Pocket Edition v0.5.0 alpha

v0.5.0 alpha was a major update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition that was released on Android and iOS on November 15, 2012 and on an unknown date on Fire. It added notable features, such as melons, paintings, glowstone, the Nether reactor as well as other changes and fixes.

Blocks

 * &#58; Nether reactor core
 * Used to create a Nether reactor.
 * Can be crafted with 3 diamonds and 6 iron ingots.
 * &#58; Glowing obsidian
 * Light-emitting block that is created from the conversion of blocks that make up a Nether reactor.
 * Drops regular obsidian when mined.
 * Glowstone
 * A light-emitting block that can be crafted with 4 glowstone dust.
 * Melons
 * A fruit block that grows from a fully-grown melon stem.
 * Cobwebs
 * Are currently unobtainable.
 * Signs
 * Are currently unobtainable.
 * Cannot be written on.
 * grass_carried
 * Used to store the inventory icon for grass blocks.
 * Is not obtainable by normal means.

Items

 * Melon seeds
 * Can be used to grow melon plants.
 * Melon slices
 * A food item that can be eaten by the player.

Mobs

 * Zombie pigmen
 * Undead, hostile mobs that spawn from nether reactors.

Non-mob entities

 * Paintings
 * Decorative entities that hang on walls.

Gameplay

 * &#58; Nether reactor
 * Created by placing cobblestone and blocks of gold in a 3×3 area around a nether reactor core.
 * On initialization, a nether spire generates around it. The blocks used for the reactor, excluding the core, are replaced with glowing obsidian over the next few seconds, starting with the cobblestone.
 * After initialization, three zombie pigmen are spawned in, and a 45 second spawn cycle begins. The following items are able to spawn during this cycle:
 * Glowstone dust
 * Cacti
 * Sugar cane
 * Brown mushrooms
 * Red mushrooms
 * Melon seeds
 * Arrows
 * Bones
 * Books
 * Bows
 * Bowls
 * Doors
 * Feathers
 * Paintings
 * Beds
 * Once the spawn cycle ends, the time of day is set to night, and the reactor is replaced with a 3×3×3 box of obsidian containing the core.
 * &#58; Nether spire
 * A huge structure consisting of obsidian that generates when a Nether reactor is activated.
 * Holes form on the outside of it once the Nether reactor's spawn cycle ends.
 * Sneaking
 * Slows the player down and prevents them from falling off of blocks.
 * Currently only available on the Xperia PLAY gaming console.

Blocks

 * Beds
 * Are now easier to get out of.
 * Added a Leave Bed button that lets the player exit the bed.
 * : Now restore health when slept in.
 * Farmland
 * Now turns back to dirt if the player or any mob falls onto it from 1 block or more.
 * Sugar cane
 * Can now be grown on sand.
 * Mushrooms
 * Are now able to spread.
 * Can now only be generated or placed in areas with low light, making them significantly less common.
 * Grass block
 * Inventory icon changed from Grass Block (item) BE2.png to Grass Block (item) BE3.png.

Items

 * Glowstone dust
 * Is now obtainable in Survival mode via the nether reactor.
 * Can be used to craft glowstone.
 * Apples
 * Now restore instead of  when eaten.
 * Bread
 * Now restores instead of  when eaten.
 * Mushroom stew
 * Now restores instead of  when eaten.
 * Raw chicken
 * Now restores instead of  when eaten.
 * Cooked chicken
 * Now restores instead of  when eaten.
 * Raw beef
 * Now restores instead of  when eaten.
 * Steak
 * Now restores instead of  when eaten.
 * Raw porkchops
 * Now restore instead of  when eaten.
 * Cooked porkchops
 * Now restore instead of  when eaten.

Mobs

 * Zombies
 * : Have new animations.
 * Skeletons
 * : Have new animations.

Gameplay

 * Distance fog
 * Now covers 10% of the render distance instead of 50%.
 * Health bar
 * : is now displayed at the top-left of the screen instead of above the hotbar.
 * Hotbar
 * The name of the selected item or block is now displayed over it.
 * Creative inventory
 * Additions:
 * Stone bricks
 * Grass block
 * Glowstone
 * Nether reactor core
 * Painting
 * Melon
 * Melon seeds

J-version
v0.5.0j alpha was released on an unknown release date. This was the last J-version of Pocket Edition.