Minecraft Snapshot 21w19a Removes Items, but Helps Modders
Another Caves & Cliffs snapshot appeared in Minecraft. It doesn't add much content (quite the opposite in fact), but with it the title has finally moved to Java 16 and thus made life easier for creators of fan-made modifications.
Mojang released May's second snapshot for Minecraft Java Edition. Like the previous snapshots, you can check it out on PCs after activating the snapshots in the Installations section. However, it is better to make a backup copy of your works in the game in advance or run snapshot sessions from a separate folder, because activating it may cause the loss of your world.
After the first and quite large snapshots adding new features from the upcoming Caves & Cliffs update, Mojang has been treating us to mostly minor updates and changes. Snapshot 21w19a, on the other hand, doesn't so much add as remove some items from the beta Minecraft. Some "unfinished items" disappeared from the creative inventory as did (in the case of two of them) the recipes associated with them: candles, purses and the so-called sculk sensors (blocks that generate a signal in response to vibration). It was not stated what exactly needs refining in these items. Perhaps the creators intend to introduce significant modifications or they cause problems in Bedrock Edition. Snapshot 21w19a also reduces the number of geodes appearing in the game world.
This does not mean that the snapshot brought us only losses, although the novelties are extremely modest for most players. From now on, they can enter longer names for items (up to 50 characters instead of the previous 35). However, the most important change is the game's transition to Java version 16, which hit the market in March. Apart from minor performance improvements, this news will please mainly modders. Version 16 introduces a lot of simplifications (especially in comparison with Java 8, which powered the basic game for many years) for the creators of fan-made modifications, including sealed classes and records (classes functioning as unmodifiable data packages).
The release of the big update Caves & Cliffs is coming soon. At least partially, because in the summer we'll get "only" new content. For more serious changes in the generation of Minecraft worlds we will have to wait until Christmas.
