How to download Minecraft Java 21w17a Snapshot

Minecraft Caves and Cliffs is the most significant update fans have ever seen in the game. After a breathtaking Nether update, Mojang is ready to bring some massive changes to the overworld.

The Minecraft 1.17 update focuses on bringing new content to the caves and mountains of the game. For a long time, mountain and cave generation had stayed the same: dull and boring. This update revamps both by adding new biomes, mobs, blocks, and more.

Mojang has already released many Snapshots for this update. Players can try the experimental features in these Snapshots. Minecraft 21w17a adds new noodle caves, some tweaks to raw ore texture and copper.

Players can download it to get a first-hand experience of the caves and cliff's features.

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How to download Minecraft Java 21w17a Snapshot

Comparison of raw ore textures (Image via Minecraft.net)

Steps to download the Snapshot

Players can download the latest Minecraft Snapshot 21w17a by following these steps:

1. Download the Minecraft Launcher if it is not already downloaded
2. Open the Minecraft launcher
3. Select the "Installations" option tab in the top left of the screen
4. Click on and enable snapshots in the installations tab

They can create a new world to play Snapshots as worlds from older versions are not supported entirely. Snapshots can corrupt world files, making them unplayable.

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List of changes in 21w17a

Changes in 21W17A

• Small Dripleaves can now also be placed on Moss Blocks
• Copper Ore drops 2-3 raw Copper when mined, or more when using a tool enchanted with Fortune
• Copper Blocks are now crafted from 9 Copper Ingots
• Tweaked the texture of raw Metal blocks

Changes to the caves & cliffs preview

Noodle caves (Image via Minecraft.net)

• Large Ore Veins have been tweaked
• Added noodle caves – thinner, squigglier, and more claustrophobic variant of spaghetti caves

Changes to ore veins

• Ore veins are now slightly rarer and slightly smaller (but they are still large!)
• The ores in the vein are clumpier and less evenly distributed
• If players are lucky, they may find a raw ore block in the vein

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