is now more than twice as fast
 * Only transparent blocks will now render as transparent (eliminates the use of x-ray texture packs)
 * Dropped items now face the player in all three directions on fast graphics
 * Rewrote how blocks are rendered
 * Rewrote how block data is handled
 * Improvements to allow for "cooler things"

Gameplay

 * Enchanting
 * Enchanting will now cost 1 to 3 levels, but you still need the same minimum total levels
 * For example, an enchantment may only become available for enchanting after reaching 13 levels of experience, but will only cost 2 XP levels and 2 of lapis lazuli
 * Additionally, there is now a material cost - enchanting also costs 1 to 3 pieces of lapis lazuli now (seen above)
 * The actual enchantment calculation is the same
 * One of the enchantments will be displayed in the tooltip
 * The enchantments you would get on a tool will not change until you enchant something - this enchantment seed is stored per player
 * Leveling up now takes longer
 * Level V enchantments can now appear on an item without the use of an anvil
 * Looting now gives an extra 1% chance of getting rare loot per level
 * Villager Trading
 * Villagers now have a profession, which is displayed in the trading GUI: Farmer, Fisherman, Sheperd, Fletcher, Librarian, Cleric, Armorer, Weapon Smith, Tool Smith, Butcher and Leatherworker
 * Existing Villagers keep already unlocked trades
 * Villagers start out with 2-4 trades unlocked
 * Trading now gives experience, more with willing Villagers
 * The disabled trade arrow now has a descriptive tooltip
 * Villagers of the same profession will have the same trades except for price/item amount
 * Villagers can level up, offering more trades per level
 * Notable changes in trades: Villagers no longer buy Cooked Fish and no longer sell Melons, Steak or Flint and Steel. Apart from Chainmail Armor, Iron Helmets and Chestplates, enchanted Diamond Chestplates, Leather Pants and enchanted Leather Chestplates are the only Leather Armor pieces that are still sold. Similarly, Iron Axes and enchanted Iron Swords, Iron Shovels, Iron Pickaxes, Diamond Pickaxes, Diamond Swords and Diamond Axes are the only tools still obtainable from Villagers now
 * Notable new trades: Villagers now buy Potatoes, Carrots, Melon Blocks, Pumpkins, String, Leather and Rotten Flesh, and now sell Pumpkin Pies, Cakes, Cooked Fish, enchanted Fishing Rods, all colors of Wool, Bows, Nametags and Lapis Lazuli
 * Village mechanics
 * Doors are now added to the closest village
 * This will not break iron farms, but change them a little, enough to make them "practically pointless"
 * Anvil repairing
 * Costs reduced to balance out with the new enchanting system
 * Renaming items will now only cost 1 level
 * Repairing cost now increases exponentially (1, 2, 4, 8, etc.)
 * Repairing costs can no longer be kept down by renaming items
 * Adventure mode
 * Block hitboxes no longer appear in Adventure mode if interaction with the block is impossible
 * Block interaction is now impossible by default
 * The CanDestroy NBT tag can be used to determine which blocks can be allowed to be broken (see above for usage)
 * Creative mode
 * In creative mode, players can create a copy of a block entity in their hotbar, including all NBT data, with ctrl+Pick Block key (ctrl+middle mouse button by default)
 * Players in creative mode can now damage entities even if they are flagged invulnerable
 * Teleporting
 * Relative teleporting is smoother and no longer brings players to a stop; it preserves their velocity from before the teleport
 * Item tooltips
 * Now show the internal name for use in commands (F3+H mode)
 * Particles
 * Can be summoned using the command
 * Changed the particle effect when landing on a block, looks a lot more scattered
 * Life Bar
 * Now the life bar has a new animation for the damage, that additionally shows how many hearts a player loses
 * Enchantments & Effects
 * Now also support named IDs as well as numerical IDs
 * Example:
 * Example:
 * Player list
 * Improved the health objective display on the player list
 * Will fall back to textual display if space is scarce, with colors (green/yellow/red) to show different health levels
 * Additional health will squash the display together to fit
 * Now groups together teams
 * Now sorts players by name
 * Player list shows the faces of players
 * Sprinting
 * Sprinting while flying now actually affects movement speed

Commands & NBT Tags

 * Commands
 * -completing coordinate arguments will now fill in the coordinates of the block currently being looked at
 * Can now be used to clear only a specific number of items and can be restricted to certain NBT data
 * Example: will remove up to 34 villager spawn eggs named Michael from yourself
 * Can now test for partial matches of NBT lists
 * Can now be run in single player
 * New arguments for debug
 * x/y/z are required and valid only for chunk mode
 * May be removed, as the command was supposed to be dev only
 * Can now also specify whether particles are to be shown:
 * Usage:
 * Use 'true' to hide particles and 'false' to show; if value is not given, defaults to false
 * Can now be followed by a target selector
 * Example:
 * Now lists all entity using @e.
 * Example:  will list all the entities in your world within a 500 block radius
 * command can now summon lightning using
 * A new tag called "insertion" allows text to be inserted into the chat that, when shift-clicked, will insert more text into the players' chat input
 * Example:
 * Can now insert values from scoreboards into messages
 * Example:
 * Now has a  argument
 * Allows to print player's names
 * Example: will print everyone who is on TeamRed
 * Can display entity tooltips when the  for   is set to
 * Example: will print a message will display the tooltip of a zombie named "dummy"
 * Can now also check for dataTags
 * Example:
 * No longer is exclusively usable in command blocks
 * Can now check for inventory specific items
 * Example:
 * Can now test for partial matches of NBT lists
 * argument to check the time
 * Has an another argument after that which can be  or   to check either the number of ticks since the start of the day or the number of ticks since the world was created, respectively
 * Now supports rotation arguments
 * Example: teleports the player so that he faces 20 degrees to the right and 40 degrees downwards
 * Target Selectors
 * Now supports cubic areas
 * Example:  gets all entities between 0,0,0 and 10,10,10
 * New radius value usable in target selectors, based on the block center
 * A radius of 0 works for exact block positions
 * New selector parameters for entity selectors to detect entity rotations with rxm – x rot min, rx – x rot max, rym – y rot min, ry . y rot max
 * Example:
 * Tab-completing coordinate arguments will now fill in the coordinates of the block currently being looked at
 * NBT Tags
 * Can now be set to -32768 for items that never despawn
 * and
 * Now work on all entities
 * Uses the JSON text component instead of plain text.
 * Capable of using the  and   tags.
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes.
 * Uses the JSON text component instead of plain text
 * Might need some time before it can work in survival.
 * Can be used to show scores towards players by using the  and   tags
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes
 * Character limit is based on character width
 * Can now be set to -32768 for items that never despawn
 * and
 * Now work on all entities
 * Uses the JSON text component instead of plain text.
 * Capable of using the  and   tags.
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes.
 * Uses the JSON text component instead of plain text
 * Might need some time before it can work in survival.
 * Can be used to show scores towards players by using the  and   tags
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes
 * Character limit is based on character width
 * Can be used to show scores towards players by using the  and   tags
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes
 * Character limit is based on character width

World Generation

 * Villages
 * Gravel roads in villages have cobblestone underneath, to prevent them from collapsing into caves
 * Desert temples
 * Now spawn with stained clay instead of dyed wool
 * Caverns
 * Now generate on the surface of desert, mesa, mega taiga and mushroom biomes
 * Swampland
 * Changed generation of the marsh-like areas
 * Mesa
 * Red Sandstone now generates at cavern entrances in Mesa biomes
 * World border
 * The default world border is now an animated texture rather than an invisible bedrock barrier
 * There is now nothing beyond the world border
 * Is set at a diameter of 60 million by default, for both the Overworld and the Nether
 * Players can't pass through it and take damage when outside
 * If you’re stuck outside the world border, it is possible to freely fly/walk around (not possible to freely walk through the border from the inside though)
 * When you get within a certain distance of the world border, a red-aura-like warning will activate
 * Only visible on Fancy graphics
 * Outside the border, the warning is at full strength
 * Inside the border, the warning gradually gets stronger as the player approaches the border
 * If the border is stationary, the warning is first seen as the player passes the warning distance, default 5 blocks from the player's location
 * If the border is shrinking quickly enough, the warning will be first visible at the warning time, default 15 seconds from the player's location
 * The command allows one to customize various aspects of world borders like their size, center, damage and warning

Blocks and Items

 * Sponge
 * Reintroduced sponge to survival mode, with new behavior and texture
 * Sponge turns into Wet Sponge when it soaks up water
 * Water particles appear around the Sponge when this happens
 * Sponge destroys water blocks from 5 blocks away in a kind of sphere
 * Sponge soaks up water only when water is touching it
 * Chiseled Stone Bricks
 * Now craftable from two stone brick slabs on top of each other
 * Cracked Stone Bricks
 * Can now be obtained by smelting stone bricks, making them renewable
 * Moss Stone
 * Now craftable from one cobblestone and one vine
 * Mossy Stone Bricks
 * Now craftable from one stone brick and one vine
 * Beacon
 * Beacon light beams change color when going through stained glass and stained glass panes
 * Making it feed into multiple stained glass blocks/panes will combine the colors
 * Beam now goes through all blocks that don't completely block light: Ice, water and leaves
 * Signs, chests, beacons, beds and heads
 * Now display the cracking animation
 * Beds did display the cracking animation previously, but not on their top and bottom
 * Door
 * Stack to 64
 * The crafting recipe for doors now gives 3 doors instead of one
 * Applies to both doors and iron doors
 * New types of doors for all the different wood types
 * Therefore, Wooden Doors have been renamed to Oak Doors
 * Door item textures changed to be more detailed and more consistent with the new doors
 * Trapdoor
 * Trapdoors are now called "Wooden Trapdoor"
 * Fence Gate
 * Can now catch fire
 * Torch & Redstone Torch
 * Torches and redstone torches placed on walls now have an angled top side
 * Blaze Rod
 * Are now held similarly to tools
 * Furnace
 * When a furnace runs out of fuel, the smelting progress will rewind at 2x speed
 * Empty furnaces will now only accept fuel and empty buckets in the fuel slot
 * Carrot
 * Restore 3 hunger points instead of 4
 * Baked Potato
 * Restore 5 hunger points instead of 6
 * Hay Bale
 * Rebalanced how they heal and accelerate the growth of horses
 * Dead Bush & Sapling
 * Can now catch fire
 * Packed Ice
 * Mined faster with a pickaxe
 * Melon (block)
 * Mined faster with an axe
 * Ladder
 * Mined faster with an axe
 * Huge Mushrooms
 * When harvested with silk touch enchantment they drop blocks with corresponding mushroom texture (red or brown) on all sides rather than the one with spores
 * Mob head
 * Made Creeper, Skeleton and Zombie Heads available in survival
 * Creepers, Skeletons, Wither Skeletons, and Zombies drop their heads when killed by charged creepers. Wither Skeletons continue to have heads as rare drops.
 * Note that a charged creeper explosions will not yield more than one mob head
 * Skulls worn on heads are now bigger so the 2nd skin layer no longer peaks through
 * Player and mob heads in inventories and held by mobs/players now display the actual head
 * Placed mob heads now show the 2nd skin layer
 * Item Frame
 * Items in item frames can now face eight different directions
 * As long as the frame remains placed, it remembers the orientation of the last item it held, and uses it for the next item it holds
 * Item frames can give off a signal detected by comparators, based on the direction the item is facing
 * Signal strength is as follows: 0: empty; 1: item; 2: item rotated once; 3: item rotated twice; ...; 8: item rotated 7 times
 * Improved position handling of item frames
 * Painting
 * Improved position handling of paintings
 * Dispenser
 * Can now place pumpkins or Wither Skeleton Skulls to spawn golems and withers respectively
 * Will only place them if the body of the golem or wither is already built
 * Can now place command blocks with pre-configured commands, rather than dispensing it
 * Button
 * Can now be placed on ceiling and on the ground
 * Redstone Comparator
 * Can now detect what way an item frame is rotated
 * Daylight Sensor
 * Can be inverted with a right click
 * Reaches full strength at the opposite time than it would when set to normal
 * This can allow for a light that turns on at night rather than day without the need of a NOT gate
 * Inverted form cannot be obtained in inventory
 * Activator Rail
 * Powered activator rails will now shake minecarts, causing riders (players and entities) to dismount
 * Minecart with TNT
 * Minecart with TNT can be ignited with a Flame enchanted bow
 * Minecart with TNT explosions no longer stack
 * Redstone Repeater
 * No longer emit light
 * Pumpkins & Jack o'Lanterns
 * Top texture now rotates together with the face
 * Maps
 * Zoomed out maps now align to a grid as well
 * Are now much faster
 * Sign
 * Use the JSON text components,  ,  ,   instead of plain text
 * Can be used to show scores towards players by using the  and   tags
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes
 * Character limit is based on character width
 * Might need some time before it can work in survival
 * Book and Quill & Written Book
 * Use JSON text components instead of plain text with the new  tag
 * Capable of using the  and   tags
 * Previously, text formatting could only be accomplished using the section symbol via Formatting codes
 * Might need some time before it can work in survival
 * Written Book
 * Copying written books will now mark them as copies/copies of copies
 * The copying status of a book (ie. original, copy of original or copy of a copy) is denoted in a separate line in the tooltip, beneath the author's name
 * Copies of copies cannot be copied
 * Armor
 * Armor no longer gets colored when mobs/players are hurt
 * Arrow
 * Behave differently underwater
 * They will lose all velocity after a few blocks and slowly fall
 * Fire Arrows will be extinguished
 * Slabs
 * Removed double stone slab's item form
 * Removed double wooden slab's item form
 * Monster Spawner
 * Can be right-clicked with a Spawn Egg in hand to change what the spawner produces
 * Command Block
 * Survival players can no longer look inside the command block to see the command
 * Now show the entity (@e) parameter
 * X/O button next to "Last output" in commandblock to turn off the last output string

Mobs

 * All mobs
 * Updated to the new AI
 * Mobs now show a glow of a slightly different color when hurt
 * Villagers
 * When struck by lightning, villagers turn into witches
 * Now have a head slot where helmets or blocks can be applied
 * Villagers will now only breed when willing
 * The first time a specific trade is done, the villager will become willing, any other time there's a 1 in 5 chance the villager will become willing
 * When a baby villager is born, both parents lose their willingness
 * Villagers become willing to breed by consuming food: 3 bread or 12 potatoes or 12 carrots
 * Finding out a villager's willingness in survival is difficult: The only tell is the amount of xp they give when trading; Normal trading yields 3-6 experience points, trading and making a villager willing yields 8-11 experience points
 * Changes to villager AI
 * Villagers will now harvest, collect and replant grown potato, carrot and wheat crops
 * Villagers will craft wheat into bread
 * Villagers will share food with fellow villagers
 * Baby animals (sheep, pig, cow, chicken, cat, dog, horse, rabbit)
 * Growth can now slowly be accelerated using the animal's breeding item: Each use takes 10% off the remaining time to grow up
 * Wolves
 * Tamed and untamed wolves now attack skeletons without provocation, similar to how untamed wolves attack sheep in the wild
 * Tamed Ocelots and Tamed Wolves
 * Now display a death message if named with a name tag
 * Skeletons & Wither Skeletons
 * Now run away from wolves instead of fighting back
 * Now run away from Creepers that are about to explode
 * Now drop a Skeleton mob head when killed by a charged creeper
 * Hitbox has been change: 2.5 to 3 blocks
 * Slimes and Magma Cubes
 * Now swim as a result of the update to the new AI
 * Randomly change direction every so often, reducing the chance of them getting stuck at walls or corners
 * Slimes will now randomly despawn over time if no player is within a 32 meter range
 * Appear to jump a bit more randomly
 * When named and attacked, each new slime will keep its given name.
 * Zombie Pigmen
 * Angry zombie pigmen now pathfind as a result of the update to the new AI
 * Now run away from Creepers that are about to explode
 * Adult Zombie Pigmen will forgive after a short time (and lose the aggro speed boost), but will continue to attack until the player escapes their aggro distance
 * Endermen
 * Now pathfind as a result of the update to the new AI
 * Now walk slightly faster
 * Spiders and Cave Spiders
 * Can no longer draw line of sight through opaque blocks
 * Blazes
 * Blazes will now shoot the player even if there are solid blocks between them
 * Giants
 * Armor on Giants is now rendered
 * Silverfish
 * Silverfish will stop occasionally before moving again (similarly to most mobs)
 * Creepers
 * Now run away from other Creepers that are about to explode
 * Now drop a Creeper mob head when killed by a charged creeper
 * Zombies
 * Now run away from Creepers that are about to explode
 * Now drop a Zombie mob head when killed by a charged creeper
 * Witches
 * Now run away from Creepers that are about to explode
 * Iron Golems
 * Now attack the player as soon as it is attacked, but only if the player is in survival
 * Snow Golems
 * Snow golems below layer 64 no longer leave a trail of snow.
 * Iron Golems, Snow Golems & Withers
 * Can be spawned by arranging the blocks in any orientation
 * This does not affect the orientation of the spawned mob
 * Sheep
 * Now drop mutton when killed

Trivia

 * This was the longest wait for a major update to Minecraft, with 312 days having elapsed since the release of 1.7.2 on October 25, 2013.
 * That's over a month longer than the development of Infdev and Alpha combined (279 days), and slightly over 2 weeks shorter than the development of Beta (328 days).
 * 1.3.1 had the previous longest wait between major releases, with a release on August 1, 2012, 153 days after the release of 1.2.1 — less than a half of 1.8's.
 * This was also the longest development to a major update in the history of Minecraft, with the first snapshot coming out on January 9, 2014, 236 days before the full release.
 * The previous longest was also 1.3.1, with 111 days from the first snapshot to the final release, also less than a half.
 * This update had the most development snapshots of any major update so far, at 52 snapshots.
 * The update with the most snapshots previous to this was 1.3.1, with 19 snapshots, slightly more than one-third of 1.8's snapshot count.