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On April 19, 2023, Minecraft: Java Edition's latest snapshot was released under the designation 23w16a. It is the latest beta showcasing new content arriving in the 1.20 Trails & Tales update.
Although this snapshot may not have introduced massive changes or features like some of its counterparts, it's still noteworthy enough for the implementations it has made. Most of the additions in Minecraft 23w16a are somewhat small in scale, but players ought to be aware of them to use them effectively. There were also a large number of bug fixes made in this snapshot, so fans should find a much more stable gameplay experience.
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Nonetheless, it doesn't hurt to take a look at some of the best Minecraft 23w16a snapshot features.
Most noteworthy features in Minecraft Snapshot 23w16a
1) Minecraft Java icon changes
For much of Java Edition's history, the game's icon has remained the same in the form of a grass block. However, Mojang wanted to establish a difference between official versions of Java Edition and its snapshots, and they decided to make a change in snapshot 23w16a. Now, Java Edition's official builds will retain their grass block icons, but snapshots will have their icons changed to a base dirt block instead.
It's a small change, but it should help fans in the community better identify Java Edition's main releases and the many snapshots that are delivered in between.
2) Sniffers lured by torchflower seeds
The sniffer has been one of the most visible faces of Minecraft recently, due in no small part to its victory in the community Mob Vote in 2022. Recent snapshots have developed the creature's behavior and how it interacts with players and the world at large.
Snapshot 23w16a added one new feature for sniffers, as they can now be lured to players who are carrying torchflower seeds, much like how other animals can be attracted by food items. This certainly makes sense, since sniffers already sniff out torchflower seeds in the environment. Hopefully, this implementation should help players corral their sniffers and move them around more effectively.
3) Sculk shrieker/sensor changes with chunks
Sculk blocks were introduced in Minecraft 1.19, and have become a very intriguing collection of blocks to interact with. Sculk shriekers and sculk sensors are capable of sensing vibrations left by players and other entities. However, these blocks had an issue when vibrations were received and several sculk blocks were within range of each other. In this situation, sculk blocks that were part of unloaded chunks couldn't receive vibrations from their counterparts.
However, this has changed in snapshot 23w16a. Now, vibrational resonances will stay stored in sculk sensors and shriekers until all the surrounding chunks have loaded. This will ensure that sculk vibration networks don't break when players are far away from them and certain chunks aren't loaded in.
4) Trail ruins rework
Trail ruins are a new generated structure that will be fully implemented in Minecraft 1.20. However, fans have been able to explore and tinker with these structures thanks to recent Java snapshots and Bedrock Edition previews.
In 23w16a, Mojang made several changes to trail ruins based on player feedback. Sand has been removed from the ruins, new variants of ruins can now generate, and the loot tables for suspicious gravel blocks have been re-tooled so that players can find items of certain quality more consistently when performing archeological tasks.
The suspicious gravel loot changes have now been split between common items and rare items.
5) Pottery... sherds?
While it's likely a joke on Mojang's part, the pottery shards found in archeology have had their names changed in Minecraft 23w16a. The name of pottery shards has been changed to "pottery sherds" for an unknown reason.
Fans have already begun making jokes about the name change, including plenty of memes being passed around on social media. Otherwise, nothing has changed for pottery "sherds" in this snapshot. Regardless, the name change is quite funny, particularly when players aren't immediately aware of the change.
Mojang will likely change the name back to pottery shards at some point, but this change is a fun little Easter Egg to catch in snapshot 23w16a.
