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A player character herding a variety of blocks and items in an icy landscape
Updates
Cristina Anderca
Written By
Cristina Anderca
Published
4/1/26

THE HERDCRAFT UPDATE

Goodbye inventory, hello ingenuity!

A new era of Minecrafting is upon us: the Herdcraft Update is here, and it’s going to change everything you thought you knew about inventory management.  

How did we get the idea for this paradigm-shifting update? Last month, I once again discarded several piles of cobblestone and dirt from my inventory, only to close it and... walk directly into them. POP POP POP POP POP. Back they went into my once carefully curated storage slots. 

Furious, I stomped down to the developers’ floor, waved my arms wildly until they took off their headphones, and exclaimed in my most entitled tone: ‘You need to do something about the inventory!’ 

They replied, ‘What if we removed it?’ 

‘... That works, I guess.’ 

SO WHAT IS THE HERDCRAFT UPDATE? 

Herdcraft is a completely new (and very permanent) way to play Minecraft. Instead of spending minutes, hours, years on end trying to organize the chaos in your inventory, you get to be present in the world, together with your new friends: all the items and blocks that you own! 

A variety of items strewn on the ground

What a crew of ragtag adventurers we are, huh?

The inventory is gone, and it’s gone for good. Now, the world is your inventory. When you break a block, you won’t break its physical form; instead, you’ll break its spirit! From then on, it’ll do whatever you say. Want to take it with you? Ask it to follow you. Want to craft something? Place your crafting grid on the ground (yes, you read that right) and command the blocks to go in the appropriate slots for the recipe. It’s an engaging and mindful way of crafting, and we think you’ll love it. 

A crafting grid, some mushrooms, some sticks, a porkchop, and a pig

Just trust the process!

Fighting also becomes much easier. Instead of waving your sword wildly at a creeper hoping it won’t blow up in your face, you can order an entire arsenal of weapons to attack it for you! Can’t believe we didn’t think of this sooner, really.

A variety of items strewn on the ground inside a cave and two skeletons. There is a spawner in the middle of the cavern

You go, buddy! Proud of you!!

HOW DO I INSTALL THIS UPDATE? 

The Herdcraft Update is a snapshot, and it’s only available for Minecraft: Java Edition. To install the snapshot, open the Minecraft Launcher and enable snapshots in the "Installations" tab, then select the "Latest Snapshot". You can even play the snapshot on Java Realms so you can herd blocks together with your friends! Can’t think of a more peaceful pastime. 

Remember, snapshots can corrupt your world, so please back up your world and/or run the snapshot in a different folder from your main worlds. If you want to revert to the release version, simply select “Latest Release” in the launcher. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

 

When can I play the Herdcraft Update? 

It’s technically mandatory to play it right now. Didn’t read those terms and conditions, did you? 

 

Is the inventory gone forever? 

Yes. 

 

But where will I keep my super duper valuable stuff? 

The safest place that ever was: always by your side. <3 

 

How will Herdcraft affect my speedrun time? 

Either greatly or tremendously – it depends on whether the blocks are in a docile mood! 

 

What if I thought the inventory was a sensible solution considering the vast number of blocks and items that Minecraft contains? 

I’m sorry, what? I can’t hear you over the sound of how wrong you are. 

 

If I’m the herder, are the blocks my sheep? 

I don’t know how the blocks would feel about you asking that question. Or the sheep, frankly. 

 

Do blocks actually have spirits? 

I consulted our Narrative Director Kevin on this, and he gave me his sneaky face, turned, and walked away. Guess we’ll never know! 

 

Why did the developers even listen to you? 

I asked them the same thing just now, and they said that they were planning on axing the inventory anyway so... yeah. 

 

 

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