Java Edition Beta 1.8

Beta 1.8 is the first release of the Adventure Update. It introduced features that focused on fighting, exploration, and adventuring, as well as other aspects.

General

 * A new achievement: "Kill a skeleton with an arrow at 50 meters".
 * New Creative game mode.
 * New Mojang logo splash screen
 * New particle effects.
 * Performing a critical hit on any mob will cause 'sparks' to fly.
 * Explosion particles are now shockwaves instead of smoke.
 * Tiny stationary bubble particles can be seen when underwater.
 * Fog is now thicker and darker deep underground, and gives off particles. Due to this, the void appears black.

Gameplay

 * New combat mechanics.
 * Hold-to-charge bows.
 * Critical hits.
 * Players can parry with a sword by holding
 * Hostile mobs perform attack animations.
 * Mobs killed by players drop tiny flashing experience orbs that add to your experience bar.
 * New food system.
 * There is now a food meter.
 * Food no longer heals directly but indirectly: if the food meter is above 90%, heals every 4 seconds.
 * All food (except mushroom stew) are now stackable.
 * Food takes 1.6 seconds to consume, accompanied with an animation.
 * Added sprinting

World Generation

 * Generated structures
 * Villages
 * Strongholds
 * Abandoned mine shafts
 * Ravines
 * New, fractal-based biome code; added and removed some biomes while making all of them more vast than before.
 * Rivers flowing through/in between biomes.
 * Ocean biomes, that are deeper and much more vast than before.
 * Mountain biome
 * Swamp
 * Snow in taiga and tundra biomes do not generate for technical reasons. They return in Beta 1.9.
 * New ocean floor; random mix of sand, dirt, and clay.
 * Because of this, clay is much more common.

Blocks & Items

 * Stone bricks
 * Stone brick slabs
 * Stone brick stairs
 * Brick slabs and brick stairs
 * Fence gates
 * Glass panes
 * Iron bars
 * Melons
 * Food
 * Melons
 * Raw chicken
 * Raw beef
 * Cooked chicken
 * Steak, which has cooked porkchop's old texture. Cooked porkchops' new texture is a tan shade of the same sprite
 * Ender pearls
 * New seeds for farming: pumpkin seeds and melon seeds that produce pumpkins and melons respectively.

Mobs

 * Enderman
 * As a placeholder, Endermen used Zombie sounds.
 * Silverfish
 * Cave spiders

General

 * Changes with debug-view
 * Mobs are no longer visibly labeled with their entity ID
 * The world's numeric seed is displayed in a field below player position.
 * Changing fog by hotkey now requires debug-view to be open in addition with pressing.
 * The version tag appears in-game again.
 * The 'Multiplayer join screen' has been improved, mainly with a server list.
 * Main menu/options changes
 * The main menu's background is now an animated scene.
 * The version tag is now displayed on the bottom-left rather than the top-left
 * New sliders for Field of View and Brightness
 * 4 new entries in control list
 * "Attack", "Use Item", and "Pick Block" can now be remapped.
 * Player list in SMP, defaults to.
 * The game's coding now allows for mods to more easily change the (map) height.
 * Players with the OP position on a server can switch back and forth between survival and creative mode.

Gameplay

 * New improved lighting
 * Day/night cycles no longer require chunk updates and is a smooth transition
 * The lighting on a block is given a tint based on the most prominent source of light
 * Reddish from artificial light sources
 * Blue from Moonlight
 * Total darkness keeps the same black tint
 * Sunlight gives the same white tint
 * Artificial light now gives a very subtle 'flicker'.
 * Improved sunrise and sunset.
 * Clouds change color during sunrise and sunset to match the sky color.
 * Horizon, specifically haze changes color more vividly during sunset and sunrise.
 * Cloud height raised to the top of the map, so clouds can no longer phase through blocks.
 * Cloud movement syncs with the game's time.
 * Rain and snow both render faster
 * Armor bar moved to above hearts, due to food bar.
 * Holding the left mouse button with a weapon will now only swing once.
 * Holding the right mouse button to place blocks is slightly slower than before.
 * +Clicking the output item in a crafting square will craft all the items at once, and automatically places them in the inventory.

Blocks & Items

 * Eating any raw food or rotten flesh has a chance to give the player food poisoning which makes the hunger bar decrease three times as fast.
 * Shears can now collect tall grass and vines
 * Both Wooden and Stone pressure plates can now be placed on fences.
 * New texture for moss stone.
 * Improved chest model with a 3D lock.
 * Improved model for torches placed on walls.
 * User-placed leaf blocks no longer decay.

Mobs

 * Passive mobs will randomly flee if attacked by the player or other mobs (such as wolves).
 * Zombies drop rotten flesh instead of feathers.
 * The snout on pigs now protrude from their head.
 * Skeletons now hold full-size bows.
 * Player-to-mob damage decreased by half a heart.
 * Arrows that hit a mob visually "stick" into the mob rather than just disappear.
 * Skeleton arrows originate from about their eyes to the bow, instead of above the head.
 * Animals no longer despawn which makes it possible to capture them.
 * All of the functions of the Human mob were removed also being able to hack it into the game or using commands from Single Player commands were removed the only thing left from the Human was its AI.

Fixes
5 bugs fixed


 * The +Click crash bug from 1.8 pre2 is fixed.
 * Fixed Redstone circuits not working after /time set x glitch is now fixed in SMP.
 * Destroying boats and minecarts now creates particles.
 * Ghast attack sounds are fixed in SMP.
 * The Far Lands had been removed; there is now only void.
 * Fixed cactus and trapdoor items being too big