Minecraft 1.20 adding Archaeology, Cherry Blossom Biome and a Sniffer mob

There's lots to be excited for in the upcoming Minecraft 1.20 update, with many previously announced features finally landing like Archaeology. Yes, it's finally being added. Want to get Minecraft on Steam Deck? Check out my guide!

Archaeology was originally announced for the Caves & Cliffs Update which got delayed but hooray it's still going to be a thing. Seems like a natural fit for a sandbox digging game like this too. In their official blog post the team at Mojang mentioned it's currently enabled for deserts where you can pick a plot inside a desert temple and get digging but they do plan to add more dig site areas over time. Eventually you'll find some suspicious sand, and then get a brush out to extract whatever is hiding inside.

Another big addition is a new rare Cherry Blossom Biome. Mojang say it will be filled with cherry blossom trees, that can be broken down into a full set of wood and a new hanging sign. You'll even get saplings for them, to spread them wherever you want. Sounds sweet.

Finally as another big addition the Sniffer mob is coming, this is what won the mob vote at Minecraft Live 2022. They will require some exploring to find as their eggs may be hidden in suspicious sand and apparently the hatching process is a little more interesting so you will need to keep watch. Once a Snifflet grows up into a Sniffer, it will be rather large and also helpful since it will sniff out special kinds of seeds to give you unique decorative plants.

I think I really am due for another Minecraft play-through soon. They've added some really great stuff in the last couple of updates, but I think I'll be waiting for this update to really get the most out of my time with it.

Have you built anything fun in it lately?