Java Edition 1.12

1.12, the first release of the World of Color Update, is an upcoming major update to Minecraft with no set release date. This update adds several commands and game rules, new crafting system, glazed terracotta, concrete, concrete powder, colored beds, illusioners, and parrots. It also replaces achievements with advancements.

General

 * Advancements
 * Replaces achievements
 * Can be customized via JSON files
 * Tab-based UI
 * 5 tabs (more supported):
 * Minecraft: The heart and story of the game
 * Adventure: Adventure, exploration, and combat.
 * Nether: Bring summer clothes.
 * The End: Or the beginning?
 * Husbandry: The world is full of friends and food.
 * Different background per tab, single texture on repeat for now
 * Data-driven UI, including positioning and layout
 * Advancements can't execute commands directly when achieved, but instead can execute functions
 * Pop-up notification for when players advance
 * New sliding effect
 * Comes in two different colors - yellow for normal advancements, and pink for "challenge" advancements
 * Advancement icons allow data values
 * Specifically,  has switched from being a string to an object
 * Within it are a required  string (specifying the item ID) and an optional   integer, specifying the metadata of the item
 * There's a new number display to track progress while completing certain advancements


 * Controls
 * Added keybinding options for Creative toolbar saving


 * Creative
 * Save toolbars in Creative Mode with + and load them with +
 * Can save up to 9 toolbars
 * If you save an empty toolbar, it will clear the bookmarked toolbar and put back the 'informational paper' in the respective slot


 * Functions
 * Added new function system, which are plaintext files in
 * Functions are a list of commands, one line per command, with //comment (or #comment) support


 * JSON format
 * Added 'group' to recipe json format, to clump similar recipes together
 * Added new 'keybind' text component, to refer to the player's keybindings


 * Narrator
 * + toggles a text-to-speech engine that automatically reads player chat messages, including the name.
 * There's an option to toggle narrator between: "off", "chat & system", "chat only", and "system messages only"
 * There's a toast notification for toggling the narrator
 * The Narrator will not read commands or command outputs, nor will it read messages produced with
 * It displays a message whenever the Narrator isn't available


 * NBT tags
 * (long):
 * Stores the tick a chain command block was last executed in
 * , for breedable entities
 * Together these record the UUID of the entity that caused a given animal to breed
 * : A compound tag containing a list of recipes, formatted as JSON, that the player has seen, as well as recipe book information
 * : Becomes 1 if the player has enabled the "Show Craftable" feature in the recipe book
 * : Checks if the player has left the GUI open
 * : Contains information about all recipes the player has seen
 * : Checks if the player has tried out the recipe in the recipe book before (by clicking it/viewing it)
 * (list):
 * Within are recipe names that the player has unlocked but not viewed in the crafting helper yet
 * Used for remembering to play the animation for new recipes
 * : A list of crafting recipes to unlock for the player that right-clicks while holding a Knowledge Book
 * If this is not specified, the Knowledge Book will not be consumed
 * : Changes to 1 if the player leaves the End through the portal
 * / : Contains entity data about an entity on the left and right shoulders of the player
 * (byte):
 * Defaults to . If set to , loops can be created, where the same command block can run multiple times in one tick
 * Defaults to . If set to , loops can be created, where the same command block can run multiple times in one tick


 * Recipe book
 * Catalogs recipes that are unlocked when the criteria are met
 * When a recipe is clicked, it will appear in the crafting grid, and can be crafted if materials are available
 * A shift-click ability puts all available materials in the crafting grid
 * A new white-and-gray colored notification pops up when the player unlocks new recipes
 * The pop-up notification that displays upon unlocking new recipes has an icon showing the items that can be crafted with the new recipes
 * If you search "excited" in the Recipe book, your language switches to Pirate Speak


 * Sounds


 * New note block sounds
 * = xylophone
 * = bell
 * = flute
 * = chime
 * = guitar


 * New sound effects
 * Parrots
 * Illusioners
 * Casting a fishing rod
 * Reeling in a fishing rod
 * Throwing an eye of ender
 * An eye of ender exploding or popping back into item form
 * Putting ender eye in end portal frames (dinging sound)
 * Completing the end portal and having the portal spawn (evil sound)
 * Boat paddles


 * Splashes
 * Added "Don't feed chocolate to parrots!"


 * Tutorial hints
 * Will display only in Survival mode, and only upon starting a new world for the first time
 * Saved per player, stored in options.txt
 * Name:
 * List of criteria:,  ,  ,  ,  , and

Commands
/advancement grant dinnerbone until story/elytra /advancement revoke dinnerbone everything
 * Execute an entity executed with an arbitrary command, e.g:
 * Can grant, test or revoke advancements, and particular advancement criteria, for a given player
 * There are five modifiers to the command: "everything", "from", "until", "through", "only"
 * "everything" - all advancements, no specification required (same as "*")
 * "from" - this advancement, its children, and their children, etc.
 * "until" - this advancement, its parent, and its parent, etc.
 * "through" - both of the above
 * "only" - this advancement, and nothing else
 * Examples:
 * "only" - this advancement, and nothing else
 * Examples:
 * Can unlock, or lock, the given recipes for the given player
 * If  is specified, it will lock or unlock all recipes for the player
 * Command to reload advancements and loot tables from disk
 * This command is available to all opped players in single player and to all level 4 operators on a multiplayer server.
 * Cannot be run from a command block.
 * Command to reload advancements and loot tables from disk
 * This command is available to all opped players in single player and to all level 4 operators on a multiplayer server.
 * Cannot be run from a command block.

Gameplay

 * Gamerules
 * Defaults to true
 * Toggles announcing of advancements, replacing the old  entry
 * Off by default
 * Enabling will only allow players to craft recipes they have unlocked
 * NBT tag, which contains a list of item IDs, will be consumed and unlock the specified items' recipes for any player that it
 * Especially useful when is set to true
 * NBT tag, which contains a list of item IDs, will be consumed and unlock the specified items' recipes for any player that it
 * Especially useful when is set to true


 * Spawn eggs
 * Parrot (new mob): Green with red dots.

Mobs

 * Illusioner
 * New illager.
 * Affects players with for 20 seconds then shoots with a bow.
 * Its blindness spell will only be cast if the regional difficulty is 3 or above.
 * Summons duplicates of itself.
 * All duplicates will show shooting animation, but only the real one can be hit and shoots the arrow
 * Does not currently have a spawn egg, so can only be summoned with
 * Targets both the player and villagers


 * Parrots
 * Tamable with cookies
 * Fly around, but sit when "tired"
 * Follow and crowd around nearby mobs
 * Imitates sounds of other mobs
 * Parrots dance if playing music on a nearby jukebox
 * Right-click action available:
 * Right-click on a tamed parrot tells it to sit down
 * Walking over/through/near a tamed parrot while crouching will cause it to sit on the player's shoulders
 * Will let go if the player jumps
 * Can fly with players during elytra flight
 * Have health.
 * Come in red, blue, green, cyan and gray.

General

 * Achievements
 * Removed and replaced by advancements


 * Controls
 * Pressing will now hide all toast messages


 * Crafting
 * Closing the crafting interface with items inside will no longer drop the items in front of you, but will send them instead to the inventory.


 * Creative
 * Materials tab merged with Miscellaneous tab in creative mode.


 * Java version
 * This is the first version to use, and thus require, Java 8.


 * Movement
 * The player's body now entirely faces to the front, when moving backwards.
 * Prior to this update, moving backwards would cause the player model to rotate one side, making it look like the player was strafing backwards somewhat.


 * NBT format
 * Improved NBT parsing in commands
 * Keys can now (optionally) be quoted, e.g:
 * Unquoted string values are now stricter; they can no longer contain spaces or special symbols, e.g:
 * Indices, which were previously optional in lists, are no longer allowed, e.g:
 * Empty keys and values are no longer allowed
 * Improved error messaging; now points to where exactly the error occurred


 * Splashes
 * "Now Java 6!" changed to "Now Java 8!"

Blocks



 * Banner
 * New palette texture.


 * Beds
 * Now you can sleep when a neutral Zombie Pigman is near.
 * Now you can bounce on the bed, albeit much less than with slime blocks
 * Now reduce (but not negate) fall damage when landed on
 * The player can survive a 41 block fall onto a bed
 * Any higher, and the second bounce will deal the remaining amount of damage to kill them
 * The player can create a platform around 7 blocks high beside the bed to land on to prevent death, in which case a player can survive a 45 block fall
 * Added colored beds which can be crafted with colored wool or by dying a white bed
 * Now a block entity, and each half can be colored individually using the NBT tag
 * Beds now display as blocks, unlike Pocket Editon beds. Now use a 3D item model instead of a 2D item because of the new colors


 * Command Block
 * Now executes all of the commands in a chain before scheduling them for the next tick
 * It is now possible to stop/modify the operation of a chain via commands and get results instantly (as opposed to getting them in a 1 tick delay)
 * Optimized error conditions in command blocks


 * Fences, Cobblestone Walls, Glass Panes, and Iron Bars
 * Now connect to stairs


 * Hardened Clay
 * Renamed to terracotta


 * Magma Blocks
 * Are now able to burn infinitely, like Netherrack


 * Noteblocks
 * When placed ontop of a bone block, wool, clay, packed ice or gold block, the noteblock produces special sounds


 * Paintings
 * Will now try to place the largest possible in the available space it has


 * Shulker Box
 * Colors changed in accordance with the changes to other block colors


 * Stairs
 * The rear face and underside of stairs are now considered "solid"
 * Allows for torches, fences, iron bars, glass panes, walls, and snow layers to connect to them properly


 * Wool
 * New palette texture.

Items

 * Map
 * Dyed blocks such as banners and terracotta now have unique colors

Mobs



 * Sheep
 * New color palette for wool on body


 * Shulker
 * Colors changed in accordance with the changes to other block colors


 * Zombies
 * New  and   tags
 * Contains the UUID of the player that is converting the zombie
 * Used with the "minecraft:cured_zombie_villager" trigger for advancements

Unconfirmed features

 * If a piston gets powered and is unable to push, it will emit a smoke particle effect and play a small "clunk" sound.
 * If the bow used to craft a dispenser is enchanted, it makes the arrows fired from the dispenser act accordingly.