Java Edition 15w49a

15w49a is the forty-fourth snapshot released for Java Edition 1.9.

Command format

 * Sound events
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General

 * Statistics
 * : Tracks the distance a player has glided using elytra.

Blocks

 * Activator rails & powered rails
 * Powered rails and activator rails no longer transmit power to each other.


 * Beacon
 * Now drops any contained item when exiting the GUI.
 * No longer accepts items from hoppers.
 * NBT tag removed.


 * Cactus
 * Will break if lava is adjacent.
 * Cactus on sand will break if water or lava is in the block above.


 * Cobweb
 * Cobwebs now catch snowballs, eggs, thrown potions, XP bottles, and ender pearls, causing the item form of the projectile to be dropped.
 * Removed in 15w49b.


 * Crops & Nether wart
 * Hitbox now changes as the plant grows.


 * Doors
 * Are now placed facing left/right depending on which half of the block the player clicks on, unless neighboring doors cause them to place a certain way.


 * Elytra
 * Increased damage when flying into a wall.


 * End crystals
 * Now require air or replaceable blocks in the two blocks above the block it's being placed on.
 * Can no longer be placed to intersect other entities.


 * Fire
 * Chance of going out in rain increased by 20 percentage points (now 20% + 3 percentage points per age).


 * Furnace
 * The  block is no longer available as an item.


 * Lily pads
 * Bounding box changed, now 15/256 high (from 1/16) and inset from three edges of the block by 1/16.


 * Pistons
 * Unextended pistons, downwards-facing pistons, and upwards-facing piston extensions are now considered to have a solid top surface, like upside-down stairs and top-half slabs.
 * Among other things, this means mobs can now spawn on them.


 * Tripwire and tripwire hooks
 * Removed the distinction between "suspended" and "non-suspended": formerly, tripwire would only work if the whole stretch and both hooks were all above solid blocks or all not above solid blocks.


 * Trapped chest
 * Now appears in the Redstone tab of the Creative inventory instead of Decoration Blocks.

Items

 * Melons
 * Melons and glistering melons are now oriented the same way (Removed in 15w49b).

Mobs

 * General
 * Improved pathfinding
 * Knockback no longer changes the Y-axis speed of flying and falling mobs.


 * Cave spiders, endermites, magma cubes, silverfish, slimes, spiders, wither skeletons, zombies, zombie pigman
 * Now fight back when hit by other mobs.


 * Ender dragon
 * No longer teleports through Nether portals or End portals.
 * Can no longer ride anything.
 * Can no longer have status effects.


 * Enderman
 * Can no longer pick blocks from behind walls.


 * Horse
 * Now rotates with the player.


 * Shulker
 * No longer float above the ground.


 * Skeleton
 * No longer find shade to hide under if equipped with a helmet.


 * Snow golem
 * Using shears on a snow golem will remove the pumpkin head (and remove 1 durability from the shears).
 * The pumpkin is not dropped.


 * Wither
 * No longer teleports through Nether portals or End portals.

Non-mob entities

 * Arrow entity
 * Now take the thrower's motion into account. For example, an arrow fired forward by a player in a speeding minecart will fly faster relative to the ground, an arrow fired backwards will fly slower, and an arrow fired sideways will have motion in the direction of minecart travel.
 * Arrows that bounce off a target (e.g. a shield or a sitting dragon) and may be retrieved will become dropped items if near zero momentum after being bounced.


 * Bottles o' enchanting, eggs, ender pearls, snowballs, thrown potions
 * No longer collide with non-opaque blocks.
 * Even non-opaque blocks that are solid, such as glass (see ).
 * Are "caught" and converted to the item form by cobwebs.
 * Now take the thrower's motion into account. For example, an arrow fired forward by a player in a speeding minecart will fly faster relative to the ground, an arrow fired backwards will fly slower, and an arrow fired sideways will have motion in the direction of minecart travel.


 * SmallFireball entity
 * No longer damages (or angers) fire-immune entities.

World generation

 * End portal
 * In the 0.0000000001% chance that all 12 frame blocks generate with eyes already present, the portal will now be active.
 * This means once again you can access the End without going to the Nether.

Command format

 * Now auto-completes itself when pressing TAB.
 * Now has an optional  parameter to specify which players can see the particle when inside the range. When left out, everyone in range can see the particles.
 * Also added a  parameter to specify particle parameters (for iconcrack_, …).
 * Now has an optional  parameter to specify which players can see the particle when inside the range. When left out, everyone in range can see the particles.
 * Also added a  parameter to specify particle parameters (for iconcrack_, …).


 * Sound events
 * Renamed  to.

Gameplay

 * Combat
 * Sweep attacks now do damage to mobs affected by the knockback.
 * The Infinity enchantment no longer affects spectral and tipped arrows.


 * Exhaustion
 * Sneaking now increases exhaustion by half as much as walking.


 * Frost walker enchantment
 * Now functions whenever the player is standing on ground, regardless of whether the ground is a solid block or not.
 * No longer works on armor stands.


 * Lightning
 * No longer destroys item frames, leash knots, paintings, and armor stands.


 * Status effects
 * Health Boost effect now shows multiple red hearts instead of the one similar to Regeneration.
 * Absorption effect now shows a single red heart with a yellow outline around it.
 * Nausea effect will now stop instantly when cleared using Milk or with commands.

Video
Video made by slicedlime:

Trivia

 * 15w49a was previously removed from the launcher for some time, but was added back in September 2018.