Minecraft Nether update has been a long time coming, and it’s finally here bringing with it an entirely overhauled underground for players to dig right into. The highly anticipated Minecraft Nether update is now live, here’s what it does. 

The new Nether update includes brand-new biomes for players to explore, including new enemies and surprisingly bountiful forests despite the location. There are also “spooky valleys” to explore as well and new recipes to uncover for those that want more new in the world of Minecraft. 

Another new addition is the Piglins, but you don’t actually have to fight them! According to the studio behind Minecraft, players can distract and befriend this new creature with something shiny! 

From Holins to Piglins, ruined portals and Striders, there is so much to dive into with the new Minecraft Nether update. It’s so good, you might not ever want to go back up above ground – or not, it’s still pretty spoopy, we don’t recommend staying there, but that’s just us. 

There are a lot of new technical commands as well for players to goof around with as well as a ton of new blocks for those that truly know how to spin a creative experience. To learn everything new in the massive new Minecraft update, check out the official patch notes below provide by Mojang. 

Minecraft Nether Update Patch Notes

FEATURES

• Added Basalt Deltas biome to the Nether
• Added Crimson Forest biome to the Nether
• Added Hoglins
• Added Netherite
• Added Piglins
• Added ruined portals
• Added Soulsand Valley biome to the Nether
• Added Striders
• Added Warped Forest biome to the Nether
• Added Zoglins
• Added a new disableChat command line option – when used, receiving and sending online chat is disabled
• Added a new disableMultiplayer command line option – when used, the Multiplayer button is disabled
• Added bastion remnants
• Added new Game Mode Switcher debug menu
• Added new Nether blocks
• Added the Soul Speed enchantment
• Added the lodestone
• Added the respawn anchor that allows you to set your respawn point in the Nether. Use while holding glowstone to charge to a maximum of four charges – each respawn use one charge
  • You can charge the respawn anchor using a dispenser
• Added the target block
• Basalt is formed when lava flows over soul soil next to blue ice
• Bell blocks will now ring when hit by any projectile
• Bells can now be hung from the underside of more blocks
• Compasses can now be enchanted with Curse of Vanishing
• Endermen can now pick up some of the new Nether blocks
• Endermen will no longer pick up Netherrack
• Entities now get pushed by flowing lava
• Farmer Villagers can now compost seeds
• Fish now despawn when further than 64 blocks away from the closest player
• Huge fungi will now only grow on its matching type of nylium
• Knockback resistance is now a scale instead of a probability
• Lily pads are now considered junk fishing loot rather than treasure
• Patrols no longer spawn when the player is close to a village
• TNT and campfires will now ignite when hit by any burning projectile
• The General statistics list is now alphabetically sorted
• Updated logos for Mojang Studios and Minecraft
• Villagers can now spawn iron golems regardless of their profession status or latest working time
• Walls do not have gaps anymore when stacked vertically
• Walls will now connect to even more things, such as iron bars, panes, pressure plates, banners, and even pickles
• When a Villager is struck by lightning, the witch it is converted to will no longer despawn
• When fishing, treasure loot can now only be obtained by fishing in open waters

ACCESSIBILITY

• Added “Line Spacing” chat and accessibility option
• Added “Chat Delay” accessibility option

ADVANCEMENTS

• Piglins and Hoglins are now required for Monster Hunter and Monsters Hunted
• Serious Dedication is now awarded for obtaining a Netherite hoe
• Obtaining blackstone now also counts for the Stone Age advancement
• Breeding Striders now counts for The Parrots and the Bats and is now required for Two by Two

NEW ADVANCEMENTS

• Bullseye unlocks when hitting the bullseye of a target block from at least 30 meters away
• Hidden in the Depths unlocks when obtaining ancient debris
• Cover Me in Debris unlocks when obtaining full Netherite armor
• Country Lode, Take Me Home unlocks when using a compass on a lodestone
• Who Is Cutting Onions? unlocks when obtaining crying obsidian
• Not Quite "Nine" Lives unlocks when setting a respawn anchor to the maximum
• This Boat Has Legs unlocks when riding a Strider with a fungus on a stick
• Hot Tourist Destinations unlocks when visiting all biomes in the Nether
• Those Were the Days unlocks when entering a bastion
• War Pigs unlocks when looting a chest in a bastion
• Oh Shiny unlocks when distracting an angry Piglin with gold

BASALT DELTAS

Basalt Deltas can now be found in the Nether!

• Remnants of volcanic eruptions, this biome sports a high concentration of basalt columns and lava deltas
• Walking through it, you will be surrounded by flowing flakes of white ash
• Magma cubes finally have their own home and spawn very frequently here
• A new block, blackstone, can be found here in large patches

BASTION REMNANTS

What’s made of blackstone and full of Piglins and Hoglins? Bastion remnants!

• Added four separate bastion remnant types: bridge, Hoglin stable, housing units, and treasure room
• You can find these sizable structures in all Nether biomes, except the treacherous ash-dusted regions of Basalt Deltas
• Explore, loot, and conquer a bastion remnant to call it your home – but beware! Piglins don’t take kindly to intruders stealing their possessions

BEES

• Reduced the maximum distance a bee can wander away from its home hive to ~22 blocks

BLOCK RENAMES

Some blocks have been renamed. Turns out singular fungus in the Nether attempted to falsely present itself as many fungi – so sneaky!

• Crimson fungi is now called crimson fungus
• Warped fungi is now called warped fungus

BLOCKS

Many new blocks have been added, and changes have been made to a few existing ones.

• Added crying obsidian. It’s sad and cries purple energy
• Added basalt. Craft it 2×2 or use a stone cutter to create clean and shiny polished basalt!
• Added blackstone, along with its variants: regular, polished, and polished brick
  • Blackstone can be used to craft furnaces and stone tools
• Added gilded blackstone – blackstone which has been imbued with gold and has a chance of dropping gold nuggets when broken
• Added chiseled Nether bricks, cracked Nether bricks, and quartz bricks
• Added two new non-flammable wood-like blocks: crimson stems and warped stems
• Added crimson and warped hyphae – all-sided “stem” blocks, including stripped variations
• Added new ground surface blocks: crimson nylium and warped nylium
• Added new vegetation: Nether sprouts, crimson roots, and warped roots
• Added two types of fungi: crimson and warped. Try using bone meal to grow them!
  • You can place crimson and warped roots and fungi into pots
• Added warped wart blocks
• Added weeping vines that grow from the bottom of a block downwards
• Added twisting vines that grow upwards
• Added a new natural light source block: Shroomlights
• Added soul soil. Whenever fire burns on soul soil, it burns with a blue flame
  • Soul soil and soul sand can be used to craft soul torches, which in turn can be crafted into soul lanterns
  • The Wither can now be summoned using soul soil as base
• Added soul campfires. Warm your buns with the heat of one thousand souls!
• Added chain blocks
• Nether gold ore can now be found in the Nether – it drops a few gold nuggets and can be mined with any type of pickaxe
• Bone meal can now be used to grow kelp, weeping vines, and twisting vines
• Using bone meal on Netherrack can now spread nylium
• Nether vegetation blocks (sprouts, roots, vines, fungus, wart and wart blocks) are now compostable
• Nether sprouts can be harvested with shears
• Food can now be placed on unlit campfires

CREATIVE MODE

• You can now milk cows and Mooshrooms in creative mode
• You can now get stew from Mooshrooms in creative mode
• When using an empty bucket on water in creative mode, you now get a bucket of water. If you have a bucket of water in your inventory already, no additional water buckets will be added when you use your empty bucket on water

CRIMSON FOREST

Crimson Forests can now be found in the Nether!

• Crimson nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetation
• Crimson nylium can be bonemealed to get more of this strange new vegetation
• Huge crimson fungi make up the “trees” of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floor
• Nether wart blocks can be cleared quickly using a hoe
• Weeping vines grow from the cave ceilings and fungi
• Hoglins wander these forests
• Crimson spores swirl through the air

DISPENSERS

• Dispensers can now saddle pigs and horses
• Dispensers can now put horse armor on horses
• Dispensers can now put carpets on llamas
• Dispensers can now put chests on llamas, donkeys and mules
• Dispensers can now shear a Mooshroom
• Dispensers can now shear snow golems

F3 + N (TOGGLE SPECTATOR)

A small change has been made to this debug combination.

• By default, using this key would return you to Creative after toggling from Spectator. It now will toggle back to the previous game mode you had
• As an example, if you were in Survival, then toggled to Spectator and back, you would be set back to Survival

FARMERS

• Farmers can now put excess seeds in the composter to create bone meal
  • Bone meal is used by the farmers to grow crops
• Farmers share excess wheat to other farmers, so more farmers can make bread

GAME MODE SWITCHER

New F3 debug feature which allows you to switch game modes with traditional “tabbing” functionality.

• Hold F3 and tap F4 to open the menu
• Tapping F4 will cycle the game mode, or you can use the mouse
• Release F3 to apply
• Your last game mode is remembered and will be the first selected option, so you can quickly toggle between two game modes with a single press of F3 + F4!

HOE CHANGES

We’ve made some changes to hoes to make them more useful in the Nether.

• Each tier has different speed at which hoes mine blocks they are effective against
• Hoes can now be enchanted with the following enchantments: Efficiency, Fortune, Silk Touch
• Those enchantments can now be provided through enchanting table
• Hoes are now the appropriate tool for mining hay, targets, dried kelp blocks, leaves, Shroomlights, Nether wart blocks, warped wart blocks, sponges, and wet sponges.

HOGLINS

• Hoglins are big aggressive beasts that live in crimson forests in the Nether
• They attack players on sight. Be careful – they can easily knock you off a ledge!
• Hoglins drop pork and sometimes leather, but not willingly
• You can breed Hoglins by feeding them crimson fungi. Do so at your own risk
• Hoglins get hunted by Piglins sometimes, but they don’t go down without a fight
• Despite this, Hoglins and Piglins aren’t enemies – more like an ecosystem
• Baby Hoglins like to pretend they are tough – but don’t worry, they’re more bark than bite
• Want to keep Hoglins off your back? Pro tip: Hoglins hate the smell of warped fungi
• Hoglins that somehow end up in the Overworld become Zoglins fairly quickly – but who would ever bring a Hoglin to the Overworld?

LODESTONE

A new block that can help you get your bearings!

• Crafted from a Netherite ingot and chiseled stone bricks
• Use a compass on a lodestone to create a lodestone compass, which will point to that lodestone

MOBS

• Players can no longer mount another entity when the crouch key is held down
• Added gamerule universalAnger (disabled by default), which makes angered neutral mobs attack any nearby player – not just the player that angered them. Works best if you disable forgiveDeadPlayers
• Added gamerule forgiveDeadPlayers (enabled by default), which makes angered neutral mobs stop being angry when the targeted player dies nearby

FORGIVE DEAD PLAYERS

• If this gamerule is disabled, then angered mobs will stay angry even if the targeted player dies
• If both forgiveDeadPlayers and universalAnger are enabled, an angered neutral mob will stop being angry when their target dies. They won’t seek any new targets after that
  • Notable exception: Angered Zombified Piglins continuously spread anger. So even if one Zombified Piglin stops being angry because its target died, other angered Zombified Piglins nearby are likely to make it angry again. The only way to stop the anger is if none of the angered Zombified Piglins see a player for a while

NEUTRAL MOB ANGER

Updated anger management for most neutral mobs (polar bear, wolf, bee, Enderman, Piglin, Zombified Piglin).

• When hurt by a player, the neutral mob will target that player and try to kill it
• The mob will stay angry until the player is dead or out of sight for a while
• Anger is persistent, so a player can’t escape by temporarily logging out or switching dimension
• If a targeted player dies near the angered mob, it will stop being angry (unless forgiveDeadPlayers is disabled)
• Neutral mobs also get angry at other mobs who hurt them. However, that anger is not persistent
• Angered neutral mobs will only attack the offending player, not innocent bystanders
  • Notable exception: If a beehive or nest is broken, the bees will be angry at all nearby players
• Some mobs spread anger (wolf, Zombified Piglin, Piglin, bee). If a player attacks one, all nearby mobs of the same type will get angry at that player

UNIVERSAL ANGER

Universal anger is basically guilt by association. A neutral mob attacked by players will be angry at players in general, regardless of who attacked them. More specifically:

• A neutral mob attacked by a player will target the nearest player, even if that player wasn’t the attacker
• Every time the neutral mob is hit by a player it will update its attack target to the nearest player
• Players can use this to make neutral mobs attack other players. Who would ever do something that devious?
• Universal anger does not apply when a neutral mob is attacked by another mob – only when it is attacked by a player
• Universal anger is persistent. The angered mob will stay angry even if the player logs out and logs in, or jumps through a portal and back
• Mobs that spread anger will also spread universal anger. So if a player attacks a Zombified Piglin, all other Zombified Piglins within sight will be universally angry and attack their nearest player
• An angered neutral mob will stop being angry if it can’t see any eligible target for a while

ZOMBIFIED PIGLINS

• Zombie Pigmen are now known as Zombified Piglins, and they now have ears. Well, at least one ear
• Zombified Piglins no longer attack innocent bystanders (unless you enable gamerule universalAnger)
• Zombified Piglins stop being angry if the targeted player dies nearby (unless you disable gamerule forgiveDeadPlayers)
• Zombified Piglins continuously spread to other Zombified Piglins, as long as they see their target

NETHER BIOME FOG

• Biome fog color smoothly blends between biomes. Smooth!

NETHERITE

• A new high-level material found in the Nether. Use it to upgrade your diamond gear!

HOW TO MAKE NETHERITE

1. Mine ancient debris in the lower depths of the Nether. At your own risk though. No insurance coverage for that
2. Refine it into Netherite scrap in a furnace or blast furnace
3. Combine four Netherite scrap with four gold ingots in a crafting table to make a Netherite ingot
4. Use a smithing table to fuse the Netherite ingot with your diamond weapon, tool, or armor

NETHERITE EFFECTS

• Netherite items float in lava – just so you don’t lose all your gear after that unplanned lava bath
• Netherite items have higher enchantment value than diamond (but not as high as gold)
• Netherite tools work faster and last longer than diamond
• Netherite weapons do more damage than diamond
• Netherite armor have higher toughness and durability than diamond
• Netherite armor gives you knockback resistance, so you barely get knocked back at all when hit by arrows and such
• Netherite blocks can be used as the base of a beacon and Netherite ingots can be used as the fuel for a beacon. Weird flex but ok
• …and it looks cool!

PARITY

• Changed ambient block lighting in the Nether for parity with Bedrock edition

PARROT

• Parrots imitate hostile mobs less often
• Parrots do not randomly imitate hostile mobs when gamemode is on peaceful

PIGLINS

• Piglins are an aggressive civilization that lives in the Nether
• They mostly hang around in Crimson Forests, but you might find some in the Nether Wastes too
• They think of players as target practice and will attack on sight
• However, if you dress appropriately, they will see you as a respectable figure. Or tolerable at least
• Piglins are suspicious of strangers. If they see you opening a chest or other container, they will assume that you’re stealing and will treat you accordingly
• If Piglins hear you break a chest or a block of gold (or similar), they will also assume you are stealing
• Piglins LOVE gold and get very distracted by gold items
• Gold ingots are currency to Piglins. Throw ingots at them, or right-click them with an ingot, to barter for various goods
• Piglins sometimes get hungry and hunt Hoglins for food. Or they try at least. They results… vary.
• Piglins prefer to hunt and fight in groups. When a fight is happening, everyone wants in
• Piglins that somehow end up in the Overworld become zombified fairly quickly
• Piglins are creeped out by soul fire and Zombified Piglins, and will avoid them if possible
• Wither skeletons and Withers are historic enemies of the Piglins and will be attacked on sight
• Baby Piglins are not as dangerous, but they can be mischievous, so watch your back
  • …and they like to play with Baby Hoglins
• Added a Piglin banner pattern that can be found in bastion remnants

REDSTONEWIRE

The blockstate, rendering, and behavior of redstone wire are more in line with each other. Redstone will provide power to blocks on all sides it shows a visual connection to, and not do so on those sides without a visual connection.

• A dot of redstone will not power its surrounding blocks
• A single redstone wire is now represented as a cross
• A wire on top of a block, which is redirected from below, will now power the sides it is redirected to. E.g. a fence gate above the redirecting wire will be powered
• Wires that redirect upwards to wires on non-conductive blocks used to only be redirected visually. Now, this redirection applies to their behavior as well
• A wire that is redirected to go over a block will now always provide power to the block. This is most noticeable when the wire has signal strength 
• When right-clicking a single piece of redstone, it will toggle between a the cross and the dot

TARGET BLOCK

• The target block now conducts redstone signals

RUINED PORTALS

Shattered remains of ancient Nether portals. Wonder who built them?

• They can be found in any Overworld or Nether biome
• Some are hidden underground, under the sea, or buried in sand

SOUL SPEED

Never suffer again drudging through Soul Sand Valleys – Soul Speed has you covered!

• Shine your boots of choice with this soul-sucking enchantment to speed around on soul sand and soul soil
• However, there’s a downside: enchantments will slowly degrade your boots each soul block you walk on
• Can only be obtained by bartering with those pesky Piglins

SOULSAND VALLEY

Soulsand Valleys can now be found in the Nether!

• An open space made mostly of soul sand and soul soil
• Basalt pillars span from floor to ceiling
• Fossile remains of unknown creatures from the past litter the valley
• Ash falls through the air
• A light blue glow envelopes the valley
• Beware of skeletons here

SOUNDS

• Ghasts sounds are now heard at shorter range
• Updated block sounds for bone blocks, Netherrack, soul sand, Nether wart, Nether bricks, and quartz ore
• New ambient sounds for the Nether biomes
• New mood detection algorithm for cave sounds
• Added a new music disc titled “Pigstep” by Lena Raine, which can only be found in bastion remnants

STRIDER

A new mob living the lava lakes of the Nether.

• Strides on top of the surface of lava
• Can be saddled, but has a will of its own
• Really likes the smell of warped fungi – might even be convinced to follow it

TARGET BLOCK

Because let’s face it, your aim could use some practice!

• The closer you hit to the center, the larger the redstone signal
• Test your skills with a variety of projectiles, including eggs, snowballs, tridents, and more
• You will need one hay block and four redstone for this recipe

VILLAGER WORKSTATION LOGIC

• Villagers no longer try to work at the same workstation
• The most experienced nearby villager for the profession corresponding to the workstation you add will get the workstation
• Villagers now have to walk to and reach the workstation before they can acquire the profession and/or work there
• Villagers can no longer claim workstations or professions during raids or night time
• Villagers will check and make sure their workstation is valid at all times of day as long as they are within 16 blocks of their workstation

WARPED FOREST

Warped Forests can now be found in the Nether!

• Warped nylium carpets the cave floor with all kinds of strange new vegetation
• Warped nylium can be bonemealed to get more of the strange new vegetation
• Huge warped fungi make up the “trees” of this forest, with Shroomlights lighting up the forest floor
• Warped wart blocks can be cleared quickly using a hoe
• A dark blue fog covers the forest
• Warped spores swirl through the air
• The Warped Forests are strange, but also the least hostile place in the Nether

WEEPING VINES

• Weeping vines are now climbable!

WORLD GENERATION

• The old Nether biome is now called Nether Wastes
• Shipwrecks and ocean ruins are now a bit less common, so you get more excited when you find one!
• Patches of blackstone and gravel now generate in all Nether biomes, and patches of soul sand now generate in Soul Sand Valleys

ZOGLINS

• Zoglins are zombified Hoglins – the result of bringing a Hoglin into the Overworld
• Unlike Hoglins, they can’t be bred or fed, and they don’t care about warped fungus
• Beware – these beasts are raving mad and attack just about everything they see!

TECHNICAL

• Added target_hit advancement trigger
• Added thrown_item_picked_up_by_entity advancement trigger
• Added player_generates_container_loot advancement trigger
• Added item_used_on_block advancement trigger
• Removed safely_harvest_honey advancement trigger
• Added player check to every trigger (except impossible)
• Entity checks in triggers can now use loot table condition syntax
• Attributes are now added to game registry, similar to items, sound events, etc.
• Chat component style can now select font.
• Block storage format in chunks slightly changed to speed up various tasks (rendering, pathfinding, world generation, etc).
• Added a locatebiome command
• Tab completion for resource location will match any part after an _
• The compass now has LodestonePos, LodestoneDimension and LodestoneTracked data fields. If LodestoneTracked is zero, the game will skip checking for a Lodestone in the specified position
• Slightly changed datapack loading to prevent custom datapacks from crashing
• Data packs can now be selected on world creation
• Added a enable-status option to the server.properties file which if set to false will suppress replies to status requests from clients. This makes the server appear offline in the multiplayer screen
• Full range of Unicode characters is now supported (some may know what that means 😉)
• Mobs avoid walking on magma blocks and lit campfires
• Cached repeated block type lookups and collisions during pathfinding for increased performance
• Minor optimizations in collision detection
• Top level element in predicate file can now be array (all contents will be ANDed)
• Smithing recipes can now be added or changed through data packs
• Added control over how much entity data a server sends to clients
• Added a JMX MBean to monitor dedicated server tick times
• Shulkers with “NoAI” can now be summoned with rotation
• Added strider_one_cm custom statistics for riding Striders
• Expanded the max size per axis of structure blocks from 32 to 48
• Region files are now opened in synchronous mode to increase reliability
• Difficulty and game rules can now be changed from “Create World” screen
• “Singleplayer” button will jump directly to “Create World” screen if there are no worlds to select
• Temporarily removed structure settings from flat level preset strings (workaround: use import/export settings functionality)