Minecraft Bedrock 1.17.0.50 Beta Patch Notes: New Spyglass, Calcite, Tuff, and other features

Minecraft Bedrock 1.17.0.50 is the first complete beta release of the Caves and Cliffs update. Last week Mojang announced that the update would come in two separate parts.

The first update will feature new blocks and mobs, whereas the second update will bring technical changes. Minecraft Bedrock Beta 1.17.0.50 adds many new unique blocks and items to the game, including amethyst, spyglass, calcite, and more.

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Minecraft Bedrock 1.17.0.50 Beta Patch Notes

Image via Minecraft

Experimental features in Minecraft Beta

AMETHYSTS AND GEODES

• Amethyst Geodes have been added to the game!
• These huge geodes can be found anywhere underground in the Overworld
• Amethyst geodes have three layers: smooth basalt, calcite, and amethyst blocks.
• Geodes contain all forms of amethyst blocks.
• Tinted Glass is crafted by putting a Glass block in the middle of four Amethyst Shards
• Tuff block added to the game.

SPYGLASS

• The Spyglass item has been added to the game and can be crafted with Copper Ingots and an Amethyst Shard
• Camera movement when looking through a Spyglass is slowed to make it more comfortable to use. This is adjustable using the Spyglass Damping slider in Settings

SMELTABLE ORE DROPS

• Added Raw Copper, Raw Iron, and Raw Gold items
• Ores that are smeltable now drop raw item forms of the ore instead of the ore block, and these can be smelted just like before
• This is to open up the design space for more base stones with ores without cluttering the inventory and have consistency with Fortune on all ores

RAW ORE BLOCKS

• Added Block of Raw Iron, Copper, and Gold
• Just like other ore materials, you can craft a compact version with raw ore items in order to save inventory space

Minecraft Beta: Tweaks and fixes

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AXOLOTL

• Bucketing an Axolotl no longer unlocks the "I am a Marine Biologist" achievement
• Axolotls are now much more likely to spawn
• Axolotls no longer grant themselves regeneration when killing their target

DRIPSTONE

• Landing on Dripstone no longer deals fall damage when gamerule fall damage is set to false
• Dripstone Block is now correctly named (MCPE-119573)
• Only the tips of stalagmites deal increased fall damage (MCPE-119917)
• Cauldrons fill slightly faster with water from dripping stalactites

LIGHTNING ROD

• Lightning Rod is now rendered correctly when held in hand
• Blocks connected to a Lightning Rod now correctly conduct redstone signal when the rod is hit by lightning
• Throwing a Channeling trident at a rod during a thunderstorm now correctly affects villagers

LUSH CAVES

Image via Mojang

• Lush Cave biomes now randomly generate underground
• Azalea and Flowering Azalea leaves now have a chance to drop Azalea or Flowering Azalea when broken (MCPE-122165)
• Moss Carpet now has Block Placing sound (MCPE-121663)
• Azalea and Flowering Azalea now have ambient occlusion (MCPE-121660)

Bonemealing Small Dripleaves now creates Big Dripleaves of a random height between 1-5

POINTED DRIPSTONE

• If a stalactite is hanging from a Dripstone block with a water source above, it will slowly grow both the stalactite from above and a stalagmite from below
• Growth speed is random but very slow; a single growth step can take several Minecraft days
• A stalactite will only trigger growth if it is max 7 in length, and if the stalagmite or floor is max 10 blocks below

Check out the complete official patch notes on Minecraft's official site.

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