Nether Update



The Nether Update is an upcoming major update themed around revamping the Nether. It adds multiple new features to this dimension, such as new biomes and mobs. The update was announced at MINECON Live 2019 and is set to release sometime between late June or early July 2020. It will be released as Java Edition 1.16 and Bedrock Edition 1.16.0.

This update's development on started with snapshot 20w06a, which was released on February 5, 2020. The first pre-release was released on June 4, 2020, followed by the second on June 5, the third on June 10, the fourth on June 11 and the fifth on June 12.

Media
A bit of the new terrain generator in the Nether (all new biomes):

New blocks

 * Soul Fire
 * Generates naturally in the soul sand valley biome in the Nether. It has a blue texture.
 * Deals damage at a rate of per second as opposed to the  per second of regular fire.
 * Soul fire generates naturally only on soul soil, a block found exclusively in the soul sand valley. Although it can be made manually by igniting soul soil or soul sand with any other fire, for example with flint and steel.
 * Soul fire can burn only on the top of soul soil and soul sand.
 * Soul Torch
 * Has a luminance level of 10, whereas a normal torch has 14.
 * Soul Lantern
 * Has a luminance level of 10, whereas a normal lantern has 15.
 * Soul Campfire
 * A new soul variant of the campfire.
 * Has a light luminance of 10, whereas a normal campfire has 15.
 * Crimson and Warped Fungi
 * Generate in crimson and warped forests, respectively.
 * Acts as a sapling for huge warped and crimson fungi.
 * Crimson and Warped Stems
 * Blocks that comprise the trunks of huge fungi.
 * Has a top texture similar to regular log blocks.
 * Does not burn.
 * Have respective stripped variants.
 * Crimson and Warped Hyphae
 * Wood variants of crimson and warped stems, as in all sides having the bark texture.
 * Does not burn.
 * Have respective stripped variants.
 * Crimson and Warped Planks
 * Does not burn.
 * Can be used to craft respective slabs, stairs, fences, fence gates, pressure plates, buttons, signs, doors and trapdoors.
 * Unlike other types of wood, it cannot be used to craft boats.
 * Warped Wart Block
 * A variation of the nether wart block.
 * Can be found in warped forests (ordinary nether wart blocks can be found in crimson forests).
 * Shroomlight
 * Generates naturally on huge crimson fungi and huge warped fungi or by growing fungi on nylium with bone meal.
 * Emits light level 15.
 * Weeping Vines
 * Generates in the crimson forest on the roof.
 * Can be climbed.
 * Can be bone mealed.
 * Twisting Vines
 * A climbable plant that spawns in the warped forest, sprouting from the ground.
 * This new vine can also be bone-mealed, growing a random amount of blocks.
 * Crimson and Warped Nylium
 * Resemble grass blocks.
 * Can be spread to netherrack by using bone meal on netherrack next to nylium.
 * Crimson and Warped Roots
 * Non-solid plant block similar to grass.
 * Requires shears to obtain.
 * Nether Sprouts
 * Foliage that generates in warped forests.
 * Soul Soil
 * Generates in soul sand valley biomes.
 * Basalt
 * Makes up basalt pillars.
 * Generates in soul sand valleys and basalt deltas.
 * Has a polished version.
 * Blackstone (and its variants)
 * Generates naturally in the basalt deltas and in small patches around the lava lakes.
 * Has a number of variations that can be used for decoration purposes.
 * Has gilded variant that has a chance to drop gold nuggets when mined, similar to gravel having a small chance to drop flint.
 * Has a regular, polished, chiseled polished, polished brick, and polished cracked brick versions.
 * The regular, polished and polished bricks all have stair, slab, and wall variants.
 * Polished variant can be made into pressure plates and buttons.
 * Can be used to craft stone tier weapons and tools, as well as furnaces, and as a replacement for cobblestone in nearly all recipes.
 * Nether Gold Ore
 * Drops 1 to 5 gold nuggets mined with any pickaxe.
 * Is affected by Fortune and drops up to 24 gold nuggets.
 * Can be smelted to get 1 gold ingot.
 * Drops experience.
 * Crying Obsidian
 * Generates naturally as part of ruined portal structures.
 * Can be found as loot in bastion remnants chests.
 * Can also be obtained by bartering with piglins.
 * Same blast resistance as obsidian and cannot be pushed by pistons.
 * Used to make respawn anchors.
 * Programmer art texture is old texture from original design from 2011.
 * Ancient Debris
 * Can be found throughout the Nether at any altitude, though it is much more common at lower levels.
 * Can also be found rarely in bastion remnant chests.
 * Can be refined into a netherite scrap by smelting in a furnace or blast furnace.
 * Always generates covered by lava or blocks on all sides.
 * High blast resistance, but is movable with pistons.
 * Does not burn in lava or fire as a dropped item.
 * Block of Netherite
 * Can be used as a beacon base.
 * Same blast resistance as obsidian, but is movable with pistons.
 * Does not burn in lava or fire as a dropped item.
 * Target
 * Creates a redstone signal when hit by a projectile.
 * Does not need a comparator.
 * Creates a signal when flown into with elytra.
 * Redirects redstone toward itself.
 * Respawn Anchor
 * Used to respawn in the Nether.
 * Can be charged up to 4 times, by using glowstone.
 * Redstone comparators can detect charge amount.
 * Can be charged using a dispenser.
 * When you respawn, one charge is used. When all charges are used up, the player respawns at the world spawn.
 * The top texture resembles the portal block (nether).
 * Crafted with crying obsidian and glowstone.
 * Using it in the End or Overworld causes it to explode.
 * The explosion is similar to trying to sleep in a bed in the nether or end, giving the same death message " was killed by [Intentional Game Design]", it's explosion has a radius similar to that of an end crystal, as well as setting fire to surrounding blocks.
 * Lodestone
 * Block when right-clicked using a compass, sets the compass needle pointing toward the receptive lodestone, the compass also receives an enchanted effect.
 * Can be crafted with 8 chiseled stone brick and one netherite ingot.
 * Can be found in bastion remnant chests.
 * Chain
 * New block found in bastion remnants, hanging magma cube spawners and lanterns, as well as on ruined portals.
 * Can be crafted with 2 iron nuggets and one iron ingot in a crafting table.
 * Texture and color resembles the chain on top of lanterns.
 * Acts similarly to end rods, but being only vertical, like iron bars.
 * Can hang lanterns.
 * Nether Brick Block Variants
 * Chiseled nether brick block
 * Has a skull symbol on it.
 * Made by putting two slabs over each other in crafting, or in a stonecutter.
 * Cracked nether brick block
 * Made by smelting a nether brick block.
 * Quartz Bricks
 * New type of quartz crafted by putting 4 quartz in a crafting grid, or in a stonecutter.

New Items

 * Netherite Scrap
 * Used to craft netherite ingots.
 * When 4 are combined with 4 gold ingots in a crafting table, it creates one netherite ingot.
 * Does not burn in lava or fire as a dropped item.
 * Netherite Ingot
 * Can be used to upgrade diamond tools and armor inside a smithing table.
 * Can be used as fuel for a beacon.
 * Does not burn in Lava or Fire as a dropped item.
 * Netherite Armor
 * Helmet, chestplate, leggings, and boots.
 * Made by combining a diamond armor piece with a netherite ingot in a smithing table.
 * 30% more durability than diamond armor.
 * Gives +1 armor toughness compared to diamond armor, as well as added knockback resistance.
 * Does not burn in lava or fire as a dropped item.
 * Netherite Tools:
 * Axes, pickaxes, swords, shovels and hoes.
 * Made by combining a diamond tool with a netherite ingot in a smithing table.
 * 30% more durability than diamond tools.
 * Gives +1 damage compared to diamond tools.
 * Does not burn in lava or fire as a dropped item.
 * Warped Fungus on a Stick
 * Carrot on a Stick variant for striders.
 * Made with a fishing rod and warped fungi.
 * Has 100 durability.
 * Pigstep Music Disc
 * Only music disc not composed by C418, but instead, Lena Raine.
 * Can be found only as loot in bastion remnant chests.
 * Has a red and gold texture, resembling gold and netherrack.
 * Lodestone compass
 * Compass that points to a set lodestone.
 * Snout banner pattern
 * Obtainable only in bastion remnant loot chests.
 * Gives banners a pig snout pattern.
 * Spawn Eggs.
 * New piglin, strider, zoglin, and hoglin spawn eggs.

New mobs

 * Piglins
 * Spawn in crimson forests, nether wastes, and bastion remnants.
 * Spawn with a gold sword or crossbow in hand, and sometimes with gold armor.
 * They have health.
 * Neutral (hoard)
 * attack the player unless they are wearing at least one piece of gold armor.
 * attack a player who hits a piglin, or opens or breaks a chest, trapped chest, ender chest, barrel, or a shulker box nearby, or breaks a block of gold, gold ore, gilded blackstone, or nether gold ore near them. They attack even if the player is wearing gold armor.
 * Babies are passive.
 * Sometimes attack hoglins.
 * attack wither skeletons.
 * often dance when they kill a hoglin or wither skeleton.
 * Babies play with baby hoglins.
 * avoid soul fire, soul campfires, soul torches and soul lanterns.
 * avoid zombified piglins, and zoglins.
 * Can barter.
 * When thrown gold ingots, they pick them up, hold them in their hand, and after a few seconds, throw the player an item (look at Bartering page to see loot table).
 * Striders
 * Spawn in all nether biomes on the lava lakes.
 * They have health.
 * Drop 2-5 string on death.
 * Passive
 * Can be ridden with a saddle.
 * Can be lead and bred with warped fungi.
 * When out of lava, they get cold, turn a gray-purple color, and get a bigger frown.
 * Are damaged by water.
 * Zoglins
 * Do not naturally spawn, when hoglins are in the Overworld or the End, they transform into zoglins after 15 seconds.
 * They have health.
 * Aggressive
 * Attack any mob, other than other zoglins and creepers, that they can see, similar to a vindicator named "Johnny".
 * Hoglins
 * Spawn in crimson forests, or rarely in bastion remnants in hoglin stables.
 * They have health.
 * Drops raw porkchops.
 * Aggressive
 * Avoid warped fungui, nether portals and respawn anchors.
 * Are attacked by piglins.
 * Can be bred with crimson fungi.

New generated structures:

 * Bastion remnants
 * Generates in all nether biomes except basalt deltas.
 * Is the only way to obtain the new music disc Pigstep.
 * Basalt Pillars
 * Huge fungi
 * Ruined Portals
 * Can be found in both the Overworld and the Nether.
 * Nether fossils

New biomes:

 * 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. (taken from Java edition 1.16 page)
 * Spawns ghasts, skeletons and striders.
 * Can spawn nether fortresses, and bastion remnants.
 * Plays the ambient Song "So Below" by Lena Raine.
 * Crimson Forest
 * A dense forest with huge crimson fungi. nether wart blocks and fungi are found in patches on the ground and weeping vines are found under the trees and nether wart “stalactites”. Fog effects are similar to the nether wastes biome. (taken from Java edition 1.16 page)
 * Spawns piglins, zombified piglins, striders, and hoglins.
 * Can spawn bastion remnants.
 * Plays the ambient song "Chrysopoeia" by Lena Raine.
 * Warped Forest
 * A blue color variation of the crimson forest, but with somewhat different vegetation and blue particles and purple fog effects. (taken from Java edition 1.16 page)
 * Spawns endermen and striders.
 * Can spawn bastion remnants.
 * Basalt Deltas
 * A volcanic biome in the Nether. Filled with pillars of basalt and large areas of blackstone. The air is filled with light gray ash-like particles.
 * Spawns magma cubes, and striders.
 * Can spawn nether fortresses.
 * Plays the ambient song "So Below" by Lena Raine.
 * Nether wastes
 * A wasteland of bare netherack and ores.
 * Spawns piglins, zombified piglins, and striders.
 * Plays the ambient song "Rubedo" by Lena Raine.

New enchantments:

 * Soul Speed
 * Allows the player to walk quickly on soul sand, but does damage to the boots.
 * Goes up to level 3.
 * Can be applied only to boots.
 * Can be obtained only from bastion remnants and bartering with piglins.
 * Hoes can now have a use for enchantments.

Blocks

 * Beacon
 * Can now use a base of netherite, and can be powered by a netherite ingot
 * Smithing Table
 * Now has a UI and is used to upgrade diamond tools or armor to netherite.
 * Walls
 * No longer have gaps or pillars when placed on top of each other.
 * Bells
 * Can now be hung from more blocks
 * Bone Blocks
 * Now generate in the Nether as nether fossils
 * Has a new unique sound
 * Dispenser
 * Can do more actions:
 * Put a saddle on a pig, strider, or tamed horse, donkey, or mule.
 * Put horse armor on tamed horses.
 * Put carpets on tamed llamas
 * Put chests on tamed llamas, mules, or donkeys.
 * Shear mooshrooms and snow golems
 * Furnace
 * Can be crafted with blackstone.
 * Redstone Dust
 * Places as a cross
 * Can be right-clicked to turn it to a dot
 * Will only provide power to blocks that it has a visual connection to
 * Kelp
 * Can be grown with bone meal

Items

 * Bone Meal
 * can be used on kelp, twisting vines, and weeping vines
 * can be used on netherrack to grow nylium.
 * Compasses
 * Can now be enchanted with Curse of Vanishing.
 * can be used on a lodestone to make it point to that lodestone
 * Hoes
 * Can be enchanted with silk touch, efficiency, and fortune
 * Is now the correct tool for Breaking sponges, wet sponges, dried kelp blocks, nether wart blocks, targets, shroomlights, leaves, and hay bales.
 * Stone Tools
 * can now be crafted with blackstone.

Mobs

 * General
 * Can no longer spawn on wither roses.
 * Will avoid magma blocks and lit campfires
 * Endermen
 * Will now spawn in warped forests
 * Can pick up nylium, roots and fungi variants.
 * Can no longer pick up netherrack.
 * Ghasts
 * Now will spawn in soul sand valleys and basalt deltas.
 * Skeleton
 * Now spawn in soul sand valleys.
 * Magma Cubes
 * Now spawn in basalt deltas.
 * Villagers
 * Farmer villagers can now pickup seeds, and compost them.
 * Farmer villagers can now pickup, make and use bonemeal.
 * Farmer villagers will now give excess wheat to other farmers.
 * Wither
 * can now be summoned using soul soil instead of soul sand
 * Wither Skeletons
 * Now attack piglins on sight.
 * Zombie pigmen
 * Renamed to Zombified piglins
 * Texture and model changed to more closely resemble piglins
 * Will be created if a piglin is brought to the Overworld or the End.

World generation

 * The old nether biome "hell" renamed to "nether wastes"
 * Shipwrecks and underwater ruins now much less common.

Advancements

 * Changed "Serious Dedication" requirement, from needing to completely use up a diamond hoe, to craft a netherite hoe.


 * Changed "We Need to Go Deeper" to "Nether", the requirements are the same.

Miscellaneous Changes

 * Lava now flows items and mobs like water.
 * TNT can now be ignited by any projectile on fire.
 * Zero tick farms no longer work.
 * Fishing mechanics changed, treasure can be obtained only in open bodies of water, removing the ability for AFK fish farms to produce treasure.
 * New commands: /attribute and /locatebiome.
 * Text font and color can be specified in commands such as /title, /say, etc.
 * Game rules can now be specified before creating world.
 * New setting: Entity Distance, this specifies at what distance entities are no longer visible.
 * Patches of gravel and blackstone spawn near lava lakes in all biomes, and soul sand in soul sand valleys.
 * New Statistic: distance by strider.
 * Many bugs having to do with villages fixed.
 * Mob cap counter added to debug screen.
 * Compasses and clocks now have static textures in the crafting table.
 * Redstone now places as a cross again.
 * $$, the player can press F3+F4 to switch gamemodes.
 * Nether bricks now have cracked and chiseled variants.
 * Block of quartz now has a brick variant.

Videos
Videos made by slicedlime:

Trivia

 * Similarly to the announcement of Update Aquatic, this update was announced during the development of the previous release, and before the features of that version were included in a full release.
 * Version numbers are the same for both, starting with this update.