Redstone Update

The Redstone Update is the name for Java Edition version 1.5, a major update released on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Among the main changes were a number of new redstone-related blocks, including the comparator, hopper, dropper, daylight sensor, trapped chest, weighted pressure plates and block of redstone. A new decorative block – block of quartz, crafted from nether quartz – was also added. Also included was a scoreboard system, a new texture pack format and a lighting engine optimization.

The Redstone Update was announced at the Future Updates with the Minecraft PC Team and The Future of Mod API talks at MINECON 2012.

Development began shortly after 1.4.6 was released. Sixteen development snapshots were released, from to, with a few snapshots being quickly re-released straight after to fix bugs without changing the client version number. During the development period, 1.4.7 was released. Nearer the end of the snapshot cycle for the 1.5 update, Mojang focused primarily on fixing bugs, rather than adding new features.

Mojang originally planned to release a pre-release version of The Redstone Update on February 28, 2013, and the official update in the first week of March. However, the pre-release was delayed as Mojang was trying to fix more bugs before a stable release, and was subsequently released on March 7.

Promotional videos
The following videos are fan trailers created by the community and shown on the official Mojang blog. The captions below are direct quotes from Mojang. First, the Minecraft 1.5 Song by YourMCAdmin If that’s a bit too short for you, this one by nativisions is a little bit more in depth (5:38)

Features

 * Notable additions
 * Realms
 * Scoreboard system
 * 3 new commands:, , and
 * 3 new minecart variants: with hopper, TNT, and monster spawner
 * 14 new blocks (excluding minecarts): nether quartz ore, activator rail, block of redstone, daylight sensor, dropper, hopper, redstone comparator, trapped chest, weighted pressure plate, block of quartz, and 4 variants of quartz.
 * 2 new items: nether brick and nether quartz.
 * Block ID for sandstone double slab.


 * Notable changes
 * Better lighting
 * Tools enchanted with Efficiency only speed up the mining speed of the intended blocks for that tool
 * New inventory management features
 * More specific death messages
 * Increased range of beacon effects
 * Brewing stands, chests, detector rails, dispensers, and jukeboxes now emit a redstone signal when a redstone comparator is placed against them.
 * Nether brick is now craftable
 * Changed the shooting mechanics of skeletons
 * The spawn rate of slimes in swamps now depends on the moon phase

Further revisions

 * 1.5 is available from the launcher and display as "snapshot 1.5", etc.
 * 1.5.1 gave the players the ability to combine enchanted books to get a higher enchantment level, and allowed hoppers to take empty buckets out of furnace fuel slots.
 * 1.5.2 fixed performance issues.