Java Edition 21w03a

21w03a is the sixth snapshot for Java Edition 1.17, released on January 20, 2021, which adds glow squids, glow ink sacs, glow lichen, and fixes bugs. This is the first snapshot to be released in 2021.

Blocks

 * Glow Item Frames
 * Placeable entities which appear to glow.
 * Do not affect the light level, only appearing as if lit up themselves.
 * Items placed inside also glow.
 * Crafted using an item frame and a glow ink sac.
 * Includes application to maps.


 * Glow Lichen
 * A naturally occurring light source found rarely in caves, growing on any face of a block.
 * Has a light level of 7.
 * Obtained with shears, otherwise breaks.
 * Does not spread naturally, although bone meal can be used to spread it.
 * It spreads to adjacent blocks horizontally.
 * Can be waterlogged.
 * Unlike vines, it does not pop off when underwater, and is not climbable.
 * Up to 6 can be put on the same block space, merging into one block.
 * Without cheats, a player can only put up to 5, because the sixth space would be unreachable.

Items

 * Glow Ink Sacs
 * Dropped by glow squids when killed.
 * Can be used to craft glow item frames.
 * Can be used to make text glow on signs.


 * Spawn Eggs
 * Added glow squid spawn egg.

Mobs

 * Glow Squid
 * Originates from the mob with the same name from Minecraft Earth.
 * Underwater mob that behaves like a regular squid.
 * Does not naturally spawn.
 * Is attacked by axolotls without provocation.
 * Drops glow ink sacs when killed.
 * Does not affect the light level, only appearing as if lit up itself.
 * Will stop glowing for a short time and swims away fast after taking damage.

Blocks

 * Dripstone Blocks
 * Can now be crafted from 4 pointed dripstone.


 * Signs
 * Can now be tinted with glow ink sacs to make the text glow.
 * Glowing signs do not affect the light level, only appearing as if the text itself is illuminated.
 * Regular ink sacs can be used to remove the glowing effect.
 * Now has sounds for being dyed.

Gameplay

 * Death messages
 * Added unique death messages for dying from falling on a stalagmite.
 * " was impaled on a stalagmite" and " was impaled on a stalagmite whilst fighting ".
 * Previously, this death would use the generic fall damage death messages.


 * Recipe book
 * The chiseled polished blackstone crafting recipe is now unlocked by having a polished blackstone slab, instead of polished blackstone.


 * Subtitles
 * Changed some capitalization in some subtitles.

General

 * Block Models
 * Made the vine's block model much simpler.


 * Servers
 * Changed the error message for failing to connect to the authentication servers. Now says they are "not reachable" instead of "down for maintenance".


 * Tags
 * Added glow squids to the entity type tag.


 * World Selection
 * Added unique warnings for downgrading a world.


 * Languages
 * Removed the Gothic, Kabyle, Maori, Mohawk, Nuk, Ojibwa, and Talossan languages as their translations were incomplete.

Video
Video made by slicedlime on the gameplay changes:

Video made by slicedlime on the technical changes: