Minecraft 1.16 Update Patch Notes | Nether Update

The Minecraft 1.16 Update patch notes have arrived after months of waiting! The Nether Update is finally here, and this brand-new Minecraft update adds a bunch of cool stuff to the game like new Nether Biomes, Netherite, Piglins, and so much more. Let’s get to it!

Minecraft 1.16 Update Patch Notes | Patch Highlights

The Minecraft 1.16 Update patch notes are all about the Nether Update, a massive revamping of the game’s first alternate dimension. The Nether was first added to the game all the way back in late 2010 and it’s since been relatively unchanged — until now. The first noticeable change is the addition of multiple new biomes to the game.

ALSO: Hardspace: Shipbreaker Early Access Preview | Scrapper’s delight

What are the new Nether biomes?

Basalt Deltas
Crimson Forest
Soulsand Valley
Warped Forest

Players can now score a cool new achievement by visiting all of them. There’s also the addition of the Bastion Remnants, a mysterious type of structure that was somehow abandoned long ago.

Also coming in the Minecraft 1.16 Update patch notes are several new mobs. Piglins replace Pigmen with an all-new design and a more complex society. Striders are passive creatures that have the amazing capability to walk on lava and can be mounted by the player, although they can only be moved around through the use of a fishing rod in a fashion similar to Pigs. Hoglins and Zoglins round out the new creatures in the Minecraft 1.16 Update patch notes.

Getting to the Nether is easier than ever in the Minecraft 1.16 Update patch notes with the addition of ruined portals. These are broken Nether Portals that can randomly generate anywhere in the Overworld or Nether, saving players the trouble of having to find Obsidian. Navigation is easier, too, thanks to the addition of the Lodestone; this new item lets you lock a Compass onto it, finally allowing one of the most useful navigational tools to work in the Nether.

There’s tons more to see in this update — read on for the full Minecraft 1.16 Update patch notes!

Minecraft 1.16 Update Patch Notes | Full List

FEATURES

Added Basalt Deltas biome to the Nether
Added Crimson Forest biome to the Nether
Added Hoglins
Added Netherite
Added Piglins
Added ruined portals
Added Soulsand Valley biome to the Nether
Added Striders
Added Warped Forest biome to the Nether
Added Zoglins
Added a new disableChat command line option – when used, receiving and sending online chat is disabled
Added a new disableMultiplayer command line option – when used, the Multiplayer button is disabled
Added bastion remnants
Added new Game Mode Switcher debug menu
Added new Nether blocks
Added the Soul Speed enchantment
Added the lodestone
Added the respawn anchor that allows you to set your respawn point in the Nether. Use while holding glowstone to charge to a maximum of four charges – each respawn use one charge
- You can charge the respawn anchor using a dispenser
Added the target block
Basalt is formed when lava flows over soul soil next to blue ice
Bell blocks will now ring when hit by any projectile
Bells can now be hung from the underside of more blocks
Compasses can now be enchanted with Curse of Vanishing
Endermen can now pick up some of the new Nether blocks
Endermen will no longer pick up Netherrack
Entities now get pushed by flowing lava
Farmer Villagers can now compost seeds
Fish now despawn when further than 64 blocks away from the closest player
Huge fungi will now only grow on its matching type of nylium
Knockback resistance is now a scale instead of a probability
Lily pads are now considered junk fishing loot rather than treasure
Patrols no longer spawn when the player is close to a village
TNT and campfires will now ignite when hit by any burning projectile
The General statistics list is now alphabetically sorted
Updated logos for Mojang Studios and Minecraft
Villagers can now spawn iron golems regardless of their profession status or latest working time
Walls do not have gaps anymore when stacked vertically
Walls will now connect to even more things, such as iron bars, panes, pressure plates, banners, and even pickles
When a Villager is struck by lightning, the witch it is converted to will no longer despawn
When fishing, treasure loot can now only be obtained by fishing in open waters

ACCESSIBILITY

Added “Line Spacing” chat and accessibility option
Added “Chat Delay” accessibility option

ADVANCEMENTS

Piglins and Hoglins are now required for Monster Hunter and Monsters Hunted
Serious Dedication is now awarded for obtaining a Netherite hoe
Obtaining blackstone now also counts for the Stone Age advancement
Breeding Striders now counts for The Parrots and the Bats and is now required for Two by Two

NEW ADVANCEMENTS

Bullseye unlocks when hitting the bullseye of a target block from at least 30 meters away
Hidden in the Depths unlocks when obtaining ancient debris
Cover Me in Debris unlocks when obtaining full Netherite armor
Country Lode, Take Me Home unlocks when using a compass on a lodestone
Who Is Cutting Onions? unlocks when obtaining crying obsidian
Not Quite "Nine" Lives unlocks when setting a respawn anchor to the maximum
This Boat Has Legs unlocks when riding a Strider with a fungus on a stick
Hot Tourist Destinations unlocks when visiting all biomes in the Nether
Those Were the Days unlocks when entering a bastion
War Pigs unlocks when looting a chest in a bastion
Oh Shiny unlocks when distracting an angry Piglin with gold

BASALT DELTAS

Basalt Deltas can now be found in the Nether!

Remnants of volcanic eruptions, this biome sports a high concentration of basalt columns and lava deltas
Walking through it, you will be surrounded by flowing flakes of white ash
Magma cubes finally have their own home and spawn very frequently here
A new block, blackstone, can be found here in large patches

BASTION REMNANTS

What’s made of blackstone and full of Piglins and Hoglins? Bastion remnants!

Added four separate bastion remnant types: bridge, Hoglin stable, housing units, and treasure room
You can find these sizable structures in all Nether biomes, except the treacherous ash-dusted regions of Basalt Deltas
Explore, loot, and conquer a bastion remnant to call it your home – but beware! Piglins don’t take kindly to intruders stealing their possessions

BEES

Reduced the maximum distance a bee can wander away from its home hive to ~22 blocks

BLOCK RENAMES

Some blocks have been renamed. Turns out singular fungus in the Nether attempted to falsely present itself as many fungi – so sneaky!

Crimson fungi is now called crimson fungus
Warped fungi is now called warped fungus

BLOCKS

Many new blocks have been added, and changes have been made to a few existing ones.

Added crying obsidian. It’s sad and cries purple energy
Added basalt. Craft it 2×2 or use a stone cutter to create clean and shiny polished basalt!
Added blackstone, along with its variants: regular, polished, and polished brick
- Blackstone can be used to craft furnaces and stone tools
Added gilded blackstone – blackstone which has been imbued with gold and has a chance of dropping gold nuggets when broken
Added chiseled Nether bricks, cracked Nether bricks, and quartz bricks
Added two new non-flammable wood-like blocks: crimson stems and warped stems
Added crimson and warped hyphae – all-sided “stem” blocks, including stripped variations
Added new ground surface blocks: crimson nylium and warped nylium
Added new vegetation: Nether sprouts, crimson roots, and warped roots
Added two types of fungi: crimson and warped. Try using bone meal to grow them!
- You can place crimson and warped roots and fungi into pots
Added warped wart blocks
Added weeping vines that grow from the bottom of a block downwards
Added twisting vines that grow upwards
Added a new natural light source block: Shroomlights
Added soul soil. Whenever fire burns on soul soil, it burns with a blue flame
- Soul soil and soul sand can be used to craft soul torches, which in turn can be crafted into soul lanterns
- The Wither can now be summoned using soul soil as base
Added soul campfires. Warm your buns with the heat of one thousand souls!
Added chain blocks
Nether gold ore can now be found in the Nether – it drops a few gold nuggets and can be mined with any type of pickaxe
Bone meal can now be used to grow kelp, weeping vines, and twisting vines
Using bone meal on Netherrack can now spread nylium
Nether vegetation blocks (sprouts, roots, vines, fungus, wart and wart blocks) are now compostable
Nether sprouts can be harvested with shears
Food can now be placed on unlit campfires

CREATIVE MODE

You can now milk cows and Mooshrooms in creative mode
You can now get stew from Mooshrooms in creative mode
When using an empty bucket on water in creative mode, you now get a bucket of water. If you have a bucket of water in your inventory already, no additional water buckets will be added when you use your empty bucket on water

CRIMSON FOREST

Crimson Forests can now be found in the Nether!

Crimson nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetation
Crimson nylium can be bonemealed to get more of this strange new vegetation
Huge crimson fungi make up the “trees” of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floor
Nether wart blocks can be cleared quickly using a hoe
Weeping vines grow from the cave ceilings and fungi
Hoglins wander these forests
Crimson spores swirl through the air

DISPENSERS

Dispensers can now saddle pigs and horses
Dispensers can now put horse armor on horses
Dispensers can now put carpets on llamas
Dispensers can now put chests on llamas, donkeys and mules
Dispensers can now shear a Mooshroom
Dispensers can now shear snow golems

F3 + N (TOGGLE SPECTATOR)

A small change has been made to this debug combination.

By default, using this key would return you to Creative after toggling from Spectator. It now will toggle back to the previous game mode you had
As an example, if you were in Survival, then toggled to Spectator and back, you would be set back to Survival

FARMERS

Farmers can now put excess seeds in the composter to create bone meal
- Bone meal is used by the farmers to grow crops
Farmers share excess wheat to other farmers, so more farmers can make bread

GAME MODE SWITCHER

New F3 debug feature which allows you to switch game modes with traditional “tabbing” functionality.

Hold F3 and tap F4 to open the menu
Tapping F4 will cycle the game mode, or you can use the mouse
Release F3 to apply
Your last game mode is remembered and will be the first selected option, so you can quickly toggle between two game modes with a single press of F3 + F4!

HOE CHANGES

We’ve made some changes to hoes to make them more useful in the Nether.

Each tier has different speed at which hoes mine blocks they are effective against
Hoes can now be enchanted with the following enchantments: Efficiency, Fortune, Silk Touch
Those enchantments can now be provided through enchanting table
Hoes are now the appropriate tool for mining hay, targets, dried kelp blocks, leaves, Shroomlights, Nether wart blocks, warped wart blocks, sponges, and wet sponges.

HOGLINS

Hoglins are big aggressive beasts that live in crimson forests in the Nether
They attack players on sight. Be careful – they can easily knock you off a ledge!
Hoglins drop pork and sometimes leather, but not willingly
You can breed Hoglins by feeding them crimson fungi. 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 – more like an ecosystem
Baby Hoglins like to pretend they are tough – but don’t worry, they’re more bark than bite
Want to keep Hoglins off your back? Pro tip: Hoglins hate the smell of warped fungi
Hoglins that somehow end up in the Overworld become Zoglins fairly quickly – but who would ever bring a Hoglin to the Overworld?

LODESTONE

A new block that can help you get your bearings!

Crafted from a Netherite ingot and chiseled stone bricks
Use a compass on a lodestone to create a lodestone compass, which will point to that lodestone

MOBS

Players can no longer mount another entity when the crouch key is held down
Added gamerule universalAnger (disabled by default), which makes angered neutral mobs attack any nearby player – not just the player that angered them. Works best if you disable forgiveDeadPlayers
Added gamerule forgiveDeadPlayers (enabled by default), which makes angered neutral mobs stop being angry when the targeted player dies nearby

FORGIVE DEAD PLAYERS

If this gamerule is disabled, then angered mobs will stay angry even if the targeted player dies
If both forgiveDeadPlayers and universalAnger are enabled, an angered neutral mob will stop being angry when their target dies. They won’t seek any new targets after that
- Notable exception: Angered Zombified Piglins continuously spread anger. So even if one Zombified Piglin stops being angry because its target died, other angered Zombified Piglins nearby are likely to make it angry again. The only way to stop the anger is if none of the angered Zombified Piglins see a player for a while

NEUTRAL MOB ANGER

Updated anger management for most neutral mobs (polar bear, wolf, bee, Enderman, Piglin, Zombified Piglin).

When hurt by a player, the neutral mob will target that player and try to kill it
The mob will stay angry until the player is dead or out of sight for a while
Anger is persistent, so a player can’t escape by temporarily logging out or switching dimension
If a targeted player dies near the angered mob, it will stop being angry (unless forgiveDeadPlayers is disabled)
Neutral mobs also get angry at other mobs who hurt them. However, that anger is not persistent
Angered neutral mobs will only attack the offending player, not innocent bystanders
- Notable exception: If a beehive or nest is broken, the bees will be angry at all nearby players
Some mobs spread anger (wolf, Zombified Piglin, Piglin, bee). If a player attacks one, all nearby mobs of the same type will get angry at that player

UNIVERSAL ANGER

Universal anger is basically guilt by association. A neutral mob attacked by players will be angry at players in general, regardless of who attacked them. More specifically:

A neutral mob attacked by a player will target the nearest player, even if that player wasn’t the attacker
Every time the neutral mob is hit by a player it will update its attack target to the nearest player
Players can use this to make neutral mobs attack other players. Who would ever do something that devious?
Universal anger does not apply when a neutral mob is attacked by another mob – only when it is attacked by a player
Universal anger is persistent. The angered mob will stay angry even if the player logs out and logs in, or jumps through a portal and back
Mobs that spread anger will also spread universal anger. So if a player attacks a Zombified Piglin, all other Zombified Piglins within sight will be universally angry and attack their nearest player
An angered neutral mob will stop being angry if it can’t see any eligible target for a while

ZOMBIFIED PIGLINS

Zombie Pigmen are now known as Zombified Piglins, and they now have ears. Well, at least one ear
Zombified Piglins no longer attack innocent bystanders (unless you enable gamerule universalAnger)
Zombified Piglins stop being angry if the targeted player dies nearby (unless you disable gamerule forgiveDeadPlayers)
Zombified Piglins continuously spread to other Zombified Piglins, as long as they see their target

NETHER BIOME FOG

Biome fog color smoothly blends between biomes. Smooth!

NETHERITE

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

HOW TO MAKE NETHERITE

Mine ancient debris in the lower depths of the Nether. At your own risk though. No insurance coverage for that
Combine four Netherite scrap with four gold ingots in a crafting table to make a Netherite ingot
Refine it into Netherite scrap in a furnace or blast furnace
Use a smithing table to fuse the Netherite ingot with your diamond weapon, tool, or armor

NETHERITE EFFECTS

Netherite items float in lava – just 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 have 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!

PARITY

Changed ambient block lighting in the Nether for parity with Bedrock edition

PARROT

Parrots imitate hostile mobs less often
Parrots do not randomly imitate hostile mobs when gamemode is on peaceful

PIGLINS

Piglins are an aggressive civilization that lives in the Nether
They mostly hang around in Crimson Forests, 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. If they see you opening a chest or other container, they will assume that you’re stealing and will treat you accordingly
If Piglins hear you break a chest or a block of gold (or similar), they will also assume you are stealing
Piglins LOVE gold and get very distracted by gold items
Gold ingots are currency to Piglins. 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. They results… vary.
Piglins prefer to hunt and fight in groups. 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 avoid them if possible
Wither skeletons and Withers are historic enemies of the Piglins and will be attacked on sight
Baby Piglins are not as dangerous, but they can be mischievous, so watch your back
- …and they like to play with Baby Hoglins
Added a Piglin banner pattern that can be found in bastion remnants

REDSTONEWIRE

The blockstate, rendering, and behavior of redstone wire are more in line with each other. Redstone will provide power to blocks on all sides it shows a visual connection to, and not do so on those sides without a visual connection.

A dot of redstone will not power its surrounding blocks
A single redstone wire is now represented as a cross
A wire on top of a block, which is redirected from below, will now power the sides it is redirected to. E.g. a fence gate above the redirecting wire will be powered
Wires that redirect upwards to wires on non-conductive blocks used to only be redirected visually. Now, this redirection applies to their behavior as well
A wire that is redirected to go over a block will now always provide power to the block. This is most noticeable when the wire has signal strength 1
When right-clicking a single piece of redstone, it will toggle between a the cross and the dot

TARGET BLOCK

The target block now conducts redstone signals

RUINED PORTALS

Shattered remains of ancient Nether portals. Wonder who built them?

They can be found in any Overworld or Nether biome
Some are hidden underground, under the sea, or buried in sand

SOUL SPEED

Never suffer again drudging through Soul Sand Valleys – Soul Speed has you covered!

Shine your boots of choice with this soul-sucking enchantment to speed around on soul sand and soul soil
However, there’s a downside: enchantments will slowly degrade your boots each soul block you walk on
Can only be obtained by bartering with those pesky Piglins

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
Fossile remains of unknown creatures from the past litter the valley
Ash falls through the air
A light blue glow envelopes the valley
Beware of skeletons here

SOUNDS

Ghasts sounds are now heard at shorter range
Updated block sounds for bone blocks, Netherrack, soul sand, Nether wart, Nether bricks, and quartz ore
New ambient sounds for the Nether biomes
New mood detection algorithm for cave sounds
Added a new music disc titled “Pigstep” by Lena Raine, which can only be found in bastion remnants

STRIDER

A new mob living the lava lakes of the Nether.

Strides on top of the surface of lava
Can be saddled, but has a will of its own
Really likes the smell of warped fungi – might even be convinced to follow it

TARGET BLOCK

Because let’s face it, your aim could use some practice!

The closer you hit to the center, the larger the redstone signal
Test your skills with a variety of projectiles, including eggs, snowballs, tridents, and more
You will need one hay block and four redstone for this recipe

VILLAGER WORKSTATION LOGIC

Villagers no longer try to work at the same workstation
The most experienced nearby villager for the profession corresponding to the workstation you add will get the workstation
Villagers now have to walk to and reach the workstation before they can acquire the profession and/or work there
Villagers can no longer claim workstations or professions during raids or night time
Villagers will check and make sure their workstation is valid at all times of day as long as they are within 16 blocks of their workstation

WARPED FOREST

Warped Forests can now be found in the Nether!

Warped nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetation
Warped nylium can be bonemealed to get more of the strange new vegetation
Huge warped fungi make up the “trees” of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floor
Warped wart blocks can be cleared quickly using a hoe
A dark blue fog covers the forest
Warped spores swirl through the air
The Warped Forests are strange, but also the least hostile place in the Nether

WEEPING VINES

Weeping vines are now climbable!

WORLD GENERATION

The old Nether biome is now called Nether Wastes
Shipwrecks and ocean ruins are now a bit less common, so you get more excited when you find one!
Patches of blackstone and gravel now generate in all Nether biomes, and patches of soul sand now generate in Soul Sand Valleys

ZOGLINS

Zoglins are zombified Hoglins – the result of bringing a Hoglin into the Overworld
Unlike Hoglins, they can’t be bred or fed, and they don’t care about warped fungus
Beware – these beasts are raving mad and attack just about everything they see!

TECHNICAL

Added target_hit advancement trigger
Added thrown_item_picked_up_by_entity advancement trigger
Added player_generates_container_loot advancement trigger
Added item_used_on_block advancement trigger
Removed safely_harvest_honey advancement trigger
Added player check to every trigger (except impossible)
Entity checks in triggers can now use loot table condition syntax
Attributes are now added to game registry, similar to items, sound events, etc.
Chat component style can now select font.
Block storage format in chunks slightly changed to speed up various tasks (rendering, pathfinding, world generation, etc).
Added a locatebiome command
Tab completion for resource location will match any part after an _
The compass now has LodestonePos, LodestoneDimension and LodestoneTracked data fields. If LodestoneTracked is zero, the game will skip checking for a Lodestone in the specified position
Slightly changed datapack loading to prevent custom datapacks from crashing
Both client and server now have shared datapack folder, for use with all worlds
Data packs can now be selected on world creation
Added a enable-status option to the server.properties file which if set to false will suppress replies to status requests from clients. This makes the server appear offline in the multiplayer screen
Full range of Unicode characters is now supported (some may know what that means