Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales" update: Features, theme, and everything we know

For over a decade, Minecraft has dominated the video game industry and topped sales charts. The creative-survival classic's undeniable success is due, in no small part, to the combined efforts of the bustling Minecraft community and the post-launch support of Mojang Studios. Now, players know the first details of what's coming next to Minecraft with the arrival of the 1.20 update.

Dedicated to player expression, representation, and making Minecraft "Minecraftier," Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales" may end up being an excellent update for Minecraft across Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Windows PCs, and mobile devices. It may even spawn a new wave of great Minecraft toys and gifts. Here's everything we know about the upcoming content release, including what features will be included and when players can expect the update to arrive.

What is Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales"?

Revealed during Minecraft Live 2022, the Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales" update is the next major content update following 2022's 1.19 "The Wild Update" release. Mojang Studios has already detailed the initial features of the highly anticipated update, but changes to how the studio approaches Minecraft releases mean a less exciting announcement and a more interesting development cycle.

Instead of a hyped reveal featuring early concept art, unfinished prototypes, and ambitious promises, Mojang Studios is only sharing details and features that are close to completion. To this end, Minecraft 1.20 didn't even have a name at its release, with Mojang Studios aiming to work with the community before naming the update closer to release. Of course, Mojang Studios has since revealed that Minecraft 1.20 is the "Trails & Tales" update. Mojang Studios hopes to avoid missed expectations, and wants to include the community in the development process even more than with previous updates.

We do know the general theme of the 1.20 update. Mojang Studios is focusing this release on player expression, representation, and making Minecraft "Minecraftier." That means improving the ways in which the player can build and interact with their worlds, better representing different parts of the world in Minecraft, and incorporating much-requested quality-of-life features that simply make Minecraft better. All of its announced features are aimed at these pillars.

Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales": Features & gameplay

Minecraft is already one of the best games on Xbox and PC, and it's only set to improve further with every successive update. Minecraft 1.20 will presumably be packed from end-to-end with new features and improvements for players to enjoy, but Mojang Studios is only announcing them when it's confident those features will meet expectations and arrive on time. We'll continually update this section as we learn more about the features and additions coming to Minecraft with the expansive Trails & Tales content update.

Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales": Major new features

During Minecraft Live 2022, Mojang Studios revealed the first four features arriving with Minecraft's Trails & Tales update. These features became available for players to test via snapshots and Minecraft Preview within a matter of days, although they changed and evolved over time as Mojang Studios collected feedback from players on the features. Other new content and additions have arrived in other Minecraft 1.20 snapshots and preview builds.

Here's everything we know about the features and gameplay additions confirmed for Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales":

Building & crafting

Here are all the Minecraft 1.20 features related to building, crafting, and decorating:

• Bamboo building set. Minecraft is resplendent with various wood types, with each used for a variety of building blocks. With Minecraft 1.20, bamboo is joining this category of diverse, helpful building blocks.
  • Bamboo can now be used to craft the entire roster of wood blocks, including planks, doors, trapdoors, signs, stairs, slabs, fences, fence gates, buttons, and pressure plates
  • Bamboo also has an exclusive building block known as the bamboo mosaic, which is crafted with two bamboo slabs and also has stair and slab variants
  • Instead of boats, bamboo can be used to craft rafts and rafts with chest, which are functionally identical to boats but have a unique appearance
• Cherry wood set. Another new wood type coming in Minecraft 1.20 is cherry wood, a pink-shaded set that can only be found in Cherry Grove biomes (there are more details below.
  • Cherry wood can be used to craft the entire roster of wood blocks, including planks, doors, trapdoors, signs, stairs, slabs, fences, fence gates, buttons, and pressure plates
• Chiseled bookshelves. The purely decorative bookshelf that has graced Minecraft for years is getting a practical companion in the chiseled bookshelf, which should excite storytelling and redstone tinkering players alike.
  • The chiseled bookshelf is fully functional, and can store up to six books of any kind, including books, books and quill, written books, and enchanted books
  • Players interact with the bookshelf by adding or removing books fully in-game, not through a dedicated inventory menu
  • Chiseled bookshelves are crafted using six wooden planks and three wooden slabs
  • Chiseled bookshelves support redstone interactions, including for secret doorways
  • Redstone comparators can detect the last book added or removed from chiseled bookshelves and send a redstone signal
• Hanging signs. The classic sign is also getting a more stylish companion in the hanging sign, which is also tailored toward players who value worldbuilding and storytelling.
  • Hanging signs are functionally identical to regular signs, but feature a unique appearance
  • Hanging signs are crafted using two chains and six stripped logs of any wood type, resulting in up to six different colorways
  • There are three varieties of hanging signs, depending on how the player places them in the world
  • Hanging signs that are suspended below a full block will hang from two chains
  • Hanging signs that are suspended below a narrow block, like a fence post, will hang from a single chain that splits in to a "V"-shaped chain
  • Hanging signs that are attached to the side of full blocks will hang from two chains below a horizontal wooden bar
• Mob heads and note block interactions. Decorative mob heads are becoming more useful with Minecraft 1.20, as is the oft-forgotten note block.
  • The Piglin head is joining the roster of available mob heads in Minecraft, obtainable when a Piglin is killed by a charged Creeper
  • The Piglin head will flap its ears when worn by a player while walking, or when powered by redstone
  • When players place a mob head on a note block, the note block will now play random ambient noises from that mob
  • Players will be able to use note blocks to create a cacophony of mob noises from any mob head variant
• Armor trims. A major new feature heading to Minecraft players with the upcoming release is the ability to customize your armor with various trims.
  • Armor trims come in 11 different designs and 10 different colors
  • Armor trims are applied to each armor piece individually, letting you mix and match to your heart's content
  • You'll need to find smithing templates, a new ingredient required for smithing upgrades in order to apply armor trims
  • Unique armor trims can be found in special locations, like a Piglin-inspired armor trim found in Nether Bastions
  • You can change the color of armor trims by combining the smithing template with gems and ingots like diamonds, copper, and netherite

Armor trims images:

Image 1 of 6

World & mobs

Here are all the Minecraft 1.20 features related to the world and its mobs (minus the Sniffer, which is detailed further below):

• Camels. A new mob is heading to the desert in Minecraft 1.20 as a mount alternative to the trusty Horse, the quirky Pig, and the lava-confined Strider.
  • Camels are passive mobs and don't pose a threat to players
  • Camels are found in desert villages
  • Camels possess unique animations and behaviors, including for laying down and standing up
  • Camels are tall enough that most hostile mobs cannot reach players that are riding them
  • Camels are also tall enough to walk over fences
  • Camels support two-player saddles, a first for a Minecraft mount
  • Instead of a high jump, Camels have a "dash" ability that allows them to sprint forward a few blocks with incredible speed
  • Camels can either walk slowly or sprint
  • Players can breed Camels using cactus blocks
  • Camels are stubborn, and are prone to laying down and refusing to stand
• Archeology. This feature set was originally announced a couple years ago, but was delayed indefinitely. Now, archeology is officially arriving with Minecraft 1.20, and is significantly improved over its initial iteration.
  • Archeology centers around new suspicious sand blocks, which can be found around desert temples and desert wells
  • Players can craft the new brush tool, which can be used to sweep away suspicious sand blocks in order to find hidden items, tools, and pottery shards
  • Pottery shards are a new item with unique patterns that can be crafted into pots
  • Decorated pots can be crafted using bricks and pottery shards (if you want patterns), and make for good decoration
  • Sniffer eggs can also be found via archeology, which can be hatched into snifflets
• Cherry Grove biome. The one new biome heading to the Overworld with Minecraft 1.20 is the Cherry Grove.
  • Cherry Grove biomes are smaller biomes that can be found in Meadows and Mountains biomes
  • Cherry Groves are populated entirely by cherry trees, and feature unique grass blocks strewn with pink cherry blossoms

Archeology images:

Image 1 of 6

Cherry Grove biome images:

Image 1 of 11

Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales": Other and related features

New default characters

Minecraft 1.20's featureset is admittedly limited at the moment, but there are other features that are related to the upcoming content update or may arrive alongside it that have been confirmed by Mojang Studios. One such feature is the addition of seven new default characters to join Steve and Alex. These new default characters are now available to any player with updates like Minecraft: Bedrock Edition 1.19.50, and makes Minecraft far more inclusive for players just starting out.

The characters include Makene, Efe, Noor, Kai, Ari, Sunny, and Zuri, with each character possessing unique appearances and characteristics. Mojang Studios will also use all seven of the new characters in trailers and marketing materials.

The Sniffer

One extra feature that's arriving with Minecraft 1.20 is the Sniffer, the winner of the Minecraft Live 2022 Mob Vote. Players can already get their hands on the Sniffer in recent Minecraft 1.20 snapshots and previews. Here's everything we know about the Sniffer:

• The Sniffer is a passive mob, and poses no danger to players or other mobs
• In the Minecraft universe, the Sniffer is a long-extinct mob that disappeared from the Overworld years ago
• Players can revive the extinct breed by discovering Sniffer eggs at archeology sites
• Sniffer eggs need to be nurtured before they can catch into adorable baby snifflets
• Sniffers grow to be massive, and are marked by their prominent snouts and grass cloaks
• Sniffers cannot be tamed or tempted by players
• Sniffers love plants, and can lead players to ancient plant seeds that can be cultivated into all-new plantlife
• The first confirmed ancient plant is the Torchflower, a decorative plant
• Torchflower seeds can also be used to breed Sniffers

Sniffer images:

Image 1 of 6

Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales": Cut, delayed, and future features

There are plenty of additional features that haven't been announced yet for the Trails & Tales update, but there are also a handful of features that haven't been mentioned or flat out aren't arriving with the imminent content update. Here's what we know about cut features or features that aren't arriving with Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales":

• Previously cut features like birch forest revisions have not been mentioned as part of Minecraft 1.20, although archeology is coming
• While it was originally confirmed that no biome was being updated with Minecraft 1.20, a new biome is arriving with the cherry grove
• Fireflies are not coming in Minecraft 1.20, although Mojang Studios is still considering them for a future update
• Combat parity between Minecraft: Java Edition and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is not arriving with Minecraft 1.20, although Mojang Studios does want to deliver this parity improvement in a future update
• There has been no mention of Minecraft with ray tracing coming to Xbox Series X or S consoles with this update, despite the feature briefly appearing for some Minecraft players on Xbox Series X|S

Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales": Release window

Over four months separated the release of Minecraft 1.19 "The Wild Update" in early June from the announcement of Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales" in mid-October, leaving many players wondering when the title's next content update can be expected. This early on, it's understandable that Mojang Studios didn't have an exact release date for which players can wait, but we did get a broad release window during which the Trails & Tales update should arrive.

Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales" is set to release at some point in 2023. Mojang Studios didn't even provide a general window beyond that, but we expect the update to be finished and released before summer ends. Before that time, Mojang Studios will continue announcing and testing new features for the update, with the Minecraft community continually providing feedback to help the studio iterate on its new content. We'll update this section as soon as we learn more about when Minecraft 1.20 will be released.

If you're interested in participating in the development of Minecraft 1.20 "Trails & Tales," its first features are already in the hands of players. Minecraft: Bedrock Edition and Minecraft: Java Edition players can now test a handful of experimental Minecraft 1.20 features through snapshots and Minecraft Preview.

Updated March 29, 2023 — Updated with the official "Trails & Tales" name.