Discover the Exciting New Features in Minecraft: Introducing Pig Variants, Falling Leaves, Wildflowers, and More!

With the holiday decorations now stored away for another year and the new year having truly commenced, developer Mojang has awakened from its festive slumber to release six new features for public testing ahead of Minecraft’s first scheduled update in 2025.

Mojang, needless to say, announced that it was changing its approach to releasing new Minecraft content last September. It revealed its decision to move away from large summer updates in favor of more frequent, smaller releases throughout the year. They have now detailed several of the features that will be introduced (and which are available for testing) in Minecraft’s first update of 2025.

This includes two new variants of pigs, intended to enhance the basic pig that has been available in-game for 15 years. More specifically, it introduces the new cold pig and warm pig variants – found in frigid biomes and arid biomes, respectively.

In addition, forest biomes are receiving an upgrade in Minecraft’s next update, thanks to several new ambient features: falling leaves, leaf litter, and wildflowers. Falling leaves will be seen in all forest biomes, while leaf litter – which crunches underfoot and can be used to decorate other blocks – is exclusive to dark forests and wooded badlands.

Wildflowers, on the other hand, will be present in meadows and birch forests (including their variants), appearing as yellow and white flowers that can be crafted into dye. All of these will have four growth stages players can speed up with bonemeal, and they will bloom in various patterns depending on how they are placed.

Without further delay, lodestones – the magnetized blocks players can create to conveniently attract their compasses while exploring – now feature a new, more vibrant crafting recipe.

The aforementioned features are slated for inclusion in Minecraft’s next update, but they are currently being made available for public testing so daring players can put them through their paces. All six additions are accessible through Minecraft’s latest Java snapshot right now, and everything except for Minecraft’s new leaf litter and wildflowers is included in the Bedrock preview and beta. Those two missing features are expected to be added to Bedrock “soon,” and further details on accessing Minecraft’s testing builds can be found on Mojang’s website.