Minecraft Live has been and gone again and this time there was some pretty big news. Vibrant Visuals was announced as a future major upgrade, which will bring some fancier looking graphics to Minecraft. Now before you get your pitchforks out about how much you like the current look of Minecraft, it seems it will be entirely optional.
It will come to the Bedrock edition first, with the Java edition getting it later.
What to expect from it? It looks like a shader pack. They'll be officially adding in things like directional lighting, subsurface scattering, volumetric fog and more. With that you'll see lots of improvements to how it looks throughout the whole game. From light rays shining through windows to shadows moving with the sun and more.
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The next main update is Spring to Life, which should release tomorrow that includes variants of a few different mobs, new ambient features like the firefly bush and falling leaves. More on that when it's out.
Another new update was also teased that will feature the dried ghast – a new block you’ll find in the Nether. You can bring it back to the Overworld, and bring it back to life as a friendly mob. You'll be able to put a harness on it, mount up and go soaring through the sky.
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More in their recap post.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Eike a day ago
Ah! Yesterday I had a Minecraft question (which to be honest is totally unrelated to the article)...
Can I, and how would I, enable two people playing simultaneously with split screen on one PC with two controllers?
My children are not happy with the other one holding the controller or with whatever the other one is doing...
Preferably in idiots style? :)
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/guides/view/an-idiots-guide-to-setting-up-minecraft-on-steam-deck-steamos-with-controller-support/
Can I, and how would I, enable two people playing simultaneously with split screen on one PC with two controllers?
My children are not happy with the other one holding the controller or with whatever the other one is doing...
Preferably in idiots style? :)
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/guides/view/an-idiots-guide-to-setting-up-minecraft-on-steam-deck-steamos-with-controller-support/
1 Likes
Liam Dawe a day ago
I'm not actually aware of any way to do it via a single game as it simply wasn't built for it., you'll likely need a license for them each, and then launch it twice.
1 Likes
Eike a day ago
The goal would be to have them both in the same world. I did see videos doing that, but I'm not sure if it's still possible and I for sure don't feel confident to configure it.
0 Likes
posthum4n a day ago
I'd say use 2 MC accounts.
Start the 2 MC clients, open one if the clients to LAN (it's in MC menu) and let the other client connect to it over LAN to get into the same world.
I'm not sure how you'd bind/dedicate a controller to a specific instance though.
Start the 2 MC clients, open one if the clients to LAN (it's in MC menu) and let the other client connect to it over LAN to get into the same world.
I'm not sure how you'd bind/dedicate a controller to a specific instance though.
3 Likes
Huddle a day ago
I'm not 100% sure how to do it split-screen, but I am able to play with my daughter using 1 account on a local server that I self-host on separate computers.
Here's the docker-compose file:
The ONLINE_MODE: "false" flag does not verify the account, so it's local only and that's what allows me to use the same account. The GeyserMC plugin allows for both Bedrock and Java accounts to connect to the server using their respective ports, but I haven't personally tested this.
For controller usage, I installed this mod: https://modrinth.com/mod/controlify and installed it on both clients via Prism Launcher. I realize this isn't 1:1 what you're asking for, but maybe it could inspire some other ideas or at least get your wheels turning.
Here's a block diagram:
Last edited by Huddle on 24 Mar 2025 at 3:00 pm UTC
Here's the docker-compose file:
services:
minecraft:
image: itzg/minecraft-server:latest
container_name: minecraft_server
ports:
- "25565:25565" # Java Edition port
- "19132:19132/udp" #Bedrock Port
environment:
EULA: "TRUE" # Must accept the EULA to run the server
ONLINE_MODE: "false"
# Uncomment or add any other environment variables as needed:
# VERSION: "1.19.4"
# TYPE: "vanilla"
TYPE: "FABRIC"
PLUGINS: |
https://download.geysermc.org/v2/projects/geyser/versions/latest/builds/latest/downloads/spigot
https://download.geysermc.org/v2/projects/floodgate/versions/latest/builds/latest/downloads/spigot
volumes:
- /mnt/truenas0/minecraft/minecraft-data:/data
#- ./minecraft-data:/data
restart: unless-stoppedThe ONLINE_MODE: "false" flag does not verify the account, so it's local only and that's what allows me to use the same account. The GeyserMC plugin allows for both Bedrock and Java accounts to connect to the server using their respective ports, but I haven't personally tested this.
For controller usage, I installed this mod: https://modrinth.com/mod/controlify and installed it on both clients via Prism Launcher. I realize this isn't 1:1 what you're asking for, but maybe it could inspire some other ideas or at least get your wheels turning.
Here's a block diagram:
+--------------------------------------------------+
| Minecraft Server (Docker Compose) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------+
│
+-----------------------┴--------------------------+
| Local Network |
+-----------------------+--------------------------+
/ \
+--------------------------------+ +--------------------------------+
| Client 1 | | Client 2 |
| +--------------------------+ | | +--------------------------+ |
| | Controller Options | | | | Controller Options | |
| +--------------------------+ | | +--------------------------+ |
+--------------------------------+ +--------------------------------+Last edited by Huddle on 24 Mar 2025 at 3:00 pm UTC
6 Likes
Penguin a day ago
Imagine the performance hit in the Java edition 
0 Likes
This is genuinely cool and all and it's nice that people who have never heard of minecraft shader packs are going to get an official taste of one, but unless Mojang also officially implements a thing like Optifine or Sodium to fix the optimization as well I'm gonna stick to my usual shader packs I was already using.
0 Likes
Pyretic 12 hours ago
Can I, and how would I, enable two people playing simultaneously with split screen on one PC with two controllers?
Yes! But you'll have to resize the windows yourself, and you won't be able to play on online servers without an additional account. What you'll need is:
- Prism Launcher
- At least one Microsoft account that has purchased Minecraft
- At least one controller for each player other than the first
- A somewhat beefy PC
Here are the steps:
- Install Prism Launcher and login to your account
- Install the Fabulously Optimised modpack (comes with Controlify) on an instance: https://wiki.download.fo/install-instructions#prism-launcher
- Duplicate the instance for how ever many players you want
- Click Play Offline on an instance and enter a username
- Repeat for each instance
- You're done! Each instance can now join each other on a shared world! Just remember, no official servers unless you have additional Microsoft accounts that have purchased the game.
2 Likes
Eike 1 hour ago
Thanks for all your suggestions!
Pyretic's sounded like the easiest solution, so I tried that.
"Fabulously Optimised" threw an exception (maybe an old Java edition on my system?), so I installed only Controlify.
I found that I could start a single player game, "open" it in the LAN and then the other instance can join it.
Buut... I couldn't make both the Xbox 360 wireless and the Steam Controller control one instance each. Sometimes both controllers controlled both instances, sometimes the Steam Controller was disabled (due to being a mouse as well?), sometimes I only got a single "Steam Virtual Gamepad". I think there must be a controller choosing dialogue in Controlify, but I never got to see more than one controller there.
Having seen the local LAN server functionality, I guess I could just have one child play on PC and one on my Steam Deck, but I still would like to find a solution for the controllers on a single PC. (And maybe dad wants to play something too in the meantime?! ;) )
Pyretic's sounded like the easiest solution, so I tried that.
"Fabulously Optimised" threw an exception (maybe an old Java edition on my system?), so I installed only Controlify.
I found that I could start a single player game, "open" it in the LAN and then the other instance can join it.
Buut... I couldn't make both the Xbox 360 wireless and the Steam Controller control one instance each. Sometimes both controllers controlled both instances, sometimes the Steam Controller was disabled (due to being a mouse as well?), sometimes I only got a single "Steam Virtual Gamepad". I think there must be a controller choosing dialogue in Controlify, but I never got to see more than one controller there.
Having seen the local LAN server functionality, I guess I could just have one child play on PC and one on my Steam Deck, but I still would like to find a solution for the controllers on a single PC. (And maybe dad wants to play something too in the meantime?! ;) )
0 Likes
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