Ominous trials are the last and final feature for Minecraft 1.21 update

Minecraft's 1.21 update has a long list of new features that have been confirmed, but it appears that the final feature has arrived in the form of ominous trials, which are triggered when players afflicted with the Bad Omen status effect enter the range of a trial spawner block in a trial chamber. This was confirmed by Cristina Anderca in a Mojang article (Minecraft.net, March 28, 2024), leaving no room for doubt:

"Today, we’re adding ominous events to that list, the grand finale of 1.21 features!"

Ominous events include Bad Omen-induced pillager raids that were revamped for the Minecraft 1.21 update and the newly introduced ominous trials. According to Cristina, this overhaul of Bad Omen and the addition of new features connected to it will be the final new content addition for the upcoming update ahead of its presumptive June 2024 release.

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Mojang may not be finished with ominous events after Minecraft 1.21

An ominous vault, which can be unlocked with ominous keys provided by ominous trials in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Although Mojang made it pretty clear that ominous trials and reworked pillager raids would be the last major feature of the 1.21 update, Cristina Anderca's article also seemed to imply that more ominous events are in Mojang's plans, even if they don't arrive immediately after version 1.21 arrives. While explaining how ominous raids/trials work, Anderca remarked:

"Right now, there are two types of ominous events."

Although that two-word clarification might not seem significant to some, it does seem to suggest that Mojang has its eyes on expanding Bad Omen and ominous events even further. Bad Omen is often one of the more overlooked status effects since it is traditionally used to create pillager raid farms. Still, its expanded role may bode well for how the effect can influence Minecraft worlds.

In trial chambers, players afflicted with Bad Omen from consuming an ominous bottle will notice that trial spawner blocks begin emanating skull-like particles and change the ordinary flames in their block texture to soul flames, signaling the activation of an ominous trial. This results in the spawner creating tougher hostile mobs that use equipment, making them more difficult to overcome.

This results in higher-quality rewards when the ominous trial spawner is defeated in update 1.21. However, it doesn't take much to imagine what other aspects of the game Bad Omen could create ominous events for. If it can corrupt trial chambers, why not other structures? If they can create tougher mobs in trial chambers, why not other hostile mobs?

The future seems bright for the ominous bottle, ominous events, and the Bad Omen effect (Image via Mojang)

For now, the features of the 1.21 update have all been confirmed, but the future beyond it certainly looks like an interesting one for Mojang's development team.