Block of the Week: Crying Obsidian

Read it and weep

Dying in Minecraft is pretty bad, but dying in the Nether is worse. Not only do you have to trek all the way back from your home base in the Overworld, but you also run the risk of your kit getting burnt up in fire or lava. 

We can’t do much about the latter, but in the Nether update we’re trying to make the former a little less frustrating by adding a way to set your spawn point in the Nether. And it requires our block of the week – crying obsidian.

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Minecraft 1.16.2 Pre-Release 1

It’s time for pre-releases for Minecraft Java Edition 1.16.2!

From now on you should mostly see bug fixes leading up to the full release of 1.16.2, which we expect to happen in a few weeks.

New Features in 1.16.2 Pre-release 1

• New accessibility settings have been added to help with visual comfort

Accessibility

• Distortion effects such as nausea and the Nether portal overlay can now be reduced
• At lower values, the nausea effect is replaced with a green overlay as an alternative visualization
• Field of view effects shown after speed modif...

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LET’S PLAY: WAY OF THE NETHER

Have you tried the free Nether Update map yet?

Bees. Lemonade. Haircuts. For a long time, I was worried this list of my greatest fears was about to get a new addition: The Nether. I’ll confess that I’ve always been something of a handsome coward when it comes to Minecraft’s most devious dimension, and haven’t ever had the courage to visit it. So imagine my horror when I learned the developers had recently released a huge Nether Update and there was nothing I could do to persuade them to delete it. Well, I suppose I could have tried being nice to them, but that felt too drastic. 

Then I lear...

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Minecraft Earth R23 Patch Notes – August 12, 2020 

New Stuff!

• You can now unlock additional Crafting Tables and Furnaces with Rubies so you can craft and smelt even more things! 
• New season alert! Season 7: Farm to Table is coming soon! 
• We’ve added more Adventures for you to explore. Use an Adventure Crystal and see if you find one! 

New Mobs & Variants:

• You might expect a bronze for 3rd place, but the Bronzed Chicken is #1 in our book! Look around for the new Bronzed Chicken in tappables...

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How crawling came to Minecraft

A deep dive into the development of an accidental feature

You may have noticed that you acquired a new skill last spring – the power of crawling! One would think that such a revolutionary skill was created with months of hard work and careful planning. Well, spoiler alert: it was all an accident! Care to learn how it came to be? Then grab a chair and hang on tight; this is the extensive behind-the-scenes story of how crawling crawled into Minecraft.

It all started with an innocent-looking bug report about hitboxes and eye heights. You see, all Minecraft mobs have a hitbox – an invisible box that ...

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Alien Haven

A futuristic sanctuary for endangered extraterrestrials!

In recent years, conservation efforts saved many animals from extinction and indirectly made the sneezing panda video a reality. That’s a big win with an adorable cherry on top in my book – but what d...

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How We Make Minecraft: The Trailer!

Find out more about finding out more!

Have you ever thought about how we make Minecraft? I know, neither had I. Before I watched this trailer I assumed that this blocky game came together through a series of random decisions, lost bets, and the occasion...

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