Java Edition 21w08a

21w08a is the eleventh snapshot for Java Edition 1.17, released on February 24, 2021, which renames grimstone to deepslate, adds deepslate ores, and makes changes to cave generation.

Blocks

 * Cobbled Deepslate
 * Drops from deepslate when mined with a pickaxe without Silk Touch.
 * Functions identical to cobblestone and blackstone in that it can be used to craft basic tools, furnaces, and brewing stands.
 * Is used to craft all the deepslate variant blocks instead of regular deepslate.
 * Has wall, stair, and slab variants as well.


 * Deepslate Ore
 * Added deepslate variants of diamond, iron, gold, lapis lazuli, and redstone ores.
 * Takes twice as long to mine as normal ores.
 * Has the texture of deepslate replacing the normal stone texture.
 * Takes place of ores that generate in deepslate.
 * Normal stone ores may still generate deep underground if they replace a different block, such as tuff.
 * Can be used in blasting and smelting recipes like normal ores.
 * These recipes can be unlocked in the recipe book with deepslate ores as well.


 * Smooth Basalt
 * Generates in place of the tuff layer on amethyst geodes.
 * Can be obtained by smelting basalt.

World generation

 * Crack carvers
 * Deep, long cracks in the ground that are thinner and straighter than canyons.
 * Can reach over 90 blocks in depth.
 * They are very similar to canyons in Bedrock Edition.

General

 * Tags
 * Added the block tag.
 * Contains deepslate.
 * Added the block and item tags.
 * Contain the normal and deepslate variants of each ore type.
 * Added the block tag.
 * Contains stone, granite, diorite, andesite, and tuff.

Blocks

 * Blackstone, deepslate, polished deepslate, chiseled deepslate, deepslate bricks, deepslate tiles and stair, slab and wall variants
 * Texture has been tweaked slightly.


 * Gold ore
 * Tweaked texture.
 * Is now once again unique from nether gold ore.


 * Coal ore, copper ore, emerald ore, iron ore, lapis lazuli ore, redstone ore
 * Tweaked texture.


 * Deepslate
 * Renamed from "Grimstone".
 * Is no longer used to craft or repair any blocks or items.
 * Has new unique breaking, placing, and footsteps sounds.
 * Can only be mined with a Silk Touch pickaxe.


 * Spore blossoms
 * Particles now appear in the air around the block.

World generation

 * Amethyst geodes
 * Can no longer generate fully in midair.
 * The tuff layer has been replaced with smooth basalt.


 * Andesite
 * No longer generates below Y = 0.


 * Caves
 * Tweaked cave sizes.
 * Ravines and regular cave carvers now generate below Y = 0.
 * Added more variation to carvers.
 * Caves are now more filled with water.


 * Glow lichen
 * Generates almost twice as often.


 * Lava
 * Once again generates at the bottom of the world starting at Y = -54.
 * Lava springs can now generate below Y = 0.


 * Water
 * Water springs can now generate below Y = 0


 * Mineral distribution
 * Ore distribution has been changed again.
 * Iron now generate below Y = 0, but in smaller blobs and not as frequently.
 * This was determined to be a bug, which was fixed in snapshot 21w08b.
 * Gold is a little more common, but with 50% blocks exposed to air skipped.
 * Diamond is the same, but with 50% blocks exposed to air skipped as well.
 * Increased frequency of buried lapis.
 * Copper is now less common.


 * Mineshafts
 * Now generate again in the open air in caves.
 * No longer appear floating.


 * Tuff
 * Now generates in blobs below Y = 0.

General

 * Creative inventory
 * Slime blocks and honey blocks have been moved to the Redstone tab.
 * The categories of the recipes for these blocks in the recipe book have moved as well.
 * Lectern position within the Redstone tab has been moved out of the "essential" group.


 * Tags
 * Added tuff to the block tag.
 * Added deepslate gold ore to the block and item tags.