Java Edition 1.16

1.16, the first release of the Nether Update, is an upcoming major update to Java Edition that overhauls the Nether, set to release in 2020. This update was announced at MINECON Live 2019. The update does not include the announced features for the mountains biome.

Blocks

 * Ancient debris
 * Can be found throughout the Nether at any altitude, though it is much more common at lower levels.
 * Can be refined into a netherite scrap by smelting in a furnace or blast furnace.
 * Same blast resistance as obsidian.
 * Inventory item floats on lava.
 * Cannot burn in lava or fire.
 * A diamond pickaxe or better is required to mine it.
 * Always spawns covered by lava or blocks on all sides


 * Basalt
 * Make up basalt pillars.
 * Generates in soul sand valleys.
 * Can be placed directionally, similarly to logs.


 * Block of netherite
 * Can be crafted with 9 netherite ingots.
 * Decorative.
 * Inventory item floats on lava.
 * Cannot burn in lava or fire.
 * Same blast resistance as obsidian, but is movable with pistons.


 * Crimson and warped fungi
 * Generate in crimson and warped forests, respectively.
 * Can be placed on dirt, coarse dirt, farmland, podzol, nylium, soul soil, and grass blocks.
 * Bone meal can be used on fungi to grow it into the respective huge fungi when placed on nylium.
 * Unlike mushrooms, fungi cannot spread.


 * Crimson and warped nylium
 * Resemble grass blocks.
 * Can be spread to netherrack by using bonemeal on a netherrack block next to a nylium block.


 * Crimson and warped planks
 * Does not burn.
 * Crafted from the respective stem.
 * Can be used to craft respective slabs, stairs, fences, fence gates, pressure plates, buttons, doors, trapdoors.


 * Crimson and warped roots
 * Foliage that generates in both crimson and warped forest biomes, as well as soul sand valleys.


 * Crimson and warped signs
 * Work like normal wooden signs.
 * Cannot be crafted.


 * Crimson and warped stems
 * Blocks that comprise the trunks of huge fungi.
 * Have animated textures.
 * Has a top texture similar to regular log blocks.
 * Can be placed directionally, similarly to logs.
 * Does not burn.
 * Have respective stripped variants.


 * Nether sprouts
 * Foliage that generates in warped forests.


 * Shroomlight
 * Emits a light level of 15, similarly to glowstone.
 * Can be mined with any tool, but axes are the most efficient.
 * Generate as a part of huge fungi.


 * Soul fire
 * Blue variant of fire.
 * Fire lit on soul soil turns into soul fire regardless of dimension.
 * Burns forever, similar to regular fire on netherrack and magma blocks.
 * Generates naturally in the soul sand valley biome in the Nether.
 * Deals damage at a rate of per second as opposed to the  per second of regular fire.
 * Does not extinguish when in the rain.


 * Soul fire lantern
 * Gives off a light level of 10.
 * Crafted similarly to a normal lantern, using a soul fire torch instead of a normal torch.


 * Soul fire torch
 * Gives off a light level of 10.
 * Crafted similarly to a normal torch, with soul soil being placed under the stick.


 * Soul soil
 * Generates in the soul sand valley, alongside conventional soul sand.
 * Fire lit on soul soil is soul fire.
 * The player does not sink and is not slowed when walking in soul soil.


 * Warped wart block
 * A variation of the nether wart block.
 * Generates as a part of huge warped fungi. Sometimes generates in the ground replacing the warped nylium in warped forest biome.


 * Weeping vines
 * Generates in the crimson forest.
 * Is placed on the bottom of a block and grows downward.

Items

 * Netherite armor
 * Crafted with a netherite ingot and the respective diamond item.
 * Does not burn in lava, as a dropped item or when worn (players equipping netherite armor, however, can still take burning damage).
 * Floats in lava.
 * Grants one additional point of knockback resistance per item.
 * Tougher than diamond armor.
 * Has higher durability and enchantability than diamond.


 * Netherite axe, hoe, pickaxe, shovel, and sword
 * Crafted with a netherite ingot and the respective diamond item.
 * Does not burn in lava.
 * Floats in lava.
 * Has higher durability, mining level, breaking multiplier, and enchantability than diamond.
 * All items, except the hoe, deal 1 more damage than their diamond counterparts.


 * Netherite ingot
 * Created with 4 gold ingots and 4 netherite scraps.
 * Can be used to upgrade diamond tools and armor.
 * Floats in lava.
 * Cannot burn in lava.


 * Netherite scrap
 * Created by smelting ancient debris in a furnace.
 * Used to create netherite ingots.
 * Floats in lava.
 * Cannot burn in lava.


 * Spawn eggs
 * Added Hoglin spawn egg.

Mobs

 * Hoglins
 * Spawn in crimson forests.
 * Drop rotten flesh, although this is probably a placeholder.

World generation

 * Biomes
 * Crimson forest
 * A dense forest with huge crimson fungi. These blocks and fungi are found in patches on the ground and weeping vines are found under the trees.
 * Zombie pigmen and hoglins may spawn here.
 * Soul sand valley
 * A vast grotto composed of uncovered nether fossils, soul sand, soul soil, large pillars made of basalt, blue fog, and soul fire.
 * Skeletons, ghasts, and endermen may spawn here.
 * Warped forest
 * A color variation of the crimson forest, but with somewhat different vegetation and particle, fog effects.
 * Only endermen may spawn here.


 * Structures
 * Basalt pillar
 * Floor to ceiling pillars of basalt that generate in soul sand valley.


 * Huge crimson fungi and huge warped fungi
 * New structure resembling trees found in crimson and warped forests, respectively.
 * Made of crimson and warped stem blocks as well as red nether wart blocks and warped wart blocks.
 * Can be grown from their respective fungi.


 * Nether fossils
 * New fossil structures have been added for the soul sand valley.
 * These fossils are different from the overworld fossils and generate with random pieces of basalt instead of coal ore.

Command format

 * Used to locate specific biomes.
 * Used to locate specific biomes.

Gameplay

 * Sounds
 * New unique block sounds for most of the newly added blocks have been added.

General

 * Particles
 * Added.


 * Tags
 * Added block tags.
 * Added item tags.

Blocks

 * Bamboo saplings
 * Renamed to "bamboo shoot".


 * Bone blocks
 * Generate as part of nether fossils in soul sand valleys.


 * Comparators
 * Changed the way to calculate the input signal.
 * First, if there is an adjacent container behind, it detects the signal from the container. If not, it detects the signal from redstone components.
 * Then, if it is not less than 15, the detected signal becomes the input signal. Otherwise, it also gets a signal from item frame and container behind separated by a redstone conductor block from the comparator, and take the maximum of the three as the input signal.


 * Flower pots
 * Has a bottom texture when empty.


 * Gravel and soul sand
 * Generate in the new soul sand valley biomes.


 * Netherrack
 * Using bone meal on netherrack adjacent to nylium converts it into nylium.
 * If two nylium blocks of different types are present, it chooses the type at random based on how many blocks of each type are around it.


 * Nether wart blocks
 * Generate as a part of huge crimson fungi.
 * Texture changed from Nether Wart Block JE2.png to Nether Wart Block JE3.png.


 * Pistons and sticky pistons
 * Hardness has been increased to 1.5.
 * Pickaxes are now more efficient on pistons.
 * Pistons can now support non-solid blocks on its top face without them popping off when the piston retracts.


 * Redstone dust
 * Has a bottom texture.


 * Smooth quartz
 * Renamed to "smooth quartz block".


 * Walls
 * Walls in the middle of a row longer have pillars when stacked vertically.
 * Block state now uses for  directional values.

Items

 * Clay
 * Renamed to "clay ball".

Mobs

 * Endermen
 * Now spawn in soul sand valleys and warped forests.


 * Ghasts
 * Sounds are now heard at a shorter range.
 * Now spawn in soul sand valleys.


 * Skeletons
 * Now spawn in soul sand valleys.


 * Zombie pigmen
 * Now spawn in crimson forests.

World generation

 * Biomes
 * Biomes in the Nether may now differ based on altitude.


 * Ceiling
 * Alongside mushrooms, huge crimson and warped fungi can generate over y=128 in the nether.


 * Nether biome
 * The old "Nether" biome is now called "Nether Wastes".


 * Structures
 * Shipwrecks and ocean ruins are now less common.

Command format

 * General
 * The message shown when running an unknown/incomplete command has changed.

Gameplay

 * Knockback resistance
 * Is now a scale of the amount of knockback taken instead of a probability to take no knockback.


 * Patrols
 * Patrols no longer spawn when the player is close to any intact village.


 * Recipe book
 * The cartography table recipe now unlocks with paper instead of string.


 * Sounds
 * Updated block sounds for bone blocks, netherrack, soul sand, nether wart blocks, nether bricks (and variants), and nether quartz ore.


 * Spawn
 * Player can reset their spawn point using a bed when mobs are near, although players still cannot sleep when mobs are near.

General

 * Debug menu
 * When outside the world's vertical area, the debug menu no longer lists 'minecraft:the_void' as the biome.
 * Instead, it simply hides the biome information.


 * Materials
 * Added new nether wood material.
 * Uses the wood material color.
 * Uses default properties.


 * Rendering
 * Improved entity shadows to the ground.


 * Tags
 * Added crimson and warped wooden items to the block tags.
 * Added crimson and warped wooden items to the item tags.
 * The block and item tags now use the respective  tag.

Blocks

 * Target Block.png Target block
 * Emits a redstone signal when shot with an arrow.
 * Signal is stronger depending on how close the arrow is to the center of the block. The signal strength goes up to 15.

Items

 * At least one spawn egg, as piglins have not yet been added.

Mobs

 * Piglin.png Piglins
 * Found in the Nether.
 * Have an adult and baby variant, as zombie pigmen and hoglins.
 * Are naturally hostile toward the player, unless the player is wearing gold armor.
 * Even if the player wears gold armor, piglins become aggravated toward the player if the player opens a chest containing any item crafted with or related to gold near the piglin.
 * Can wield crossbows or gold swords.
 * They drop arrows if wielding a crossbow.
 * Can "barter" (similar to trading) with the player.
 * To barter with a piglin, a player must throw it a gold ingot and the piglin throws an item in exchange.
 * Attack wither skeletons and adult hoglins.
 * Can spawn with golden armor.

World generation

 * Bastions
 * Fortifications built by piglins that are found in the Nether.

Mobs

 * Endermen
 * Can pick up some of the newly added blocks in the next snapshot.


 * Hoglins
 * Are hostile to the player. One of their attacks appears to launch the player high into the air.
 * Can breed using fungi.
 * Drop a new food item.


 * Zombified Piglin.png Zombie pigmen
 * Will be renamed to zombified piglins.
 * Will get a new texture and model to match piglins

Gameplay

 * Fog and sky color
 * Change appears less abrupt.


 * Respawning
 * Players can respawn in the Nether.
 * How is currently unknown. This may be indicative of the return of the crying obsidian.

Unconfirmed features
These features were mentioned during the development of Java Edition 1.16 or earlier, or during MINECON Live 2019, but have not been confirmed to be added in this update.


 * Illusioners
 * May be added to raids.


 * Pigs
 * The feature of pigs transforming to zombie pigmen when struck by lightning may be removed. Since the bug involving piglets transforming into adult zombie pigmen was fixed, it might not get removed after all.


 * Smithing table and fletching table
 * May get functionality. It was mentioned during the development of Village & Pillage that it would be added in "...the next major themed update..."

MINECON Live 2019
Screenshots of the Nether Update from MINECON Live 2019: