Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w45a changes Vex design, adds new bamboo blocks
A new snapshot brings plenty of changes across mobs, blocks, and menus.
What you need to know
- Minecraft: Java Edition tests upcoming changes and updates through pre-release snapshots.
- On Wednesday, Mojang Studios began releasing Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w45a to interested players.
- Changes featured in the snapshot include an updated design for the Vex mob and more Creative Inventory tweaks.
- The snapshot also includes new bamboo blocks from the Minecraft 1.20 update.
One of Minecraft's less-mentioned hostile mobs is the Vex, a flying sword-wielding creature summoned by the dangerous and elusive Evokers. For years, the Vex has looked a little out of place when compared to the rest of Minecraft's consistent design language, but a new Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot is testing a redesign to fix that issue.
Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w45a is now rolling out to interested players on PC, and features a number of new features and changes. The headlining addition is, of course, a brand-new design for the Vex that alters its dimensions and textures to align more with Minecraft's visuals. Now, the Vex appears to be quite similar to the Allay, but with more aggressive wings, eyes, and — of course — its deadly sword.
Elsewhere, bamboo is getting two new block types for the Minecraft 1.20 update with the bamboo block and the stripped bamboo block matching the behavior of logs for other wood types. The Creative Inventory is also enjoying some final tweaks in line with community feedback, which has changed significantly over the last few Minecraft: Java Edition snapshots.
One of PC's most legendary games, Minecraft: Java Edition is far from finished. Mojang Studios is hard at work on what comes next for Minecraft with the feature-packed 1.20 update, which will focus on player expression, representation, and creativity. The next Minecraft content update is arriving at some point in 2023.
The full changelog for Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w45a includes:
Features
General
- Added new default skins for offline players
Minecraft 1.20
- Added Block of Bamboo and Stripped Block of Bamboo
- Block of Bamboo can be crafted from 9 Bamboo and can be stripped like other wood logs
- Bamboo Planks crafted from Block of Bamboo yield only 2 planks compared to 4 for wood logs
Changes
General
- The Vex now has a new look
- The Wild update music has been tweaked to be slightly less loud
- When opening, Shulker Boxes will pop off blocks which are attached to opened faces (such as Torches)
- Blocks that require support cannot be placed on these open faces while the Shulker Box is open
- “Teleport to Team Member” option in spectator menu now only shows up for teams with viable target players
- Added Operator Items Tab option in the Controls menu which is off by default
- Creative Inventory changes
Creative Inventory
- Operator-only items now appear in a new Operator Utilities tab if you have both:
- Operator Items Tab option in Controls menu set to ON
- The required operator permissions
- The tab is hidden if operator permissions are lost while inventory is open
- Now also includes Structure Blocks and all light levels of Light Blocks
- Added a Colored Blocks tab
- Contains all blocks with 16 color variants
- Moved all colored blocks from Building Blocks tab to this tab instead to make that tab less sizeable
- Consumables tab has been renamed to Food & Drinks tab to have a more straightforward name
- Crafting tab has been renamed to Ingredients tab since not all items are used in crafting
- Reordered
- Natural Blocks
- More consistency between types for the top section
- Moved eggs to be between seeds and single-block plants
- Placed climbable plants above double-block plants
- Food & Drinks
- Cooked versions of raw food are now right next to each other
- Redstone Blocks
- Less cluttered
- Higher importance items up the top
- Removed variants of Doors, Trapdoors, Buttons and Boats that don’t have any functional difference
- Ingredients
- Placed Lapis in the same order as ore blocks
- Natural Blocks
- Moved
- Bottle o’ Experience from the Tools & Utilities tab to the Ingredients tab next to enchanting books
- Added
- All axes to the Combat tab (they still remain in the Tools & Utilities tab as well)
- All possible Suspicious Stews to the Consumables tab
- The tooltip will show the effect of a stew before it’s picked up from the Creative Inventory
- Only stews with effects available via crafting or Mooshrooms are listed
- Pressure Plates and Buttons of each type to the Building Blocks tab
- Almost all lighting blocks to the top of the Functional Blocks tab
- All 3 flight durations of Fireworks to Tools & Utilities tab, and the Combat tab next to Crossbow
- Eye of Ender next to End Portal Frame block in Functional tab for better ease of use
- Tooltips for all items in Creative Menu outside single-category tabs will show categories where this item can be found
- Previously this only happened on the search tab
Vex
- Changes to Vex model and textures
- The Vex retains a slightly oversized hitbox to make it easier to fight
Technical changes
General
- The `/publish` command has new arguments to enable commands and set the default gamemode
- New syntax: `/publish [allowCommands] [gamemode] [port]`
- Changes to the Open to LAN screen
- The screen now allows selecting the port on which to host the LAN world
- The game mode and allow cheats buttons are now initialized with the default values of the world
- The Resource Pack version is now 12
Fixed bugs
General
- Horses can suffocate when going through nether portals
- Result map tooltip when zooming out a map shows previous zoom value instead of new one
- You can’t empty water buckets into waterlogged blocks
- Enderman angry / screaming sound event subtitled identically to idle sound
- Inconsistent eye level between piglins or zombified piglins and piglin brutes
- Merchant trade select packet (C2S) does not check for negative indices
- Player desynchronization with Nether Portals
- Empty Tags match Empty Slots in Shaped Recipes
- Chat hover & click events are offset if “Line Spacing” chat setting is used
- Bees’ path finding system may cause performance issues
- Camel’s back of neck is visible during the sit down animation
- Non-controlling passengers can make camels dash
- Inconsistent textures with jungle hanging signs
- Sounds for Bamboo, Crimson and Warped hanging signs use the generic wood sound
- Weighted pressure plates make incorrect sounds
- `FileAlreadyExistsException` if the `resourcepacks` directory is a symbolic link
- References to chat reporting in singleplayer
- Error in any model file causes resource reload fail now
- Mobs don’t shoot correctly from crossbows
- The word “messages” within the `gui.chatSelection.fold` string is always pluralized
- New network protocols prevent logging into offline servers
- Lodestone compass’s enchantment glint is scaled incorrectly
- MC-256917Death message from explosions by TNT and TNT minecarts that are not the cause of a player or another mob has changed
- TNT Minecarts don’t record what caused its explosion
- Multishot shoots projectiles backwards
- MC-256990Superflat Worlds can use Disabled Blocks as part of their layers
- Missing Structure Block in creative tab
- “Lava” in `gamerule.lavaSourceConversion` is misspelled as “Lave”
- Buttons are placed different than pressure plates in Creative Inventory
- Applying bone meal to warped or crimson fungus crashes client on multiplayer
Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition
If you want to play Minecraft on PC, there's no better way to do so than with this bundle, which includes both the mod-able, legacy Java Edition and the modern, cross-platform Bedrock Edition.
Buy from: Xbox
Minecraft: Java Edition is now available through PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, making Microsoft's flagship gaming subscription the best way to experience Minecraft, wherever you play.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.