Java Edition Beta

Beta is the current development phase in Minecraft. It was announced on Notch's blog on December 11, 2010 and released nine days later, on December 20, 2010. As well as some minor updates, the transition from Alpha saw a 50% price increase (therefore making the cost 25% off the full price), a change in the disclaimer (Notch removed the line that said "all future updates will be provided free of charge") and minor updates to the main website. Beta 1.2 was released on 13 January 2011, it included Cake which was added after Minecraft won the Mod DB 2010 "Indie Game of the Year" award.

Major New Features

 * Server-side inventory.
 * Cloak support.
 * New Blocks (Note Block, Sandstone, Cake, Dispenser, Redstone Repeater, Bed)
 * New Mobs (Squid)
 * Wool Dyes
 * Ambient Occlusion (Smooth Light)
 * Three new half-steps (sandstone, cobblestone, and wood)

For full changes, see Beta version history.


 * Implemented a new lighting engine with the help of MrMessiahs (can be turned off)
 * Changed the options around, added a new “Graphics options” button * Added beds. If all players in a map sleeps in a bed during night, the game immediately skips until morning
 * Added three new half-size blocks * Added Delay/Repeater redstone dust blocks
 * Added whitelisting to the server. To use, enter “whitelist ” where cmd is “on”, “off”, “add ”, “remove ”, “list” or “reload”
 * New save file format, old maps need to be converted (that might take a while..)
 * It’s now possible to have more than five save slots, and to rename saves * Scrollbars in both the texture pack list, and in the map selection screen * Replaced the Mojang splash image to reflect the new logo colors
 * .. and a bunch of bug fixes and tweaks!

Current Version

 * Beta 1.3_01 (Released February 23, 2011)