It’s time to turn the heat up (seriously, I’m freezing!). Luckily for me, I can now work up a sweat, as the Nether Update Beta is finally here! If you own an Xbox One, a Windows 10 PC, or an Android device, you can get it, too! Isn’t that lava-ly? Sorry...

What newness awaits in the Nether? You could just dive in and see for yourself, or you could read this short list of highlights that we’ve made. No pressure, but we made this for you.

• Mining for gold? Be careful, because the Piglins are watching! These half-pig, half-who-knows-what beasts may attack on sight or barter with you – depending on whether you impress them. Think of them as the popular kids of the Nether, but with swords instead of iPhones.

• Did you hear that? No, it’s not a Zombified Piglin, it’s my stomach. Forgetting to pack your lunch in the Nether can be a fatal mistake, but that’s about to change – as long as you’re tough enough to take on a Hoglin. As cruel fate has it, these creatures are both highly aggressive and the main source of food in the Nether. Not only do their tusks look intimidating, but they can also push you around quite a bit. It may sound relatively harmless, but remember: you’re most likely surrounded by lava.

• Want a change in scenery? No need to leave the Nether, because now you can explore the Soulsand Valleys, and the Crimson and Warped Forests. Each of these biomes comes with new blocks, plants, fungi, and items that you can discover and experiment with to your heart’s desire.

Need an upgrade to survive in this significantly more hostile environment? Check out Netherite – the newest and toughest material in Minecraft. You’re gonna lava it! Again, sorry. Deck yourself in Netherite armor, grab a matching sword, and you’ll be A-okay. Maybe.

How to join

As always, keep in mind that beta releases are work in progress and can be unstable, so you won’t have access to Realms or be able to join non-beta players while using this version. Also, any worlds played while in the beta cannot be opened in previous versions of the game – so please make copies of worlds to prevent losing them. You can find detailed instructions on how to join here.

If you encounter a bug, we would really appreciate it if you reported it using our official Issue Tracker. Found something that works but can be improved? Your feedback is essential to making Minecraft the best game it can be – so please share your thoughts here.

Want to know exactly what to expect? Check out the full list of changes below.

New Features

Biomes 

Nether Biome Fog 

• Biome fog color smoothly blends between biomes. Smooth. 

Warped Forest 

Warped Forests can now be found in the Nether! 

• Warped nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetation 

• Huge warped fungi make up the "trees" of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floor 

• A dark blue fog covers the forest! 

• Warped spores swirl through the air 

• Endermen wander these forests

• The warped forests are strange, but also the least hostile place in the Nether 

Crimson Forest 

Crimson forests can now be found in the Nether! 

• Crimson nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetation 

• Huge crimson fungi make up the "trees" of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floor 

• Weeping vines grow from the cave ceilings and huge fungi canopies

• Hoglins, Piglins, and Zombified Piglins wander these forests 

• Crimson spores swirl through the air 

Soulsand Valley 

Soulsand valleys can now be found in the Nether! 

• An open space made mostly of soul sand and soul soil 

• Basalt pillars span from floor to ceiling 

• Ash falls through the air 

• A light blue glow envelopes the valley 

• Beware of skeletons here 

Blocks 

Many new block types have been added! 

• Two new non-flammable wood-like materials – crimson stems and warped stems 

• Basalt blocks – you can find them as pillars but they can be placed in any direction 

• New ground surface blocks: crimson nylium and warped nylium 

• New vegetation: nether sprouts, crimson roots, and warped roots 

• Two types of fungi: crimson and warped – try using bone meal to grow them! 

• Warped wart blocks 

• Weeping vines that grow from the bottom of a block downwards! 

• Weeping vines are now climbable!

• A new natural light source: Shroomlights 

• Added soul soil. Whenever fire burns on soul soil, it burns with a blue flame! 

• Soul soil can be used to craft soul torches – and those can be crafted into soul lanterns! 

• The Wither can now be summoned using soul soil as base 

• Using bone meal on Netherrack can now spread nylium 

• Warped and crimson roots and fungi can be placed into pots 

Target Block (experimental) 

Because let's face it: your aim could use some practice.

• The closer you hit to the center, the larger the redstone signal! 

• You will need one hay block and four redstone for this recipe 

• Added to experimental gameplay until it acts consistently over all platforms 

Mobs 

Piglins 

• Piglins are an aggressive civilization that lives in the Nether 

• They mostly hang around in the crimson forest, but you might find some in the nether wastes too 

• They think of players as target practice and will attack on sight 

• However, if you dress appropriately they will see you as a respectable figure, or tolerable at least 

• Piglins are suspicious of strangers and if they see you opening a chest, or mining a block of gold, they will assume that you're stealing and will treat you accordingly 

• Piglins LOVE gold and get very distracted by gold items 

• Gold ingots are currency to Piglins and you can throw ingots at them or right-click them with an ingot to barter for various goods 

• Piglins sometimes get hungry and hunt Hoglins for food. Or they try at least. The results... vary

• Piglins prefer to hunt and fight in groups, and when a fight is happening everyone wants in 

• Piglins that somehow end up in the Overworld become zombified fairly quickly 

• Piglins are creeped out by soul fire and Zombified Piglins, and will stay clear whenever possible 

• Wither skeletons are a historic enemy and Piglins will attack on sight 

• Baby Piglins are not as dangerous

Hoglins 

• Hoglins are big aggressive beasts that live in crimson forests in the Nether 

• They attack players on sight, so be careful, they can easily knock you off a ledge! 

• Hoglins drop pork, but not willingly 

• You can breed Hoglins by feeding them crimson fungi, but do so at your own risk 

• Hoglins get hunted by Piglins sometimes, but they don't go down without a fight! 

• Despite this, Hoglins and Piglins aren't enemies – they are more like an ecosystem 

• Baby Hoglins like to pretend they are tough – but don't worry, they are more like angry puppies with no teeth 

• Want to keep Hoglins off your back? Pro tip: Hoglins hate the smell of warped fungi! 

Zombified Piglins 

• Zombie Pigmen are now known as Zombified Piglins, and they now have ears... well, at least one ear 

Netherite 

• A new high level material found in the Nether. Use it to upgrade your diamond gear! 

Netherite effects 

• Netherite items float in lava, so you don't lose all your gear after that unplanned lava bath

• Netherite items have higher enchantment value than diamond (but not as high as gold)

• Netherite tools work faster and last longer than diamond 

• Netherite weapons do more damage than diamond

• Netherite armor has higher toughness and durability than diamond

• Netherite armor gives you knockback resistance, so you barely get knocked back at all when hit by arrows and such

• Netherite blocks can be used as the base of a beacon and Netherite ingots can be used as the fuel for a beacon. Weird flex but ok

• And it looks cool! 

How to make Netherite 

• Mine ancient debris in the lower depths of the Nether. At your own risk. No insurance coverage for that!

• Combine 4 Netherite scrap with 4 gold ingots in a crafting table (for now) to make a Netherite ingot 

• Refine it into Netherite scrap in a furnace or blast furnace 

Parity 

• Pufferfish now have a middle inflation state 

• The Ender Dragon fireball no longer causes excessive damage (MCPE-40344) 

• All mobs (including the player) will no longer drown in lava. This means that a potion of water breathing is no longer required for swimming in lava! (MCPE-17073) 

• Passive mobs will now only spawn on blocks they are supposed to (MCPE-47596) 

• Pumpkins can now be placed without needing support underneath (MCPE-35761) 

• Fence gates can now be placed without needing support underneath (MCPE-31026) 

• Enchanted skulls will now have the glow effect when in hand and in the inventory 

• Flowers can now be removed from flowerpots 

• Dropped items will now turn into a 3D model and spin, just like dropped blocks 

• Podzol will be created under spruce trees when mega pine trees are created by the player 

• Iron bars will render the same as Java when in hand and in the inventory (MCPE-44213) 

• Blocks moving underneath top snow now correctly cause top snow to be destroyed 

• Corrected book render location on lecterns to match Java (MCPE-43109) 

• Top snow can now be placed on composters and cauldrons 

• Ghast no longer spawn in peaceful and will despawn if the difficulty is changed to peaceful (MCPE-53383) 

• The player can now jump out of water while swimming regardless of look angle 

• Grindstone now removes repair penalty when removing enchantments (MCPE-45130) 

• Particle color for Bad Omen is now dark green 

• Stained glass now displays colors on maps 

• Woodland mansion 'arena' room had incorrect slab type floor (MCPE-41335) 

• Players now receive conduit power effect when in the rain (MCPE-35941) 

• Cocoa pods now break when in water (MCPE-36335) 

• Drowned can no longer drop tridents if they were not holding a trident (MCPE-32731) 

• Damaged bows can now be used to craft dispensers (MCPE-55861) 

• Despawn Rules have been changed to closely match Java Despawn Rules (MCPE-21856) 

• This change allows mobs to more consistently spawn around the player and improve the frequency of mobs spawning underground while the player is exploring caves, as well as trying to farm areas that spawn specific mobs. (eg. Wither skeletons, in Nether fortresses) 

•    Any mobs that have been set to persist (tempted, name-tagged, tamed, bred, etc) will never naturally despawn 

•  Almost all naturally spawning mobs will automatically despawn when they are 54 blocks or further away from the nearest players 

• Fish automatically despawn at a max range of 40 blocks or further 

•    If mobs are between 32 and 54 blocks from the nearest player, they must not take damage for 30 seconds as well as successfully roll a 1 in 800 chance to despawn

•    The following mobs do not follow these despawn rules:

  • Wither Boss

  • Ender Dragon

  • Evocation Illager

  • Vindicator

  • Bee

  • Iron golem

  • Snow golem

  • Elder guardian

  • Villagers

  • Wandering trader 

Sounds 

• Flying with elytra at high speeds no longer causes the sound to become jittery (MCPE-19945) 

Controls 

• Quality of life changes to the inventory screen when using a controller. Controls are now more user friendly and closer resemble the controls when using mouse and keyboard (MCPE-34912) 

• You can now strafe downwards in water while swimming by holding the sneak button 

• Control profile will now properly switch to water controls when getting out of a bed underwater (MCPE-49632) 

Villages 

• Players more reliably raise their popularity within a village 

• Trading with villagers now correctly increases popularity 

• Curing a zombie villager now grants additional popularity 

• Popularity will become more neutral over time 

• Increased golem spawn rate and modified spawn rules (MCPE-47157) 

• At least 75% of the villagers must have worked in the past day 

• Minimum 20 beds and every villager has a bed 

• Only 1 golem will spawn for every 10 villagers 

• Cured zombie villagers as well as nearby villagers now offer discounted trades (MCPE-47040) 

• Trident enchantments are now offered through trading with villagers (MCPE-35406) 

• Villagers will no longer become preoccupied with sharing carrots (MCPE-32627) 

• Zombie villagers will no longer break iron doors (MCPE-43725) 

• Cured zombie villagers no longer receive XP if they did not have any previously (MCPE-48712) 

• Villagers no longer close powered iron doors (MCPE-44621) 

• Villagers no longer run around their house during raids 

• The raid boss bar now reappears when returning to a raid from another dimension 

Curses 

• Implemented the Curse of Binding 

• Implemented the Curse of Vanishing 

Crashes and Stability 

• Game no longer crashes when the /kill command is used while the dragon is respawning 

Gameplay 

• Knockback resistance is now a scale instead of a probability 

• Entities now get pushed by flowing lava 

• Minecart hoppers will now drop a hopper item when being destroyed by a ranged attack (MCPE-55859) 

• Placing a block against an interactive block while crouched no longer opens the UI 

• Interacting with a minecart hopper now opens the hopper screen and no longer blocks other screens from opening 

• Fixed the armor stand and its contents dropping as items when broken when 'Tile Drops' rule is false 

• Flying players are able to return to the overworld if an end portal is on their spawn point 

• Enchanted bows are no longer consumed when auto-crafting dispensers 

• Players can no longer breathe underwater when swimming under blocks with a turtle shell equipped (MCPE-35769) 

• TNT no longer drops as an item when exploded (MCPE-38101) 

• /locate now correctly displays the nearest structure (MCPE-45526) 

• Players no longer teleport through partial blocks when relogging (MCPE-46858) 

• Tools now make noise when they break (MCPE-32355) 

• State of Creative flying now remains after accessing world setting 

• Players no longer "swim" through the air after swimming in a bubble column (MCPE-48958) 

• Corals and coral fans now drop when mined with an axe or shovel enchanted with silk touch 

• Magma blocks now melt top snow sitting on it 

• Mobs killed by lingering potions now drop XP and uncommon loot when the potion came from a player 

• Shulker boxes can now be undyed in a cauldron 

• Boats can now move and don't get stuck when on top of all partial block (MCPE-34580) 

• Boats no longer continue sliding on bottom half slab 

• Fire charges are now consumed when used to light campfires (MCPE-46217) 

• Player is no longer displaced into solid blocks on respawn by non-solid blocks resulting in x-ray vision (MCPE-53460) 

• Kelp no longer stops growing at too low of a height (MCPE-57330) 

• Enchantment tables no longer display options with no attached enchant 

General 

• Corrected the fishing rod's bobber movement 

• Large quantities of snow no longer suddenly generate in chunks 

Mobs 

• Mobs now pickup items and equip armor (MCPE-14211) 

• Tamed horses can no longer be tempted by food that cannot be used to breed them 

• Some mobs had a large delay for finding their nearest attackable target (wolves attacking sheep) 

• Endermen can now pick up some of the new Nether blocks 

• Endermen will no longer pick up Netherrack 

• Squid will now spawn more frequently. Ocean cap is now 4 and river cap is now 2 (MCPE-39758) 

• Iron golems will now ensure they can reach a target before choosing to attack it (MCPE-42402) 

• Jumping animation is no longer broken for horses 

• Polar bear no longer chases player on its two back legs 

• Sheep no longer eat grass through partial blocks 

• Fixed issue where Endermen would not attack the player when looked at 

• Mobs no longer start shaking when entering minecarts 

• Fish no longer spawn in flowing water 

Blocks 

• Walls do not have gaps anymore when stacked vertically 

• Trapdoor collision now matches their visual shape (MCPE-13451) 

• Paintings can no longer be placed on top of item frames 

• Cactus blocks now break when next to lava 

• Flowers in snow now break properly and drop the correct item (MCPE-30147) 

• Falling blocks no longer break when falling on ice blocks and glass 

• Falling blocks are now broken by partial blocks that are placed above piston arms facing up 

• Mycelium no longer wrongly turns to dirt due to not having enough light 

User Interface 

• The player can no longer type beyond what can be seen in the book and quill 

• Adjusted hover text position in inventory to respect input mode (controller mode should show hover text at the edge of the currently selected element) 

• Carve tooltip is now displayed when pointing shears at a pumpkin 

• Tooltip for leaving boat is now consistent across platforms 

• Added Grow tooltip when pointing bone meal at compatible blocks 

• Can no longer accidentally open keyboard when using book and quill with touch controls 

Graphical 

• Fire on half-slabs is now visible (MCPE-44395) 

• Changed Eye of Ender explode particles to match Java

Have fun and enjoy the beta!