Have you tried playing a Minecraft beta? It's where we test upcoming features of the game! To try these features, you have to play a version of Minecraft that supports betas (so that's the Windows 10, Xbox One and Android versions). You can see how to sign up for a Minecraft beta on each version here. You can also find more help regarding this specific beta on our feedback site.

Remember, beta features can be unstable – the whole reason we want players trying them this early is to give us feedback and catch bugs for us to fix – so backup your worlds! We've added loads of new stuff to for the 1.9.0.0 beta, so we thought we'd update this article with all the new features you can try, like Pillagers, Bamboo, new flowers and tons of new stairs and slabs! For a full list of changes and fixes, as well as a great place to give us feedback about the beta, head to our feedback site.

EXPERIMENTAL GAMEPLAY FEATURES

These features are only available when Experimental Gameplay is enabled in world settings.

• Pillagers
• Bamboo is now generated in Jungle biomes
• Crossbow weapon with new enchantments (Multishot, Piercing and Quick Charge)

New Features:

• Added new flowers: Lily of the Valley and Cornflower
• Added spruce, birch, jungle, acacia and dark oak signs
• Added new stair, slab, and wall variants:
• Stone stairs and slabs
• Granite stairs, slabs and walls
• Polished Granite stairs and slabs
• Diorite stairs, slabs and walls
• Polished Diorite stairs and slabs
• Andesite stairs, slabs and walls
• Polished Andesite stairs and slabs
• Sandstone walls
• Smooth Red Sandstone stairs and slabs
• Smooth Quartz stairs and slabs
• Brick walls
• Stone Brick walls
• Mossy Stone Brick stairs, slabs and walls
• Nether Brick walls
• End Stone Brick stairs, slabs and walls
• Prismarine walls
• Red Sandstone walls
• Red Nether Brick stairs, slabs and walls
• Smooth Sandstone stairs and slabs
• Mossy Cobblestone stairs and slabs

EXISTING BETA FEATURES:

CATS AND PANDAS

Ready to play with these cute new mobs? Once you're signed up for the beta, create a new world and make sure you toggle the Use Experimental Gameplay option in the settings:

Want to feed your new pandas? Try some bamboo. How about crafting them an enclosure with a new building material? Try scaffolding!

PARTICLE EFFECTS AND ANIMATION ADD-ONS

Not familiar with add-ons? They're a fantastic way to bring even greater levels of customisation to all editions of Minecraft. You can learn more about them here!

Previously, add-ons only allowed you to modify existing mobs in the game, but with New Entities you can add more mobs. You can use Data Driven Spawning to control which mobs spawn in your worlds. Animations will give you more customisation options, so you’ll be able to craft the horrifying eight-legged mob of your dreams/our nightmares. Particles will let you pretty up your mobs with cool effects.

These options are now in the beta, but we've also added resource and behaviour packs that you can download to access some special example mobs we showed off at MINECON Earth! Are they as cute and cuddly as the cats and pandas? Er... well...

First of all, make sure you're signed up for the beta. You'll be able to tell because the word 'Beta!' will be in large yellow text below the title on the main menu. In the smaller white text along the top, it'll tell you which beta you're signed up for. Make sure it says 'beta 1.8.0.8'. Use this link if you need more help!

Then you'll need to run these two files:

These are .McWorld files which means you can just select 'run' and they'll open Minecraft on your device and start importing into it. You'll see a screen like this:

Next, you'll need to download these two files:

They're .zip files. Once they've downloaded, rename the files – you want to change the file extension from .zip to .McWorld

Once you've done that, open the file and it should automatically import into Minecraft.

All done? Excellent! You can learn a lot more about add-ons, and find some terrific tutorials on how to craft your own ones, on this page of the never-not-impressive Minecraft Wiki.

But you got this far in the article for those MINECON Earth mobs that show off the particle effects and animations, didn't you? Your wish is our command, because now you can summon them in your own world! Also: be careful what you wish for!

I'm just joking – I love all these special MINECON mobs really, and can't wait to build myself a new home made of bamboo and scaffolding and overflowing with vile spiders. What will you come up with? Remember to tell us what you think about all these beta features on our feedback site!