Everything we announced at Minecon Earth 2018

MINECON Earth may be over for this year, but the real fun is about to begin. We announced loads of great Minecraft shenanigans, with plenty of news to look forward to for the rest of 2018 and beyond!

THE NEXT MINECRAFT UPDATE: VILLAGE AND PILLAGE

Hnggh! Hrgggh! Hrghh! Oh, you don't speak Villager-ese? I'll just tell you about the new update in boring old English then.

Jens ‘Jeb’ Bergensten and Agnes Larsson took to the stage and talked about the next big update to Minecraft, one which brings loads of new villagers to the game! Village and Pillage will fill the villages of the Overworld with new friendly folk. You'll even find variations of their designs in different biomes! Allow me to introduce you to the future residents of the jungle biome:

Our most friendly update ever then? Er, not exactly. The nefarious Pillagers and their Beasts will be joining Minecraft to cause all kinds of havoc upon unsuspecting villages. That’s not nice! That’s not nice at all!

Pillagers will be armed with a new weapon, crossbows. Luckily, YOU’LL be able to craft and use crossbows too! They take longer to use than bows, but make up for it with superior power (and they’re even more helpful if you use enchantments on them like fast load or multishot or TOP SECRET ENCHANTMENT WE’RE NOT REVEALING HERE SORRY NOT SORRY) Better start getting ready to defend the villages from the Pillager attacks…

You’ll find a lot more variety in how villages look depending on what biome you’re visiting, too (along with some completely new villages). But enough about what we’re building - we want to see what YOU make with new building materials! That’s why we’re adding - just seven years after it was suggested at the very first Minecon - scaffolding! It’s made from bamboo, which will be great news for when one of the next mobs we announced wants a snack...

PANDAS AND MORE CATS

CUTENESS OVERLOAD INCOMING. Yep, and they'll be incoming very soon! We'll have more news about these adorable new Minecraft mobs in the next few weeks – keep an eye on Minecraft.net!

As for Village and Pillage, that update will be coming to Minecraft early next year.

MINECRAFT: DUNGEONS

NEW GAME! NEW GAME! NEW GAME! Yes, a whole new game from Mojang! I’m so excited I could pass out, if I didn’t have an article to finish. You can read more about Minecraft: Dungeons here!

ADDITIONAL ADD-ONS

Add-ons! They’re a great way to modify Minecraft and you can learn more about them here. Jason Major shared some exciting news about how add-ons are being updated to give you even more control over your Minecraft! Previously, add-ons only allowed you to modify existing mobs in the game, but with New Entities you can add more mobs. You can use Data Driven Spawning to control which mobs spawn in your worlds. Animations will give you more customisation options, so you’ll be able to craft the horrifying eight-legged mob of your dreams/our nightmares. Particles will let you pretty up your mobs with cool effects. All of these features are on the way and you can try them in the Minecraft beta on October 3rd. (Click here to learn more about Minecraft betas!)

Plus! Scripting API is now closer than ever. We know a lot of players have been asking for this for a looooong time, so we’re thrilled to share that Scripting API will be coming later this year. Not familiar with Scripting API and are currently just trying to guess what API stands for (Apes Purchase Igloo? Awful Pun Incoming?)? Essentially, it’s going to allow in-game creators to create scripts which they can then embed into resource packs. We’ll have more info on how this works on Minecraft.net at a later date.

We’ve never officially supported modding in Minecraft, but the Add-Ons system combined with the Scripting API is the beginning of the era where we do.

THE WINNING BIOME IS – TAIGA!

As a part of MINECON Earth 2018, we announced upcoming plans to update three existing biomes in Minecraft: Taiga, Desert and Savanna, with the players deciding which biome to update first through a vote. And the winner was…

Congratulations, Taiga! You got the most votes during the livestream, so you'll be the next biome we update with new features and a new mob! Don't worry, Desert and Savanna fans – we'll still be updating those biomes in time.

We love involving our players in decisions like these so a massive thank you to everyone who voted!

INSPIRATION ISLAND