Java Edition 21w17a

21w17a is the nineteenth snapshot for Java Edition 1.17, released on April 28, 2021, which tweaks the raw metal block textures, adds noodle caves and fixes bugs.

General

 * Tags
 * Added the block tag.
 * Contains clay and moss blocks.
 * Small dripleaf can be placed on blocks in this tag.

Experimental
Changes have been made to the official Caves & Cliffs world generation preview datapack, which gives early access to the world generation coming in Java Edition 1.18.


 * Noodle caves
 * A thinner, squigglier, tighter variant of spaghetti caves.
 * These are an improved version of the mesh caves announced around Minecraft Live.

Blocks

 * Amethyst cluster
 * Removed unused 'lit' blockstate.


 * Block of Raw Metal
 * Tweaked the textures of raw iron blocks, raw copper blocks, and raw gold blocks.


 * Copper and Deepslate Copper Ore
 * Now drops 2–3 raw copper when mined, or more when using a tool enchanted with Fortune.


 * Copper block
 * Are now crafted from 9 copper ingots, instead of 4.


 * Deepslate coal ore and deepslate copper ore
 * Now can spawn naturally.


 * Hanging roots
 * Can now be waterlogged, to match the behavior in.


 * Small dripleaf
 * Can now also be placed on moss blocks.

Entities

 * Wither
 * Is now immune to freezing.

World Generation

 * Ore
 * Emerald ore can now replace granite, andesite, diorite, tuff, and deepslate upon generating.
 * If coal ore or copper ore replace tuff or deepslate, they will become their deepslate variants.

Gameplay

 * Recipe Book
 * The recipe for crafting mossy stone bricks from moss blocks or vines is now unlocked with moss blocks or vines, respectively, rather than mossy cobblestone.
 * The recipes for dyed candles are now grouped.
 * The recipes for smelting and blasting ores into their respective materials are now grouped by ore type (i.e. smelting coal ore and deepslate coal ore are grouped).
 * For iron, gold, and copper, the recipes for smelting and blasting their raw materials into ingots are also grouped with their respective ore smelting and blasting recipes.
 * The recipes for crafting copper ingots from copper blocks and waxed copper blocks are no longer grouped.
 * The recipes for mossy stone bricks are now grouped, as are the recipes for mossy cobblestone.
 * Many of the waxed copper block recipes were grouped together.

General

 * Tags
 * Added the wither to the entity type tag.

Experimental
Changes have been made to the official Caves & Cliffs world generation preview datapack, which gives early access to the world generation coming in Java Edition 1.18.


 * Ore veins
 * Snake veins are now slightly rarer and slightly smaller.
 * Ores are clumpier and less evenly distributed.
 * Now have a chance to rarely contain raw metal blocks.

Video
Videos made by slicedlime:

Trivia

 * This is the first snapshot to implement a semi-revealed feature, namely mesh caves (renamed to noodle caves in this update).