The Nether—one of Minecraft’s more difficult areas to scavenge—has a host of additions with the newest 1.16 snapshot released on February 5. Snapshot 20W06A or the “Nether Update” includes new biomes within the Nether: Crimson Forest, Soulsand Valley, and Warped Forest. Each of these biomes holds a variety of new vegetation, enemies and environmental effects. Take a look at the brief video that Minecraft posted on Twitter:
Some trees whisper in the wind, but these particular trees were screaming at us that they’d rather be called Crimson Forest and Warped Forest from now on. Fine, trees – here’s our first Java Snapshot from the all-new Nether!
↣ https://t.co/Hptl62qNVC ↢ pic.twitter.com/FAYIXli9Wt
— Minecraft (@Minecraft) February 5, 2020
The update also boasts a new material called “Netherite” which can be created by mining and refining Ancient Debris into Netherite scrap and combining said scrap with gold ingots on a crafting table. Netherite is stronger than diamond and can be used to make tools, weapons, and armor that will “float in lava so you don’t lose all your gear after that unplanned lava bath.”
The final major addition is a new creature— the “Hoglins.” According to the snapshot’s notes “[Hoglins] don’t do much yet, but they have cute flappy ears!”
Since snapshots are test releases of future patches, they can glitch and corrupt your current Minecraft world, so Mojang recommends backing up your files or running the snapshot from a different folder. If you’re excited to explore a new and improved Nether, find more information here.
