Java Edition 1.9

, the first release of the Combat Update, is an upcoming major update to Minecraft with no set release date. Dinnerbone has stated that many of the features he has shown for 1.9 are not “100% final”, so things may change later.

General

 * World selection screen
 * Worlds now display the version they were last played in or "unknown" if the version was older than snapshot 15w32a.
 * The version number will display in red if it has been played in a newer version before.
 * Now displays a thumbnail per world, showing a glimpse of the world (it takes a screenshot when you have just created or opened it for the first time in the 15w32b snapshot or higher).
 * When the world hasn't been opened in snapshot 15w32b or before, or if the game couldn't make a screenshot thumbnail, there will be a gray-scale image.
 * The thumbnail will be saved in the world folder under  with the name "icon.png".
 * This allows the player to modify it easily and safely.
 * An exclamation mark will appear on top of the thumbnail, indicating that the world has not been played in the current snapshot yet.
 * It displays a message when hovered over: "Don't forget to backup this world before you load it in this snapshot."
 * It will also warn if a world was played in a newer version of minecraft, telling the player that the world may corrupt if they open it in an older version.
 * The player can now click the play arrow on the thumbnail to open the world, just like the server list.
 * Dominant hand option
 * An option for players to change their dominant hand on their player model.
 * A toggle under "Skin Customization".
 * Also changes the orientation of the offhand slot in the hotbar (left for right-hand players and vice versa).
 * Inventory
 * Added the new offhand slot to many of the GUIs.
 * It is distinguished by an outline of a shield like symbol.
 * Statistics
 * Tracks the amount of ticks the player has held the key, regardless if the player was moving.
 * Tracks the amount of ticks the player has held the key, regardless if the player was moving.

Gameplay

 * Dual wielding
 * Players can now use both hands at the same time to do different actions with the left and right mouse buttons.
 * For example, if a player has a pickaxe in his/her main hand and a torch in their other hand, right clicking will place the torch.
 * This happens because because a pickaxe lacks a right click use, and therefore the game tries to then treat the other item as if it's being right clicked.
 * The player cannot click both buttons at the same time.
 * This is achieved through an extra inventory slot called the "offhand" slot.
 * Pressing (by default) will switch whatever item is selected in the hotbar with the item in the offhand (including no item).
 * The offhand slot is displayed next to the hotbar when it's not empty (left for right-hand players and vice versa).
 * It's available on the main inventory screen.
 * It is distinguished by an outline of a shield like symbol.
 * Only the main hand can be used for attacking.
 * Even bows can't be used while in the offhand.
 * Bows can be used when something else is in the offhand.
 * Arrows in the offhand take priority over arrows in any other slot.
 * The offhand model is invisible in first person view while it's empty.
 * Some attributes and enchantments will apply to the offhand item, while others will not.
 * Status effects
 * Received when the player is hit by shulker projectiles.
 * Makes player involuntarily float high into the air.
 * Can be used to get to higher places.
 * Listed as a negative effect due to the potential to kill from fall damage.
 * Higher levels of levitation result in faster floating, except for the last two:
 * Effect level 255 does nothing.
 * Effect level 254 results in slow fall (similar to lunar gravity).
 * Received when players or mobs are hit by spectral arrows.
 * Makes player's outline glow, even through non-transparent blocks.
 * The outline includes the models of the currently held items and worn armor.
 * Listed as a negative effect because it prevents players from hiding from other players.
 * It becomes colored differently if the player is part of a team to match its team color.
 * Listed as a negative effect because it prevents players from hiding from other players.
 * It becomes colored differently if the player is part of a team to match its team color.

Command format

 * Scoreboard
 * Added
 * The player can add and remove tags for any entity based on NBT tags of that entity/player.
 * For example  will add the tag "test" to all players that are in the air.
 * Tags can be accessed by using the parameters after the selector;  will give 1 stone to all players that have the tag "test".
 * The player can use  to see what tags are on an entity.
 * Tags are stored in the  file as strings, not in the scoreboard files.
 * This means that any tag the player binds has to be bound to an existing online player or an existing entity.
 * Unlike objectives, tags cannot be displayed anywhere on the HUD or inventory.
 * Only via the list subcommand can the player see which tags an entity has on the chat.
 * Added three new objective types: XP, hunger and oxygen.
 * "xp" can be used to track the players exact XP level, without any intermediate steps.
 * "food" can be used to track the hunger level of the player (ranges from 0 to 20).
 * "air" can be used to see how long the player has been underwater.
 * Starts at 300 (out of water) and then decreases 1 per tick as long as the player´s head is underwater (resets when the player gets out of the water).
 * The water breathing status effect freezes the timer and the respiration enchantment slows down the countdown from 300, each time more with each level.
 * NBT tags
 * Used to specify the armor worn and items held by specific mobs respectively.
 * Used to specify the dropping chances of worn armor and held items of specific mobs respectively.
 * Controls whether or not an entity is affected by the new glowing status effect.
 * Boolean tag that controls the dominant hand of mobs.
 * Set to "0" for right handed mobs and "1" for left handed mobs.
 * Controls whether or not an entity is affected by the new glowing status effect.
 * Boolean tag that controls the dominant hand of mobs.
 * Set to "0" for right handed mobs and "1" for left handed mobs.
 * Set to "0" for right handed mobs and "1" for left handed mobs.

World generation

 * The End
 * Generates an infinite amount of islands in every direction from the main island, though separated from it in all directions by an empty gap of about 1,000 blocks.
 * Mini islands generate between the center and main islands.
 * End islands and mini end islands (except for the main one) will have chorus trees spread throughout them.
 * End City
 * Generates on the new outer end islands.
 * Dungeon-type structure fashioned like a branching tower made of endstone and many of the new blocks.
 * Resembles a tree house.
 * Contains loot inside of chests.
 * Generates with shulkers in it.
 * End ship
 * It sometimes generates up in the air next to the end city dungeon.
 * It always appears to sail away from what appears to be a pier.
 * Composed of many of the same materials as the End City
 * Generates with shulkers in it.
 * Has a pumpkin, a dragon head, a brewing stand with potions of healing and other various loot.
 * Chorus trees
 * Generate on the outer islands of the End.
 * Tree-like arrangements of the new chorus plant and chorus flower blocks.
 * The whole structure is destroyed when the bottom-most block is destroyed, like cacti.
 * Can be farmed by planting the chorus fruit flowers that come from the top of the plants, on top of endstone.
 * Unlike cacti, chorus plants do not require the supporting block to be below it, but rather adjacent.
 * This allows the structure to grow around obstacles, like other chorus trees.
 * End Gateway Portal
 * A small structure consisting of an end gateway block and two little bulbs of bedrock, at both the bottom and the top.
 * It is an alternative way of traveling to the outer end islands without having to build or fly all the way over there.
 * Since the bulbs of bedrock only leave a one block slit on the horizontal plane, it is only accessible by throwing enderpearls at it, or by riding pigs, boats or minecarts.
 * The player will get teleported to somewhere on the outer end islands.
 * The final location of the player depends on what angle the player entered or at what angle the enderpearl was thrown at.
 * One of them is created for each dragon kill.
 * Up to 20 are possible this way.
 * Placed in a radius around the end portal.
 * Another one is also created everytime the player uses it to teleport to a new location.
 * So both gateways are linked, and the player has a way back.

Blocks

 * Chorus flower
 * Spawn on the top of the chorus trees.
 * Breaks if the supporting block below is broken.
 * It only drops when mined directly.
 * Can only be planted on end stone in any dimension.
 * It will show a different texture when it stops growing.
 * Chorus plant
 * Generate in the End.
 * Can be grown using chorus flowers.
 * Breaks in quick succession if the supporting chorus plant below is broken.
 * Drops chorus fruit.
 * Dragon head
 * While a player wears the head and moves, the head's mouth opens and closes repeatedly.
 * When powered with redstone while it's placed on solid block, the jaw starts to open and close.
 * It will keep the mouth position of the exact moment it was unpowered.
 * End Gateway
 * A portal block used to transport the player to the new outer regions of the end.
 * The texture is identical to the end portal block, but the model is that of a full block rather than plane.
 * The player cannot use or  to obtain it.
 * It can only be set by using.
 * Naturally generates after killing the dragon and traveling someplace new in the End with it.
 * Shows yellow beacon beam when created and used.
 * End rod
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Placeable horizontally and vertically.
 * The model has a little base that is oriented against the block it was placed on.
 * If it's placed on top of another rod, then it will have the opposite orientation.
 * Produces white particles.
 * Used as a lighting source with the same efficacy as torches.
 * Unlike torches, they are tangible.
 * Horizontal end rods can be stepped up onto like slabs.
 * End stone brick
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with 4 blocks of end stone.
 * Grass path
 * Are 15/16 block high
 * Obtainable by right-clicking grass with a shovel.
 * Drains the shovel's durability.
 * Drops dirt, even when using silk touch.
 * Cannot be obtained in the creative inventory.
 * But unlike farmland, it can be obtained by using the key in creative.
 * Purpur block
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with popped chorus fruit.
 * Purpur pillar
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur slabs.
 * Purpur stairs
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
 * Purpur slab
 * Generates in the End city dungeons.
 * Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
 * Structure block
 * Only placable via, but unusable.
 * It has an "S" on the texture.
 * It has different modes.

Items

 * Arrows
 * New spectral arrow:
 * The tip is gold colored in both the item and the entity model.
 * Shows mob and player outlines in their respective team color when hit (even when invisible).
 * NBT tag for entities to disable outlines:.
 * NBT tag to force outline:.
 * The glowing is a status effect.
 * Crafted by surrounding an arrow with 4 glowstone dust.
 * Yields 2 spectral arrows.
 * Arrows can be tipped with potions.
 * 14 new arrow types in total.
 * Each differently tipped arrow is available in the creative menu, just like enchanted books or potions.
 * Except for the "splashing arrow" that corresponds to the new water splash potion.
 * Corresponding status effect is applied upon impact to mobs and players.
 * Beetroot
 * Restores.
 * Spawns naturally in villages.
 * Can be used to craft beetroot soup.
 * Can also be used to craft rose red dye.
 * Beetroot soup
 * Restores.
 * Crafted from 6 beetroots and a bowl.
 * Beetroot seeds
 * Used to grow beetroots.
 * Chorus fruit
 * Obtained from chorus plants.
 * Can be eaten even if the player is not hungry, similar to golden apples.
 * Teleports the player to a random nearby location when eaten (like an enderman).
 * Does not heal hunger points if the hunger bar is full.
 * Otherwise it will heal.
 * Can be cooked in the furnace to obtain Popped Chorus Fruits.
 * Popped chorus fruit
 * Obtained from cooking chorus fruit.
 * Used to craft purpur blocks.
 * Cannot be eaten.
 * Shulker spawn egg
 * Used to spawn a shulker.
 * Purple with darker purple spots.
 * Water splash potion
 * It extinguishes any fire block that it's thrown at.

Mobs

 * Shulker
 * Short for "Shell Lurker".
 * A hostile mob with the appearance and some behavior of a solid purple block.
 * Only spawns on the ground or at the walls of end cities when they first generate.
 * When attacking, it opens its shell on a spinning animation revealing the creature inhabiting.
 * The creature looks a like a little white cube with big eyes.
 * Its attack consists in shooting projectiles.
 * They look like white sea urchins.
 * The projectiles chase the player until the player is out of range.
 * They can only move along one of the three grid axes at a time and on integer steps.
 * This means they can only move through taxicab geometry.
 * Projectiles can be knocked away by attacking them.
 * Getting hit by a projectile causes 2 hearts of damage and inflicts the levitation status effect.
 * They take more damage while their shell is open.
 * It has an idle animation where it opens its shells a little to peak through.
 * It can be pushed by pistons and resists being placed on any position that isn't 3 integers (except if they are on minecarts).
 * It can teleport like an enderman.
 * It sometimes does this while being attacked or placed in unusual circumstances:
 * Removing its support block.
 * Pushing it into a non-air block (except piston heads).
 * Pushing a non-air block into its position (except piston heads).
 * It's one of the few entities (apart from boats and minecarts) that can be stood on.
 * It even displaces the player properly during its attacking and idle animations.

Non-mob entities

 * Dragon breath
 * Shot by the ender dragon at the player as an attack.
 * Leaves a trail of purple particles.

General

 * Options
 * Removed the Broadcast Settings section.
 * Removed Super Secret Settings and Alternate Blocks from video settings.
 * Bosses
 * Proper support for multiple bosses’ health bars, so they show at the same time without obstructing each other.
 * Damage tooltips
 * Now read "When in main hand:"
 * Death messages
 * Death messages will now be displayed on the player's death screen as well as in the chat.
 * Resource packs
 * The required pack version number was changed to "2" in.
 * Older resource packs require user acknowledgment to use.
 * Models
 * Different models/textures can be used for each different damage values, item states, and whether the item is held in a different hand.
 * This works on compasses, clocks, and anything that can have a durability bar.
 * It also contains additional tags for bows and fishing rods.
 * Models can be put together based on block state attributes, such as fences.
 * As a result, the vanilla set of block models was reduced by almost 300.
 * Block model JSON is now strict: comments and quote-less identifiers are not allowed.
 * tag defaults have changed, and the  and   tags were replaced with ,  ,  , and.
 * and  tags can coexist now, though the top level elements tag overwrites all former ones.
 * Structure data
 * Now comes from.
 * Particles
 * Are no longer entities.
 * This will reduce memory usage to increase performance.

Gameplay

 * Inventory
 * Rearranged the survival inventory and the creative "survival tab" to accommodate for the new offhand slot.
 * Unified the orientation of many items in the inventory.
 * Status effects
 * Status effect icons are now displayed on the HUD on the right hand corner, instead of just in the inventory (similar to Pocket Edition).
 * They are ordered by the time of infliction from right to left.
 * Positive effects are on the top row and negative effects on the bottom row.
 * Effects that are about to run out, blink.
 * They blink faster when they are closer to running out and start fading away.

Command format

 * NBT Tags
 * will make the name tag on mobs show in the same way as on players.
 * Entities can now be summoned straight to teams:.
 * and  tags are no longer used.
 * ,,   and   are used instead.
 * tag can now be applied on entities.
 * can now be applied to spawn eggs.
 * The resulting mob will have all of the tags.
 * Introduced a limit on the amount of tags an entity can have (1024 tags).
 * If it's surpassed, then it displays an error message saying: "Cannot add more than 1024 tags to an entity."

World generation

 * The End
 * A set amount of differently-sized obsidian pillars are arranged in a circular fashion.
 * The tallest pillars have iron bars around their ender crystal.
 * This makes it so that you have to climb some of the pillars, making the fight harder.
 * The exit portal is pre-generated at the center of the main island, but without the dragon egg and portal blocks.
 * The Nether
 * Removed the Nether fog.
 * Villages
 * Farms now include beetroot crops.

Blocks

 * Dead bushes
 * Will now drop anywhere between 0–2 sticks.
 * Fire
 * The block states flip and alt were removed, and the integer state upper was reimplemented as the byte state up.
 * This reduced the number of states representing fire from 3072 to 512.
 * Trapdoors
 * No longer require supporting blocks.
 * Therefore they can be moved by pistons freely.
 * Stairs
 * Are now rotated 90° in the inventory.
 * Pressure Plates
 * Have now a slightly thinner item model.
 * Glass panes & Iron bars
 * Glass panes/iron bars without any connecting blocks are now 2x2 pixels in footprint.
 * This is compared to the big cross configuration that was default.

Items

 * Bows
 * Now shows an animation for drawing back an arrow in the hotbar/inventory.
 * Arrows in the off hand are prioritized over arrows in the rest of the inventory slots.
 * Ender pearls
 * Can now be thrown in creative mode.
 * Maps
 * Now display as a mini map when held in the off hand, or if the off-hand slot is occupied.
 * The (old) large version is only visible when held in the dominant hand with both hands free.
 * Fishing rods
 * Casting fishing rods now has an animation in the hotbar/inventory.
 * Potions
 * Mixed potions' colors now blend.
 * Numeric IDs are no longer used. Instead an NBT "Potion" tag is used.
 * e.g..
 * Splash potions now have a separate data value and ID name and can be created from all potions, including water bottles.
 * Added Mundane, Thick and Awkward potions to the creative inventory.
 * Glowstone dust or redstone can no longer be added to extended or tier-II potions respectively.
 * Most recipes for the Potion of Weakness were removed (see: brewing for all the removed recipes).

Mobs

 * All Mobs
 * Have a 5% chance to spawn left-handed.
 * Mobs able to hold items will hold them according to their dominant hand.
 * Ender dragon
 * Similar to the one on console edition.
 * The dragon can be re-spawned indefinitely many times, by creating a creeper face configuration out of clay in the End.
 * Subsequent dragons will spawn new gateways up to a total of 20, but won't drop XP or create new dragon eggs.
 * No longer takes damage from snowballs, eggs or fishing rods.
 * Its AI and attacks has been changed:
 * The "charge" attack has been given a great amount of knockback.
 * Breathes fire/purple particles (called "ender acid") on players and mobs while on top of the portal.
 * During the attack, it knockbacks and damages all players on all angles in the vicinity.
 * Immediately charges the player right after.
 * Shoots special projectiles at the player called "dragon breath".
 * Defends the obsidian pillars more, the further the fight progresses.
 * Flies back to the portal once it gets killed.
 * Villagers
 * Farmer villagers now harvest beetroot.
 * Skeletons
 * Have an animation for lifting up and drawing back their bow.
 * Mapmakers can make skeletons shoot potion-tipped arrows.
 * Endermen
 * Remain aggravated towards the player despite being in contact with water.
 * Drop the block they were holding when killed.
 * Pigs
 * Can be led and bred with potatoes and beetroots, in addition to carrots.
 * Chickens
 * Can be led and bred with melon, pumpkin, and beetroot seeds, in addition to regular seeds.
 * Creepers, skeletons & zombies
 * Must be closer to notice players wearing the corresponding mob head.
 * Specifically, their detection range is halved.
 * This reduction stacks with the reductions from sneaking and invisibility.
 * Does not apply to wither skeletons.

Non-mob entities

 * Projectiles
 * Slightly altered the path of projectiles.
 * Armor stands
 * Can now be summoned to dual wield with commands.

General

 * Captions/Subtitles
 * Subtitles which display for each sound for the hard of hearing/deaf.
 * An example would be “Creeper hissing”.
 * Would have "<" or ">" to point in the direction this sound is coming from.

Gameplay

 * Brewing
 * Possibly new potions.
 * Enchanting
 * Possibly new enchantments.

Command format

 * NBT tags
 * New tag to control the duration of the cloud resulting from splash potions.

Blocks

 * New block type
 * It is uncertain if he was referring to an already added block.

Items

 * Shields
 * Will be used for blocking instead of a sword.
 * Can be used to allow attacking and defending at the same time.
 * Shields can be crafted with a banner to add custom patterns.
 * Used to block attacks from the side the shield is held on.
 * Sounds will be played for when you blocked an attack.

Non-mob entities

 * Craftable ender crystals
 * A version of the ender crystal that can be crafted, which spawns another dragon when placed.

General

 * Statistics
 * Two new columns for the statistics screen
 * New statistics: stat.pickup and stat.drop
 * Animations/Entity models
 * Might include model changes within the NBT data or new animations for default.
 * Would be implemented via resource packs.
 * Will make better use of code so that map makers can create better/new mobs.
 * Similar to the block data changes in 1.8.

Command format

 * Commands
 * will be able to rotate and mirror structures.

Blocks

 * Command blocks
 * Will have a new UI.
 * Will support tab to complete.
 * End gateway block
 * New rendering

Items

 * Swords
 * Can no longer be used for blocking.

Mobs

 * Hostile mobs
 * Will now have different animations to show that they are attacking, like the skeleton.

Non-mob Entities

 * Splash Potions
 * A cloud will remain for a while where the potion was thrown.
 * During this, any entity that walks through it will be affected.
 * Data tags will be able to control the cloud duration.
 * Something for throwing potions without hitting yourself.

Trivia

 * This is now the longest wait for a major update to Minecraft, with 3616 days days now having elapsed since the release of 1.8 on September 2, 2014.
 * Until this point, the longest waits had been those between 1.7.2 and 1.8 (312 days), and between 1.2.1 and 1.3.1 (153 days).
 * This has also been the longest span of time between the release of a major update to Minecraft and a snapshot for the next major update, with 330 days having elapsed between the release of 1.8 on September 2, 2014, and 15w31a on July 29, 2015.
 * Until this point, the longest waits had been those between 1.7.2 and 14w02a (76 days), between 1.4.2 and 13w01a (70 days), and between 1.6.1 and 13w36a (66 days).