This is the caves side of the Minecraft 1.17 Caves and Cliffs Update. To watch the video (where you can see the new biomes and mobs and items) click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBvZ2Iqmm3M
Now, I’m sure that many of you have seen the video Minecraft posted on YouTube giving us a sneak peek but if you haven’t or you don’t have the patience to sit for 45 minutes listening to the sneak peek, here’s an abbreviated version.
New Biomes: These are all new biomes that are getting added to Minecraft.
Lush Caves: You can find them by mining down next to an azalea tree. They’re beautiful and they don’t feel like the inside of a cave because there’s a lot of vegetation, above, below and around you.
Dripstone Caves: There are now stalactites and stalagmites in some caves. They induce damage if you fall on them. you can, however, place a caldron underneath a stalactite and it will eventually fill with water.
Deep Dark: This is a new biome at the bottom of the world. The warden (a new mob that you will find out about later) lives here. It’s exactly what you would think. The deep dark at the bottom of the world.
New Mobs: These are the new mobs being added to Minecraft. If you’ve never heard of an axolotl before, that’s because it’s an endangered animal. Minecraft is adding it because they are trying to bring awareness to endangered animals.
The Warden: It is a hostile mob. It lives in the deep dark. It is blind. It reacts to vibrations. If you are not careful when walking in the deep dark, you might upset this mob! When you are in the deep dark, you will want to watch very closely for the Warden. The warden deals a TON of damage. In full Netherite armor, it can three shot you. It also has more hp than you think. You can sneak for it to not detect you.
Axolotls: The axolotl is a passive mob to players but can attack other hostile mobs. These can be found in lush caves and if you right click them with a water bucket you get a bucket of axolotls. They live in lush caves. If you take them with you and release them, they will protect you. They will help you kill hostile mobs. They will also attack fish. Whenever they take damage they play dead and when they play dead no mobs attack them. That allows them to regain health. If you are lucky they will heal you too!
Ores and Geodes: These are new ores and gems that are getting added to Minecraft.
Copper Ore: Copper is a new ore. It generates in a different way. If the stone looks different than normal that is where a copper vein will be. Copper will slowly weather and become aqua colored.
Crystals and Amethyst Geodes: They are rarer than diamonds and cannot be removed and placed elsewhere. You can mine the crystal plants, but the actual block is unobtainable like a mob spawner.
Items: These are items that are getting added to Minecraft. Hooray for more inventory space!
Telescopes: You can use a telescope to zoom in on things. You need crystal shards and copper.
Lightning rod: These are used to direct lightning strikes to the rod, so your house doesn’t get struck by lightning.
Bundles: These are like backpacks that allow you to put things into them to save inventory space. You can put multiple different items in, so you don’t have inventory space taken up by things like dirt and cobblestone.
Blocks: These are new blocks being added to Minecraft.
Sculk Growths/Sculk Sensors: Sculk sensors will detect the vibrations around it and send a Redstone signal. So, now that there is wireless Redstone, you may not want/need normal Redstone anymore. If you place wool blocks around a sculk sensor, it will not detect vibrations from that direction.
Plants: These are plants that are being added.
Spore Blossoms: These are big, pink flowers that will be on the roof of the lush caves.
Vines: The vines have glow berries, and they are a food source as well as a light source. They grow from the ground in the lush caves and hang from the ceiling in lush caves.
Drip Leaf Plants: These are tall plants that bend, and you will fall through if you stay on it too long. But if you are speedy you can jump on them. It is unclear which biome these are in.
Other: These are things that do not fall into any of the other categories.
Improved Cave Generation: The caves can be huge caverns or just a narrow tunnel. There is also cave water levels, allowing players to go cave rafting. This is for ALL caves. It does not matter what biome you are mining in.
Archaeology System: You will find excavation sites in your worlds and you can use a brush to brush away the rubble and find new things. But if you are not careful you can destroy artifacts. You can make clay pots and put ceramic shards on them and then you can fire the pot by lighting a block underneath the pot on fire and then you have a painted clay pot.