Minecraft 1.20 update will let you edit signs

For quite a while, Minecraft players who wished to change the text on a sign block had to break the sign, pick it up, and place it again. However, that appears to be changing in the 1.20 Trails & Tales update.

The game's latest Java Edition snapshot 23w12a, which released additional content previews for update 1.20, has introduced the ability to edit signs. By interacting with the sign after it has been placed, players can freely edit the text as they want without needing to break the block first.

This should be incredibly useful for Minecraft fans who use signs regularly to post important information. However, it also presents a new opportunity for players to trick others by changing the sign's text.

The sign changes are welcome, and much more was made available in this latest Minecraft Java snapshot.

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Other fun features introduced in Minecraft's 23w12a snapshot

A calibrated sculk sensor block introduced in Minecraft 23w12a (Image via Mojang)

In addition to gameplay changes to signs, plenty of new content was introduced in the latest Minecraft Java snapshot, allowing players to preview what will arrive in the 1.20 update.

Much of the content debuting in snapshot 23w12a centers around the newly-implemented archeology gameplay. The sniffer mob's eggs were finally added, and additional armor trim templates were introduced and can be found in an all-new structure of an ancient civilization.

This Minecraft Java snapshot is bringing the Trails & Tales update into clearer focus. It appears that there will be plenty to be excited about when the update is released.

Major debuts in Minecraft Java 23w12a

• Vibration Resonance - Amethyst shards can now re-emit the frequency of a sculk sensor's vibration when they are placed nearby.
• Calibrated Sculk Sensors - A new variant of sculk sensors created with sculk sensors and amethyst shards that can filter vibrations based on the intensity of their frequency.
• Suspicious Gravel - A new archeology block that is used in the same way that suspicious sand is. It can be found in cold and warm ocean ruins as well as the new trail ruins structure.
• Trail Ruins - A generated structure that can be found in various biomes, on land, and under bodies of water. New armor trim patterns can be found inside alongside suspicious sand and gravel.
• Pottery Shards - 16 new pottery shards have been added with their own patterns. They have been distributed between the five locations where archeology can be performed.
• New Armor Trims - A total of five new armor trim patterns have been introduced, four of which can be found in trail ruins and one in ancient cities. The Wayfinder, Raiser, Shaper, and Host patterns are found in trail ruins, while Silence trims can now be found in ancient cities in the deep dark.
• Back-Side Sign Text - It's now possible for Minecraft players to place text on opposite sides of a sign by walking around to the back side and interacting with it.
• Sign Waxing - By applying honeycombs to signs, players can prevent others from editing a sign's text.
• Sniffer Eggs - Found in warm ocean ruins within suspicious sand. Used to hatch a snifflet in 20 minutes when placed on most blocks or ten minutes on moss. When sniffers are bred, instead of immediately creating a snifflet, they will drop an egg instead.
• Pitcher Plants - A new ancient plant that can be dug up by sniffers. After searching the ground, sniffers will dig up pitcher pods, which can be grown on farmland and which will yield a two-block-tall pitcher plant.

In addition to the new content, this Minecraft Java snapshot also makes plenty of smaller quality-of-life and performance changes to make the game more enjoyable in totality.

Hopefully, the new implementations are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the eventual content arriving with the Trails & Tales update.