Another Minecraft: Java Edition 1.18 Pre-Release snapshot is here

With the update only weeks away, Mojang Studios is accelerating its bug fixing efforts.

What you need to know

• Mojang Studios just revealed when 1.18 'Caves and Cliffs Update' Part Two is officially releasing for everyone.
• Alongside this announcement, a new Pre-Release snapshot is now available for Minecraft: Java Edition testers.
• Like previous snapshots, this build only includes some minor tweaks and a fresh batch of bug fixes.
• The second half of the 'Caves and Cliffs Update' arrives on Nov. 30, 2021, so Mojang is focusing on polish.

The Caves and Cliffs Update ranks among the most ambitious Minecraft updates yet, and Mojang Studios is now in the final stages of polish to ensure the experience is as smooth as possible. On Wednesday, just one day after the previous Pre-Release snapshot, Mojang is dropping Minecraft: Java Edition 1.18 Pre-Release 3 to testers dedicated to rooting out bugs and other issues.

With Pre-Release snapshots, new features and major changes are a rarity and are unlikely to happen. Instead, Mojang is focusing on implementing additional bug fixes throughout the next few weeks. 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two officially releases on Nov. 30, 2021, so players will be able to experience everything this update has to offer soon. As for this snapshot, notable fixes include patching performance drops or server lag, potential world corruption, and more.

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 3 includes:

Technical changes

• Starting server.jar with an empty bundlerMainClass will now just validate and extract files, then exit

Fixed bugs

• Full-width punctuation characters are rendered incorrectly
• Non-full chunks in cache memory "semi-leak"
• Lava blocks from "Lava Aquifers" don't get updated when a cave cuts through underneath them
• You can no longer use the up or down arrow to navigate between servers in the multiplayer menu
• Server-side lag spike sometimes occurs when attempting to locate a buried treasure or opening / breaking a chest containing a map
• Lighting lags behind world generation
• Lava pockets generate in icebergs
• Severe world corruption due to 1.18 snapshots failing to deserialize chunks that 1.17 loads fine
• Out of memory crash: World generation exhausts Java heap space
• Feature placement doesn't check for biomes, causing unnecessary lag
• Rain and snowfall on the same blocks in a certain height range
• Foxes that spawn in grove biomes aren't the snowy variant
• Game froze for several minutes and then crashed while flying around and loading chunks
• Generated Deepslate overwrites ore veins (mainly Iron ore veins)
• Gigantic performance drop after a couple of minutes
• Directory structure is not consistent between server and client

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