Horse Update

The Horse Update is the name for Java Edition version 1.6.1 (or 1.6), a major update released on July 1, 2013. It added many new features such as horses, leads, coal blocks, carpets, resource packs and a new launcher.

Development began the month after 1.5.1 was released. Eighteen development snapshots were released, from to. During the development period, 1.5.2 was released. Several iterations of the fourth launcher were released during this time period, from 0.1 to 1.2.2. Nearer the end of the snapshot cycle for the 1.6 update, Mojang focused primarily on fixing bugs, rather than adding new features.

The official name for the update – the Horse Update – was only announced a week prior to the 1.6 prerelease on the Minecraft update tumblr (which is viewed in the launcher).

Mojang released the 1.6 pre-release on June 25, 2013. This included an easter egg where mobs named "Dinnerbone" or "Grumm" were flipped upside down. The 1.6.1 pre-release was released on June 28, 2013, three days before the final release.

Notable features

 * Notable additions


 * Resource packs, which replace texture packs
 * Item and entity attributes
 * 3 new status effects: Health Boost, Absorption, and Saturation
 * 2 new commands and 2 new sub-commands to
 * Horses and their variants
 * 5 new blocks: hay bale, carpet, block of coal, hardened clay, and stained clay (the last two are now terracotta)
 * 4 new items: horse armor, horse spawn egg, lead, and name tag


 * Notable changes


 * New and improved launcher
 * Better chat system
 * Riding mobs tweaked
 * Blocks can no longer be broken with a sword in Creative mode
 * Retextured charcoal and lapis lazuli block
 * Zombies now target the player from further away, and can summon other zombies
 * Villagers now make more sounds

Further revisions

 * Versions "1.6" and "1.6.3" can be downloaded by modifying the URL. These versions are not available on the launcher by default, and display as "snapshot 1.6", etc. when added to the versions folder.
 * 1.6.2 brought baby zombies and baby zombie pigmen.
 * 1.6.4 fixed a bug where structures were not being saved to the world file.

Trivia

 * This is the last version for the third launcher available.
 * Because of the new launcher, this version of the game became the first that could auto-update itself.
 * In the update poster, the then-unused nitwit or "generic villager" can be seen next to an iron golem, along with an unknown blue robed villager.
 * In the poster, Mojang is misnamed 'Notch Development AB'