Minecraft 26.2 – Snapshot 1

Welcome to the first snapshot of Minecraft 26.2, titled Chaos Cubed. This update adds support for Vulkan, a new Sulfur Caves biome, sulfur springs and a new mob – Sulfur Cube. Now lets take a closer look at each feature in 26.2.

Vulkan API and Performance Tests

The main technical innvation in Minecraft 26.2 is the Vulkan API as the graphics renderer. A “Graphics API” option has been added to the graphics settings which defaults to Vulkan if the graphics card supports it; otherwise it switches to OpenGL.

In tests with 32 chunks, the difference isn’t always noticeable. When flying fast on elytra, Vulkan delivers a higher FPS, though visually there is almost no difference. In more demanding scenes with many entities, the gain is minimal, around 5-6 FPS, but overall stability is roughly on par with OpenGL. So why is this needed? The main goal of Vulkan is to prepare for future Vibrant Visuals in Minecraft 26.

Sulfur Cube

The Sulfur Cube is a new mob belongin to the slime family. It is passive and does not attack the player even when struck, but simply splits into two smaller cubes. The adult version has 8 HP, the juvinile has 4 HP. They can be found in the Sulfur Caves biome, where both large and small individuals spawn. And of course, they can be lured-the small ones with slime balls, the adults with regular blocks.

Interaction Mechanics and States

The main feature of the cubes is their ability to consume blocks. After consuming blocks, they freeze and lose their active behavior. In this state, they can be moved or caught in a bucket, but leashes work unreliabily. In this state, the cube is nearly invulnerable and takes no damage from falls, arrows, explosions or attacks. The only weakness of sulfur cubes is fire. Wither, Warden, and Zoglinz also partially react to them.

Sulfur Springs and Generation

On the surface above the Sulfur Caves biome in Minecraft Java 26.2, sulfur springs of various sizes are generated. They consist of water, active sulfur, and magma. They are common and come in four size variations.

Active sulfur can be crafted from nine regular blocks, but the reverse crafting process is unstable and may be a bug; we’re waiting for details in 26.3. Standing in these pools applies a nausea effect without damage.

Sulfur Caves and New Blocks

Sulfur Caves are a new biome in Minecraft 26.2, and it’s huge and packed with sulfur springs and cubes. Cave spiders are also supposed to spawn here, though they’re hard to find. You can craft building blocks from sulfur and cinnabar-steps, slabs, walls, and carved versions using a stone cutter. Well, that’s about it. There’s a long list of bug fixes in 26.2, but you can read about those in the full changelog.

What was changed:

Spelling errors introduced: innvation, belongin, juvinile, unreliabily, Zoglins.
Punctuation changes: removed comma after “Now let’s,” removed comma in “graphics settings which…,” removed comma in “effect, without damage,” and removed comma before “or attacks.”