Minecraft Update 1.17 Caves and Cliffs Patch Notes

The Minecraft Caves and Cliffs update, also known as version 1.17, has arrived, and here’s the full list of changes and fixes added with this patch. This is only the first half of the update, focusing on new blocks, mobs, and ores. The second part of the update will arrive later this year and bring sweeping changes to world generation. That’s the one most people are excited for, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a ton of hype surrounding Caves and Cliffs Part 1. Here’s everything new with Minecraft version 1.17.

Minecraft Caves and Cliffs Update 1.17 Patch Notes

FEATURES

• Added Dripstone Block and Pointed Dripstone
• Added Block of Amethyst, Budding Amethyst, Amethyst Cluster, and Amethyst Bud
• Added Block of Raw Iron, Copper, and Gold
• Added Candles
• Added Copper
• Added Deepslate
• Added Glow Lichen
• Added Lava Cauldron
• Added Lightning Rod
• Added Lush Caves Block
• Added Powder Snow
• Added Raw Copper, Raw Iron, and Raw Gold items
• Added the Axolotl
• Added the Glow Squid
• Added the Goat
• Added Spyglass
• Added Tinted Glass
• A Shulker hitting a Shulker with a Shulker Bullet can make a new Shulker
• Additions to Wandering Trader and Mason trades
• Bundles and Shulker Box items will drop their contents when destroyed
• Changed Infested Block destroy times
• Changes to Shipwreck and Mineshaft loot
• Dirt Paths (formerly Grass Path) can now be made by using a Shovel on Dirt, Podzol, Mycelium, or Coarse Dirt (as well as Grass)
• Drowned now has a chance of dropping a Copper Ingot, and they no longer drop Gold Ingots
• Experience Orbs now sometimes merge when in large quantities to improve performance. This does not change the rate at which the player can absorb them, it simply limits the amount of separate orbs floating around in the world. Orbs that merge will gain the lifetime of the most recently created one.
• Holding down the space bar now increases the scroll speed in the credits
• Minecarts and Rails work in water
• Particles now appear when Pistons break blocks
• Reordered some blocks in the Building Blocks Tab in the Creative Menu
• Reordered the Redstone Tab in the Creative Menu
• Simple Firework Rockets with one Gunpowder can now be crafted using the recipe book

ACCESSIBILITY

• Added an alternative solid black background color for the Mojang Studios loading screen, toggleable with the “Monochrome Logo” accessibility option

ADVANCEMENTS

• Added “Whatever Floats Your Goat!” for floating in a boat with a Goat
• Added “Wax on” for applying Honeycomb to a Copper block
• Added “Wax off” for scraping wax off a Copper block
• Added “The Cutest Predator” for catching an Axolotl in a Bucket
• Added “The Healing Power of Friendship!” for teaming up with an Axolotl and winning a fight
• Added “Glow and Behold” for making a Sign glow
• Added “Light as a Rabbit” for walking on Powder Snow with Leather Boots
• Added “Surge Protector!” for having a lightning strike a Lightning Rod near a Villager without setting the area on fire
• Added “Is It a Bird?” for looking at a Parrot through a Spyglass
• Added “Is It a Balloon?” for looking at a Ghast through a Spyglass
• Added “Is It a Plane?” for looking at the Ender Dragon through a Spyglass

AMETHYST BLOCKS

• Amethyst comes in block form inside the Geodes in two ways: Block of Amethyst and Budding Amethyst
• All types of Amethyst blocks (Clusters included) create beautiful sounds when you walk on them, break them, place them, or hit them with a projectile – go make some music!

AMETHYST CLUSTERS

• Amethyst Clusters grow from Budding Amethyst, which can be found inside Amethyst Geodes
• Clusters have four growth stages: Small Amethyst Bud, Medium Amethyst Bud, Large Amethyst Bud, and Amethyst Cluster
• Clusters can only grow when they are placed on Budding Amethyst blocks
• Fully-grown Amethyst Clusters drop four Amethyst Shards (or more with Fortune) when mined with a Pickaxe, and drop two Amethyst Shards when broken by hand, Piston, or other means
• Clusters can be Silk Touched at any stage

AMETHYST GEODES

• These huge geodes can be found anywhere underground in the Overworld
• Amethyst Geodes have an outer layer of a new stone called Smooth Basalt
• Amethyst Geodes have a second layer of another new block called Calcite
• Amethyst Geodes have an inner layer of various Amethyst blocks

AMETHYST SHARDS

• Amethyst Clusters drop two Amethyst Shards when broken by hand, Piston, or other means
• Amethyst Clusters drop four Amethyst Shards when mined with a Pickaxe (or more with Fortune)

AXOLOTL

• Amphibious!
• Axolotls spawn in underground water that is in total darkness with Stone, Granite, Diorite, Andesite, Tuff, or Deepslate below
• Axolotls love tropical fish! Bucket of Tropical Fish can be used to breed Axolotls.
• Axolotls will swim around with you if you’re holding a Bucket of Tropical Fish in either hand
• When a player kills a mob that the Axolotl was attacking or being attacked by, the Axolotl will show its appreciation by granting the player temporary Regeneration and removing any Mining Fatigue effects
• If the player has more than 2 minutes of Regeneration effect left already, the axolotl will not grant additional regeneration
• You can pick up your Axolotl in a Water Bucket and carry it around just like a Salmon or a Cod!
• Axolotls will always chase after and attack Squids, Glow Squids, Tropical Fish, Cod, Salmon, Pufferfish, Drowned, Guardians, and Elder Guardians
• Axolotls do not like being out of water, and will dry up and begin taking damage if they are out of water for longer than 5 minutes
• An Axolotl will not dry up as long as they are in water or rain
• Sometimes when an Axolotl takes damage while inside water, it will pretend to be dead so that it stops being attacked
• There are four common varieties and one rare variety (blue) of Axolotl
• Axolotls spawn in underground water sources that are in total darkness and above natural stone blocks
• Axolotls now have a two-minute cooldown after hunting non-hostile targets: Squids, Glow Squids, Tropical Fish, Cod, Salmon, and Pufferfish
• Axolotls will prioritize targeting hostile mobs over hunting

BONE MEAL

• A crinkly, crunchy sound plays when Bone Meal is used

BUDDING AMETHYST

• On any side of a Budding Amethyst block where there is air or a water source block, a Small Amethyst Bud will eventually grow
• Amethyst Buds can only grow when attached to Budding Amethyst, and will grow until they become Amethyst Clusters

BUILDING BLOCKS TAB

• All ores have been reordered to be in the same location in the creative inventory
• Compact forms of raw and refined underground materials have been reordered

CANDLES

• Candles come in all sixteen colors and one uncolored variant
• Up to four Candles can be placed in one block
• Waterloggable! (But you cannot light them underwater, silly)
• Wish anybody a happy birthday with a Cake with a Candle!
• Candles can only be placed if there is a solid surface below but will remain even if the surface below is removed

CAULDRONS

• Cauldrons can now be filled with Lava and Powder Snow Buckets!
• Cauldrons filled with lava give off a Redstone signal with Strength 3 when used with a comparator

COPPER BLOCKS

• Craft nine Copper Ingots into a Copper Block
• Craft Cut Copper, Cut Copper Stairs, and Cut Copper Slabs
• The Stonecutter can be used to craft the different Copper Block variants
• Use Honeycomb to craft Waxed Copper Blocks
• Right-click with Honeycomb on Copper Blocks to wax them
• Use Honeycomb in a Dispenser to wax Copper Blocks

COPPER ORE

• Copper Ore can be found in ore blobs across the Overworld, similar to Iron and Coal (this is not the final generation for Copper…)
• Smelt Copper Ore to get a Copper Ingot
• Copper Ore drops 2-3 Raw Copper

DEEPSLATE

• Deepslate can be found in the deepest parts of the underground, and is slightly tougher to mine than normal Stone
• Deepslate will drop Cobbled Deepslate, similar to how Stone drops Cobblestone
  • You can still obtain Deepslate with Silk Touch
• Like Cobblestone, Cobbled Deepslate can be used to craft basic tools, Furnaces and Brewing Stands
• You can also craft the following blocks with Deepslate:
  • Cobbled Deepslate Slab
  • Cobbled Deepslate Stairs
  • Cobbled Deepslate Wall
  • Polished Deepslate
  • Polished Deepslate Slab
  • Polished Deepslate Stairs
  • Polished Deepslate Wall
  • Deepslate Bricks
  • Deepslate Brick Slab
  • Deepslate Brick Stairs
  • Deepslate Brick Wall
  • Deepslate Tiles
  • Deepslate Tile Slab
  • Deepslate Tile Stairs
  • Deepslate Tile Wall
  • Chiseled Deepslate
  • Cracked Deepslate Bricks
  • Cracked Deepslate Tiles
• There is also an Infested variant of Deepslate found in the underground
• Cobbled Deepslate can be smelted into Deepslate

DEEPSLATE ORES

• When ore is generated in the same place as Deepslate, Deepslate variants of that ore are now generated instead
• Twice as tough to mine as normal ores

DRIPSTONE BLOCK

• Decorative block
• Can be crafted with four Pointed Dripstone

POINTED DRIPSTONE

• Forms a stalactite if placed on the ceiling or a stalagmite if placed on the floor
• Can be combined to form longer stalactites & stalagmites
• Stalactites and stalagmites merge if the tips are next to each other unless you press shift while placing
• Stalagmites will break if they’re not attached to something below
• Landing or jumping on a stalagmite hurts! They are sharp
• Stalactites fall down if not attached to something above
• Being hit by a falling stalactite hurts! They are sharp
• Stalactites drip water (or lava if there is lava above the ceiling)
• A stalactite with a water source above the ceiling will gradually fill a cauldron below with water
• A stalactite with a lava source above the ceiling will fill a cauldron below with lava after a while
• Thrown Tridents break Pointed Dripstone

DRIPSTONE GROWTH

• If a stalactite is hanging from a Dripstone Block with a water source above, it will slowly grow both the stalactite from above and a stalagmite from below
• Growth speed is random but very slow, a single growth step can take several Minecraft days
• A stalactite will only grow up to seven blocks long
• A stalactite will only cause stalagmite growth if the floor or stalagmite below is within 10 blocks
• If the stalactite tip is inside water it won’t drip, and therefore won’t trigger any growth
• If the stalagmite tip is inside water it won’t receive drops, and therefore won’t be grown by a dripping stalactite. Same thing if there is any fluid between the two tips.
• A stalagmite or stalactite will never grow into a fluid

GLOW LICHEN

• A dim light source that generates in caves
• Use Shears to pick it up
• Use Bone Meal to spread it along block surfaces

GLOW SQUID

• Glow Squids are well-lit and can be seen from far distances
• When killed, Glow Squids drop Glow Ink Sacs
• Glow Ink Sacs can be used on Signs to make the text super visible, even at night. Works with colors!
• Craft a Glow Item Frame by combining a Glow Ink Sac with an Item Frame in a Crafting Table. Any item in a Glow Item Frame is perfectly illuminated, even at night.
• Use an Ink Sac on a Sign to remove the glow effect
• Axolotls will attack any Glow Squids they see, so… be careful
• Glow Squids spawn in underground water that is in total darkness with Stone, Granite, Diorite, Andesite, Tuff, or Deepslate below

GOAT

• Goats spawn in mountains
• Goats can scale the sides of mountains with their incredible jumps
• Goats can be tempted and bred using Wheat
• Goats are another source of Milk!
• Goats will ram anything that moves… also Armor Stands
• Two in every 100 goats have something very loud to tell you!
• Goats will avoid walking on Powder Snow
• Screaming Goats will use their ram attack more often than other Goats will
• Mobs rammed by Goats do not retaliate

INFESTED BLOCKS

• Infested Blocks are no longer instantly destroyed, and instead, have half the destroy time of their non-infested counterpart

LIGHTNING ROD

• A Lightning Rod is crafted from three Copper Ingots
• Keeps your builds safe (well, as long as the closest area around the Lightning Rod is fireproof) during thunderstorms!
• The Lightning Rod will protect an area of 8 * 16 blocks around it from the, sometimes devastating, lightning strikes!
• Lightning Rods give off a Redstone signal when struck by lightning

LUSH CAVES BLOCKS

• Added Moss
• Added Dripleaves
• Added Rooted Dirt and Hanging Roots
• Added Spore Blossoms (currently only available in the Creative inventory)
• Added Cave Vines and Glow Berries
• Added Azalea Bushes

AZALEA BUSHES

• Added Azalea Bushes as well as Flowering Azaela Bushes
• Bees see Flowering Azalea (and Flowering Azalea Leaves) as flowers
• Bonemeal Azalea or Flowering Azalea to get an Azalea Tree

CAVE VINES AND GLOW BERRIES

• Cave Vines grow down from the ceiling, like Weeping Vines
• When they grow they have a chance of producing Glow Berries
• Glow Berries are a natural light source as well as a food source
• Foxes eat Glow Berries
• Use Glow Berries to plant new Cave Vines
• Bonemealing a Cave Vine will create Glow Berries

DRIP LEAVES

• Small Dripleaf needs moisture, so it grows on Clay or underwater
• The facing direction of Small Dripleaf blocks is determined by which direction the player is facing when placing it
• The Wandering Trader will sometimes sell Small Dripleaf plants
• Small Dripleaf grows into Big Dripleaf when bonemealed
• Big Dripleaf grows taller when bonemealed
• If you stand on a Big Dripleaf, it will tilt after a while, and you will fall off
• A tilted Big Dripleaf will tilt up again after a while
• A Big Dripleaf will tilt when hit by a projectile
• A Redstone powered Big Dripleaf will not tilt (except when hit by a projectile)

MOSS

• Two new decorative blocks: Moss Block and Moss Carpet
• Moss Carpet can be crafted from Moss Blocks
• Moss Blocks can be crafted with Cobblestone or Stone Bricks to make the mossy versions of those blocks

ROOTS

• Added Rooted Dirt and Hanging Roots – decorative blocks that will appear in the upcoming Lush Caves biome
• Bonemealing Rooted Dirt grows Hanging Roots underneath
• Tilling Rooted Dirt with a Hoe will convert it into Dirt, and pop out a Hanging Roots item.

SPORE BLOSSOMS

• A beautiful large flower placed on ceilings
• Particles drip from it and will appear in the air around it

MINECARTS AND RAILS WORK IN WATER

• All Rails can be waterlogged (works with a Dispenser & Water Bucket too)
• Flowing water doesn’t break Rails
• Minecarts can pass through water, but get slowed down more than usual

OXIDATION

• Copper will oxidize over time
• There are four stages: Copper, Exposed Copper, Weathered Copper, and Oxidized Copper
• It takes 50-82 Minecraft days (in loaded chunks) for a Copper Block to oxidize one stage
• Waxed Copper Blocks will not oxidize
• You can wax any oxidation stage – how lovely, that means you can keep that pretty Weathered Copper Block in its weathered stage forever!
• A lightning strike hitting Copper will clean its oxidation
• Waxed Copper Blocks can be crafted into nine Copper Ingots
• Axes can scrape off wax and oxidation from Copper Blocks

POWDER SNOW

Snowier snow!

• Powder Snow is a trap block that causes any entity that walks into it to sink in it
• You can pick up and place Powder Snow with a Bucket
• Wear Leather Boots to prevent yourself from sinking into Powder Snow blocks
• Leave a Cauldron outside in falling snow and it will fill with Powder Snow
• Entities on fire now get extinguished when they collide with Powder Snow. The Powder Snow block is also destroyed
• Skeletons now convert to Strays when frozen
• Powder Snow is pushable by Pistons and Sticky Pistons
• Rabbits, Endermites, Silverfish, and Foxes can walk on top of Powder Snow without falling in

FREEZING

• Standing in Powder Snow will slowly freeze an entity
• Once frozen, freeze damage is done every few seconds to the frozen entity
• Wearing any piece of Leather Armor prevents freezing entirely
• Added a freezeDamage game rule that allows players to toggle whether Powder Snow causes freeze damage or not
• Strays, Polar Bears, and Snow Golems are immune to freezing
• Mobs that are fully frozen will shake
• Mobs that enjoy the heat (Blazes, Magma Cubes, and Striders) take increased freeze damage

REDSTONE TAB

• The Redstone Tab has been reordered to prioritize highly-used blocks
• Redstone items/blocks have been grouped and ordered in the following way:
  • Essentials
  • Unique activators
  • Miscellaneous
  • Common activators
  • Openables
• Slime Blocks and Honey Blocks have been moved to the Redstone tab

SMELTABLE ORE DROPS

• Ores that are smeltable now drop raw item forms of the ore instead of the ore block, and these can be smelted just like before
• This is to prevent cluttering the inventory, and have consistency with Fortune on all ores
• Just like other ore materials, you can craft a compact version with raw ore items in order to save inventory space

SMOOTH BASALT

• Smelt Basalt to obtain Smooth Basalt

SPYGLASS

• You can use a Spyglass to see faraway things
• Pretend to be a sea captain, or catch your neighbor in the act as they dye your Sheep lime green
• The Spyglass is crafted from two Copper Ingots and one Amethyst Shard

TINTED GLASS

• Tinted Glass is a type of glass that does not allow light to pass through
• Tinted Glass is crafted by putting a Glass Block in the middle of four Amethyst Shards
• Tinted Glass can be obtained without Silk Touch; it does not shatter like normal glass

TRADE & LOOT TABLE ADDITIONS

• Added the following trades to Mason:
  • Will sell 4 Dripstone Blocks for 1 Emerald
• Added the following trades to Wandering Trader:
  • Will sell 2 Pointed Dripstones for 1 Emerald
  • Will sell 2 Rooted Dirt for 1 Emerald
  • Will sell 2 Moss Blocks for 1 Emerald
• Moss Blocks can be found in Shipwreck Chests
• Glow Berries can be found in Mineshaft Chest Minecarts

TUFF

• A new type of stone that can be found in blobs between y0 and y16

UNDERGROUND STRUCTURE CHANGES

• Strongholds are mostly encased in Stone
• Mineshaft corridors are supported by log pillars below or Chains above when needed
• Cobwebs don’t generate fully floating in the air

VISUALS

• Sky color now varies smoothly when moving between different biomes
• Ores without unique shapes have been given new textures for accessibility reasons, so that each ore is distinguishable by shape alone
  • Emerald Ore and Lapis Ore have had some small touch-ups
• Being the most iconic ore, Diamond Ore texture is staying the same to keep that classic feel maintained
• Blackstone, Polished Blackstone Bricks, and Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks have had some minor touch-ups
• Clock and Compass textures have been updated

WORLD GENERATION

• Dripstone clusters can be found rarely in normal caves
• Deepslate blobs can be found from Y0 to y16

Minecraft is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. For more information regarding this update, visit the official Minecraft site.