A new Minecraft: Java Edition Pre-Release snapshot has arrived

Minecraft: Java Edition continues to enjoy regular Pre-Release snapshots.

What you need to know

• Mojang Studios is releasing Pre-Release snapshots in rapid succession in preparation for 1.18 'Caves and Cliffs Update' Part Two.
• Shortly after the stealth release of 1.18 Pre-Release 4, Mojang is already dropping Pre-Release 5 for Minecraft: Java Edition players.
• The snapshot includes another handful of bug fixes and improvements, and is devoid of any new features or significant alterations.

It feels like 1.18 Pre-Release 3 just dropped for Minecraft: Java Edition players, but Mojang Studios is closing out the week with a bang with the release of Minecraft: Java Edition 1.18 Pre-Release 5, with the short-lived stealthy Pre-Release 4 interspersed between the two. With the latest snapshot, Mojang is continuing its work on polishing 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two ahead of its official release on Nov. 30, 2021.

Of course, this means there are no major additions in this snapshot, which instead focuses on fixing another few dozen bugs and issues that continue to linger this late in development. The next Minecraft content update is right around the corner, so we'll likely see at least a few more Pre-Release snapshots in the lead-up, and new betas following the sizeable Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Beta 1.18.10.20.

Minecraft is already the greatest game ever made, numbered among the best PC games of all time. The upcoming content update promises to cement this even further with tons of new features for players to explore.

The full changelog for Minecraft: Java Edition 1.18 Pre-Release 5 (and 4) includes:

Changes

• If there is any bedrock at height 0 in a chunk, new world generation will happen under any non-air block at height 0 in that chunk

Fixed bugs

• Parrot wing texture is reversed on the bottom
• Stripped dark oak log side texture is too bright
• Dark oak log top texture bark ring not updated
• Pillagers have no hood texture
• Lily Pad mirrors texture when placed
• Spruce door top / bottom has the incorrect texture
• Illusioner has a few misplaced pixels left in their texture
• Red glass and outline of blue glass are slightly more opaque.
• Anvil GUI hammer uses an outdated iron pallet
• Sound system warning messages are spamming the system log
• Too many sounds causes client to stall, limit can be easily reached with rabbits
• Glass pane top texture has not changed with the Texture Update
• Cactus in potted cactus is vertically squished
• Villages replace ice with path blocks instead of wood
• Extra pixels in cocoa pod textures as of Texture Update
• Cartography table planks texture is incorrect / slightly outdated
• Lectern base plate texture still uses the old planks texture
• Beetroot seeds texture is not vertically centered
• Melon seeds texture is not vertically centered
• Inconsistent highlight color on armor
• Side texture for dirt paths hasn't been updated with the texture update
• Warped and Crimson Stems use different top texture from Bedrock Edition
• Cave vines can generate hanging on pointed dripstone
• Armor stands use the old smooth stone slab texture
• Oak and iron doors have a line in their textures
• Carrot crop texture has an incorrect pixel
• Flowering Azalea Leaves are in both #minecraft:mineable/hoe and #minecraft:mineable/axe tags, while regular Azalea Leaves (and all other leaves) are only in #minecraft:mineable/hoe
• Cave vines can generate floating (Recurrence of MC-218817)
• Breaking blocks with pistons on the east / west direction causes significant lag
• Cave vines can sometimes generate hanging on cobwebs
• You can no longer use the up or down arrow to navigate between servers in the multiplayer menu
• The hide and show messages buttons in the social interactions menu display their hover text regardless of the position of the cursor
• The back of wild axolotls are off-centered
• Clusters of dripstone (stalagmites) tend to generate abnormally frequent with thickness "tip" on tall caves
• The Floating Islands preset does not seem to be generating correctly
• Azalea trees can generate on top of huge mushrooms, trees & bamboo
• Rooted dirt cannot replace terracotta
• Azalea trees can fail to generate
• Rooted dirt doesn't replace red sand
• Sweet berry bushes generate extremely rare in comparison with 1.17.1
• Azalea trees can be generated on icebergs
• Melons generate rarely in jungle biomes
• Chunk blending occasionally produces sharp chunk border edges
• Some feature configs still expect a configured feature instead of a placed feature
• Azalea trees are no longer generating
• Stone generates in the side of hoodoos
• Mossy cobblestone boulders generate in a grid pattern in old-growth spruce taigas
• Cave vines can sometimes generate hanging on water
• Mobs don't panic when burning if standing on blocks placed above water
• Converting world to 1.18 Pre-Release 2 generates new caves in too many places
• Inconsistent Colors in grindstone gui
• Some sliders in options menu do not work properly
• Cannot change numbers for gamerules on world creation
• Floating stone platform doesn't generate in void superflat world preset
• Spore blossoms, cave vines, and pointed dripstones generate indented into the cave surface

Pre-Release 4

• Crash when going nether portals or creating a single biome world with nether biomes — java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index 0 out of bounds for length 0
• Crash when going through end portals or creating a single biome world with end biomes — java.lang.NegativeArraySizeException: -5
• Game crashes or freeze when loading and upgrading the 1.17.1 version of the Superflat world — java.util.concurrent.CompletionException: z: Biome decoration

A catalog of games

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

From $1/month at Microsoft $45 at Amazon (3-month subscription) $15 at Amazon (1-month subscription)

All your gaming needs, in one subscription.

Is the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate the best value in all of gaming? It's possible. Ultimate bundles your Xbox Live Gold subscription, an Xbox Game Pass subscription for both Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, and Xbox Cloud Gaming for on-the-go. That means access to hundreds of games, with more added all the time, for a single monthly subscription cost.