"Kind of cool actually": Minecraft player shares their opinion on new UI changes in snapshot 24w09a

Minecraft is an interesting case in gaming due to its age. It was first released more than a decade ago, meaning a lot of the design philosophies used when the game was first created have fallen out of fashion. This makes updating these features a necessity for ensuring the game continues to feel modern and fresh.

Redditor u/JoeFly2009 asked the community what their opinions were on one of Minecraft update 1.21's newest features, a total revamp of the game's user interface. The top comment, by user u/FistkSarma, sums up the community's opinion quite simply:

"Kind of cool actually."

But what exactly are these UI changes, and was the entire community's reaction the same as u/FistkSarma's?

---

Minecraft snapshot 24w09a's UI changes

The changes

This new UI is found in all menus now (Image via Mojang)

There is one big change to the game's many menus made by Minecraft snapshot 24w09a, and that is that the background has been changed. It is no longer the iconic dirt block texture but rather a rotating world-view panoramic, similar to the main menu.

The menu elements simply rest on top of this background as it moves, leaving the player immersed in their worlds while navigating through menus.

---

Player reactions

Comment byu/JoeFly2009 from discussion inMinecraft

One of the top comments on the Reddit thread, left by user u/UnseenGamer182, points out how this simple change makes the game feel much more modern, bringing Minecraft more in line with contemporary titles. This, in some ways, makes the game feel like the best-selling game of all time, rather than the indie game feel of the older dirt menus.

It's different, undeniably so, but in a way that stays true enough to the spirit of the game to be more of a sidegrade than an upgrade or a downgrade. It's still Minecraft; it's just different now.

Comment byu/JoeFly2009 from discussion inMinecraft

There were also some comments, such as the one left by user u/DaBigJ_Official, that point out that while the new menus do look nice, there are a few strange choices that were made that need fixing.

Comment byu/JoeFly2009 from discussion inMinecraft

The biggest examples pointed out in the thread are the different shades used for different parts of the menu. Additionally, the background is too bright compared to ithe nteractable menu elements. It should either be made darker, or players should be given a slider to adjust the background's brightness on the fly.

Comment byu/JoeFly2009 from discussion inMinecraft

However, user u/Destian_ brings up an interesting point, suggesting that this new transparent UI will become outdated in the next few years. The old dirt backgrounds may have been old-fashioned by modern standards, but they were classic. This new UI will need to be changed as it will quickly look outdated, meaning Mojang has effectively created a recurring problem.

Now, it is also possible that design sensibilities remain as they are now for an extended period of time, in which case this updated UI will last for many years, but realistically, as u/Destian_ points out, it will probably need to be updated in five or so years, less time than the dirt background lasted.