What are the new confirmed mobs coming to future Minecraft updates?

Minecraft's wild areas are only expanding, and that includes new mobs to bring increased variety to the game world.

With future Minecraft content updates lined up, players will soon be encountering more mobs. These mobs vary and contrast in many different ways, and they serve different purposes.

Most of the incoming mobs the community currently knows about stem from the upcoming version 1.9 update known as "The Wild Update." This update introduces a total of five different mobs.

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Each new Minecraft mob coming in The Wild Update

1) Fireflies

Fireflies add a nice visual touch to the Overworld (Image via Mojang)

Being included as the smallest mob in all of Minecraft, fireflies are two pixels in size and simply exist to illuminate the night sky to a degree. These mobs glow in the dark and have not yet been given any additional functional announcements by Mojang. This may still change in the future (some players have suggested creating jars or lamps full of fireflies as a light source), but for the moment, fireflies are just a nice visual touch to add to quiet nights in a player's world.

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2) Tadpoles

Tadpoles are the infant stage of frogs (Image via Mojang)

Swimming through different biomes in Minecraft's 1.9 worlds, tadpoles are the juvenile form of frogs. Depending on the temperature of the given biome the tadpole is growing in, the critter can grow into different frog variants. Tadpoles will immediately panic and scramble when they find themselves outside water or when axolotls are lurking nearby. However, to the player's benefit, it's possible to transport a tadpole using a bucket. This gives Minecraft players the ability to raise certain frogs depending on which locale they place their tadpoles in.

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3) Frogs

A frog entering love mode, pointing to the capability to breed (Image via Mojang)

Once tadpoles in Minecraft have fully grown, they'll become frogs. These mobs come in three different variants based on where they grew up as a tadpole: temperate (brown), cold (green), warm (gray). According to Mojang, each frog will provide Minecraft players with different benefits, though these haven't been directly referenced as of yet. Hopping on lily pads and big dripleaf blocks, frogs can eat small slimes and convert them into slimeballs. Slimeballs can then be used to breed frogs (though this may change in the future).

In addition, frogs can create a new item known as froglights if they eat small magma cubes. Depending on the variant of frog, different froglight colors are capable of being created. True to their amphibious nature, frogs are also capable of hopping about on land while also swimming in bodies of water.

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4) Allays

The allay is capable of assisting players and appears to openly wish to do so (Image via Mojang)

The winner of Minecraft Live 2021's mob vote, the allay is a new mob that focuses on helping players out. In the event that a player drops an item or block, the allay can pick it up for the player. It can even collect entire stacks of items if needed. However, allays are drawn to the sound of music, specifically note blocks, and will drop their items when they're close to a note block. However, savvy Minecraft players will likely use this to their advantage and turn note blocks into collection points for allays to drop off excess items.

It isn't immediately clear how many locations allays will spawn at, but these helpful mobs will be found in woodland mansions and pillager outposts within prisons.

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5) The Warden

The Warden is finally arriving soon alongside The Wild Update (Image via Mojang)

One of the most anticipated mobs in the history of Minecraft, the Warden was originally slated to release in the game's 1.17 Caves & Cliffs update but was pushed back so Mojang could improve on it and its environment, the deep dark biome.

However, the Warden and its home biome are finally coming to The Wild Update along with ancient city structures that can be found and looted within the deep dark. A boss-level mob, the Warden has incredibly high strength and durability and is capable of killing even highly-equipped players in a few hits.

The biggest downside to the Warden is that it's blind, and it must rely on vibrations, sounds, and smells to find its targets. This means Minecraft players who wish to avoid battle with the Warden will need to rely on stealth. Otherwise, they'll have quite the fight on their hands.