Java Edition 1.8

1.8 is an upcoming update to Minecraft planned to be released sometime in May 2014.

General

 * Splash
 * "That's Numberwang!"
 * "pls rt"
 * "Do you want to join my server?"
 * "Put a little fence around it!"
 * "Throw a blanket over it!"
 * "One day, somewhere in the future, my work will be quoted!"
 * "Now with additional stuff!"
 * "Extra things!"
 * "Yay, puppies for everyone!"
 * Difficulty
 * Difficulty is per world
 * No more global difficulty option
 * Prevents accidentally changing the difficulty when joining the world
 * Can be locked for each world
 * Prevents the temptation to change to an easier difficulty in difficult situations
 * Locking can not be undone without external editors
 * However, using the command will still work
 * Shaders
 * New "creeper" shader (creeper.json), applies a green tint
 * Is applied when spectating from the perspective of a creeper
 * Can also be applied using Super Secret Settings
 * New "spider" shader (spider.json), applies octuple vision
 * Is applied when spectating from the perspective of a spider
 * Can also be applied using Super Secret Settings
 * Achievement
 * New achievement Overpowered
 * Obtained by crafting an enchanted golden apple
 * Requires first obtaining Getting an Upgrade

Gameplay

 * Target selectors
 * Targets entities
 * Can specify type of entity by entity ID to either include or exclude with  or
 * Example: - kills all chickens within a radius of 50 blocks
 * Example: - any entity within a radius of 5 blocks will be teleported five blocks in the air
 * Commands
 * Modifies NBT data at a specific coordinate. The,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,.
 * Compares two areas of a world
 * Example:
 * Functions the same way as or, but can only modify objectives with the   criteria (referred to as "triggers") and can only modify the score of the player running the command
 * Can be used by non-operator players
 * For a player to run this command, the trigger must be enabled for that player
 * will enable the specified player to use the specified trigger objective
 * Trigger availability is stored per player, per trigger
 * One trigger may be disabled for a player, but that player can use a different trigger
 * One player may be unable to use a trigger, but another player can use the same trigger
 * Disabled after the trigger has been used (must be re-enabled to use the trigger again)
 * Mostly for use with
 * Syntax:
 * NBT Tags
 * Mostly for use in adventure mode
 * Items with this tag display the names of the blocks that they can destroy in the item tooltip
 * Example: to give a diamond shovel that can break grass and sand)
 * Allows placing of certain blocks against other blocks in adventure mode
 * Example:
 * Allows hiding of certain parts of the tooltip
 * Bit field of
 * The number of ticks before an item entity can be picked up.
 * Set to 32767 for items that can't be picked up
 * Option to show or hide all particles for a potion effect, while the 'Ambient' tag only shows fewer particles. Set to 1 to show, 0 to hide.
 * A way to lock containers from being opened using NBT tags
 * Mostly useful for adventure maps in adventure mode
 * Containers can be unlocked by clearing their string for Lock
 * Locked containers can only be opened while holding anything renamed to the given string, item is not removed on use
 * The lock can be completely removed utilizing the command
 * BlockItem instances can now hold a custom NBT tag that is merged into a block entity when it’s placed
 * Example:
 * Gamerule
 * Prevents command block output from being stored in chat logs. In multiplayer, also prevents player-initiated commands from being stored. Unrelated to commandBlockOutput, which is output into the visible chat.
 * Scoreboards
 * The ability to reset objectives one by one
 * Example:
 * New objective criteria for team-specific kills, e.g.:
 * New objective criteria '
 * Acts like the  criteria
 * Mostly for use with
 * The ability to iterate over every scoreboard player with
 * Added scoreboard objective types  and other colors (referring to team color, not team name)
 * Fake players with a name starting with # will never show up on the sidebar
 * New subcommands:  and
 * The  subcommand can apply arithmetic operation to scores (+ – * / %) and accumulate player scores
 * Example: adds every red player's count of kills on blue to the red team's score of kills
 * The  subcommand can be used to test if a scoreboard value is between a min and a max value
 * Example: checks whether the global score of the given objective is between 12 and 19, inclusive
 * Different teams can now have different objectives displayed in the sidebar
 * Example: (referring to team color, not team name)
 * Teams can now have settings on how the nametags are to be shown - Also possible: hideForOwnTeam, never, always (default)
 * Spectator game mode
 * Usage:, or
 * No interaction with the world
 * Player can move through any entity or block without interfering with it (commonly referred to as 'noclip')
 * Collecting or using items is impossible, as is placing, destroying or interacting with blocks in any way
 * Viewing inventories and GUIs is possible, but it is not possible to interact with them
 * The HUD is disabled, except for the crosshairs when looking at a mob.
 * Player selectors (in commands) will target spectators
 * Using on a spectator will cause the item(s) to drop at their location.
 * Spectators are not noticed by mobs, and do not trigger spawners or spawning
 * A spectator's presence keeps a mob from despawning
 * Only the Void and can damage a spectator
 * Flying mode
 * Landing is not possible—the player can fly through the ground
 * The mouse scroll wheel, the sprint key, and the slowness and swiftness effects all affect the flying speed
 * First-person view through another player or mob's eyes
 * Left-clicking an entity locks the player's position and camera to the entity's
 * The spectator cannot control where the entity moves or looks
 * Certain mobs have different vision
 * Creeper applies the new creeper.json shader
 * Endermen applies the invert.json shader
 * Spider and Cave Spider apply the new spider.json shader
 * Viewing oneself using shows the entity
 * Pressing the Dismount key ( by default) returns the player to flying mode
 * Viewing privileges
 * Spectators can see other spectators
 * Appear as a translucent disembodied head
 * The selected item from the hotbar is also visible
 * Invisible players and mobs appear visible, but translucent
 * An optional hotkey to show outlines on players whilst spectating
 * Can be color coded to teams
 * Can be set/cancelled in Controls option
 * Outline seen when key is held down (like sneaking when shift is held down)
 * You can now share to LAN for spectator mode
 * Pressing the Dismount key ( by default) returns the player to flying mode
 * Viewing privileges
 * Spectators can see other spectators
 * Appear as a translucent disembodied head
 * The selected item from the hotbar is also visible
 * Invisible players and mobs appear visible, but translucent
 * An optional hotkey to show outlines on players whilst spectating
 * Can be color coded to teams
 * Can be set/cancelled in Controls option
 * Outline seen when key is held down (like sneaking when shift is held down)
 * You can now share to LAN for spectator mode

World Generation

 * Underground
 * Granite, andesite and diorite generate in pockets within stone terrain
 * Similar size and abundance to dirt and gravel

Blocks and Items

 * Diorite
 * Crafting recipe: 2 cobblestone and 2 Nether quartz in a checker board pattern
 * Can be crafted into polished diorite
 * Andesite
 * Crafting recipe: 1 cobblestone and 1 diorite
 * Can be crafted into polished andesite
 * Granite
 * Crafting recipe: 1 Nether quartz and 1 diorite
 * Can be crafted into polished granite
 * Polished Diorite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 diorite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Polished Andesite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 andesite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Polished Granite
 * Crafting recipe: 4 granite in a 2x2 configuration
 * Slime Block
 * Players and mobs that land on their top side will bounce, like on a trampoline
 * Bounce rebound velocity is scaled by impact velocity, can reach up to 60%
 * Currently does not affect item entities
 * Prevents fall damage
 * Walking on it is slower than walking on soul sand, close to one's speed whilst sneaking
 * Crafting recipe: 9 slime balls
 * Can be crafted back into 9 slime balls
 * Barrier
 * Acts like a full block but is completely transparent
 * Can transfer redstone signals and allows blocks to be placed on it
 * Can only be destroyed in Creative mode
 * Can be obtained using
 * Uses Block of Redstone texture for breaking particles
 * Becomes visible when a player in Creative mode is holding a barrier in their hand
 * Appears to be rendered as particles; always facing the player and become transparent when in-front of water or nether portals
 * Iron Trapdoor
 * Can only be opened and closed using redstone, similar to an iron door
 * Crafting recipe: iron ingots in a 2x2 pattern, yields one iron trapdoor

General

 * F3 debug screen
 * Text now has a background.
 * Replaced x, y, z, b, bl and other labels with more understandable labels.
 * "Light" is now the light levels at feet, not eyes.
 * Now shows which axis you are facing after the cardinal direction - "Towards positive/negative X/Z"
 * Player rotation is now displayed in degrees and quadrants
 * The crosshair will display 3 short colored lines to indicate the direction of each axis: x/red, y/green, z/blue
 * Currently missing LC value
 * Day counter added
 * Increases by 1 every dawn
 * Now displays difficulty
 * Peaceful - 0.00, Easy - 0.75, Normal - 1.50, Hard - 2.25
 * Looking at a block in the world will show the coordinates of that block on the debug screen
 * Block IDs
 * NBT data in commands can now use block/item names in place of numerical ids
 * Example:
 * In scoreboards, the format is
 * Old ids still work, but are being phased out slowly
 * Occurences of blocks/items now need to be named ids
 * Superflat presets now use the new named id format
 * Chat
 * Improved chat communication
 * Messages are now either chat, system or action bar messages
 * Action bar messages are always shown, chat and system messages are only shown if chat settings are configured that way
 * Some instances of usernames in the chat will now show the player's UUID when hovered on when debug tooltips are enabled
 * Performance
 * All dimensions are now stored differently, increasing performance
 * Rendering
 * Only transparent blocks will now render as transparent (eliminates the use of x-ray texture packs)
 * Minecraft Realms
 * Minecraft Realms button only shows if any Realms you own / are invited to are the same version you are playing (If all Realms are outdated, the button hides itself.)
 * Sneaking
 * When not holding anything in the hand, sneaking appears to make the hand move to the right. When the sneak key is released, the hand moves to the front again
 * Item Animation
 * When items are collected, rather than "zooming" into the player's chest, it appears to move to the player's feet instead.
 * Resource packs
 * Block models in resource packs can now be customized
 * Replaces the files in /assets/minecraft/models/
 * Block format: UV has to be [0,1] (Textures cannot "borrowed" from neighbouring block textures), planes need to have 1 axis 'identical' (so aligned to either x,y,z), plane rotation can only be -45/45 on a single axis, from/to and uv coordinates are in 'pixelspace' (multiples of 1/16th of a block)
 * Resource packs can now be bundled with a world, put it in the map save directory and name it "resources.zip"
 * Example:
 * Splash
 * "OpenGL 1.2!" changed to "OpenGL 2.1 (if supported)!"
 * GUI code
 * Improvements to allow for "cooler things"

Gameplay

 * Enchanting
 * Enchanting will now cost 1 to 3 levels, but you still need the same minimum total levels
 * For example, an enchantment may only become available for enchanting after reaching 13 levels of experience, but will only cost 2 XP levels and 2 of a resource.
 * Additionally, there is now a material cost - enchanting also costs 1 to 3 pieces of lapis lazuli now
 * The actual enchantment calculation is the same
 * One of the enchantments will be displayed in the tooltip
 * The enchantments you would get on a tool will not change until you enchant something - this enchantment seed is stored per player
 * Leveling up now takes longer
 * Level V enchants can now appear on an item without the use of an anvil
 * Looting now gives an extra 1% chance of getting rare loot per level
 * Villager Trading
 * Rebalanced villager trades, see Trading.
 * Offers will be less random and probably more useful
 * Villagers start out with 2-4 trades unlocked
 * Trades are now unlocked more freely
 * Trading any offer will unlock up to 3 new trades or reactivate old ones
 * Existing villagers will not be affected
 * Trading now gives experience
 * Villagers no longer trade Flint and Steel.
 * There are now more villager professions
 * White robe: Librarian
 * Purple robe: Cleric
 * Brown robe: Fisherman, Farmer, Fletcher, Shepherd
 * White apron: Butcher, Leatherworker
 * Black apron: Armorer, Tool Smith, Weapon Smith
 * Villager profession is now displayed in trade GUI
 * The disabled trade arrow now appears without closing and reopening the trading GUI, and now has a descriptive tooltip
 * Anvil repairing
 * Costs reduced to balance out with the new enchanting system
 * Renaming items will now only cost 1 level
 * Repairing will costs from 2 to 5 levels and tools can be repaired longer and with better enchantments
 * Repairing costs can no longer be kept down by renaming items
 * Adventure mode
 * Block hitboxes no longer appear in Adventure mode if interaction with the block is impossible
 * Block interaction is now impossible by default
 * The CanDestroy NBT tag can be used to determine which blocks can be allowed to be broken (see above for usage)
 * Commands
 * Can now be used to clear only a specific number of items and can be restricted to certain NBT data
 * Example: will remove up to 34 villager spawn eggs named Michael from yourself
 * Can now test for partial matches of NBT lists
 * Can now also specify whether particles are to be shown:
 * Usage:
 * Use 'true' to hide particles and 'false' to show; if value not given, defaults to false
 * Can now be followed by an @e entity parameter
 * Example:
 * Now lists all entity using @e.
 * Example:  will list all the entity's in your world within a 500 block radius.
 * A new tag called "insertion" allows text to be inserted into the chat that, when shift-clicked, will insert more text into the players' chat input
 * Example:
 * Can now insert values from scoreboards into messages
 * Example:
 * Can now also check for dataTags
 * Example:
 * No longer is exclusively usable in command blocks
 * Can now check for inventory specific items
 * Example:
 * Can now test for partial matches of NBT lists
 * Now supports rotation arguments
 * Example: teleports the player so that he faces 20 degrees to the right and 40 degrees downwards
 * Target Selectors
 * Now supports cubic areas
 * Example:  gets all entities between 0,0,0 and 10,10,10
 * New radius value usable in target selectors, based on the block centre
 * A radius of 0 works for exact block positions
 * New selector parameters for entity selectors to detect entity rotations with rxm – x rot min, rx – x rot max, rym – y rot min, ry . y rot max
 * Example:
 * NBT Tags
 * Can now be set to -32768 for items that never despawn
 * Teleporting
 * Relative teleporting is smoother and no longer brings players to a stop; it preserves their velocity from before the teleport
 * Item tooltips
 * Now show the internal name for use in commands (F3+H mode)
 * Village mechanics
 * Doors are now added to the closest village
 * This will not break iron farms, but change them a little, enough to make them "practically pointless"
 * Creative mode
 * In creative mode, players can create a copy of a block entity in their hotbar, including all NBT data, with ctrl+Pick Block key (ctrl+middle mouse button by default)
 * Inventory system
 * Rewrote the inventory system
 * Fixes some bugs, improves performance and allows easier improvements
 * Allows custom NBT that isn't handled by the game to be added onto items
 * Custom tags will remain even if the items NBT is changed in-game. (i.e. by renaming)
 * Player list
 * Improved the health objective display on the player list
 * Will fall back to textual display if space is scarce, with colors (green/yellow/red) to show different health levels
 * Additional health will squash the display together to fit
 * Inventory system
 * Rewrote the inventory system
 * Fixes some bugs, improves performance and allows easier improvements
 * Allows custom NBT that isn't handled by the game to be added onto items
 * Custom tags will remain even if the items NBT is changed in-game. (i.e. by renaming)
 * Player list
 * Improved the health objective display on the player list
 * Will fall back to textual display if space is scarce, with colors (green/yellow/red) to show different health levels
 * Additional health will squash the display together to fit

World Generation

 * Villages
 * Gravel roads in villages have cobblestone underneath, to prevent them from collapsing into caves
 * Desert Temples
 * Now spawn with stained clay rather than wool
 * Strongholds
 * Generate in a different location (by seed) than in previous versions and have an altered layout

Blocks and Items

 * Chiseled Stone Bricks
 * Now craftable from two stone brick slabs on top of each other
 * Moss Stone
 * Now craftable from one cobblestone and one vine
 * Mossy Stone Bricks
 * Now craftable from one stone brick and one vine
 * Doors
 * Stackable up to 64
 * The crafting recipe for doors now gives 3 doors instead of one
 * Furnaces
 * When a furnace runs out of fuel, the smelting progress will rewind at 2x speed
 * Carrots
 * Restore 3 hunger points instead of 4
 * Baked Potatoes
 * Restore 5 hunger points instead of 6
 * Mob heads
 * Player heads now show the skin's hat layer
 * Buttons
 * Can now be placed on ceiling and on the ground
 * Redstone Comparators
 * Can now detect what way an item frame is rotated
 * Item Frames
 * Items in item frames can now face eight different directions
 * As long as the frame remains placed, it remembers the orientation of the last item it held, and uses it for the next item it holds
 * Item frames can give off a signal detected by comparators, based on the direction the item is facing
 * Signal strength is as follows: 0: empty; 1: item; 2: item rotated once; 3: item rotated twice; ...; 8: item rotated 7 times
 * Dispensers
 * Can now place pumpkins or Wither Skeleton Skulls to spawn golems and withers respectively
 * Will only place them if the body of the golem or wither is already built
 * Can now place command blocks with pre-configured commands, rather than dispensing it
 * Dead Bushes & Saplings
 * Are now flammable
 * Written Books
 * Copying written books will now mark them as copies/copies of copies
 * The copying status of a book (ie. original, copy of original or copy of a copy) is denoted in a separate line in the tooltip, beneath the author's name
 * Copies of copies can not be copied
 * Activator Rails
 * Powered activator rails will now shake minecarts, causing riders (players and entities) to dismount
 * Torches and Redstone Torches
 * Torches and redstone torches placed on walls now have an angled top side
 * '''Blaze Rods
 * Are now held similarly to tools
 * Command blocks
 * Now show the entity (@e) parameter
 * End Portal
 * Inventory image is now the Missing Texture block instead of the Nether Portal.
 * Trapdoors
 * Trapdoors are now called "Wooden Trapdoor"

Mobs

 * All mobs
 * Updated to the new AI
 * Villagers
 * When struck by lightning, villagers turn into witches
 * Villagers will now only breed when willing
 * The first time a specific trade is done, the villager will become willing, any other time there's a 1 in 5 chance the villager will become willing
 * When a baby villager is born, both parents lose their willingness
 * Villagers become willing to breed by consuming food: 3 bread or 12 potatoes or 12 carrots
 * Finding out a villager's willingness in survival is difficult: The only tell is the amount of xp they give when trading; Normal trading yields 3-6 experience points, trading and making a villager willing yields 8-11 experience points
 * Changes to villager AI
 * Villagers will now harvest, collect and replant grown potatoes, wheat and carrots
 * Villagers will craft wheat into bread
 * Villagers will share food with fellow villagers
 * Baby animals (sheep, pig, cow, chicken, cat, dog, horse)
 * Baby animal growth can now slowly be accelerated using the animal's breeding item
 * It appears holding the right mouse button speeds up this process
 * Iron Golems
 * Have much greater natural spawn rates in villages
 * Now attack the player as soon as he is attacking the golem in survival
 * Slimes and Magma Cubes
 * Now swim as a result of the update to the new AI
 * Randomly change direction every so often, reducing the chance of them getting stuck at walls or corners
 * Slimes will now randomly despawn over time if no player is within a 32 meter range
 * Zombie Pigmen
 * Angry zombie pigmen now pathfind as a result of the update to the new AI
 * Endermen
 * Endermen now pathfind as a result of the update to the new AI
 * Spiders and Cave Spiders
 * They no longer can draw line of sight through opaque blocks
 * Blazes
 * Blazes will now shoot the player even if there are solid blocks between them
 * Giants
 * Armor on Giants is now rendered

== Fixes ==

68 bugs fixed
 * – Disabled Trades options Remain in the Trade GUI, and are not Replaced-- Even when there are No other Trade Offers.
 * – /difficulty command doesn't change the default difficulty in the ESC menu (singleplayer)
 * – Ladder, Sign, Fence, Gate, Trapdoor causes block it is placed in to darken
 * – Can see the water lighter in a certain position
 * – Ghost Items from Trading with SHIFT-click
 * – Ghost End Portal in The End / Missing layer with AMD/ATI graphics cards
 * – X-Ray by standing inside TNT/Glowstone/Block of Redstone/Leaves (fast)
 * – Skullowner is lost when "picking" the skull in creative
 * – Players can place and remove arbitrary blocks in Adventure mode, breaking pre-1.4.2 maps
 * – Unbreakable blocks in adventure mode: Hay Block, TNT, Silverfish, Piston, Cactus, Bed, Fire, Sponge
 * – Adventure Mode breaking transparent blocks
 * – Black (squares?) on 3rd person view
 * – java.lang.NullPointerException: Exception ticking world (at ml.c(SourceFile:199)) (Corrupted Nether chunks)
 * – Player hitboxes in debug mode are rendered too high
 * – Endermen don't teleport when battling other mobs up close
 * – Sheep spawn eggs have wrong texture when thrown on the ground (fast graphics)
 * – Shadow on the block above your head
 * – Villagers offer Enchanted Book trades you can't possibly do
 * – Texture of burning Furnace(ID62) shows no face in Inventory.
 * – Items are not centred correctly within frames
 * – Player hitbox is rendered in inventory
 * – "kill" command still doesn't work from multiplayer server console
 * – Whole-word selection behaves erratically in chat
 * – The command block will detect players who are dead, but have not yet hit re spawn.
 * – The game crashes when trading with villagers
 * – Random destination routine has a small statistical tendency to move more north west (fix included)
 * – Angry Zombie Pigmen usually won't jump over 1-high transparent blocks to get to enemies.
 * – Clicking hotbar hotkey (1-9) to move a stack of items / blocks to enchanting table deletes all but one of a stack
 * – Spawner shows activity when eyes pos in range, but actually only produces mobs when feet pos in range
 * – Difficulty settings from one single player world carry over into others.
 * – Teleporting using commands resets the velocity
 * – Pumpkin texture flips when made into snowman
 * – "Give" Command throws ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException on high Item ID values
 * – Breaking stairs graphical glitch
 * – New AI mobs see through invisibility
 * – Dead bushes and Saplings do not burn
 * – Plants don't cause an update when the block beneath is broken/light level changed
 * – You can place block inside yourself by placing blocks next to fences
 * – Withers are harmed by the explosions of their Wither Skulls
 * – Mouse is centered when going to previous menu with ESC
 * – Entities do not despawn when you're dead.
 * – Hopper: java.lang.NullPointerException - Invalid Biome id
 * – Hopper: java.lang.NullPointerException: Getting biome
 * – /setblock replace doesn't replace same block with different tile entity / NBT data
 * – Furnace Progress Remains After Changing Ingredient
 * – tellraw translate on string with arguments without a with argument crashes server.
 * – Lava fizz sound plays whenever a flowing lava block destroys an air block
 * – Attribute "followRange" Not Working Thoroughly
 * – "Data tag parsing failed: Unbalanced quotation" when parsing strings with semicolons.
 * – stat.leaveGame does not increment when game is closed
 * – /setworldspawn does not update compass
 * – No Colon after Game Mode in World Options
 * – /weather clear doesn't clear weather for anywhere near the amount given
 * – Hopper: java.lang.NullPointerException: Exception generating new chunk
 * – server-icon.png alpha channel display
 * – Maps framed on east or west sides of blocks are darker than north or south sides
 * – Joining Realms World "Cancel" Button Mis-Placed
 * – walkOneCm stat doesn't accurately measure distance
 * – Zombies kill villagers instead of transform them (HARD difficulty)
 * – MAJOR texture/rendering glitch
 * – Game Crashes when Ender Crystal is stacked on top of Horse
 * – Water (texture?) bug!
 * – Chicken Jockeys causing lag on Multiplayer servers
 * – Not able to pick up item if given to a dead player
 * – Block IDs that don't exist as an item crash Superflat customisation GUI.
 * – Unable to load Twitch libraries
 * – Command Block Custom Radius
 * – Bold text is not correctly (right/center) aligned (invalid string length)