Java Edition 1.8

General

 * Splash
 * "That's Numberwang!"
 * "Ryan also has amazing hair!"
 * Difficulty
 * Difficulty is per world
 * No more global difficulty option
 * Prevents accidentally changing the difficulty when joining the world
 * Can be locked for each world
 * Prevents the temptation to change to an easier difficulty in difficult situations
 * Locking can not be undone without external editors
 * However, using the /difficulty command will still work

Gameplay

 * Target selectors
 * Targets entities
 * Can specify type of entity by entity ID to either include or exclude with  or
 * Example: - kills all chicken within a radius of 50 blocks
 * Example: - any entity within a radius of 5 blocks will be teleported five blocks in the air\
 * Commands
 * Modifies NBT data at a specific coordinate. The,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,.
 * NBT Tags
 * Mostly for use in adventure mode
 * Items with this tag display the names of the blocks that they can destroy in the item tooltip
 * Example: to give a Diamond Shovel that can break grass and sand)
 * A way to lock containers from being opened using NBT tags
 * Mostly useful for adventure maps in adventure mode
 * Containers can be unlocked by clearing their String for Lock
 * Locked containers can only be opened while holding anything renamed to the given string, item is not removed on use
 * The lock can be completely removed utilizing the command
 * Gamerule
 * Prevents command block output from being stored in chat logs. In multiplayer, also prevents player-initiated commands from being stored. Unrelated to commandBlockOutput, which is output into the visible chat.
 * Locked containers can only be opened while holding anything renamed to the given string, item is not removed on use
 * The lock can be completely removed utilizing the command
 * Gamerule
 * Prevents command block output from being stored in chat logs. In multiplayer, also prevents player-initiated commands from being stored. Unrelated to commandBlockOutput, which is output into the visible chat.
 * Prevents command block output from being stored in chat logs. In multiplayer, also prevents player-initiated commands from being stored. Unrelated to commandBlockOutput, which is output into the visible chat.

World Generation

 * Underground
 * Granite, Andesite and Diorite generate in pockets within Stone terrain
 * Similar size and abundance to Dirt and Gravel

Blocks and Items

 * Diorite
 * Crafting recipe: 2 Cobblestone and 2 Nether Quartz in a checker board pattern
 * Can be crafted into Polished Diorite
 * Andesite
 * Crafting recipe: 1 Cobblestone and 1 Diorite
 * Can be crafted into Polished Andesite
 * Granite
 * Crafting recipe: 1 Nether Quartz and 1 Diorite
 * Can be crafted into Polished Granite
 * Polished Diorite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 Diorite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Polished Andesite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 Andesite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Polished Granite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 Granite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Slime Block
 * Players and mobs that land on their top side will bounce, like on a trampoline
 * Bounce rebound velocity is scaled by impact velocity, can reach up to 60%
 * Currently does not affect item entities
 * Prevents fall damage
 * Walking on it is slower than walking on Soulsand, close to one's speed whilst sneaking
 * Crafting recipe: 9 Slime Balls
 * Can be crafted back into 9 Slime Balls

General

 * Skin
 * Right and left arms and legs are now editable independently
 * Uses a char.png file with new layout and new dimensions
 * Dimensions for the file are now 64x64
 * Overlay now includes the whole body
 * Overlays are called hat, jacket, sleeves and pants legs
 * New "Skin Customization" button in the options menu
 * Cape visibility is now toggled from here
 * You can toggle the visibility of overlays, independent for each limb/body part
 * Skins and capes are now distributed through servers
 * Skins server outages will occur less frequently and have less impact
 * Skin changes will no longer require client restarting, at worst re-logging will update the skin for everybody
 * Server-altered skins/capes are not possible - only signed URLs are stored server-side
 * Duplicate skins no longer need to be downloaded twice
 * Server traffic will barely be affected
 * Backward-compatible
 * F3 debug screen
 * Now shows which axis you are facing after the cardinal direction - "Towards positive/negative X/Z"
 * The x coordinate line will now be bold when looking east/west, similarly the z coordinate line will now be bold when looking south/north
 * The crosshair will display 3 short colored lines to indicate the direction of each axis: x/red, y/green, z/blue
 * Block IDs
 * NBT data in commands can now use block/item names in place of numerical ids
 * Old ids still work, but are being phased out slowly
 * Other occurences of blocks/items now need to be named ids
 * Chat
 * Improved chat communication
 * Messages are now either chat, system or action bar messages
 * Action bar messages are always shown, chat and system messages are only shown if chat settings are configured that way
 * Some instances of usernames in the chat will now show the player's UUID when hovered on when debug tooltips are enabled
 * Performance
 * Overworld, Nether and End are stored differently, increasing performance

Gameplay

 * Enchanting
 * Enchanting will now cost 1 to 3 levels, but you still need the same minimum total levels
 * For example, an enchantment may only become available for enchanting after reaching 13 levels of experience, but will only cost 2 XP levels and 2 of a resource.
 * Additionally, there is now a material cost - Enchanting also costs 1 to 3 pieces of lapis lazuli now
 * The actual enchantment calculation is the same
 * One of the enchantments will be displayed in the tooltip
 * The enchantments you would get on a tool will not change until you enchant something - This enchantment seed is stored per player
 * Leveling up now takes longer
 * Level V enchants can now appear on an item without the use of an Anvil
 * Looting now gives an extra 1% chance of getting rare loot per level
 * Villager Trading
 * Rebalanced villager trades, see Trading.
 * Offers will be less random and probably more useful
 * Villagers start out with 2-4 trades unlocked
 * Trades are now unlocked more freely
 * Trading any offer will unlock up to 3 new trades or reactivate old ones
 * Existing villagers will not be affected
 * Trading now gives experience
 * There are now more villager professions
 * White robe: Librarian
 * Purple robe: Cleric
 * Brown robe: Fisherman, Farmer, Fletcher, Shepherd
 * White apron: Butcher, Leatherworker
 * Black apron: Armorer, Tool Smith, Weapon Smith
 * Villager profession is now displayed in trade GUI
 * The disabled trade arrow now appears without closing and reopening the trading GUI, and now has a descriptive tooltip
 * Anvil repairing
 * Costs reduced to balance out with the new enchanting system
 * Renaming items will now only cost 1 level
 * Repairing will costs from 2 to 5 levels and tools can be repaired longer and with better enchantments
 * Repairing costs can no longer be kept down by renaming items
 * Adventure mode
 * Block hitboxes no longer appear in Adventure mode if interaction with the block is impossible
 * Block interaction is now impossible by default
 * The CanDestroy NBT tag can be used to determine which blocks can be allowed to be broken (see above for usage)
 * Commands
 * Now lists all entity using @e.
 * Example:  will list all the entity's in your world within a 500 block radius.
 * Can now be used to clear only a specific number of items and can be restricted to certain NBT data
 * Example: will remove up to 34 villager spawn eggs named Michael from yourself
 * Can now be followed by an @e entity parameter
 * Example:
 * Can now also check for dataTags
 * Example:
 * No longer is exclusively usable in command blocks
 * Now supports rotation arguments
 * Example: teleports the player so that he faces 20 degrees to the right and 40 degrees downwards
 * A new tag called "insertion" allows text to be inserted into the chat that, when shift-clicked, will insert more text into the players' chat input
 * Example:
 * Target Selectors
 * Now supports cubic areas
 * Example:  gets all entities between 0,0,0 and 10,10,10
 * New radius value usable in target selectors, based on the block centre
 * A radius of 0 works for exact block positions
 * Teleporting
 * Relative teleporting is smoother and no longer brings players to a stop; it preserves their velocity from before the teleport
 * Item tooltips
 * Now show the internal name for use in commands (F3+H mode)
 * Village mechanics
 * Doors are now added to the closest village
 * This will not break iron farms, but change them a little, enough to make them "practically pointless"
 * Relative teleporting is smoother and no longer brings players to a stop; it preserves their velocity from before the teleport
 * Item tooltips
 * Now show the internal name for use in commands (F3+H mode)
 * Village mechanics
 * Doors are now added to the closest village
 * This will not break iron farms, but change them a little, enough to make them "practically pointless"

World Generation

 * Underground
 * Lapis Lazuli spawn in larger veins
 * Villages
 * Gravel roads in villages have cobblestone underneath, to prevent them from collapsing into caves
 * Desert Temples
 * Now spawn with Stained Clay rather than Wool

Blocks and Items

 * Chiseled Stone Bricks
 * Now craftable from two Stone Bricks Slabs on top of each other
 * Moss Stone
 * Now craftable from one Cobblestone and one Vine
 * Mossy Stone Bricks
 * Now craftable from one Stone Brick and one Vine
 * Doors
 * Stackable up to 64
 * The crafting recipe for doors now gives 3 doors instead of one
 * Furnaces
 * When a furnace runs out of fuel, the smelting progress will pause instead of resetting
 * Carrots
 * Restore 3 hunger points instead of 4
 * Baked Potatoes
 * Restore 5 hunger points instead of 6
 * Mob heads
 * Player heads now show the skin's hat layer
 * Buttons
 * Can now be placed on Ceiling and on the ground
 * Redstone Comparators
 * Can now detect what way an item frame is rotated
 * Item Frames
 * Items in item frames can now face eight different directions
 * As long as the frame remains placed, it remembers the orientation of the last item it held, and uses it for the next item it holds
 * Item frames can give off a signal detected by comparators, based on the direction the item is facing
 * Signal strength is as follows: 0: empty; 1: item; 2: item rotated once; 3: item rotated twice; ...; 8: item rotated 7 times
 * Dispensers
 * Can now place pumpkins or Wither Skeleton Skulls to spawn golems and withers respectively
 * Will only place them if the body of the golem or wither is already built
 * Dead Bushes & Saplings
 * Are now flammable

Mobs

 * Villagers
 * When struck by lightning, villagers turn into witches
 * Villagers will now only breed when willing
 * The first time a specific trade is done, the villager will become willing, any other time there's a 1 in 5 chance the villager will become willing
 * When a baby villager is born, both parents lose their willingness
 * Finding out a villager's willingness in survival is difficult: The only tell is the amount of xp they give when trading; Normal trading yields 3-6 experience points, trading and making a villager willing yields 8-11 experience points
 * Changes to villager AI
 * Villagers will now harvest, collect and replant grown potatoes, wheat and carrots
 * Seeds items and harvested items are stored and shared with other villagers
 * Bread is crafted to be shared with fellow villagers as well
 * Baby animals (sheep, pig, cow, chicken, cat, dog, horse)
 * Baby animal growth can now slowly be accelerated using the animal's breeding item
 * It appears holding the right mouse button speeds up this process
 * Iron Golems
 * Are more reliable
 * Have much greater natural spawn rates in villages
 * Now attack the player as soon as he is attacking the golem in survival