Java Edition upcoming features

This page is about upcoming features that have been announced by Mojang employees.

Near future
{| class="collapsible wikitable" style="width: 100%" ! style="width:10em; height:3em" | Version ! Planned changes ! style="width:10em" | Planned release date
 * style="text-align: center" | 1.6
 * style="text-align: center" | 1.6

Improvements & changes

 * Support for Java 5 and PowerPC users will be dropped
 * If you have a PowerPC based computer and/or Java 5 installed, a warning will be shown at the main menu.
 * An update for the launcher
 * Increases performance and stability
 * Allows LWJGL to be updated, fixing many launcher bugs
 * Supports Multiple Versions/Installs.
 * Self Updatable.
 * New password storing system
 * More user friendly.
 * A major step towards the Plugin API.

Additions

 * Minecraft day cycles
 * Potentially seasons.
 * During winter, shorter days and nights.

Improvements & changes

 * Riding mounts
 * When riding on an entity, dismounting has changed from right-clicking the entity to using the Sneak key ( by default)
 * Boat controls have been changed from the A, S, and D keys to mouse control
 * Respiration enchantment
 * Now also helps seeing underwater
 * Changed the idea of mob difficulty
 * Regional difficulty: The longer you spend in one area, the harder it gets
 * Scales with difficulty - items, enchants or AI improve with difficulty
 * Creative mode
 * Added extra tooltip info in the search tab for the creative inventory, which shows what category a block/item is in

Additions

 * Horse Armor
 * Exist in diamond, iron and gold variants
 * Will be found in dungeon chests
 * Horse Spawn Egg
 * When used, a different horse breed is created each time
 * Works like any other spawn egg
 * Hay Blocks
 * Can be placed in all orientations
 * Leads
 * Can be used to bind mobs to fences or lead them around
 * Right click mob first, then right-click fence or right-click the mob again to get the leash back
 * Carpets
 * Crafted with 2 colors of wool in a horizontal line, yields 3 carpets
 * Name Tags
 * Found in dungeon chests
 * Name it with an anvil then right click a mob to name animals
 * Hardened Clay
 * Obtained by smelting a clay block in a furnace

Improvements & changes

 * Saddle
 * Are now used for both horse and pig

Additions

 * Various new mobs
 * Horses
 * Ridable by right-clicking them with a saddle - Hold the jump key to fill up their jump bar, release it to jump accordingly, steer them by using the usual movement keys - maximum movement speed and jump height differ between horses
 * Have various amounts of maximum health - Use wheat to heal them
 * Drop leather when killed
 * Can be bred using wheat - Baby horses can be grown using apples, golden apples and wheat
 * Players can make them jump
 * Creation assisted by DrZhark
 * Donkeys
 * Like horses, but can carry chests on their saddles although no inventory is currently available
 * There is a Undead, Skeleton, and Mule version of the donkey included in the code, although they require NBT editing to view in game

Improvements & changes

 * Zombies
 * Now have a small chance to spawn additional zombies when damaged.

Improvements & changes

 * Deserts
 * No longer contain water lakes
 * The Nether
 * Added chest generation in The Nether

Bug fixes

 * Fixed 11 Bugs:
 * - Tab button does not switch between password and username box on launcher
 * - Unable to update minecraft
 * - The buttons for logging in with the launcher cannot be read in Windows 7 / XP classic theme
 * - SMP: Anvils charge level for nothing when using languages other than English
 * - Unable to play game unless LWJGL is manually replaced
 * - Endermen are rendered hostile if they take environmental damage
 * - Mac Firewall Issue
 * - Single player: "java.io.IOException: Stream Closed" when quitting game
 * - Unintended debug output to console if .minecraft does not exist
 * - Can get permanently stuck in a minecart in a nether portal
 * - Minecraft crashing on 1.5.1 prerelease Server

! colspan=3 style="height:3em" | Other features
 * style="text-align: center" | Possibly May 2013
 * style="text-align: center" | Account System Update
 * style="text-align: center" | Account System Update


 * Not a game update (will not modify the game itself and will be applied regardless of the version you're playing).
 * The possibility to change your username and the e-mail address that is associated with your account will be added.
 * Global Mojang accounts are already available and can be merged with Minecraft, Scrolls and Cobalt accounts.
 * Logging into Mojang games is made by using your e-mail address instead of your username.
 * Possible implementation of the long-awaited online synchronization of achievements and statistics.
 * In-game usernames will be changeable, but all usernames on Minecraft accounts have to be unique (doesn't matter if it's a legacy Minecraft account or a Mojang Account).
 * It is unknown how the username change feature will be adapted to server whitelists and blacklists.


 * style="text-align: center" | Unknown (Currently being worked on by Tobias Möllstam)
 * }