Java Edition guides/Exploration Update

Exploration Update
Edition	Java Edition
Official name	Exploration Update
Released versions
1.11 1.11.1 1.11.2
◄ Frostburn Update
◄ Frostburn Update
World of Color Update ►
World of Color Update ►

This guide is a simplified overview of all the changes in the Exploration Update (Java Edition 1.11.x releases), which assumes at least some familiarity with the Frostburn Update (Java Edition 1.10.x releases).

Mobs

New

Name	Image	Habitat	Drops	Note
Vindicator		Vindicators only spawn in the new woodland mansions during world generation	Emerald (0–1) 5, plus 1–3 per equipment piece (when killed by a player or tamed wolf) Spawned Equipment Iron Axe	One of the two new illagers Hostile towards players and villagers Separates their arms when aggravated, and holds an iron axe in their main hand. When named Johnny, they attack all nearby mobs except other illagers.
Evoker		Evokers only spawn in the new woodland mansions during world generation	Totem of Undying (1) Emerald (0–1) 10 (when killed by a player or tamed wolf)	One of the two new illagers. Hostile towards players and villagers. In battle, they summon vexes and fangs to attack. Raises their arms when casting a spell. Changes any blue colored sheep red within a radius of 16 blocks.
Vex		Only spawn when summoned by an evoker.	5 (when killed by a player or tamed wolf)	Can phase through blocks Hostile towards players and villagers Shows red marks when about to attack Holds an iron sword in their main hand
Llama		Spawns in Extreme Hills biomes	Leather (0–2) 1–3 (when killed by a player or tamed wolf) Anything equipped, such as carpets or a chest. All items in their inventory.	Attacks by spitting. When hit, they spit at the player, dealing 1 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. When leashed, 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.

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Blaze		Will take 1 damage when hit by a splash water bottle
Creeper		If a creeper is inflicted with a potion effect, its explosion will cause a lingering effect of the potion
Enderman		Will take 1 damage when hit by a splash water bottle
Husk		Now try to avoid water
Shulker		Now drops 0–1 shulker shells

Blocks

New

Name	Image	Obtaining	Tool Required	Uses
Observer		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobblestone + Redstone Dust + Nether Quartz	Pickaxe	Outputs a redstone signal when it detects a block update
Shulker Box		Ingredients Crafting recipe Shulker Shell + Chest Ingredients Crafting recipe Any Shulker Box + Matching Dye	Pickaxe	Similar to a chest, but keeps its content when broken Cannot be placed inside another shulker box Breaks when pushed by a piston Dispensers will place the shulker box in front of it

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Bed		If the player clicks on the bed, but is not right beside it, it now shows the message: "You may not rest now, the bed is too far away" Previously the player would get no message, but would be unable to sleep
Cauldron		Washing dyed leather armor and dyed banners now remove 1 water level from the cauldron Using a water bottle now refills 1 water level to a cauldron
End Gateway		Now uses a magenta-colored beam when teleporting entities, rather than yellow
Flower Pot		The potted plant can now be removed from the pot, by pressing use
Furnace		Iron and golden tools and armor can be smelted into nuggets. Iron and golden horse armor can also be smelted. Yield one iron or golden nugget per item respectively.

Items

New

Name	Image	Obtaining	Uses
Shulker Shell		Has a 50% chance of being dropped by a shulker upon death	To make shulker boxes
Totem of Undying		Evokers will always drop one upon death	Holding it in either hand will resurrect the player upon taking lethal damage Gives the player the Absorption and Regeneration effects when activated Does not prevent death by /kill or the Void Has an animation when activated, which uses the item's texture and model
Explorer Map		Can be obtained from cartographer villagers	Used to locate ocean monuments and the new woodland mansions Works like a map, but shows the outlines of land and a single structure icon Fills in the map with block colors once the player starts exploring the area shown Ocean explorer maps are slightly blue, while woodland explorer maps are slightly brown
Iron Nugget		Ingredients Crafting recipe Iron Ingot 9 Ingredients Smelting recipe Iron Sword or Any iron tools or Any iron armor or Any chainmail armor or Iron Horse Armor + Any fuel	Used to craft iron ingots
Zombie Villager, Wither Skeleton, Skeleton Horse, Zombie Horse, Donkey, Mule, Elder Guardian, Husk, Stray, Polar Bear, Llama, Vindicator, Evoker and Vex Spawn Eggs		Obtained from the creative inventory.	Can be used to spawn the respective mob.

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Map		Now shows the land properly when used in the End
Shield		Will now keep enchantment level and durability when crafted with banners

Non-mob entities

New

Name	Image	Creation	Drops	Note
Evocation fangs		Only spawn when summoned by an evoker		Always deals 6 damage, ignoring armor Naturally spawned fangs do not harm illagers

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Fireworks		While flying using elytra, using a firework will give the player a boost for a certain amount of time. This will emit particles when in use. Fireworks stay at the players location until they disappear or explode. Longer flight duration on the rocket will make the boost last longer. You can increase the flight duration of a firework by crafting it with gunpowder in the other slots. Fireworks with an explosion will deal damage at the end of their flight. Firework explosions now hurt surrounding mobs and players. The damage radius of the explosion is about 2-3 blocks and is the same for any shape (large ball, creeper, burst, etc.) and the damage decreases with the distance to the explosion. The damage amount at close range is about 5 without armor on, and with full diamond armor, it equates to about 1. Death message is "[player] went off with a bang".

Structures

New

Name	Image	Generates	Chests	Mobs	Description
Woodland Mansion		Generates in Roofed Forest biomes	The structure contains various chests in the different rooms	Evokers Vindicators	The woodland mansion is a rare structure, which is the only place where illagers spawn naturally and where a totem of undying can be obtained. The structure consists mainly of dark oak planks and cobblestone, and has various chests with loot scattered in it.

Gameplay

Changed

Name	Changed
Chat	Messages can now be 256 characters long instead of 100. Some warnings now appear above the hotbar instead in the chat, like "Press [key] to dismount" had. "You can only sleep at night" "You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby" "This bed is occupied" "Height limit for building is 256 blocks" "Unable to open. Loot not generated yet." "You may not rest now, the bed is too far away"
Shields	Now block 100%, as opposed to 66.6%, of the damage dealt in melee combat. Zombies without any weapons will not deal any damage to the player, nor damage the shield's durability. Creeper explosions deal 0 damage to the player. Wither skeletons will not inflict the wither effect when hit by them. Burning zombies will not set the player on fire. Mobs with axes will now disable the shield if they attack a blocking player.
Attack indicator	When in crosshair mode, the weapon is fully cooled, and a mob or entity is in range of attack, the attack indicator will be visible and will include a small plus sign (+) underneath the crosshair.

Enchantments

New

Enchantment	Max Level	Applicable Items	Notes
Curse of Binding	I		One of the two new 'curse' enchantments, which have negative effects Curse of Binding will bind armor items to you, making you unable to drop it or take it off The item only drops when the player dies Cursed tools, armor and books can be found as loot in some generated structures
Curse of Vanishing	I		One of the two new 'curse' enchantments, which have negative effects Curse of Vanishing will make the item disappear if the player dies /gamerule keepInventory true will prevent this Cursed tools, armor and books can be found as loot in some generated structures
Sweeping Edge	III		Can be applied to a sword to increase the damage of the sweep attack.

Changed

Name	Changed
Mending and Infinity	Are no longer compatible with each other on bows when trying to apply them with an anvil or when using the /enchant command.
Anvils	Anvils will no longer apply enchanted books to items, if the result has no effect This can occur if all enchantments on the book are incompatible with existing enchantments on the item. This can also occur if the enchanted book has no enchantments.