Are you ready to embark on an exciting adventure with the new “Happy Ghast”? This week’s preview and beta not only introduce some highly anticipated features revealed at Minecraft LIVE but also roll out the first testing phase of the Vibrant Visuals update! Fly across the Nether on the back of your joyful new companion, the Happy Ghast, after nurturing its precursor, the Ghastling. As part of the exciting addition, you’ll also encounter the Dried Ghast and Ghast Harness. Prepare to soar through the skies with your Happy Ghast and enjoy the all-new vibrant effects that enhance your visuals in Minecraft! Watch as the water glitters and shadows shift as you explore the world from the highest heights.
We’re eager to hear your thoughts and feedback on these new features. Please head to feedback.minecraft.net to share your experiences, and report any bugs via bugs.mojang.com.
Experimental Features
Game Drop 2 2025 Experiments
Enable the “Drop 2 2025” experimental toggle to test out these exciting new features!
Blocks
Dried Ghast
- Found in the Nether within Nether Fossil structures.
- Can be crafted using 1 bone block and 8 ghast tears.
- When waterlogged, it goes through 3 stages over 20 minutes before it spawns a Ghastling mob.
- Emits sounds and particles depending on its state.
- If mined during its waterlogging process, it will return to its “dry” state, regardless of its progress.
- Reverts to its dry state when taken out of waterlogging, using the same 20-minute time scale.
Mobs
Ghastling
- A baby version of the Happy Ghast mob.
- Spawns from a Dried Ghast block after it’s been waterlogged for about 20 minutes.
- It follows nearby players or adult, non-aquatic passive mobs within a 16-block radius.
- If no target is nearby, it will wander within 32 blocks from its spawn or the last interaction point.
- Can be lured and fed with Snowballs.
- Will grow into a Happy Ghast after about 20 minutes or quicker if fed Snowballs.
- Can be summoned using the command: /summon happy_ghast ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ minecraft:spawn_baby.
Happy Ghast
- A new flying mount capable of carrying up to 4 players.
- Spawns from a Ghastling after about 20 minutes (or faster if fed Snowballs).
- Can be equipped with a harness for mounting by up to 4 players.
- Drawn to Snowballs and Harness, but only if unharnessed.
- Remains calm even when damaged.
- Slowly regenerates health, with faster regeneration in rain, snow, or when flying near clouds.
- The first player who mounts it controls its flight, sitting just above its face.
- Other players are positioned on either side of the first player in clockwise order.
- Pressing crouch will dismount the player on top.
- When no players are on the Happy Ghast, it will idle within 64 blocks of its home position.
- Known Issue: Its health is currently set to 40, but it should be 20. This will be fixed in a future update.
Items
Harness
- A new item that allows players to mount the Happy Ghast.
- Crafted with 3 leather, 2 glass blocks, and 1 wool block, with the color matching the wool used.
- Can be dyed and is exclusive to the Happy Ghast.
- Allows up to 4 players to ride the Happy Ghast.
- Can be removed using Shears when no players are mounted.
Commands
- A new game rule command locatorBar has been added, enabling or disabling the Locator Bar feature.
Vibrant Visuals Update
The Minecraft: Bedrock Beta and Preview version introduces an exciting first look at Vibrant Visuals, still in development. Expect continuous improvements and changes as we iterate. Explore more about the update on our blog here.
Supported Devices
- Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS, and PC.
- Android: Adreno 640, Mali-G68, Mali-G77, or Xclipse 530 or higher.
- iOS: A12 or M1 or higher.
- PC: Running Minecraft on DX12.
You can access the Vibrant Visuals toggle in the “Experimental” tab when creating or editing a world. Once enabled, you’ll find it in the Video settings under Graphics Mode. You can adjust settings between “Favor Visuals” or “Favor Performance” and fine-tune visual effects under “Vibrant Visuals Options.”
Please note that Splitscreen is not supported with Vibrant Visuals, and the game will switch to Fancy or Simple rendering if multiple players join locally.
Known Issues
- Some visual artifacts may appear on certain Android devices, especially those using Mali GPUs.
- Underwater surfaces beyond 8 blocks deep appear dark.
- Shadows might flicker, especially near cave entrances.
- Textures may turn pink after suspending/resuming or exiting settings.
- Metallic surfaces may show visual glitches under specific conditions.
- Emissive surfaces might fail to glow or appear white in certain conditions.
- Custom block icons may not render properly.
You can report any issues via bugs.mojang.com and provide feedback at aka.ms/mcvibrantvisualsfeedback.
Additional Features and Bug Fixes
Character Creator
- Fixed an issue causing incorrect player model sizes when using custom skins.
Blocks
- Flowers and certain plants like Bamboo, Hanging Roots, and Mangrove Propagules now have consistent random offset ranges as in Java Edition.
Gameplay
- Fixed a bug that caused players to sprint faster underwater than when swimming.
Mobs
- Farmer villagers no longer occasionally get stuck while collecting grown crops.
Music
- Fixed a bug preventing credits music from playing when accessing credits from the settings menu while the game is paused.
Recipes
- Resolved an issue where players could still craft unknown recipes with the “dolimitedcrafting” gamerule enabled.
Shields
- Shields now take durability damage from explosions.
Technical Updates and API Changes
- The Difficulty enum has been moved to version v1.19.0.
- Several player-related methods, including getDifficulty() and setDifficulty(), have been shifted to v1.19.0.
Custom Components
- Custom components can now be flattened inline with other components in version 1.21.80 or higher. Example: jsonCopyEdit
“components”: {
“example_namespace:example_component”: {
“someParam”: 3,
“anotherParam”: “test”
}
}
New Features for Cloud Rendering and Shadows
- The Deferred Technical Preview now includes a new lighting model for clouds and pixelated reflections, enhancing the visual effects in the game.
Graphical Settings
- Shadows have been revamped with pixelated effects, and the “shadow_style” setting can now be toggled between soft_shadows and blocky_shadows. Adjust the “texel_size” to control the shadow pixelation effect.
