Java Edition 15w31a

15w31a is the first snapshot released for 1.9, and the first snapshot released in 2015 (not counting 15w14a, which is an April Fool's hoax snapshot).

This version was removed from the launcher for quite a bit, then it was added back in September 2018.

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 visually 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.
 * Can be used with NBT tag parameters ( or )
 * GUI is only used by Mojang employees
 * Has a letter on the texture based on its mode.

Items

 * Arrows
 * New spectral arrow:
 * The tip is gold colored, but just in the item model.
 * Shows mob and player outlines in their respective team color when hit – even when invisible.
 * NBT tag for entities to disable outlines. [Tag?] (please add corresponding tag here)
 * 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.
 * Corresponding effect is applied on hit.
 * 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 or shulker).
 * 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.

Mobs

 * Mobs have a 5% chance to spawn left-handed, through the new  boolean tag.
 * Mobs able to hold items, will hold them according to their dominant hand.
 * Shulker
 * Short for "Shell Lurker".
 * A hostile mob with the appearance of a 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.
 * The projectiles chase the player until it's 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 upon.
 * It even displaces the player properly during its attacking and idle animations.

World generation

 * 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.
 * Generates with shulkers in it.
 * End ship
 * It sometimes generates up in the air, right next to the end city dungeon.
 * It always generates sailing 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 speed beacon, a brewing stand with potions of healing, and other various loot.
 * Chorus trees
 * Tree-like arrangements of the new chorus plant and chorus flower blocks.
 * Generate on the outer end islands
 * 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.
 * 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 plants.
 * 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 ender pearls at it, or by riding pigs, boats or minecarts.
 * The player will be teleported to somewhere on the outer end islands.
 * The final location of the player depends on what angle they entered or at what angle the enderpearl was thrown at.
 * One gateway is created for each dragon kill.
 * Up to 20 are possible this way.
 * Gateways spawn in a radius around the end portal.
 * Another gateway is created every time the player teleports to a new location.
 * the created gateway is linked to the original so the player has a way back.

Gameplay

 * Dominant hand option
 * An option for players to change their dominant hand on their player model.
 * Under "Skin Customization".
 * Changes the orientation of the offhand slot in the hotbar (left often suits right-hand players better and vice versa).
 * 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 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 also available in the inventory screen.
 * Only the main hand can be used for attacking.
 * Even bows can't be used in the offhand.
 * Bows can be used when something else is in the offhand.
 * Arrows in the offhand take priority over arrows in the rest of the inventory slots.
 * 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, seen even through non-transparent blocks.
 * The outline includes the models of the currently held items.
 * 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

 * NBT tags
 * Added tags,  ,  , and   to.
 * Added tags  and   to.
 * Added tag  to.
 * Added tag  to.
 * Added tag  to
 * Added entity, child of.
 * Added entity, child of.
 * Added entity, which extends   and has no unique tags.
 * Added entities  and , children of.
 * Added block, child of.
 * Added block, child of.
 * Added item tag, child of.

Blocks

 * Dead bushes
 * Will now drop anywhere between 0–2 sticks when broken without shears.
 * 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.
 * An open trapdoor may be climbed like a ladder if it is directly above one and on the same side of the block.
 * 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 the default.
 * Doors
 * Changed the shading on acacia, birch, dark oak and jungle doors.

Items

 * Bows
 * The bow in the hotbar now shows an animation for drawing back an arrow.
 * Arrows in the off hand are prioritized over arrows in the rest of the inventory slots.
 * Chests
 * Unlike other blocks: chests, trapped chests and ender chests have their item model rotated, to have the front face in view of the player.
 * This made it easier to distinguish between trapped and regular chests while being held, since only their front face is different.
 * 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 offhand slot is occupied.
 * The (old) large version is visible only 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 potion of Weakness were removed; only brewing from a water bottle remains.
 * Potion of Slowness can no longer be brewed from a potion of Fire Resistance.
 * Potion of Harming             can no longer be brewed from a potion of Water Breathing.

Mobs

 * Ender dragon
 * Similar to the one on console edition.
 * The dragon can be re-spawned indefinitely by creating a creeper face configuration out of clay in the End.
 * Subsequent dragons will spawn new gateways, but won't drop XP or create new dragon eggs.
 * The dragon AI and attacks has been changed:
 * Breathes fire/purple particles on players and mobs, while on top of the portal.
 * Drops fireballs on top of the player.
 * Defends the obsidian pillars more, the further the fight progresses.
 * The dragon flies and stops over the portal sometimes, only then can the last blow be dealt.
 * Villagers
 * Farmer villagers now harvest beetroot.
 * Skeletons
 * Have an animation for lifting up and drawing back their bow.
 * 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 seeds, pumpkin seeds, and beetroot seeds, in addition to regular seeds.

Non-mob entities

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

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 to deflect projectiles.
 * The exit portal is pre-generated at the center of the island, but without the dragon egg and portal blocks.
 * Now generates an great 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 have chorus trees spread throughout them.
 * The Nether
 * Removed the Nether fog.
 * Villages
 * Farms now include beetroot crops.

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 effects 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.
 * Crosshair
 * No longer shows the crosshair in 3rd person view.

Command format

 * NBT tags
 * Tag  (under  ) has become deprecated.
 * Tag  (under  ) has become deprecated.

General

 * Options
 * Removed the Broadcast Settings section, as well as Twitch integration as a whole.
 * Removed Super Secret Settings and Alternate Blocks from video settings.
 * Attributes
 * 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.
 * Bosses
 * Proper support for multiple bosses’ health bars, so they show at the same time without obstructing each other.
 * Damage tooltips
 * Items can damage differently based on where they are placed to (main hand, offhand, armor slots).
 * Death messages
 * Death messages will now be displayed on the player's death screen as well as in the chat.
 * 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.
 * UV is now optional, and if not supplied it will automatically generate based on the element's position.
 * Resource packs
 * The required pack version number was changed to "2" in.
 * Older resource packs require user acknowledgment to use.
 * Structure data
 * Now comes from.

Video
Video made by slicedlime:

Trivia

 * Before 18w43a, 15w31a holds the record as having the most content in one developmental release, having nearly twice as much content as 1.4.2 had in October 2012.
 * The previous record was held by 13w36a for 1.7.2.