5 unexpected features coming in Minecraft Chase the Skies update

Minecraft will soon receive the Chase the Skies game drop. This update has been worked on by Mojang for several months now. They first introduced it in their bi-annual live event, which was held in March. During the event, they surprised the entire community with some of the most unexpected features.

Here is a list of some of the most unexpected features that were announced and are coming to Minecraft Chase the Skies game drop.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

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List of 5 unexpected features arriving with the Minecraft Chase the Skies game drop

1) Happy ghast

Happy ghast (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Mojang hosted their bi-annual live event in March, where they announced the next game drop. Almost no one was expecting that they would introduce a friendly version of a ghast.

Hence, a happy ghast was quite an unexpected feature that will arrive in the Chase the Skies update. This mob will allow players to fly around the world. It can be grown from a dried ghast block, which can be found in Soul Sand Valleys, or can be crafted. Players need a harness on happy ghasts to ride them.

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2) Craftable saddles

Saddles became craftable (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Ever since saddles were added to Minecraft, they have been a rare loot found only in chests in certain structures. After so many years, Mojang finally decided to make this simple item craftable.

This was massive news for the entire community since finding saddles was one of the most important and frustrating things to do.

Saddles can now be crafted using three leathers and one iron ingot, which are extremely easy to obtain early in the game.

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3) Vibrant Visuals

Vibrant Visuals (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Ever since Minecraft was released in 2011, Mojang has always stuck with some of the most basic graphics for its main game. Fast forward to 2025, the developers, with their new Render Dragon engine, brought Vibrant Visuals to Bedrock Edition. They are also working on bringing it to Java Edition at a later date.

Vibrant Visuals was also a shocking feature for many since it is the first official shader pack visual upgrade by Mojang themselves.

It adds directional and volumetric lighting, shadows, reflections, and fog to the game, making it a lot more beautiful than its original graphics.

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4) Lead's crafting recipe change

Lead's new crafting recipe (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Lead received a lot of brilliant changes with the Chase the Skies update. One of the most unexpected changes to the item was its crafting recipe. Mojang decided to replace the slime ball used to craft a lead with another string. Since strings are much easier to get in the game, this made it extremely easy to craft a lead.

This was a surprise to many since lead was also a difficult item to get or craft. Now, however, it will be one of the easiest items to make.

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5) Creeper face pattern in cloud texture

Creeper face cloud (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

The update is appropriately called Chase the Skies since it not only brings new happy ghasts that can fly high but also some changes to the clouds. One of the most surprising changes was that clouds received new textures in the game drop, along with a unique creeper face pattern.

This means that players will now be able to occasionally see a creeper face made out of clouds. Since the entire texture pattern of clouds in Minecraft is quite large to bring randomness, players will have to hunt for the special creeper face cloud.

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