Minecraft’s 1.17 Update Previews Flip Between Bedrock And Java

Minecraft’s 1.17 update (Caves and Cliffs) is slated for release sometime this summer, but that doesn’t mean that Mojang is keeping anything secret until then. For the last few months, Mojang has been releasing previews of the features that appear in 1.17—oddly enough, though, they have chosen to alternate these previews between the Bedrock and Java editions of the game.

For example, glow squid were first added to Minecraft with snapshot 21W03A on Java Edition, while mountain goats were introduced on Bedrock. More recently, it appears that these previews are leaning more on the Java edition of the game. The reasoning for this isn’t immediately clear. Still, in November Minecraft developer, Henrik Kniberg tweeted that the two versions would eventually be the same—or as close to the same as possible.

As you've noticed, during the snapshot/beta period we ship some Caves & Cliffs features on bedrock first, others on java first. But don't worry, we'll gradually converge and for the final release we aim to have all new features on both platforms (or as close as possible).

— Henrik Kniberg (@henrikkniberg) November 4, 2020

Snapshots (the name given to previews on Java edition) have been coming almost weekly since the 1.17 update was announced in early October. Snapshot 20W06A increased the world height (and depth) for the game, making room for deeper caves and more dramatic mountains.

The so-called Caves and Cliffs update appears to be one of the biggest updates to Minecraft that we’ve ever seen—if not the biggest. Last year’s update, appropriately called the nether update, completely overhauled how the nether dimension looks, feels, and works in the game. At the time, the additions that came with the nether update felt enormous.

The nether update added new types of “wood,” new mobs, and new biomes to explore. It also added new blocks, structures, and ways to obtain items. However big the Nether Update was, it pales in comparison to Caves and Cliffs, though. Even with everything we’ve seen so far, we have barely reached the half-way point for new features.

We still haven’t seen archaeology, the new mountain generation, tinted glass, nor the Warden. Of course, that also excludes whatever other small surprises that Mojang may introduce along the way. The Caves and Cliffs update is scheduled to release sometime in the summer, so we should have plenty of time to preview and test out more of the features coming with the update.

Read More: Minecraft’s 1.17 Update Doesn’t Include Colored Lights