Java Edition 16w39a

16w39a is the seventh snapshot released for 1.11.

This version was previously removed from the launcher for some time, but was added back in September 2018.

Blocks

 * Observer
 * Ported from the Pocket and Windows 10 editions.
 * May have slight behavior differences due to how redstone works in the Java Edition compared to Pocket and Windows 10 Edition.
 * Outputs a redstone signal when it detects a block update.
 * Normal BUDs still remain.


 * Shulker Box
 * Crafted in a crafting table as a single column, with a chest in the middle row and a shulker shell both above and below the chest.
 * In this snapshot, there is a bug that makes the player unable to craft it in the right and left columns.
 * Works similar to a chest, but keeps its content when broken.
 * If it has any content inside, it will drop itself in Creative mode as well.
 * Cannot be placed inside another shulker box.
 * When hovered over in the inventory, it will show up to 5 slots of its content.
 * Breaks when being pushed by a piston.
 * Uses the same opening and closing animations as the shulker.
 * Can be placed on different sides of a block to open in different directions.
 * When opening, its hitbox changes from 1 block to 1.5 blocks in its opening direction.
 * Because of this, it will not open if there is a block of any kind within the closest half-block area in its opening direction.
 * Can be dyed in any of the available dye colors.
 * Dyed shulker boxes have a slightly darker bottom part than the normal one.
 * In this snapshot, there is a bug with obtaining the dyed versions, so currently it is only possible to get them through Creative or commands.
 * Dispensers will place the block on the ground.
 * Can be mined with anything, but is mined faster with a pickaxe.

Items

 * Spawn eggs
 * Llama
 * Evoker
 * Vex
 * Vindicator


 * Shulker Shell
 * Has a 50% chance of being dropped by a shulker upon death.
 * Crafted together with a chest in a column to make shulker boxes.


 * Totem of Undying
 * Evokers will always drop one of these upon death.
 * Holding it in either hand when you die will activate it and save your life.
 * Gives you the Absorption and Regeneration effects when activated.
 * Does not prevent death by or the Void.
 * Has an animation when activated, which uses the item's texture and model.


 * Explorer Map
 * Can only be obtained from cartographer villagers.
 * Used to locate ocean monuments and the new woodland mansions.
 * Ocean explorer maps are slightly blue, while woodland explorer maps are slightly brown.
 * Works like a map, but shows the outlines of land and a single structure icon.
 * Fills in the map with blocks once you start exploring the area shown.
 * When resized, it will still show the structure icon, but will lose the outlines.
 * When outside the area on the map, the player icon will be smaller the further away you are.
 * When 1024 blocks away from the structure, the dot will go from a small icon to a bigger one.

Mobs

 * Llama
 * Spawns in Extreme Hills.
 * Drops leather.
 * Has multiple skins, like cats and horses.
 * Attacks by spitting.
 * If you hit them, they will spit at you once, dealing damage.
 * If not in a caravan group, they are always aggressive toward wolves.
 * Can be equipped with a carpet for decoration and a chest for storage.
 * Differently colored carpets have different textures when placed on llamas.
 * Amount of storage slots available depends on the strength of the llama.
 * If you put a leash on one, up to 10 llamas will be attracted and try to form a caravan.
 * Caravan groups are passive to all mobs.
 * Tamed llamas can be bred with hay bales.


 * Illagers
 * Being relatives to the villagers, they look similar but have pale gray skin and wear dark clothes.
 * Two kinds of Illagers are introduced: evokers and vindicators.


 * Vindicator
 * Separates their arms when aggravated, and holds an iron axe in their main hand.
 * Hostile towards players and villagers.
 * If given the name  they will attack any nearby mobs, with the exception of other Illagers.
 * Spawn in the woodland mansions upon generation. They will not respawn.
 * May drop emeralds and an iron axe upon death.


 * Evoker
 * Added as an end-game challenge, or mini-boss.
 * Will always drop a totem of undying upon death. May drop emeralds too.
 * In battle, they will summon vexes and fangs to attack.
 * Raises their arms when casting a spell.
 * Fangs always deal damage, ignoring armor.
 * Aggressive towards the player and villagers.
 * Spawn in the two upper floors of woodland mansions upon generation. They will not respawn.
 * Will change any blue colored sheep in a radius of 16 blocks into red.


 * Vex
 * Spawns only when summoned by an evoker.
 * Appears similar to ghosts, in that they are small, pale, flying mobs that can phase through blocks.
 * Shows red marks when about to attack.
 * Attacks players and villagers.
 * Holds an iron sword in their main hand.

Non-mob entities

 * Evocation Fangs
 * Evoker is summoned when doing Fang Attack.
 * There are two kinds of offensive bite and defensive bite.
 * Fangs in warmup still have a visible debug hitbox.
 * Damages deals to mobs that were in place.
 * Naturally spawned fangs do not harm illagers.
 * But player-spawned ones do.

World generation

 * Return portals
 * Look like End gateways, but teleport you to the main island's spawn platform.
 * Generate randomly throughout the End near end cities.


 * Woodland Mansion
 * Generates in Roofed Forest biomes.
 * Home to the illagers.
 * Has three floors, where the bottom two are larger and the third is smaller.
 * Uses procedural generation and structure blocks for random layouts.
 * Because of this, some rooms may be completely surrounded by walls and have no entrance.
 * Consists mostly of cobblestone and wood blocks.
 * Can be located with a woodland explorer map.

Gameplay

 * Curses
 * Enchantments with negative effects.
 * Two curses added: the Curse of Binding (Enchantment ID 10) and the Curse of Vanishing (Enchantment ID 71).
 * Curse of Binding will bind the item to the player, making them unable to drop it or take it off if it is an armor item, although it will drop when they dies. Players in Creative mode are unaffected by this curse.
 * Curse of Vanishing will make the item disappear if the player dies.  will prevent this.
 * Cursed tools, armor and books can be found as loot in some generated structures.

Command format

 * Syntax:
 * Accepts: EndCity, Fortress, Mansion, Mineshaft, Monument, Stronghold, Temple and Village.
 * Desert temples, Jungle temples, Witch huts and Igloos all go under the Temple category.
 * Pushes coordinates for the closest structure of given type in the chat for the player who executed the command.
 * Returns the message "Located [Structure] at [x] [y] [z]".
 * Will display the Y coordinates as "(y?)" for some structures.
 * If a structure is not located nearby (i.e. in a different dimension), it will respond with "Unable to locate any [StructureType] feature."
 * If a structure is not located nearby (i.e. in a different dimension), it will respond with "Unable to locate any [StructureType] feature."

General

 * Added an option to disable the generation of woodland mansions for the customized world generation


 * Particles
 * Used when llamas spit.
 * Used when llamas spit.


 * Used when the totem of undying is activated.
 * Used when the totem of undying is activated.


 * NBT tags
 * New display tag entry for items:  for translation strings.
 * integer tag for potions and potion arrows to overwrite/set the color.
 * integer tag for filled maps to overwrite/set the color of the marks in the item texture.

Blocks

 * End gateway portal blocks
 * Now use a magenta-colored beam when teleporting entities, rather than yellow.
 * This color matches the beam that occurs when the block first generates.

Items

 * Map
 * Now shows the land properly when used in the End.
 * Item texture's "markers" can now be colored by  tag.
 * Used for explorer maps.


 * Potions and Tipped Arrows
 * Item texture's color can now be custom colored by  tag.

Mobs

 * Shulker
 * Now drops 0-1 shulker shells.
 * Can be spawned in with different colors using the  data tag.
 * Colored shulkers have a darker bottom part, making them slightly different from normal shulkers.


 * Villager
 * Cartographer was added as a new librarian career.
 * Trading with a cartographer is the only way to obtain the new explorer maps.


 * Wither Skeleton
 * Now have their own sounds.


 * Zombie Villager
 * Now have their own sounds.

General

 * Tab-completion results are now sorted alphabetically.
 * Switched the Done and Reset Keys buttons on the controls screen for consistency.

Video
Video made by slicedlime: