Patch history

This page lists all of the patches to Minecraft with detail as they are announced on Notch's Blog. Only patches to the game and game interface are listed here, website changes and announcements are not shown. A more long term history of Minecraft can be found here.

Minecraft Halloween Update (Minecraft Alpha 1.2.0_01)

 * The addition of The Nether; a "Hell" world that can be used for quick travel, where you "portal in" walk ten meters and then "portal out" and you're hundreds of *meters away
 * New monsters
 * 6 New Blocks Type
 * Biomes
 * More danger at deeper depths in-game
 * Torches that eventually burn out, but are relightable, and the introduction of lanterns as a new infinite light source (NOT OUT YET)
 * Fishing
 * Multiplayer fixes
 * Craftable Jack-O-Lanterns and pumpkin helmets
 * Craftable watch

September 23rd, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.1.2_01

 * Sound and music works in alpha (you might have to turn it on in the options again)
 * Minor update to Minecraft Alpha to make it download the resources from the cloud solution

September 20th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.1.2

 * Attempted sound fix.

September 18th, 2010 - Seecret Saturday 1! But I failed Biomes AGAIN!

 * Added sneaking/crouching.
 * Grey screen bug that made the game basically unplayable, since a grey overlay flashed constanly; now fixed:.
 * Added new paintings.
 * Added ability to change mouse sensitivity.
 * Added sliders to change volume of sound and music.
 * Added a Fishing rod (no practical use as of now).
 * Fixed bug with furnaces in multiplayer. (Although there still are some bugs)
 * Some users are reporting problems with sounds.
 * Personal skins not active until the Minecraft.net server is fixed.
 * Minecraft is currently free-to-play for the weekend. Login server is not working correctly.
 * Option to toggle FPS / Debugging has been replaced with the F3 key. F3 + S key also reloads all web-loaded resources.
 * Made day-to-night and night-to-day transitions smoother.
 * Made solid snow blocks only drop four snowballs. (fixed infinite snowballs glitch)
 * Bugs:
 * Crouching does not prevent player from falling off of half-blocks.
 * Opening the inventory while crouching sometimes protects the player from falling damage.

September 13th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.1.0 (Update #2)

 * Fixed bug where players could force the camera's movement inside walls.

September 10th, 2010 - Seecret Friday 9! OooooOOOoo!

 * Added server-side inventory
 * Made the server save player locations when they leave the server
 * Made chests work in SMP
 * Made signs work in SMP
 * Made furnaces work in SMP
 * Added monsters=false to server.properties. You can turn it on for experimental monsters, but you can’t hurt them directly yet. (Fire works, though!)
 * Compass Added.
 * Furnaces can now be powered by a bucket of lava. (The bucket as well as the lava will be lost if you choose to do this.)
 * Clay is more common when a world is generated.
 * Torches can no longer be placed on tree leaves.
 * Sheep now drop between 1-3 cloth instead of always dropping 2

August 23rd, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha v1.0.17_04

 * Fixed some instances of the player being stuck

August 23rd, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha v1.0.17_03

 * Fixed a certain item duplication bug.
 * Attempted to fix the player-getting-stuck-bug.
 * Possibly improved the framerate under certain conditions.

August 20th, 2010 - Seecret Friday 8! OooooOOOoo!

 * Fences added.
 * A piece of fence that rests on the ground is a rotating 3D model, and not a sprite like other items
 * Day/Night cycle added to multiplayer.
 * Chickens, Slimes and pigs added to multiplayer. (See http://i38.tinypic.com/svmmab.jpg)
 * Buckets of milk can be emptied onto the ground by right clicking.
 * Right clicking on usable blocks makes your arm swing to match the third person animation for right clicking.
 * Third person view is centered again.
 * Skeletons can ride spiders (No glitch: http://twitter.com/notch/status/21693262563)
 * Chickens no longer take fall damage (flight).
 * Bugs
 * It appears as if you can work through the holes in stairs but anything done this way will just undo itself.
 * Items left on crafting table when exiting in it are deleted forever.
 * The item duplicatation glitch has been fixed, but there's now a different bug which leaves behind "ghost" items which can not.
 * Mobs cannot be killed in Multiplayer without the use of fire, or fall damage. Other attacks will knock the mob back but not damage it. Chickens killed with fire or falling drop leather.

July 30th, 2010 - Seecret Friday 7! OooooOOOoo!

 * Powered Minecarts added
 * Storage Minecarts added
 * Chickens added
 * Chickens can drop multiple feathers.
 * Chickens occasionally drop eggs (while alive).
 * Improved cow skin
 * Jukebox added
 * Records added
 * Music added (Three new songs in addition to the old three. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmiXaQ-v5co)
 * Various other sound effects added (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FZLkxJYd-o)
 * Arrows are now made from flint instead of iron.

July 29th, 2010 - I’m going all gaga now, 1000 sales in 24 hours!

 * New Title screen (1K in 24h) to celebrate the 1000 sales in last 24 hours

July 29th, 2010 - 1.0.13_01 fixes "a few" crash bugs

 * Fixed the bug from 1.0.11 which hung the game when getting near a certain chunk.

July 28th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.13

 * New look for the Slimes
 * Some work on multiplayer
 * The client now checks if two instances of the game try to save to the same level, and quits if it does.
 * Fixed a hang/crash bug related to lighting. It wasn’t an actual hang bug, just an “each frame of the game takes exponentially longer to render than the last” bug, which is pretty much the same thing.
 * The Multiplayer now has random passwords show in Multiplayer window.

July 26th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.12

 * Big slimes no longer spawn in peaceful. (some reports of this being wrong?)
 * Slimes now make sounds.
 * Slimes now target and attack correctly.
 * Fixed font colors being broken.
 * "Some multiplayer work".

July 23rd, 2010 - Seecret Friday 6! OooooOOOoo!

 * Reeds added (Can only exist right next water)
 * Paper added
 * Books added
 * Bookcases added
 * Clay blocks added (when destroyed, it drops 4 clay balls.)
 * Clay balls added
 * Bricks added
 * Brick walls added
 * Slime added (vary in sizes)
 * Slimes drop green slime balls (same as snowballs).
 * Large slimes will explode into smaller ones when killed.
 * Milk added (left click with bucket on cow)
 * Cacti now only hurt when touching
 * Cacti can now only be placed on sand
 * Cacti have an updated graphic: small spikes jutting out the side
 * Terrain generator updated
 * Snow now breaks instantly when dug with a shovel
 * Bugs:
 * Slimes spawn on any difficulty
 * Slime's hit detection is not always correct.

July 22nd, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.10

 * Multiplayer option is now enabled, though only available to those with invites.

July 21st, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.9

 * Fixed at least one stuttering bug
 * Walking animation changed
 * Cow noises changed
 * (And lots more behind the scenes)

July 20th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.8_1

 * Removed some debugging code, "making the game less crashy"

July 20th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.8

 * Cattle
 * Milk (does nothing yet)
 * Note: You can't milk cows yet
 * Leather
 * Changed the recipe for leather armor

July 19th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.7

 * Fixed stuttering-zone bug

July 17th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.6_03

 * Fixed certain broken saves. They will now load.

July 17th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.6_01

 * Fixed stuttering after death bug
 * Leaves decay again when not connected to either the ground or to a tree trunk
 * Tweaked monster and animal spawning a bit. The game probably is quite a bit more difficult now.
 * Boats can be placed on land, and won’t break if you hit land unless you’re going above a certain speed
 * Boats spawn water splash particles only when going fast enough to break
 * Boats turn much nicer
 * Bugs:
 * If you stand on your boat underwater, the boat does not rise anymore and you will stay still underwater.

July 16th, 2010 - Seecret Friday 5! OooooOOOoo!

 * Boats added, craftable with planks.
 * Cacti added, the player get hurt while breaking them, and standing on top of them.
 * Large trees, with branches added.
 * Items can now be seen held in third person.
 * Animals now only spawn on grass.
 * Snowballs stack in piles of sixteen now.
 * Thrown snowballs don't disappear anymore due to render distance.
 * Snow blocks only require four snowballs in a square.
 * Leaves don't disappear after a trees' wood block is removed. It is unknown whether this was intentional or not.
 * Night appears to be longer.
 * Mushrooms are found randomly next to trees in newly generated levels
 * Bug Fix:
 * Fixed snow falling through snow blocks.
 * Bugs:
 * Upon dying the framerate slowly drops to an unplayable rate. The game will no longer save after death, causing you to see yourself dead whenever you load the save. The only workaround is to modify the save file with a tool like NBTedit.
 * Breaking a minecart while inside will cause you to fall through one block of ground.
 * If you are riding your boat while the boat is above a block you fall through one block of ground
 * Destroying Snow blocks yields 4-6 Snowballs. Allowing for infinite amounts of snow (as blocks only take 4 snowballs to make)
 * Flying boat bug
 * Cacti blocks generate in winter maps.

July 14th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.5_01

 * You need shovels to get snowballs now, and you can only stack eight of them
 * Ice freezes again
 * Snow blocks on top of top snow no longer looks weird
 * Less annoying snowball sound effect
 * Fixed pickaxe bug - blocks now yield material on last hit

July 13th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha 1.0.5

 * Added snowballs. You can throw them, but they deal no damage
 * Added craftable snow blocks
 * Fixed building on snow bug
 * Fixed ice rendering bug
 * Signs no longer require a free block above them when placing them
 * The game no longer saves the level when it crashes. Saving on crashes sometimes breaks saves
 * Snow no longer goes through glass
 * New Bugs :
 * Falling blocks (Sand and gravel) will float above snow coverd tiles, if placed above them.

July 9th, 2010 - Seecret Friday update 4! OooooOOOoo!

 * Animated title screen and intro
 * The bug in the mob spawn code is fixed
 * Snow and ice added - you slightly slide on ice, but only a little bit
 * Minecart Skin back to old one
 * You now sit in the Minecart instead of standing
 * Bug Fix :
 * Break a Minecart while in it will no longer freeze the game
 * If you ride a Minecart and go under 2 block, you don't lose life anymore
 * New Bugs :
 * If you walk on snow,you will hear sound of the block under it unless you jump
 * Spawn a block on snow will make it levitate
 * When looking at ice underwater, the texture flickers
 * Snow hovers above half-blocks
 * Riding a pig on ice will make the pig you are riding move at ridiculous speeds

July 7th, 2010 - Multiplayer progress update, and Minecraft Alpha 1.0.3

 * The pathfinder now works for hills. Except for spiders.
 * Generally more convincing mob idling behavior. They’ll stand still more, looking around at their surroundings
 * Monster sounds
 * Ambient cave noises

July 6th, 2010 - Minecraft Alpha version 1.0.2_01

 * Red torch not gates now only signal into blocks above them, or to stuff right next to them. This makes them still useful for underground wiring, yet makes them much more predictable than before.
 * The red dust stuff won’t connect through solid blocks diagonally down any more
 * Some minor art tweaks to the dust.
 * Walking on red dust no longer breaks it.
 * Red dust now animates.

July 3rd, 2010 - Seecret Friday update the third! OooooOOOoo!

 * Improved AI
 * Sheep regenerate wool (Broken? Lie? True.)
 * Caves can be far bigger and more expansive
 * Coal can be found in smaller or larger veins now
 * Signs now may be placed on walls
 * Doors have a new icon
 * Mushrooms can now grow anywhere in the shade, even on grass
 * New in-hand model/inventory icon for stairs
 * [SECRET] Levers Added (wood stick over cobblestone)
 * [SECRET] 6 new crafting recipes, all of which are related
 * [SECRET] Buttons Added (2 vertical smooth stone, opens doors)
 * [SECRET] Wooden/Stone Pressure Plates added (3 horizontal planks or smooth stone)
 * [SECRET] Iron Doors added (Wood Door recipe with iron)
 * [SECRET] New mineral added, Red Ore
 * [SECRET] Inverter added which, in conjunction with the new Red Ore, can manipulate electricity
 * [SECRET] Red Ore can be spread on the ground to manipulate electric flow, making this into the rumored "Wires" of the update
 * New bugs:
 * Signs (both wall and ground) will still remain after being deleted, this can be fixed by reloading your save.

June 30th, 2010 - I fixed a few bugs in /game/, and the game is now playable offline

 * Official offline client release
 * Being below the world will now cause players to die

June 29th, 2010 - Offline client tech test

 * Stair block added
 * Offline InfDev test client released
 * Web based InfDev test client released (http://www.minecraft.net/game/)
 * "Booster" tracks bug fixed
 * New bugs:
 * Placing a lava spring where the runoff from another lava spring is will have no effect (but still remove lava from the bucket)

June 27th, 2010 - Sorry I broke the signs, here’s the fix

 * Mob spawners given a unique ID, reducing crashes
 * New bugs:
 * Many players report their 3rd party clients no longer work(How is this a bug? Notch changed the obfuscation is all)

June 25th, 2010 - Seecret Friday update 2! OooooOOOoo!

 * [SECRET] Dungeons added
 * [SECRET] Mob spawners added
 * [SECRET] Saddles added
 * New bugs:
 * Map generation now creates "bad chunk" areas of the map in which the player and all npcs stutter and move very slowly through

June 25th, 2010 - I reverted back to the old save file format

 * Reverted to old save file format

June 24th, 2010 - Here’s a review of something I recently bought

 * New save file format implemented
 * Tweaked rail laying code
 * Improved FPS
 * Less crashes
 * New crash report screen
 * Storage minecarts removed, rideable minecarts added
 * New bugs:
 * When turning on a minecart track while riding a minecart, some players' cameras turn in the opposite direction of the minecart (e.g. minecart turns left, camera turns right)

June 18th, 2010 - Seecret Friday update! OooooOOOoo!

 * Falling off the bottom of the map now kills players
 * Tweaked sky rendering
 * [SECRET] Gravel and sand now fall realistically
 * [SECRET] Minecarts are now available

June 17th, 2010 - Tweak and bug fix update

 * Caves are much more interesting now, specifically:
 * Rooms now have 1-5 exits, instead of just 1, making natural hubs.
 * Caves are even more regional, with truly swiss cheese areas being possible (but rare)
 * Springs (water and lava) are more common
 * Increased variety in tunnel thickness, increasing the odds of branches
 * Added natural gravel and dirt under ground for more varied caves
 * Made surface springs more common. Surface lava springs are possible, but uncommon
 * Lava + water = rock
 * Lava springs never spread. You can pick them up with buckets, but never clone them.
 * Lava spring + water = obsidian
 * Getting the player stuck inside ground will obscure the view and slowly suffocate the player
 * Water flows nicer, making it easier to make water slides
 * Fixed a few bugs in liquid spreading code
 * Fixed invisible waterfalls
 * Made massive tweaks to the pending tile tick logic (used for liquids and fire), quite possibly fixing a crash bug

June 16th, 2010 - Caves, prettier water.

 * Water is prettier now. You can see which direction the current is flowing
 * Regional caves. Some areas have a lot, some have very few.
 * Naturally occurring (but buggy) lava
 * Flowers and mushrooms
 * Springs can be generated under ground, causing underground rivers. Both water and lava

June 15th, 2010 - Dynamic water and Buckets

 * Leaves not near a tree trunk will now go away
 * Added a new option for graphics quality
 * Added buckets (Right click water to pick it up)
 * Added dynamic water
 * Days are longer, nights are shorter