Minecraft Snapshot 21w40a: Everything players need to know

At this point, it seems that Mojang is releasing another Minecraft Snapshot every other week. This snapshot is quite large, which is good news as it could indicate that the new Minecraft Caves and Cliffs part two may be released soon. This snapshot in particular focuses heavily on world generation, which is the most exciting aspect of the new update.

Minecraft players are waiting patiently for this update as it is going to be the best Minecraft update in history. Some players may have been let down by 1.17, but this update is surely the real deal. Since this Snapshot is one of the largest that Mojang has released, only the most notable changes are listed below.

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Everything Minecraft players need to know about Snapshot 21w40a

Snapshot 21w40a Patch Notes

More new mountains (Image via Minecraft)

The most notable patch notes for the new Minecraft Snapshot are listed below:

• Copper Ore now drops 2-5 (from 2-3) Raw Copper items
• In the Stonecutter, a block of Copper can be converted to 4 Cut Copper
• Updated ore distribution to make branch mining deep down more rewarding
• Increased the average size of most biomes (this also means biomes aren't in the same places as before)
• Slightly increased the frequency of underwater magma
• Increased the amount of dungeons, especially below height 0
• Gravel now generates below height 0
• Villages are slightly more spread out
• Axolotls now only spawn in water, above clay blocks, in lush caves
• Glowsquids now only spawn in water blocks, under height 30
• Cod, Salmon, Pufferfish, Tropical Fish, Squid and Dolphins now only spawn in water from height 50 to height 64
• Tropical Fish now also spawn in lush caves at any height
• Zombies once again spawn in dripstone caves and drowned can also spawn there
• Goats no longer spawn in stony peaks
• Optimized AI for Axolotls, Goats, Hoglins, Zoglins, Piglins, Piglin Brutes and Villagers
• Bedrock layers generate dependent on the world seed now

Listed below are the most notable bugs that were fixed in this snapshot:

• As of 18w06a, the sand, clay and gravel blocks no longer generate around small lakes
• Mountain Edge never generates
• Large amounts of axolotls cause performance issues
• Floating grass can still generate above water lakes
• Large amounts of goats cause performance issues
• Banners without patterns do not render properly
• Command blocks do not display command in their UI
• Unused biomes still present in game files
• Cave vines can generate into water
• Entities bob their head up and down when targeting towards the player
• Blue Orchid generation has decreased

Mojang stated that the Minecraft update will be released during the "holiday" period of 2021. If everything is on track, this should mean that the update will be released either in November or December.