Combat Update

The Combat Update is the name for Minecraft version 1.9, an upcoming major update with no set release date. This update is expected to overhaul the combat system, among other additions and changes.

Development on the Combat Update began at least a month before the Bountiful Update was released. Snapshots began the day after 1.8.8 was released. So far, thirty-eight development snapshots have been released, from 15w31a to 15w44b. Currently, the time between releases of 1.8 and 1.9 represent the longest time span between major updates, at 3616 days days and counting. So far, three iterations of the launcher have also been released, from 1.6.39 to 1.6.48. The development team is expected to make the update "feature-complete" by the end of October, in which a period of bug-fixing will follow.

The official name for the update, the Combat Update, was discovered on April 1, 2015 by Reddit user 3dDeters who found a QR code hidden in the snow falling pattern of the April Fools 15w14a snapshot.