Minecraft players who have been looking forward to the Caves & Cliffs update are in for some bad news — but there's an upside! The update has been somewhat delayed due to challenges with quality, technical issues, and team health during the pandemic. But rather than make players wait for the rollout, Mojang is splitting it into two parts, with the first set for this summer.
The studio delivered the news in a blog post , explaining that it's struggled to keep to the timeline "due to the ambition level of this update and the current state of the world." As such, the Minecraft Caves & Cliffs updates will be delivered in two parts; the first lands this summer and the second is heading our way this holiday season. The devs have detailed how the split will work, and what new additions to the game you can expect with each rollout.
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Of the changes detailed in the Minecraft Caves & Cliffs update, the summer patch will introduce new blocks and mobs. This includes the Goat, Axolotl, Glow Squid, Lush Cave Blocks, Dripstone Cave Blocks, and more. You can find more details in the Minecraft Caves & Cliffs update FAQ. While most of the world generation updates are set for later this year, there are a few sneaking into this patch, like geodes, and updates to copper that will see the blocks turn green over time.
Part two, rolling out this holiday, will bring the vast amount of world generation changes, with new mountains, world height, and placement of biomes. The content in this half presents more of a technical challenge than the aspects in the first patch, and will therefore take more time to finalize. It also makes sense to have them in one big update, as per the devs comments in the video on the blog.
It's worth nothing that one feature that will be delayed beyond the two-part update is archaeology. The new system is being given "the time it deserves" and is being postponed. The developer hasn't given us a release date for it just yet.
Minecraft players can still try out the upcoming features in their snapshot or beta. They will be turned off as default, but you can turn them on if you want to experiment. Instructions can be found in the FAQ.
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