Spring to Life is the first big update of the year and is all about a vibrant environment. These are the patch notes.
Minecraft is not dead and this is now also reflected in the new patch. Update 1.21.5 – or “Spring to Life” – literally breathes new life into your worlds by releasing more mob variants, new soundscapes and environmental effects into the game.
New mob variants
The biggest new feature is the variants for farm animals. Minecraft has a wide range of different biomes, and these now also affect their inhabitants.
In cold areas, you’ll now encounter cuddly pigs, long-haired cows and gray chickens. In dry and hot areas, on the other hand, they are adapted to the sandy environment in color.
Sheep are now also colored to match the biome, and the wool you shear from them is the appropriate color.
In cold biomes, you will therefore mainly encounter black sheep, while in warm habitats, brown sheep are more common. In temperate areas, white sheep are still the most common.
Environment Updates
To make the new locals feel at home, the various environments have been enhanced. In forests, for example, you will now stumble across fallen trees, and marshy areas now feature firefly blocks.
In addition, new blocks now also send leaves and flowers sailing through the air. New wildflowers, bushes, and grass of different heights also add to a more diverse natural environment. In deserts, cacti now have a certain probability of bearing cactus flowers.
The new deco blocks also provide a fresh soundscape, so Minecraft no longer feels quite so quiet without music. Speaking of sounds: wolves howl in six different variants, from “cute” to “grumpy”.
Table of Contents
Cartographer Update
In villages, there are cartographers who provide you with maps of the surrounding area. With the update, they have expanded their range. Seven new maps show you the way to more villages and other structures in different biomes.
Wandering merchants will now also take trade goods from you, allowing you to earn emeralds. They have also lowered their prices so that you can spend your emeralds on their heads right away.
Minecraft Java 1.21.5 – Patch Notes
New features
- Added cold and warm variants for pig, cow, and chicken
- Sheep now spawn with a wool color based on the biome they spawn in
- Added new wolf sound variants
- Reworked the visuals of each spawn egg to improve readability and accessibility
- Added fallen tree generation
- Added Firefly Bush block
- Added Leaf Litter block
- Added wildflower block
- Added bush block
- Added short and tall dry grass blocks
- Added cactus flower block that can grow on cactus blocks
- Added new falling leaves particles to all leaf blocks that did not already have them
- Added new environmental block sounds to the Desert and Wasteland biomes
- Added voice support for Kyrgyz
Farm animal variants
- Added warm and cold variants for the following animals:
- Pig
- Cow
- Chicken
- The variant is determined by the biome it spawns in
- Temperate variant – The variants we are all familiar with, these spawn by default where the other variants do not
- Cold variant – A variant that is selected when it (naturally or by the player) appears in these biomes:
- Cold Ocean
- Deep Cold Ocean
- Deep Dark
- Deep Freeze Ocean
- End Barrens
- End Highlands
- End Midlands
- Frozen Ocean
- Frozen Peaks
- Frozen River
- Grove
- Ice Spikes
- Jagged Peaks
- Old-growth Pine Taiga
- Old-growth Spruce Taiga
- Small islands of endings
- Snowy beach
- Snowy plains
- Snowy slopes
- Snowy taiga
- Stony peaks
- Taiga
- The end
- Windswept forest
- Windswept gravel hills
- Windswept Hills
- Warm Variant – A variant selected when spawned (naturally or by a player) in these biomes:
- Wasteland
- Bamboo Jungles
- Basalt Deltas
- Crimson Forest
- Deep Tepid Sea
- Desert
- Eroded Wasteland
- Jungle
- Warm sea
- Mangrove swamp
- Nether desert
- Savannah
- Savannah plateau
- Soul sand valley
- Sparsely Vegetated Jungle
- Warm Ocean
- Twisted Forest
- Windswept Savanna
- Wooded Wasteland
- When a player breeds a baby variant, it is not selected from the current biome, but randomly selected from one of the variants of the parents
- Added two new egg items for the warm and cold chicken variants
- Blue Egg – The egg that cold chicken variants lay and can hatch from
- Brown Egg – The egg that warm chicken variants lay and can hatch from
- Sheep wool color in warm and cold biomes
- Sheep now appear with a wool color that depends on the biome in which they appear:
- Temperate biomes: (these colors are unchanged from the previous behavior)
- Common: the color of the sheep is white
- Rare: the colors of the sheep are black, gray, light gray and brown
- There is a small chance that a pink sheep will appear
- Cold biome:
- Common: The color of the sheep is black
- Rare sheep colors are gray, light gray, white, and brown
- There is a small chance that a pink sheep will be born
- Warm biomes:
- The usual sheep color is brown
- Rare sheep colors are gray, light gray, white, and black
- There is a small chance that a pink sheep will be born
- Temperate biomes: (these colors are unchanged from the previous behavior)
Wolf sound variants
- Added 6 new wolf sound variants with unique ambient, injury, death, growl, whimper, and pant sounds
- The new sounds are part of variants named “Big”, “Cute”, “Puglin”, “Angry”, “Grumpy”, and “Sad”
- The original wolf sounds are now used for the “Classic” variant
- Each wolf is randomly assigned a sound variant from these 7 variants
- The sound variant is not related to the texture variant
Spawnei graphics rework
- Each spawn egg now has its own unique art, capturing the personality and flavor of the mob it spawns
- Each egg image varies in shape to reflect the size of the mob it spawns in the world
- For example, smaller mobs tend to have smaller spawn eggs
Fallen trees
- Fallen trees are a new decorative variation of trees
- Fallen trees are available in four different types of wood:
- Oak
- Birch
- Jungle
- Spruce
- Fallen birches are available in a shorter and a longer version
- Some fallen trees can be decorated with mushrooms or vines
- Fallen trees can be found in all biomes where their standing variants grow, except for the following:
- Bamboo Jungle
- Blossom Forest (contains fallen birch trees, but no fallen oaks)
- Grove
- Meadow
- River
Firefly bush
- The firefly bush grows near water in swamps, mangrove swamps, wastelands, and near rivers
- When it is dark, glowing firefly particles appear around the firefly bush
- When using bonemeal on a firefly bush, a firefly bush will grow in a random adjacent space, if possible
- The firefly bush emits a light intensity of 2
- The firefly bush has a chance of playing ambient sounds when the following conditions are met:
- It is night
- It is not blocked from above by a block that can collide except for leaves
Leaf litter
- Litter is a new type of decorative block found in forests, dark forests, and forest floors
- Note: Litter is only generated as part of world generation and does not regenerate during gameplay
- Litter can have different amounts of leaves in a block space
- Up to four litter pieces can be placed on the same block space
- Placing a leaf litter piece in an existing leaf litter block increases the amount of leaves
- Leaf litter can be placed in four orientations
- Leaf litter can be placed on any block with a full top
- “Leaf Litter” can be created by melting any of the “Leaves” blocks
- “Leaf Litter” can be used as fuel for melting
- “Leaf Litter” can be used in the composter
- “Leaf Litter” has unique sounds
- “Leaf Litter” is tinted depending on the biome it is in
- “Leaf Litter” is interchangeable with construction
“Wildflowers”
- Wildflowers are a new type of flower that grow in birch forests, old birch forests and meadows
- Wildflowers can have different numbers of flowers in a block field
- Up to four wildflowers can be placed in a block field
- Placing a wildflower in an existing wildflower block increases the number of flowers
- Using bonemeal on wildflowers produces more wildflowers
- Wildflowers can be placed in four orientations
- Wildflowers can be made into yellow dye
Shrub
- Shrub is a new type of ornamental block found in small patches in the following biomes:
- Birch Forest
- Forest
- Frozen River
- Old Birch Forest
- Plains
- River
- Windswept Forest
- Windswept gravel hills
- Windswept hills
- The bush can be used in the composter
- Using bonemeal on a bush will grow a bush in a random adjacent space, if possible
- A bush only falls if broken with scissors or a silk-touch tool
- The bush is replaceable during construction
Short and Tall Dry Grass
- Two new grass types have been added: Short Dry Grass and Tall Dry Grass
- Both are 1 block high, meaning Tall Dry Grass is different from regular Tall Grass, which is 2 blocks high
- Both are generated in Desert and Wasteland biomes
- Both can be placed on Sand, Terracotta, Earth blocks, and Cropland like Dead Bush
- Both can be processed into Bone Meal
- Using bonemeal on short dry grass makes it grow into tall dry grass
- Using bonemeal on tall dry grass makes it, if possible, grow into short dry grass on a randomly adjacent field
- Both can be used in the composter
- Sheep can eat both to regrow their wool
- Both can be used as fuel for smelting
- Both are interchangeable in building
Cactus flower
- The Cactus Blossom is a new type of flower that has a chance of growing on cacti in deserts and badlands
- Cactus Blossoms can be placed on top of the cactus on cactus blocks, farmland, or any block with a center column
- Cactus flowers have a chance to grow on cactus pads instead of the cactus growing taller
- When a cactus is 1-2 blocks tall, the cactus flower has a 10% chance to grow
- When a cactus is 3 blocks or larger, the cactus flower has a 25% chance to grow
- Cactus flowers only grow if they have space on all four sides
- Cactus flowers can be used in the composter
- A cactus flower can be used to create 1 pink dye
Falling leaf particles
- All leaf blocks now have a chance of creating falling leaf particles
- The following blocks are affected by this change:
- Acacia Leaves
- Azalea Leaves
- Birch Leaves
- Dark Oak Leaves
- Blooming Azalea Leaves
- Jungle Leaves
- Mangrove Leaves
- Oak Leaves
- Spruce Leaves
New ambient sounds for desert and badlands
- Sand, red sand and terracotta in any color can play ambient sounds if they are surrounded on at least three sides by another block from the same group, at a distance of 8 blocks
- block.sand.idle can play in any biome
- block.sand.wind will only play in the Desert or Wasteland biomes
- Dead Bush blocks have a chance to play ambient sound when placed on top of two blocks that are any color of terracotta, sand, or red sand blocks in any biome
Changes
- Updated main menu panorama for Spring to Life drop
- Beacons and their rays are now rendered beyond 16 blocks, up to the client’s draw distance
- To keep them visible at long range, the further away you are, the thicker the beam will be rendered
- The beam is now rendered up to 2048 blocks high, up from 1024
- Lodestones have a new crafting recipe and can now be found in Ruined Portals
- The Cartographer and Wandering Trader professions have been updated
- Bundles can now be found in some village chests
- Updates to camel, chicken, cow, pig, and sheep spawns
- Zombified pigs must now be killed by a player for the player to receive any specific loot such as experience
- This makes them consistent with all other mobs in the game
- World generation changes to the biome “Pale Garden” and “Meadow”
- Chunks that have been loaded through a portal will now automatically reload when the world is reopened
- Improvements to the way the simulation distance affects block ticks
- Improvements to the creaking and groaning of the heart
- Updated textures and models for temperate cows, mossy mushrooms, and sheep
- Minor adjustments to existing blocks, items, and entities
- Various sound tweaks and adjustments
- Minor improvements to world uploads in realms
- Bug fix MC-152728 reverted – “The player continues to sprint when performing actions that slow them down”
- Developer Note: After careful consideration, we have decided to reverse this fix. We still want to rework this mechanic in the future, but it’s clear that these recent fixes alone didn’t quite hit the mark and caused too many negative side effects for parkour, speedbridging, and movement in general.
- When the game detects that the last launch was not completed normally, the full-screen option is now reset
- Herobrine has been removed
Lodestone changes
- The Lodestone is now crafted from 1 iron ingot surrounded by 8 chiseled stone bricks
- Lodestones can now drop as loot from Ruined Portals in the Overworld or Nether
- The Country Lode, Take me Home progress has been moved from the Nether category to the Adventure category
Cartographer and Wandering Trader Trade Rebalance
Cartographer Trades
- Cartographers now sell 7 new maps, each pointing to a different village or structures in a different biome
- Cartographers from different village types sell a different selection of maps and colored banners
- Some prices and quantities have also been adjusted
Itinerant Trader goods
- The traveling merchant now offers better prices, more goods, and a larger inventory for many items
- They now also buy basic supplies from players, so it is possible to get some emeralds by helping them prepare for their next journey – even if you don’t feel like buying anything
- The traveling merchant offers to buy two items from this list:
- Water bottle
- Water bucket
- Milk bucket
- Fermented spider eye
- Baked Potato
- Hay Bale
- Itinerant vendors can now sell these items (in addition to their previous wares):
- Logs (acacia, birch, dark oak, jungle, oak, spruce, light oak, or cherry)
- Enchanted iron pickaxe
- Potion of invisibility
Changes to monster spawn
- Camels now spawn in deserts
- Chickens, cows, pigs, and sheep can now spawn in badlands
World generation changes
- The Pale Garden biome now takes up more space, which was previously taken up by Mirkwood
- Forest Villas can now be generated in the Pale Garden biome
- Short grass is now a bit sparser in Meadows
Simulation Distance
- Any block at Simulation Distance that is loaded by a player or another chunk loading source such as Ender Pearls can now receive random ticks instead of 8 chunks near players
- Example: When a chunk is loaded from an Ender Pearl or is in the spawn chunks, plants can grow, ice can melt, snow can fall, and cauldrons can be filled by rain
- Mob spawning, lava spreading fire, and lightning strikes still occur in the previous 8-chunk radius around players
- Fire no longer burns or spreads when there are no players within 8 boulders
Guns and Gun Hearts
- Guns can now be named with nameplates
- Named creaks persist throughout the day
- However, they will still be torn away if they are tied to a player or too far from their heart
- Named creaks continue to be resistant to all damage and can communicate with their hearts via particles
- Named creaks persist throughout the day
- Creaking hearts that are correctly placed between logs have a new resting texture during the day
- Dormant Creaking Hearts cannot spawn new Creaking Hearts or Resin
- The transition between the awake and dormant state for Creaking Hearts, as well as the transition of Eyebloom, is now based on the set time of day
- All of these behaviors are no longer affected by weather or the brightness of the dimension
Changes to mob textures and models
- The appearance of the Temperate Cow has been slightly updated to include an extruded snout
- Both Mooshroom variants have had their appearance slightly updated to include an extruded snout
- The undercoat of the sheep is now also colored if it is colored
- Optimized the sheep wool texture to remove the heavy line on the back
Minor optimizations to blocks, items, and entities
- Sheep can now eat fern blocks
- When wearing leather boots, landing on powder snow after falling more than 2.5 blocks will cause the entity to fall through the snow
- Jumping or falling less than 2.5 blocks will allow the entity to land on the snow as before
- Saddles equipped on pigs or striders will now retain properties such as the custom name when dropped
- Bubble columns will create fewer particles and make less noise when entities unaffected by them are inside
- Pale oak leaves and pale oak saplings have an updated map color
- Improved tooltips for the crossbow and all container items
Item tooltips
- Crossbows now show all loaded bolts in their tooltip, instead of just the first
- All loaded bolts now also add their entire tooltip as a subsection, instead of just fireworks
- All container items with stored contents, such as a chest picked up with Ctrl+pick block, now list the first 4 items in their tooltip, just like Shulkerboxes
Sound changes
- Narrator volume is now affected by the in-game Voice category
- Added new sounds for breaking, placing, kicking, falling, and hitting iron blocks, iron bars, iron trapdoors, iron doors, and heavy-duty pressure plates
- The sound of “grass” breaking has been made quieter
- Blocks broken by a piston now make their breaking sound
- Ambience sounds from blocks in the desert, wasteland, and blight garden, which are only used for the environment, have been moved from the “Blocks” category to the “Environment/Ambience” category
Realms world uploads
- Command blocks are now enabled by default when uploading a realm world
- It is now possible to upload Hardcore single-player realms
