Minecraft 1.20 is turning pink with the new Cherry Blossom biome

What you need to know

• Minecraft is set to receive a major feature update later this year, under version 1.20.
• On Tuesday, Mojang Studios announced one of the last new features to arrive with Minecraft 1.20.
• The Cherry Blossom biome adds an all-new, pink wood type to Minecraft for crafting and building.
• Minecraft 1.20 was originally announced as not including a new biome, making this addition a pleasant surprise.

The upcoming Minecraft 1.20 update focuses on embracing player expression and worldly representation in the ongoing survival crafting game, but one thing the update wasn't supposed to include was a brand-new biome. Fortunately, Mojang Studios has shirked expectations by announcing the Cherry Blossom biome, a new forested region heading to Minecraft players later this year.

The Cherry Blossom biome looks to be a smaller, forested biome that can appear in Plains and Hills biomes. Included in the Minecraft 1.20 update, Cherry Blossom biomes appear to be very straightforward additions to the Minecraft world, featuring beautiful pink-hued cherry trees and little else. Bees seem to be able to spawn within these biomes, but the real draw for players will be those aforementioned trees.

Cherry trees bring a new full-featured wood set to Minecraft, enabling players to build and craft to their heart's content in a gentle pink, including the new hanging signs. Cherry wood joins bamboo in Minecraft 1.20, offering new ways for players to customize their builds. The trees themselves are also gorgeous, making for great decoration if you plant some cherry tree saplings around your home.

So, when will players be able to experience this new biome in Minecraft, which continues to be one of the best games on Xbox? Sooner than you think! The Cherry Blossom biome will arrive in the next Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. Minecraft: Bedrock Edition players will have to wait a little longer for a Minecraft Preview build with the new trees, however.

Players will also be able to test two other Minecraft 1.20 features on Feb. 15, in both editions of Minecraft. Archeology brings new blocks, tools, and mechanics to Minecraft, while the friendly Sniffer mob is returning to the Overworld. The next Minecraft preview builds are packed with new features, giving interested players plenty to do. Everyone else will have to wait until the full Minecraft 1.20 update arrives later in 2023, however.

In case you missed it, Minecraft: Bedrock Edition 1.19.60 recently released to all players with over 70 bug fixes in tow. You can view more pictures of the Cherry Blossom biome in Minecraft 1.20 below.

Image 1 of 9

Windows Central's take

I was surprised to learn about the Cherry Blossom biome, in the best possible way. I'm really excited to begin finding these biomes in my own Minecraft worlds, as I absolutely adore the appearance of the cherry trees themselves. The possibilities afforded to me with these gently pink wood blocks awakens the Minecraft builder in me, as well.

With the Cherry Blossom biome, Minecraft 1.20 now features a new biome, two new mobs, two new types of wood, a brand-new mechanic, and a multitude of new decorative and functional blocks such as pots, hanging signs, chiseled bookshelves, and more. The upcoming update is still far from the most feature-packed or ambitious Minecraft update we've ever seen, but those new features will also undoubedly come with plenty of improvements to vanilla parity, accessibility, and overall stability.