15w31a[1] is the first snapshot released for 1.9.
At 345 days since 14w34d, it is the longest time between snapshots for major updates.
Additions
Gameplay
- Dominant hand option
- An option for players to change their dominant hand on their player model.
- Also changes the orientation of the offhand slot in the hotbar.
- Dual wielding
- Players can now use both hands at the same time to do different actions, with the left and right 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 because a pickaxe lacks a right click use, and therefore the game tries to then treat the other item as if it's being left clicked.
- The player cannot click both buttons at the same time.
- This is achieved through an extra inventory slot called the "offhand" slot.
- Pressing F (by default) will switch whatever item is selected in the hotbar with the item in the offhand (including no item).
- The off-hand slot is displayed next to the hotbar when it's not empty (left for right-hand players and vice versa) and it's also available in the inventory screen.
- 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.
- Only the main hand can be used for attacking.
- That means even bows can't be used on the other hand.
- Bows can be used even when something is in the other hand.
- That is also an optional way of prioritizing arrows used for shooting.
- The other hand is invisible in first person view while it's empty.
- Some attributes and enchantments will apply to the off-hand item, while others will not.
- Levitation status effect:
- 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 results in neither floating up nor down.
- Effect level 254 results in slow fall (similar to lunar gravity).
- Glowing status effect:
- Received when players or mobs are hit by spectral arrows.
- Makes player's outline glow, seen even through non-transparent blocks.
- Listed as a negative effect because it prevents you from hiding from players once you are hit.
- It becomes colored differently, if the player is part of a team to match the team color.
- This makes it useful in a variety of multiplayer maps.
World generation
- Generates on separate end islands, arranged around the main island in a toroidal configuration (donut-like).
- Dungeon-type structure fashioned like a branching tower made of endstone and many of the new blocks.
- Resemble a tree house.
- End ships
- Spawns right next to the end city dungeon.
- Composed of the same materials.
- Spawns 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.
- 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.
- Unlike cacti, chorus plants do not require the supporting block to be below it, but rather adjacent.
- 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 using ender pearls, or by riding pigs, boats or minecarts.
- The player will get teleported to somewhere on the outer end islands
- The final location of the player depends on what angle he/she entered or at what angle the enderpearl was thrown at.
- One of them is created for each dragon kill and up to 20 are possible.
- Placed in a radius around the end portal.
- Another one is also created everytime the player teleports to a new location, so both gateways are linked, and the player has a way back.
Blocks
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 pick block or
/giveto obtain it.- It can only be set by using
/setblock.
- 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.
- 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.
- The model has a little base that is oriented against the block it was placed on.
- 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.
- Generates in the End city dungeons.
- Can be crafted with 4 blocks of end stone.
- 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 pick block key in creative.
- Generates in the End city dungeons.
- Can be crafted with popped chorus fruit.
- Generates in the End city dungeons.
- Can be crafted with purpur slabs.
- Generates in the End city dungeons.
- Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
- Generates in the End city dungeons.
- Can be crafted with purpur blocks.
- Only placable via
/setblock. - Can be used with NBT tag parameters (
/setblockor/blockdata)- GUI is only used by Mojang employees
- Has a letter on the texture based on it's mode.
Items
- New spectral arrow:
- The tip is gold colored in both the item and the entity model.
- Shows mob and player outlines in their respective team color when hit – even when invisible.
- NBT tag for entities to disable outlines.
- NBT tag to force outline:
{Glowing:1b}. - 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.
- Restores 1 (
). - Spawns naturally in villages.
- Can be used to craft beetroot soup.
- Can also be used to craft rose red dye.
- Used to grow beetroots.
- 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.
- Does not heal hunger points if hunger bar is full.
- Otherwise it will heal 4 (

)
- Otherwise it will heal 4 (
- Can be cooked in Furnaces to obtain Popped Chorus Fruits.
- Obtained from cooking chorus fruit.
- Used to craft purpur blocks.
- Used to spawn a shulker.
Mobs
- Mobs have a 5% chance to spawn left-handed, through the
LeftHandedboolean tag.- Mobs able to hold items, will hold them according to their dominant hand.
- 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, but they can only move along one of the three grid axes at a time.
- 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.
- The projectiles chase the player until it's out of range, but they can only move along one of the three grid axes at a time.
- 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 sometimes does this while being attacked or placed in unusual circumstances:
- It's one of the few entities (apart form boats and minecarts) that can be stood upon.
- It even displaces the player properly during its attacking animation.
Changes
General
- Removed Super Secret Settings and the Broadcast Settings section.
- Removed Alternate Blocks from video settings.
- Attributes
CustomNameVisible:truewill make the name tag on mobs show in the same way as on players.- Entities can now be summoned straight to teams:
{team="TeamName"}. DropChancesandEquipmenttags are no longer used.ArmorItems,HandItems,ArmorDropChancesandHandDropChancesare used instead.
- 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, other hand, armor slots)
- Death messages will now be displayed on the player's death screen as well as in the chat.
- Different models/textures can be used for each different damage values, item states, and whether the player is left handed.
- 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 models.
- Block model JSON is now strict: comments and quote-less identifiers are not allowed.
- "display" tag defaults have changed, and the
"thirdperson"and"firstperson"tags were replaced with"thirdperson_righthand","thirdperson_lefthand","firstperson_righthand", and"firstperson_lefthand". - "parent" and "elements" tags can coexist now, though the top level elements tag overwrites all former ones.
- The required pack version number was changed to "2" in
pack.mcmeta. - Old resource packs require user acknowledgement to use.
- Structure data
- Now comes from /assets/structures.
Gameplay
- Rearranged the survival inventory and the creative "survival tab" to accommodate for the new off hand slot.
- Unified the orientation of many items in the inventory.
- Status effects 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, 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.
World generation
- A set amount of differently-sized obsidian pillars are arranged in a circular fashion.
- The tallest pillars have iron bars around their ender crystal.
- This makes it so that you have to climb some of the pillars, making the fight harder.
- The tallest pillars have iron bars around their ender crystal.
- The exit portal is pre-generated at the center of the island, but without the dragon egg and portal blocks.
- New outer regions of the end with "satellite islands" spread through a radius.
- Mini islands generate between the center and main islands.
- End islands and mini end islands have chorus trees spread throughout them.
- Removed the Nether fog.
- Farms now include beetroot crops.
Blocks
- Will now drop anywhere between 0–2 sticks.
- 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.
- No longer require supporting blocks.
- Can be moved with pistons freely.
- Are now rotated 90° in the inventory.
- Have now a slightly thinner item model.
- Glass panes/iron bars without any connecting blocks are now 2x2 pixels in footprint.
- This is compared to the big cross configuration that was default.
Items
- 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.
- Can now be thrown in creative mode
- Now display as a mini map when held in the off hand, or if the off-hand slot is occupied.
- The (old) large version is visible only when held in the dominant hand with both hands free.
- Casting fishing rods now has an animation in the hotbar/inventory.
- Mixed potions' colors now blend.
- Numeric IDs are no longer used. Instead an NBT "Potion" tag is used.
- e.g.
/give <target> minecraft:potion 1 0 {Potion:"minecraft:swiftness"}
- 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 (see: brewing for all recipes removed).
Mobs
- Similar to the one on console edition.
- The dragon can be re-spawned indefinitely many times, 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.
- Farmer villagers now harvest beetroot.
- Have an animation for lifting up and drawing back their bow.
- Mapmakers can make skeletons shoot potion-tipped arrows.
- Remain aggravated towards the player despite being in contact with water.
- Drop the block they were holding when killed.
- Can be led and bred with melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, and beetroot seeds, in addition to regular seeds.
Non-mob entities
- Projectiles
- Can now be summoned to dual wield with commands in creative.
Fixes
- 15 issues fixed
- From released versions before 1.9
- MC-438 – Ender pearl can't be used in creative mode
- MC-849 – Eating a food item / drinking potion / curing zombie has a chance of also consuming a second food item / potion without any animation
- MC-1537 – Sometimes doors in strongholds are misplaced
- MC-1663 – Dying while having a gui window open doesn't make appear the death screen
- MC-1956 – Arms misplaced in skeletons with a bow
- MC-2768 – Ladder Bug with Trapdoors.
- MC-4474 – Boss health bar temporarily viewable after respawn and loading another world
- MC-5404 – Name Tags/XP Orbs/Splash Potions are angled in third-person mode
- MC-42841 – Incorrect Creative Instant Health Damage value
- MC-47526 – Ender Crystal entity spawning 1 block too low
- MC-53897 – Torches in Villages, Stronghold, & End exit portal spawned dropped
- MC-56268 – Breaking the bedrock below an Ender Crystal (in the End) creates performance drops, rapidly flickering light
- MC-68062 – Boss health bar only visible when looking at boss
- MC-69320 – Data tag output by
/entitydataand/blockdatacontains too many commas - MC-75082 – End music will stop every time the ender dragon loads out of view