This week’s Minecraft Java snapshot brings exciting changes to leashing mechanics, along with updates to Elytra functionality, cloud rendering, and a number of technical improvements. These updates will undoubtedly open up a whole new world of possibilities for your Minecraft adventures, from creating massive mob caravans to taking to the skies with leashed entities!
Key Changes in This Snapshot
Leash Mechanics Overhaul
Leads have received significant changes in this snapshot, adding a variety of new ways to interact with mobs and entities.
- Leashing Multiple Mobs: You can now leash multiple mobs together! This makes it much easier to manage and move groups of mobs at once. Whether you’re looking to create a camel caravan across the desert or have a herd of horses, this new functionality is a game-changer.
- Leashing to Entities: You can leash mobs to boats, including chest boats. Picture this: you’re soaring across the world with a happy ghast leashed to a chest boat full of treasures—sounds like the adventure of a lifetime!
- Leash Modifications: Leashes are now rendered twice as thick, bringing Java closer to the visual consistency with Bedrock Edition. Additionally, leashes no longer allow a mob to leash to itself, and any attempt to re-leash an entity that would cause a leash to snap due to distance will now fail. The new leash snapping distance has been increased from 10 to 12 blocks, and the distance between leashed entities is now based on the centers of their bounding boxes, not just their feet.
Other Changes
- Elytra Mechanics: When gliding with an Elytra, using a firework rocket now only provides a boost rather than causing you to travel farther, even if placed on a block. This tweak will offer a more controlled flying experience.
- Cloud Rendering: Clouds now render all the way to the horizon, giving the sky an endless, atmospheric look.
- Nether Portal Fix Reverted: The previous change to Nether portal teleport range has been reverted. While it was intended to reduce portal teleport distance, it caused some unintended issues with functionality. The team plans to revisit this change in the future when the issues can be properly addressed.
New Leash-Related Features
- Leash Knots and Fence Blocks: Interacting with leash knots or fence blocks has changed. If there are player-leashed mobs within range, they will now be re-leashed to the knot or fence. If a mob can’t be attached because of distance, all nearby leashed mobs will be transferred to the player instead. Additionally, sneaking while interacting will only leash your own mobs to the fence.
- Snipping Leashes: You can now snip leashes using shears, both from the mob and any other attached entities. Dispensers can also snip leashes when they’re equipped with shears. This is a major convenience, especially for managing larger groups of leashed mobs.
- Happy Ghast and Quad Leashing: Large mobs that typically cannot fit into boats, such as horses, donkeys, camels, and mules, can now be leashed in a special four-lead configuration to the Happy Ghast. This allows you to move larger mobs around more easily, and when attached to the Happy Ghast, the leash will have a custom rendering layer.
Technical Changes
This snapshot also includes several technical updates aimed at modders and resource pack creators.
- Data Pack Version 73: This update introduces some changes to the data components, such as a new way to handle variants in items (painting/variant Item Component) and a modification to how uniforms are handled in shaders.
- Resource Pack Version 57: Major improvements include the ability to override core shaders using uniform blocks, allowing for greater customization in visual effects. This update also enables block model rotations to be specified in more flexible angles (no longer limited to multiples of 22.5 degrees), offering more control over how blocks look in the game.
Post-process Effect Updates
- New Optional Boolean Fields: Developers can now specify whether a render target is persistent across frames, and there is a new clear color option to define the color of the target when it’s created or cleared.
- Custom Shaders: Various post-processing shaders now require specific configurations for things like blur effects, color convolving, and more, allowing for more complex and detailed visual effects in resource packs.
Example Code for Leashing Multiple Mobs
To test out the new leashing mechanics, you can use the following Minecraft commands:
/summon minecraft:horse ~ ~ ~ {Leash:{X:10,Y:5,Z:10}}
/summon minecraft:donkey ~ ~ ~ {Leash:{X:12,Y:5,Z:12}}
This will summon two different types of mobs—one horse and one donkey—each leashed to a specific point. With the new mechanics, you can leash these mobs together, creating a caravan or group of mobs that travel in tandem.
These changes mark a significant step forward in the way leashes work in Minecraft, opening up a wide range of new possibilities for creative players. Whether you’re building grand mob caravans, designing new ways to move entities, or simply exploring the technical side of the game, there’s a lot to look forward to in this snapshot.
To test out these features, make sure to enable snapshots in the Minecraft Launcher (for Java Edition) or check out the upcoming previews/betas for Bedrock Edition.
