Java Edition Combat Tests

Combat Tests refers to multiple experimental snapshots released with changes related to combat, which are currently in development. Nine snapshots have already been released on Reddit, but they are not found in the launcher. While these snapshots are development versions for a future version, they are forks of 1.14.x, 1.15.x and 1.16.x releases and do not contain any features past the version it was forked from. These changes will be added to the main game when the new combat system is finalized. The latest version is.

Currently, development of a combat update is in Phase 1. When Phase 2 begins, there will be fewer system changes and more focus on changes related to balance and mobs. Phase 2 may also change difficulty.

Gameplay

 * Combat
 * New attribute: generic.attack_reach.
 * Represents the attack reach of a player.
 * Only used by players.
 * Default base: 2.5 ; minimum: 0.0 ; maximum: 6.0.
 * Value is the number of blocks away the player can attack from.
 * Weapon modifier now modifies generic.attack_reach with Operation 0 and UUID 26cb07a3-209d-4110-8e10-1010243614c8.
 * Added a "Combat Reach" parameter (using attribute generic.attack_reach ) to swords, hoes and tridents.


 * Enchantments
 * Added the Cleaving enchantment for axes.
 * Adds of damage (increasing by  per subsequent level) and 0.5 seconds of shield stunning per level.
 * Maximum level in survival is 3, though the effects continue to scale as expected if higher levels are applied with commands.
 * Incompatible with Sharpness, Bane of Arthropods and Smite


 * Shields
 * Added a "Shield Indicator" option that displays when the shield is active, similar to the Attack Indicator.
 * Found in Video Settings, the available options are "OFF," "Crosshair," or "Hotbar."
 * Disabled by default.
 * Now activate automatically when sneaking.
 * Can be enabled or disabled in the Accessibility Settings.
 * Only works when in the off-hand.
 * Enabled by default.

Items

 * Bows
 * Arrows shot from bows become less accurate if held drawn for longer than 3 seconds. Otherwise, they will always have 100% accuracy
 * This also cancels out "critical arrows".


 * Axes
 * Increased attack speed for all axes to 2 (0.5 seconds), was 0.8 (1.25 seconds) for wooden and stone axes, 0.9 (~1.11 seconds) for iron axes, and 1 (1 second) for gold, diamond, and netherite axes.
 * All axes are weaker and deal more damage than their sword counterparts.
 * Wooden and gold:, was.
 * Stone:, was.
 * Iron:, was.
 * Diamond:, was.
 * Netherite:, was.
 * Always disable shields for 1.6 seconds, instead of having a 25% chance to disable them for 5 seconds.
 * Now use 1 durability when attacking instead of 2.
 * Can no longer receive combat enchantments such as Sharpness, Smite and Bane of Arthropods without using an anvil.
 * Nerfed attack reach 2.5, was 3.
 * Are now able to receive the Sweeping Edge enchantment, to perform sweep attacks.
 * All tools can now have Sweeping Edge with commands or creative mode, but axes can get it in survival by using an enchanted book and an anvil.


 * Eggs
 * Now have a cooldown of 4 ticks.


 * Hoes
 * Changed the attack speed for most hoes:
 * Wooden: 2 (0.5 seconds), was 1 (1 second).
 * Gold: 3.5 (~0.29 seconds), was 1 (1 second).
 * Stone: 2.5 (0.4 seconds), was 2 (0.5 seconds).
 * Diamond and netherite: 3.5 (~0.29 seconds), was 4 (0.25 seconds).
 * Changed the attack damage for all hoes:
 * Wooden, gold, and stone:, was.
 * Iron and diamond:, was.
 * Netherite:, was
 * Buffed attack reach to 3.5 blocks, was 3.


 * Pickaxes
 * Increased attack speed for all pickaxes to 2.5 (0.4 seconds), was 1.2 (0.83 seconds).
 * Changed the attack damage for some pickaxes:
 * Wooden and gold:, was.
 * Reach nerfed down to 2.5, was 3


 * Shield
 * Now only blocks up to of attack damage.
 * Removed warm-up delay from shields (0.25 seconds activation cooldown).
 * Crouching player can't perform "charged" attacks.
 * Now only block 50% of knockback when attacked by a weapon.
 * Due to a bug shields block more knockback.
 * An empty hand or non-tool items will still negate all knockback.
 * The arc of available protection has been decreased to 100 degrees from the previous 180 degrees.
 * Now block 100% of explosion damage, if it isn't caused by the player.


 * Shovels
 * Increased attack speed for all shovels to 2 (0.5 seconds), was 1 (1 second).
 * Decreased damage for all shovels.
 * Wooden and gold:, was.
 * Stone:, was.
 * Iron:, was.
 * Diamond:, was.
 * Netherite:, was.
 * Reach nerfed down to 2.5, was 3.


 * Swords
 * Increased attack speed for all swords to 3 (0.33 seconds), was 1.6 (0.625 seconds).
 * Decreased damage for some swords.
 * Stone:, was.
 * Iron:, was.
 * Diamond:, was.
 * Netherite:, was.
 * Reach is unchanged.


 * Trident
 * Increased attack speed to 2 (0.5 seconds), was 1.1 (~0.91 seconds).
 * Decreased melee damage from to.
 * Buffed attack reach to 3.5 blocks, was 3.
 * Can now be shot from dispensers.
 * Tridents with Loyalty that fall into the void will return to its owner.
 * Tridents with Impaling now deal enchantment damage to all mobs or players that are in water or rain.


 * Snowballs
 * Now stack to 64.
 * Now have a cooldown of 4 ticks.


 * Potions
 * Can now stack up to 16.
 * Splash and lingering potions are not included.

Non-mob entities

 * Projectiles
 * No longer trigger a player or mob invulnerability timer, which means that Multishot can hit and deal damage to the same mob with all three arrows.


 * Arrows
 * Arrow uncertainty value has been decreased from 1.0 to 0.25, increasing accuracy.
 * Instantaneous effects on tipped arrows are now scaled by 1/8, just like the duration of other effects. For example, instant harming I arrow will deal additional magical damage.


 * Players
 * Are now knocked back by < 1 damage hits, including 0 damage hits such as snowballs and eggs.

Gameplay

 * Combat
 * The attack cooldown is now only 4 ticks (200ms) when an attack is missed.
 * Attacking is no longer possible until the weapon is recharged.
 * There is a longer "charged" attack that gives a bonus reach of +1 meters.
 * Weapons with shorter cooldowns give victims a shorter attack invulnerability time (invincibility frames).
 * The key can be held down to automatically attack at the next available moment.
 * Has a +1 tick (50ms) penalty, making it less effective than optimal timing or clicking.
 * Entities with bounding boxes smaller than 0.9 blocks (such as rabbits and bats, for example) now have them inflated to that value.
 * This means that they still have smaller hitboxes than 0.9 blocks, but now can be attacked outside of their hitbox within a range of 0.9 blocks.
 * The attack timer is now unaffected by switching items, only resetting when the player performs an attack.
 * Entities can now be hit through transparent blocks like grass or vines, without destroying said block.
 * Changed the swing animation to "emphasize the rhythm of the attacks".


 * Eating
 * The eating and drinking animations are interrupted and reset when being hit by a player/mob or a projectile throw from one.
 * Liquids (such as stews, honey, milk, and potions) are consumed faster (20 ticks, was 32 or 40 ticks)


 * Hunger
 * High saturation no longer gives a fast regeneration boost.
 * Saturation is not used when healing damage, and is only relevant as a "pause" until food drains because of other factors (sprinting, jumping...)
 * Hunger no longer decreases along with saturation. Once the player is down to 0 saturation, the hunger bar begins depleting as normal.
 * The player now naturally regenerates health down until a hunger level of instead of the previous 18.
 * The player now naturally heals every 40 ticks instead of every 80 ticks.
 * Natural healing drains food points half as fast.


 * Critical Hits
 * Can now be performed with sprint-knockback hits (the first hit dealt by a sprinting player), as it was in older versions and Bedrock Edition.


 * Sweep attack
 * Is now only performed by a weapon enchanted with Sweeping Edge.
 * Requires a fully charged attack to activate.
 * Is now activated regardless of whether or not an entity is hit.
 * The Sweeping Edge enchantment itself has been nerfed. It now does 25%/33%/37.5% percent of sweeping damage per level instead of the previous 50%/66%/75%.
 * All tools can now perform the sweep attack if they have the Sweeping Edge enchantment.
 * Sweeping Edge cannot be applied to non-sword tools in survival, except for axes and pickaxes.


 * Enchantments
 * Weapon enchantments are now included in the base damage when calculating critical hits and potion effects.

General

 * Attacking
 * Increased the attack damage of unarmed attacks from to.


 * Status effects


 * Healing now heals per level, up from, similar to before 1.6.1.
 * Strength was changed, it increases at levels I/II +20%/+40% of the total damage (was /  damage).

Trivia

 * Knockback as a scale instead of a probability was actually added first on these snapshots, and then added on 1.16.
 * In the image for the combat tests, Stone can be seen with a Snow overlay, even though this is not possible in game.
 * This is similar to the snowy snow showed in the biome vote at MINECON Live 2019 in the mountain preview, even though it was not added in the Caves & Cliffs update.