Minecraft gets new pigs, wildflowers and ambient features in the latest Beta

Mojang have released the first Snapshot (a Beta) of the next Minecraft update, and with it there's a bunch of new features included for explorers.

Snapshot 25w02a includes two new Pig variants for cold and warm areas. It's just a bit of fluff to make animals from different biomes stand out a bit more but still cute. Who doesn't love piggies?

I quite like the new ambient features they've added in this Snapshot too including falling leaves, leaf litter (decorative block) and wildflowers. The Mojang devs said: "On your next expeditions into forests, dark forests, and wooded badlands, listen out for the crunch of leaves underfoot. Leaf litter makes a rustling sound when you walk through it and can be used to decorate other blocks. In meadows, birch forests, and old growth birch forests, you will instead find wildflowers. These yellow and white flowers can be crafted into dye and have four growth stages that speed up with bonemeal. Place them at different angles to have your builds bloom in different patterns!

On top of that, all the trees in the Overworld will also have matching leaf particles falling from them. "

The world should at least feel that little bit more alive.

Additionally the Lodestone is getting a simpler recipe to help you find your way home.

See the full changelog for more.

I'm really happy to see Minecraft continue to evolve and expand. Microsoft seem to have mostly left Mojang to continue building it as they please with some fun stuff being added over the last few years. And with the changes to how they will do updates, we should hopefully see additions more often now.