The latest Minecraft snapshot has arrived with a significant focus on technical improvements and gameplay adjustments. Snapshot 25w04a introduces shield-like functionality for items, data-driven variants for cats and frogs, enhanced tooltip displays, and reverts some controversial movement mechanics that affected parkour and speedbridging.
Movement Mechanics Reverted After Player Feedback
Mojang has decided to revert two previously implemented fixes related to diagonal movement normalization and sprinting mechanics. The developers acknowledged that while they want to revisit these mechanics in the future, the recent changes "caused too many negative side-effects for parkour, speedbridging, and movement in general." This reversal should please players who rely on these movement techniques.
Enhanced Item Tooltips and New Language Support
Crossbows now display all charged projectiles in their tooltip instead of just the first one, providing better information at a glance. Additionally, container items with stored contents (like Chests picked with Ctrl+Pick Block) will now list the first five items in their tooltip, similar to how Shulker Boxes work.
The snapshot also adds language support for Kyrgyz, continuing Minecraft's commitment to accessibility for global players.
What's New for Technical Players?
This snapshot is particularly exciting for datapack creators and technical players. The Data Pack version has been updated to 64 and the Resource Pack version to 49, bringing numerous improvements:
- A new blocks_attacks component allows items to function like shields when blocking attacks
- Cat and Frog variants are now data-driven, allowing for customization
- New tooltip_display component for controlling what information appears in item tooltips
- SNBT literals now accept heterogenous lists, providing more flexibility
- New sound components for items, including break_sound
The uniform variant selection system is particularly noteworthy, as it creates a standardized way to define how different mob variants spawn based on conditions like biomes, moon phases, and structures.
Shield Mechanics Expanded
One of the most gameplay-relevant technical changes is the new blocks_attacks component. This allows datapack creators to make any item function like a shield, with customizable properties including block delay, damage reduction factors, and cooldown scales. This opens up possibilities for new defensive strategies beyond the traditional shield.
The snapshot also fixes several shield-related bugs. Players can now hear their own shield blocking sounds (fixing a long-standing bug), and shield breaking sounds are properly audible to all players.
Bug Fixes and Technical Improvements
The snapshot addresses over 40 bugs, including fixes for thorns enchantment sounds, arrow and trident behavior in flowing lava, powder snow landing physics, and various technical issues. Many of these fixes will improve overall gameplay consistency and performance.
For those interested in testing the snapshot, it's available through the official Minecraft Launcher by enabling snapshots in the Installations tab. As always, Mojang recommends backing up worlds before testing snapshots, as they can potentially corrupt existing saves.
Players can provide feedback on the new features at feedback.minecraft.net and report any bugs at bugs.mojang.com.