Java Edition 1.9

, the first release of the Combat Update, is an upcoming major update to Minecraft with no set release date. Dinnerbone has stated that many of the features he has shown for 1.9 are not “100% final”, so things may change later.

General

 * Splash text
 * "More Digital!"
 * World selection screen
 * Worlds now display the version they were last played in or "unknown" if the version was older than snapshot 15w32a.
 * The version number will display in red if it has been played in a newer version before.
 * Now displays a thumbnail per world, showing a glimpse of the world (it takes a screenshot when you have just created or opened it for the first time in the 15w32b snapshot or higher).
 * When the world hasn't been opened in snapshot 15w32b or before, or if the game couldn't make a screenshot thumbnail, there will be a gray-scale image.
 * The thumbnail will be saved in the world folder under  with the name "icon.png".
 * This allows the player to modify it easily and safely.
 * An exclamation mark will appear on top of the thumbnail, indicating that the world has not been played in the current snapshot yet.
 * It displays a message when hovered over: "Don't forget to backup this world before you load it in this snapshot."
 * It will also warn if a world was played in a newer version of minecraft, telling the player that the world may corrupt if they open it in an older version.
 * The player can now click the play arrow on the thumbnail to open the world, just like the server list.
 * When edit world is clicked, you have two new options
 * Reset icon: This allows you to reset the thumbnail without going into the folder
 * Open folder: It will open the folder for the world, under.
 * Dominant hand option
 * An option for players to change their dominant hand on their player model.
 * A toggle under "Skin Customization".
 * Also changes the orientation of the offhand slot in the hotbar (left for right-hand players and vice versa).
 * Statistics
 * : Tracks the amount of ticks the player has held the key, regardless if the player was moving.
 * : Tracks the amount of items that are picked up into the inventory from the ground.
 * : Tracks the amount of items that are dropped from the inventory to the ground.
 * Pick block
 * In survival, pick block now works on items outside the hotbar as well.
 * In creative, picking a block will give you a new one instead of existing ones with NBT data.
 * + no longer replaces items.
 * Existing items are put into the inventory instead of being deleted.
 * Keyboard shortcuts
 * + to toggle between creative and spectator mode, if the player is in either of them.
 * The player needs to be OP in the case of servers for this to work.
 * + to show a statistic of FPS.
 * Particles
 * Used for the defensive sword attack.
 * Used for the defensive sword attack.

Gameplay

 * Dual wielding
 * Players can now use both hands at the same time to do different actions with the left and right mouse buttons.
 * For example, if a player has a pickaxe in his/her main hand and a torch in their other hand, right clicking will place the torch.
 * This happens because because a pickaxe lacks a right click use, and therefore the game tries to then treat the other item as if it's being right clicked.
 * The player cannot click both buttons at the same time.
 * This is achieved through an extra inventory slot called the "offhand" slot.
 * Pressing (by default) will switch whatever item is selected in the hotbar with the item in the offhand (including no item).
 * The offhand slot is displayed next to the hotbar when it's not empty (left for right-hand players and vice versa).
 * It's available on the main inventory screen.
 * It is distinguished by an outline of a shield like symbol.
 * Only the main hand can be used for attacking.
 * Even bows can't be used while in the offhand.
 * Bows can be used when something else is in the offhand.
 * Arrows in the offhand take priority over arrows in any other slot.
 * If there are multiple arrow types and none in the off-hand, the arrow closest to inventory slot 0 will shoot first
 * The offhand model is invisible in first person view while it's empty.
 * Some attributes and enchantments will apply to the offhand item, while others will not.
 * Status effects
 * Received when the player is hit by shulker projectiles.
 * Makes player involuntarily float high into the air.
 * Can be used to get to higher places.
 * Listed as a negative effect due to the potential to kill from fall damage.
 * Higher levels of levitation result in faster floating.
 * Effect levels 128-254 result in floating downwards at a constant speed, with level 128 being the fastest and level 254 the slowest (one block per second).
 * Effect level 255 disables falling and jumping altogether, to an effect not entirely unlike flying in creative mode. Gaining or losing elevation is impossible without using pistons.
 * Received when players or mobs are hit by spectral arrows.
 * Makes player's outline glow, even through non-transparent blocks.
 * Listed as a negative effect because it prevents players from hiding from other players.
 * It becomes colored differently if the player is part of a team to match its team color.
 * Listed as a negative effect because it prevents players from hiding from other players.
 * It becomes colored differently if the player is part of a team to match its team color.

Command format

 * Scoreboard
 * Added
 * The player can add and remove tags for any entity based on NBT tags of that entity/player.
 * For example  will add the tag "test" to all players that are in the air.
 * Tags can be accessed by using the parameters after the selector;  will give 1 stone to all players that have the tag "test".
 * The player can use  to see what tags are on an entity.
 * Tags are stored in the  file as strings, not in the scoreboard files.
 * This means that any tag the player binds has to be bound to an existing online player or an existing entity.
 * Unlike objectives, tags cannot be displayed anywhere on the HUD or inventory.
 * Only via the list subcommand can the player see which tags an entity has on the chat.
 * Through  it is possible to obtain the number of scoreboard tags an entity has via.
 * Added five new objective types: XP, hunger, oxygen, armor and level.
 * "xp" can be used to track the players exact amount of XP points.
 * "food" can be used to track the hunger level of the player (ranges from 0 to 20).
 * "air" can be used to see how long the player has been underwater.
 * Starts at 300 (out of water) and then decreases 1 per tick as long as the player´s head is underwater (resets when the player gets out of the water).
 * The water breathing status effect freezes the timer and the respiration enchantment slows down the countdown from 300, each time more with each level.
 * "armor" can be used to track the armor bar, which in turn tracks the total amount of protection of all currently worn armor pieces.
 * "level" can be used to track the player's level directly, which is the number displayed above the experience bar.
 * It is not directly correlated to the experience, since increasing levels each time takes more xp than before.
 * This could be done before, but it required some intermediate steps.
 * NBT tags
 * All entities
 * (byte): Controls whether or not an entity is affected by the new glowing status effect.
 * (list): Contains a list of string values that can be used with the "tag" selector parameter. The command can assign tags itself.
 * All mobs
 * (lists): Defines what item is within the mainhand and offhand. Contains two records, the first record is mainhand while second is offhand.
 * (lists): Used to specify the armor worn by the mob. Contains four records, the order is: feet, legs, chest, head.
 * (byte): Boolean tag that controls the dominant hand of mobs. When set to 1, states the mob's mainhand is the left hand rather than right hand.
 * &  (lists): Used to specify the dropping chances of worn armor and held items of specific mobs respectively.
 * All items
 * string tag within  (string): Determines which slot the modifier is applied to.
 * Available slots are: "mainhand", "offhand", "feet", "legs", "torso", "head".
 * End gateway portal block
 * (compound): Holds a set of X/Y/Z coordinates to determine the general location the player will be "safely" teleported to when entering.
 * (byte): When set to 1 teleports entities to the specified coordinates exactly instead of at a safer location around those coordinates.
 * (long): Determines how long the gateway has existed. When lower than 200, the block will emit a purple beam.
 * Command blocks
 * (byte): All command blocks now have the "powered" tag associated with them, stating whether or not the block is currently receiving a redstone signal. While it can be detected for all command blocks, only the "chain_command_block" can functionally have theirs changed to 1.
 * (byte): When set to 1, the command block will no longer require a redstone signal in order to activate. When applied to an Impulse block, its command will activate once. When applied to a Repeat block, it will activate every tick as expected. When applied to Chain blocks, they will not require a redstone signal to activate their command.
 * Zombies
 * (integer): Specifies the profession the zombie villager will be presented as, as well as become when cured.
 * Shulker
 * (byte): Percentage height of its head when peeking, up to 100.
 * (byte): Determines the direction the shulker has attached to a block. Summoning shulkers by default will make it attach accordingly, but you can change it manually.
 * (int): Set of exact coordinates that the Shulker should be located at. Shulkers mimic blocks, so this is used to keep them within an exact block space. Summoning with this will override the coordinates in /summon.
 * ShulkerBullet entity
 * Used to control the target location of shulker projectiles.
 * Relevant NBT structure:
 * Potions
 * (string): Used to differentiate a regular potion from both splash and lingering potions and determine the type of potion it is using new name IDs.
 * ThrownPotion entity
 * (byte): When  is set to 1, the potion will create the   entity when it lands.
 * Now uses the relevant "minecraft:splash_potion" and "minecraft:lingering_potion" IDs based on what's thrown.
 * TippedArrow entity
 * (compound): Holds the item data for the specific tipped arrow.
 * SpectralArrow entity
 * (integer): Specifies how long the effect will last when the arrow strikes the target.
 * Ender crystals
 * (compound): Used to assign a custom target to the location of the beam.
 * Ender dragon
 * (integer): determines the current action the dragon will complete.
 * Example:
 * (string): Used to differentiate a regular potion from both splash and lingering potions and determine the type of potion it is using new name IDs.
 * ThrownPotion entity
 * (byte): When  is set to 1, the potion will create the   entity when it lands.
 * Now uses the relevant "minecraft:splash_potion" and "minecraft:lingering_potion" IDs based on what's thrown.
 * TippedArrow entity
 * (compound): Holds the item data for the specific tipped arrow.
 * SpectralArrow entity
 * (integer): Specifies how long the effect will last when the arrow strikes the target.
 * Ender crystals
 * (compound): Used to assign a custom target to the location of the beam.
 * Ender dragon
 * (integer): determines the current action the dragon will complete.
 * Example:
 * (compound): Used to assign a custom target to the location of the beam.
 * Ender dragon
 * (integer): determines the current action the dragon will complete.
 * Example:
 * Example:

World generation

 * The End
 * Generates a great amount of islands in every direction from the main island, though separated by a gap of about 1,000 blocks.
 * Mini islands generate between the center and main islands.
 * End islands and mini end islands (except for the main one) will have chorus trees spread throughout them, as well as end cities with end ships.
 * End city
 * Generates on the new outer end islands.
 * Dungeon-type structure fashioned like a branching tower made of endstone and many of the new blocks.
 * Resembles a tree house.
 * Contains loot inside of chests.
 * Generates with shulkers in it.
 * End ship
 * It sometimes generates up in the air next to the end city dungeon.
 * It always appears to sail away from what appears to be a pier.
 * Composed of many of the same materials as the End City.
 * Generates with shulkers in it.
 * Has a hopper, a dragon head, a brewing stand with potions of healing, 8 blocks of iron and other various loot.
 * The hopper generates in the middle of the 8 blocks of iron.
 * The hopper has a written book in it, by Searge.
 * It reads: "We will have something here soon..."
 * Chorus trees
 * Generate on the outer islands of the End.
 * Tree-like arrangements of the new chorus plant and chorus flower blocks.
 * The whole structure is destroyed when the bottom-most block is destroyed, like cacti.
 * Can be farmed by planting the chorus fruit flowers that come from the top of the plants, on top of endstone.
 * Unlike cacti, chorus plants do not require the supporting block to be below it, but rather adjacent.
 * This allows the structure to grow around obstacles, like other chorus trees.

Blocks

 * Chorus flower
 * Spawn on the top of the chorus trees.
 * Breaks if the supporting block below is broken.
 * It only drops when mined directly.
 * Can only be planted on end stone in any dimension.
 * It will show a different texture when it stops growing.
 * Chorus plant
 * Generate in the End.
 * Can be grown using chorus flowers.
 * Breaks in quick succession if the supporting chorus plant below is broken.
 * Drops chorus fruit.
 * Dragon head
 * While a player wears the head and moves, the head's mouth opens and closes repeatedly.
 * When powered with redstone while it's placed on solid block, the jaw starts to open and close.
 * It will keep the mouth position of the exact moment it was unpowered.
 * End gateway
 * A portal block used to transport the player to the new outer regions of the end. The player is randomly teleported.
 * It is generated in a radius around the main portal after the dragon is killed.
 * It consists of the block in the middle and two little bulb of bedrock on the top and bottom.
 * One is created for every dragon kill so 20 are possible this way.
 * It is an alternative way of traveling to the outer end islands without having to build or fly all the way over there.
 * Since the bulbs of bedrock only leave a one block slit on the horizontal plane, it is only accessible by throwing enderpearls at it, or by riding pigs, boats or minecarts.
 * The texture is not only on the sides, it uses the full block for a 3D effect.
 * The player cannot use or  to obtain it.
 * It can only be set by using.
 * Naturally generates after killing the dragon and traveling someplace new in the End with it.
 * Shows yellow beacon beam when created and used.
 * Location of teleport can be customized using NBT tags.
 * The gateways are linked so the player has a way back.
 * End rod
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Placeable horizontally and vertically.
 * The model has a little base that is oriented against the block it was placed on.
 * If it's placed on top of another rod, then it will have the opposite orientation.
 * Produces white particles.
 * Used as a lighting source with the same efficacy as torches.
 * Unlike torches, they are tangible.
 * Horizontal end rods can be stepped up onto like slabs.
 * End stone brick
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with 4 blocks of end stone.
 * Grass path
 * Are 15/16 of a block high.
 * Obtainable by right-clicking grass with a shovel.
 * Drains the shovel's durability.
 * Drops dirt, even when using silk touch.
 * Cannot be obtained in the creative inventory.
 * But unlike farmland, it can be obtained by using the key in creative.
 * Purpur block
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with popped chorus fruit.
 * Purpur pillar
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur slabs.
 * Purpur stairs
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
 * Purpur slab
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
 * Structure block
 * Only placable via, but unusable.
 * It has 4 different modes: save, load, corner and data.
 * It has an "S" on the texture in save mode, "L" in load mode, "C" in corner mode and "D" in data mode.

Items

 * Arrows
 * New spectral arrow:
 * The tip is gold colored in both the item and the entity model.
 * Shows mob and player outlines in their respective team color when hit (even when invisible).
 * NBT tags can be used to both disable and force outlines.
 * The glowing is a status effect.
 * Crafted by surrounding an arrow with 4 glowstone dust.
 * Yields 2 spectral arrows.
 * The duration of the effect when the arrow strikes its target can be customised using NBT data.
 * Arrows can be tipped with potions.
 * 14 new arrow types in total.
 * Each differently tipped arrow is available in the creative menu, just like enchanted books or potions.
 * Except for the "splashing arrow" that corresponds to the new water splash potion.
 * Corresponding status effect is applied upon impact to mobs and players.
 * Tipped arrows can be customised with commands.
 * Beetroot
 * Restores.
 * Spawns naturally in villages.
 * Can be used to craft beetroot soup.
 * Can also be used to craft rose red dye.
 * Beetroot soup
 * Restores.
 * Crafted from 6 beetroots and a bowl.
 * Beetroot seeds
 * Used to grow beetroots.
 * Chorus fruit
 * Obtained from chorus plants.
 * Can be eaten even if the player is not hungry, similar to golden apples.
 * Teleports the player to a random nearby location when eaten (like an enderman).
 * Does not heal hunger points if the hunger bar is full.
 * Otherwise it will heal.
 * Can be cooked in the furnace to obtain Popped Chorus Fruits.
 * Has a cool down.
 * Popped chorus fruit
 * Obtained from cooking chorus fruit.
 * Used to craft purpur blocks.
 * Cannot be eaten.
 * Dragon's breath
 * Shot by the ender dragon at the player as an attack.
 * Leaves a patch of purple particles that deal damage when stood on top.
 * Also spawn upon impact of an "ender acid" charge.
 * Can only be collected by right clicking an empty bottle in the middle of the cloud.
 * Found in the brewery section of the creative inventory.
 * Can be used to brew lingering potions with dragon's breath as the ingredient and a splash potion.
 * Stacks to 64.
 * Lingering potion
 * Thrown like a splash potion.
 * Leaves a patch of the potion particle effect on impact.
 * Entities that walk into it get the effect.
 * Has all the potion types, and works with potions whose effect are instant.
 * Brewed with dragon's breath and a splash potion.
 * Cloud duration can be controlled through data tags.
 * Does not stack, like other potions.
 * Travels with the same speed as splash potions when shot through dispensers.
 * Water splash potion
 * It extinguishes any fire block that it's thrown at, as well as a maximum of five of them in the vicinity.
 * Shield
 * New tool used for blocking incoming attacks.
 * If the player holds right click while being attacked, the damage inflicted will be reduced and it will make the shield lose durability.
 * This works when the shield is either in the main hand or in the offhand.
 * The player can hold 2 shields at once, but it does not affect the damage taken.
 * When an attack is blocked by a shield, the attacker may be knocked back.
 * The player cannot while blocking.
 * Crafting recipe: One column of wool (of the same color), one column of planks (any kind), an iron ingot in the middle on the last column.
 * Can be combined with banners to transfer its pattern to it.
 * The banner is not consumed on use.
 * Can only be combined with banners of the same base color.
 * Can only be repaired on the anvil.
 * Requires planks to repair it.
 * They cannot be enchanted directly.
 * Can receive the "Unbreaking" enchantment through an enchanted book.
 * Shulker spawn egg
 * Used to spawn a shulker.
 * Purple with darker purple spots.

Mobs

 * Shulker
 * Short for "Shell Lurker".
 * A hostile mob with the appearance and some behavior of a solid purple block.
 * Only spawns on the ground or at the walls of end cities when they first generate.
 * When attacking, it opens its shell on a spinning animation revealing the creature inhabiting.
 * The creature looks a like a little white cube with big eyes.
 * Its attack consists of shooting projectiles with the appearance of white sea urchins.
 * The projectiles chase the player until he/she is out of range.
 * They can only move along one of the three grid axes at a time and on integer steps.
 * This means they can only move through taxicab geometry.
 * They can be knocked away by attacking them.
 * Getting hit by a projectile causes of damage and inflicts the  status effect.
 * Shulkers take more damage if they are attacked while their shell is open.
 * It has an idle animation where it opens its shells a little to peak through.
 * It can be pushed by pistons and resists being placed on any position that isn't 3 integers (except if they are riding minecarts).
 * It sometimes teleports like an enderman or dragon egg while being attacked.
 * It always teleports on the following circumstances:
 * Removing its support block.
 * Pushing it into a non-air block (except piston heads).
 * Pushing a non-air block into its position (except piston heads).
 * It's one of the few entities (apart from boats and minecarts) that can be stood on.
 * It even displaces the player properly during its attacking and idle animations.
 * Has various NBT tags associated with it which can control the peeking animation, direction, shulker location and target location of shulker projectile.

Non-mob entities

 * AreaEffectCloud
 * Applies potion effects to mobs and players within its radius during a specific duration.
 * NBT tag used to control the duration in game ticks.
 * Used for lingering potions and the ender dragon's breath.
 * Various attributes can be configured using NBT data.
 * Example command:

General

 * Optimized mob AI, path finding and block ticking.
 * 15% tick speed increase on 16 render distance.
 * Bosses
 * Proper support for multiple bosses’ health bars, so they can show at the same time without obstructing each other.
 * Damage tooltips
 * Now read "When in main hand:"
 * Death messages
 * Will now be displayed on the player's death screen in gray as well as in the chat.
 * Resource packs
 * The required pack version number was changed to "2" in.
 * Older resource packs require user acknowledgment to use.
 * Models:
 * Different models/textures can be used for each different damage values, item states, and whether the item is held in a different hand.
 * This works on compasses, clocks, and anything that can have a durability bar.
 * It also contains additional tags for bows and fishing rods.
 * Models can be put together based on block state attributes, such as fences.
 * As a result, the vanilla set of block models has been reduced by almost 300.
 * Block model JSON is now strict: comments and quote-less identifiers are not allowed.
 * tag defaults have changed, and the  and   tags were replaced with ,  ,  , and.
 * and  tags can coexist now, but the top level elements tag overwrites all former ones.
 * Options
 * Removed the Broadcast Settings section.
 * Removed Super Secret Settings and Alternate Blocks from video settings.
 * Statistics
 * New column on the statistics items screen to accommodate for the new  and   statistics.
 * Structure data
 * Now comes from.
 * Particles
 * Are no longer entities.
 * This reduces memory usage to increase performance.

Gameplay

 * Combat
 * New “attack strength” combat mechanic.
 * A meter shows up after switching items or attacking.
 * Damage done depends on the fullness of the meter.
 * Fills at different rates depending on the new attack speed attribute.
 * Can be displayed next to the hotbar (left or right based on the player's main hand), under the crosshair or turned off.
 * Delay when selecting a sword, pickaxe, axe or shovel into the main hand.
 * An animation is displayed of the tool slowly being lifted up.
 * Damage done by tools has been rebalanced. Axes are much stronger, swords and pickaxes are slightly weaker, shovels are slightly stronger, and hoes now are faster depending on material.


 * Attribute
 * New 'attack speed' attribute, generic.attackSpeed, measuring fully-charged attacks per second.
 * The attack speed value is shown as a tooltip on the respective tool.
 * Base is 4.0, meaning the bar refills in 0.25s.
 * Swords have a modifier of -2.55, resulting in a default modifier of 1.45 (refilling in about 0.69s).
 * Pickaxes have a modifier of -2.8, resulting in a default modifier of 1.2 (refilling in about 0.83s).
 * Shovels have a modifier of -3, resulting in a default modifier of 1 (refilling in about 1s).
 * Axes have a modifier of -3.1, resulting in a value of 0.9 (bar refilling in 1.11s).
 * The Haste effect increases the attack speed by 10% per level, while Mining Fatigue decreases it by 10% per level.
 * The modifier of attributes can be changed using NBT tags.
 * Inventory
 * Rearranged the survival inventory and the creative "survival tab" to accommodate for the new offhand slot.
 * Unified the orientation of many items in the inventory.
 * The slot has a shield-like icon.
 * Status effects
 * Status effect icons are now displayed on the HUD on the right hand corner, instead of just in the inventory (similar to Pocket Edition).
 * They are ordered by the time of infliction from right to left.
 * Positive effects are on the top row and negative effects on the bottom row.
 * Effects that are about to run out, blink.
 * They blink faster when they are closer to running out and start fading away.

Command format

 * NBT Tags
 * Introduced a 1024 tag limit on the amount of strings an entity can have within the  tag.
 * If it's surpassed, then it displays an error message saying: "Cannot add more than 1024 tags to an entity."
 * It applies to all mobs
 * (string): When assigned to a mob, the "Team" tag will force the mob to join the specified scoreboard team.
 * will make the name tag on mobs show in the same way as on players.
 * and  (list) tags are no longer used and are replaced with ,  ,   and.
 * NBT tag was renamed to, replacing the obsolete short-valued tag of that name.
 * All items
 * tag used to convert numerical IDs to name IDs has been removed.
 * Shields
 * (compound): Also used for shields in addition to banners, allowing for customisation.
 * Players
 * (integer): Numerical value that states which version the player is playing within. While it cannot be changed via commands, it can be tested for.
 * Spawn eggs
 * (compound) and  (string): Can now be applied to spawn eggs.
 * The resulting mob will spawn with all of the tags.
 * Noteblocks
 * : Determines whether or not the noteblock is being powered by redstone.
 * Mob spawners
 * (string): Placed directly within the old  compound. It's essentially the same as   except at a different depth.
 * (compound): The original  tag has been replaced by the   tag. As well, to define which entity is used, the   tag within "Entity" states the ID.
 * Removed the  and   tags, deprecated the   tag
 * can be used to obtain the number of "scoreboard tags" an entity has via
 * Example: will return the number of scoreboard tags applied to the target.
 * If the target previously had 3 tags added, a score of "3" is returned upon running this command.
 * Fireball, DragonFireball, SmallFireball and WitherSkull entities
 * (list/double): Now requires exactly 3 internal Doubles to be listed in order for the entity to be summoned.
 * (list): New list of 3 Doubles that determine which direction to shoot in. Unlike "direction" however, the motion does not consider air resistance, causing the fireball to endlessly move in that specified direction.  is still required, but can be set to 0.
 * Removed the  and   tags, deprecated the   tag
 * can be used to obtain the number of "scoreboard tags" an entity has via
 * Example: will return the number of scoreboard tags applied to the target.
 * If the target previously had 3 tags added, a score of "3" is returned upon running this command.
 * Fireball, DragonFireball, SmallFireball and WitherSkull entities
 * (list/double): Now requires exactly 3 internal Doubles to be listed in order for the entity to be summoned.
 * (list): New list of 3 Doubles that determine which direction to shoot in. Unlike "direction" however, the motion does not consider air resistance, causing the fireball to endlessly move in that specified direction.  is still required, but can be set to 0.
 * (list): New list of 3 Doubles that determine which direction to shoot in. Unlike "direction" however, the motion does not consider air resistance, causing the fireball to endlessly move in that specified direction.  is still required, but can be set to 0.

World generation

 * The End
 * A set amount of differently-sized obsidian pillars are arranged in a circular fashion.
 * The tallest pillars have iron bars around their ender crystal to deflect projectiles.
 * The exit portal is pre-generated at the center of the main island, but without the dragon egg and portal blocks.
 * The Nether
 * Removed the Nether fog.
 * Villages
 * Farms now include beetroot crops.

Blocks

 * Dead bushes
 * Will now drop anywhere between 0–2 sticks.
 * Fire
 * The block states flip and alt were removed, and the integer state upper was reimplemented as the byte state up.
 * This reduced the number of states representing fire from 3072 to 512.
 * Trapdoors
 * No longer require supporting blocks.
 * Therefore they can be moved by pistons freely.
 * An open trapdoor may be climbed like a ladder if it is directly above a ladder and on the same side of the block.
 * Stairs
 * Are now rotated 90° in the inventory.
 * Pressure plates
 * Now have a slightly thinner item model.
 * Glass panes & Iron bars
 * Glass panes/iron bars without any connecting blocks are now 2x2 pixels in footprint.
 * This is compared to the big cross configuration that was default.
 * Doors
 * Changed the shading on acacia, birch, dark oak and jungle doors.
 * Command blocks
 * New textures that now vary depending on what direction they are placed, similar to logs and pistons.
 * Texture is animated - the colored pixels in the middle change color.
 * Texture shapes have a block outline.
 * 3 modes: impulse, chain, and repeat - color changes based on mode.
 * Impulse mode (orange): Command is run on rising edge.
 * Same behavior and color as previous versions.
 * Chain mode (green): Command is run whenever a command block pointing into this command block executes while this command block is powered - chain signal is forwarded even through disabled chain command blocks.
 * Repeat mode (blue): Command is run every game tick while powered.
 * Each new mode has its own block id and is obtainable with /give and pickblock.
 * Pick function also works on the new types of command blocks.
 * Poweredness is now a data tag, allowing command blocks to stay enabled without needing redstone blocks next to them.
 * Unconditional and Conditional setting.
 * Defaults to Unconditional.
 * The back of the arrow texture is curved when the command block is set to conditional.
 * When conditional is set, the command block will only run if the previous one in the chain was successful.
 * "Needs Redstone" and "Always Active" setting.
 * "Needs Redstone" is the previous behavior.
 * "Always Active" causes the command block to always behave as if it was powered.
 * Supports tab auto-completion.
 * Command block contraptions from earlier versions will still work.
 * Done button is available even when the command line is empty.

Items

 * Armor
 * Armor points now depend on armor durability.
 * All armor above half durability has full armor points.
 * All armor below half durability has 1 armor point; this is probably a bug.


 * Axes
 * New offensive axe attack.
 * Hitting another player who is blocking with a shield has a chance to disable the player's shield for 5 seconds.
 * 25% base chance, plus 5 percentage points for each level of Efficiency on the axe, plus 75 percentage points if sprinting.
 * The shield icon in the hotbar is faded slightly during this time.
 * Bows
 * Now shows an animation for drawing back an arrow in the hotbar/inventory.
 * Arrows in the off hand are prioritized over arrows in the rest of the inventory slots.
 * Ender pearls
 * Can now be thrown in creative mode.
 * Have a cool down.
 * Maps
 * Now display as a mini map when held in the off hand, or if the offhand slot is occupied.
 * The (old) large version is only visible when held in the dominant hand with both hands free.
 * Maps now start at a zoom level of 1:4, rather than 1:1.
 * New recipe for zooming in on a map: craft shears and a map together in any shape.
 * Zooms in on the lower-right quadrant of the original map.
 * Fishing rods
 * Casting fishing rods now has an animation in the hotbar/inventory.
 * Potions
 * Mixed potions' colors now blend.
 * An NBT  tag is used instead of numeric metadata to differentiate the types of potions.
 * e.g..
 * Added Mundane, Thick and Awkward potions to the creative inventory.
 * Glowstone dust or redstone can no longer be added to extended or tier-II potions respectively.
 * Most recipes for the potion of were removed (see: brewing for all the removed recipes).
 * Extended potion of, extended potion of and potion of  II had their durations reduced.
 * Potion of changed from 130% bonus damage to, i.e. an absolute bonus rather than a relative one.
 * Potion of changed from 0.5 ( × $1/4$) reduction to damage to.
 * Now travel much faster (like other projectiles) when being shoot from dispensers.
 * Now have a separate data value and ID name from regular potions.
 * Swords
 * Can no longer be used for blocking.
 * Function replaced by shields.
 * New defensive sword attack when moving at walking speed or slower.
 * Mobs near the one hit (bounding box expanded by 1 block horizontally and 0.25 vertically) and within 3 blocks of the attacker are knocked back without damage. Knockback is 80% of that done by Knockback I, and is not affected by the Knockback enchantment.
 * Creates a sweep attack particle.

Mobs

 * All mobs
 * Have a 5% chance to spawn left-handed.
 * Mobs able to hold items will hold them according to their dominant hand.
 * Give off brown hearts when hurt.
 * Will give off more of these particles when done more damage to them.
 * Ender dragon
 * The fight has been changed to be more similar to the one on the console edition.
 * The dragon can be respawned infinitely many times, by creating a creeper face configuration out of clay in the End.
 * Subsequent dragons will spawn new gateways up to a total of 20, but won't create new dragon eggs and will only drop 500 experience.
 * When the dragon is respawned, the circle of pillars and the crystals reappear.
 * Explosion particles appear on the tops of the pillars as they are being rebuilt.
 * No longer take damage from snowballs, eggs or fishing rods.
 * Its AI has been changed:
 * The "charge" attack has been given a great amount of knockback.
 * It sometimes returns to the center of the island to "perch" on top of the portal.
 * Breathes fire/purple particles (called "dragon breath") while on top of the portal.
 * During the attack, it knockbacks and damages all players on all angles in the vicinity (as if hitting with other body parts).
 * Immediately charges the player right after.
 * Right clicking the cloud with an empty bottle will turn in into dragon breath.
 * It is used to transform splash potions into lingering potions
 * Shoots special projectiles at the player called "ender acid".
 * These produce a dragon breath cloud on impact and light the ground on fire.
 * While on top of the portal arrows will bounce back and be set on fire.
 * Defends the obsidian pillars more, the further the fight progresses.
 * Flies back to the portal once it gets killed, to complete its animation.
 * NBT tags can determine the dragon's phase.
 * Villagers
 * Farmer villagers now harvest beetroot.
 * Zombies
 * Now lift their arms when becoming hostile.
 * Zombie villagers now have different textures based on their profession and career.
 * New  tag for zombie villagers is used to determine what profession the zombie is represented as, as well as what profession it will become when cured.
 * Zombie Pigmen
 * Now lift their arms when becoming hostile.
 * Skeletons
 * Have an animation for lifting up and drawing back their bow when becoming hostile.
 * Mapmakers can make skeletons shoot potion-tipped arrows.
 * Endermen
 * Remain aggravated towards the player despite being in contact with water.
 * Drop the block they were holding when killed.
 * Pigs
 * Can be led and bred with potatoes and beetroots, in addition to carrots.
 * Chickens
 * Can be led and bred with melon, pumpkin, and beetroot seeds, in addition to regular seeds.
 * Creepers, skeletons & zombies
 * Must be closer to notice players wearing the corresponding mob head.
 * Specifically, their detection range is reduced to be 37.5% of the normal range.
 * This reduction stacks with the reductions from sneaking and invisibility.

Non-mob entities

 * Projectiles
 * Slightly altered the path of projectiles.
 * Armor stands
 * Can now be summoned to dual wield with commands.
 * Minecarts with command blocks
 * Now have the new impulse command block texture.

General

 * Captions/Subtitles
 * Subtitles which display for each sound for the hard of hearing/deaf.
 * An example would be “Creeper hissing”.
 * Would have "<" or ">" to point in the direction this sound is coming from.

Gameplay

 * Brewing
 * Possibly new potions.
 * It is uncertain whether this was referring to the lingering potion.
 * Enchanting
 * Possibly new enchantments.

Blocks

 * New block type.
 * It is uncertain if he was referring to an already added block.

Mobs

 * More skins for mobs
 * Will allow mobs to have additional random skins, similarly to horses.

Non-mob entities

 * Craftable ender crystals
 * A version of the ender crystal that can be crafted, which spawns another dragon when placed.

Command format

 * Commands
 * will be able to rotate and mirror structures.

Items

 * Shields
 * Used to block attacks from the side the shield is held on.
 * Sounds for when you blocked an attack.

Trivia

 * This is now the longest wait for a major update to Minecraft, with 3616 days days now having elapsed since the release of 1.8 on September 2, 2014.
 * Until this point, the longest waits had been those between 1.7.2 and 1.8 (312 days), and between 1.2.1 and 1.3.1 (153 days).
 * This has also been the longest span of time between the release of a major update to Minecraft and a snapshot for the next major update, with 330 days having elapsed between the release of 1.8 on September 2, 2014, and 15w31a on July 29, 2015.
 * Until this point, the longest waits had been those between 1.7.2 and 14w02a (76 days), between 1.4.2 and 13w01a (70 days), and between 1.6.1 and 13w36a (66 days).