The secret of Allay mob in Minecraft 1.19 update and why it was added

The Minecraft 1.19 update finally arrived earlier this week. Mojang released it at about midday EST on June 7.

After months of snapshots, betas, and pre-releases, players finally had access to all the features they'd been waiting for patiently. That includes the Deep Dark, Warden, frogs, mangrove swamp biomes, and so much more.

One of the most anticipated additions was the Allay. It was arguably the headliner of this update, with the first official promotional trailer for the update focusing on it. As a result, the Allay has quickly become a fan favorite.

Mojang always has a reason for adding anything. Sometimes it's because they listen to the community and take feedback. Other times it's because they have a plan for where they want the game to go.

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Why Minecraft 1.19 update included Allay

The most straightforward reason the Allay was added in the 1.19 update is that it won the Mob Vote fair and square. There aren't any accusations that megastars on social media rigged the vote towards their preferred mob.

The first round saw the Allay face-off with the Copper Golem and the Glare. It dominated both competitors in that vote, which received nearly 1.3 million votes:

• Glare- 11.2%
• Copper Golem- 37.8%
• Allay- 51%

In the final round, the Allay received even more of the almost 1.2 million votes. It had 54.3% support, while the Copper Golem managed 45.7%. Clearly, the former was the favorite in this group.

In short, that's why Mojang added it. Whoever they preferred from the group didn't matter because the community had spoken, and it was not in a quiet statement.

That's what happens in Mob Votes. Phantoms won in 2017, and their competitors never saw the light of day. The same occurred in 2020 with glowsquids.

The secret that many players who might have voted for the Allay probably didn't know is that Mojang had this mob in their plans for a long time.

It was initially called the Wisp and was planned for the Nether update, 1.16. The original pitch for it was "a mob that can hold an item," a reductive but perfectly accurate description.

Ultimately, they weren't able to add it to that update. A big reason is that the developers weren't sure if users would even resonate with or want a mob like that.

Fast forward a few years, and Mojang decided to find out if the community desired a mob that could hold items. If the Minecraft community didn't want it, they probably would have scrapped it.

The Allay and a cookie (Image via Mojang)

However, the Allay dominated the vote, proving that the community did want that kind of a mob. It reaffirmed the developers' initial ideas that a mob like this would be good.

Now that it's finally here, the decision is even more vindicated as the Allay has been a big part of the latest Minecraft update's success.