Minecraft: Bedrock Edition officially releases 1.16.220 update with bug fixes and new creator tools

What you need to know

• Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is the modern version of Minecraft on Xbox, PC, PlayStation, Switch, and mobile devices.
• Today, Mojang Studios is officially releasing the 1.16.220 update for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition players.
• This update is built on top of the 1.16 Nether Update, and most includes an assortment of bug fixes.
• There are also some new tools for map and add-on creators, and the ability to change sign text colors using dye.

Minecraft is a quintessential example of a game that steadily improves over time, and this trend continues today with the official release of the 1.16.220 update for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. Still being built on top of the 1.16 branch, or the Nether Update, the 1.16.220 update doesn't include a ton of new features or anything from the upcoming Caves and Cliffs Update.

However, players will be able to enjoy a wide range of bug fixes and general improvements, map and add-on creators can take advantage of new tools, and the text on signs can now be colored with dye. Small but welcome improvements run wild in the 1.16.220 patch update for Minecraft.

This is a minor release, so don't expect a next-gen update for Minecraft on the Xbox Series X|S, or a colossal number of new features in additions like what's coming this summer in the Caves and Cliffs Update. Instead, this update focuses on minor improvements and fixes to keep Minecraft running well.

The 1.16.220 patch update for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is now rolling out to the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch, PC, and mobile devices. Minecraft is already one of the best games on Xbox, but every update makes it even better. Show your love for Minecraft with something from our list of best merch, toys, and gifts for Minecraft.

The full changelog for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Update 1.16.220 includes:

Changes

• Dye can now be used to change the color of sign text

Known issues

• Players are unable to see and join LAN sessions on Xbox without an Xbox Live Gold subscription
• Paintings appear invisible when placed

Fixes

Performance & stability

• Fixed several crashes that could occur during gameplay
• Fixed a crash that could occur when trying to rename a map on an anvil while its second slot was occupied
• Fixed a crash when entering a Nether Portal and throwing a Bottle o' Enchanting at the same time
• Improved input latency on Windows 10 when VSYNC is enabled

Gameplay

• Fixed fog in Nether biomes not rendering properly in some Resource Packs
• Players with Visitor permissions now drop inventory on death

Mobs

• Fixed Drowned holding tridents backwards during attack
• Drowned will now swing their arms when throwing tridents
• Zombie, Zombie Villager, Husk, Pillager, and Vindicator now use correct bone to attach shields
• Mobs that pick up shields now place it in their off-hand
• Non-persistent mobs no longer despawn immediately after loading into the Nether

Blocks

• Projectiles now pass through Structure Void blocks
• Improved placement rules for placing blocks on sides of stairs, slabs, and Top Snow blocks
• Pistons and Sticky Pistons no longer appear black when Outline Selection is disabled

Accessibility

• Enabled screen narration with touch input on the new achievements screen
• Fixed a bug where the screen reader didn't read out default controller focus and checkbox state on the 'Online Play is not Rated' prompt
• Fixed a bug where the screen reader would read the wrong text while using VR

User interface

• Enabled "Find Friends" button on Xbox
• Controllers are now able to select the "Button Mode" toggle in the Advanced Settings NPC screen in the Jurassic World pack
• The "Results" field for search within the marketplace inventory now updates properly between different sections within the screen
• The death screen is now visible when behind full-screen effects (on fire, standing in a portal, etc.) while playing in VR
• Fixed translucent rendering of occluded UI elements, also when viewing menus near blocks while playing in VR
• Selecting the featured offer on the profile screen now properly redirects to the complete list of featured offers
• Made the Sign In button text fit the button in Portuguese-BR
• The Storage menu on now uses lighter text color
• Fixed an issue where button textures weren't scaled properly when applying Resource Packs
• Enabled navigating to the Back button using only keyboard in some screens where it was not possible

Commands

• Entity selectors no longer allow self-selection with cheats disabled
• The /clear command will now apply the correct "data" argument for the sapling item
• Command blocks in a command block chain will now list the correct amount of ticking areas when a new ticking area is added before listing
• Title command no longer duplicates % symbols in message
• Using teleport with the execute command now uses the dimension of the origin for its operations

Character Creator

• Steve's Pants no longer change the color of the bottom of feet when no footwear is equipped
• Fixed other players appearing as Steve in multiplayer
• Changing skins while in split-screen now properly saves for all local players and update properly for remote players
• Alex's shirt no longer looks corrupted when equipped with different pants
• "Hooray!" emote will now display in the emotes section if already owned

Creator changes

Updated template packs

• Updated templates for 1.16.220 with new resources, behaviors, and documentation are available for download

Technical fixes & changes

• Renamed all references of Actor to Entity
• Renamed BlockPos to BlockLocation
• Added startSequence to GameTest, which allows finer control over advanced test sequences
• GameTest sequence callbacks no longer take test as a parameter as the initial test object now lives as long as the whole test
• Updated Behavior Packs to require explicit module dependencies when using other native modules
• Identifiers within render_controllers will now be considered content errors if there is no render controller matching that name
• Entity json before version 1.16.100 will no longer give a content error for the deprecated field minecraft:foot_size
• modified condition in trident.animation_controllers.json to allow mobs to enter  wield_third_person_raise
• Fixed an issue where loading into a world would cause continuous MoLang errors around "unhandled request for unknown variable"
• A black screen no longer covers the player icon in the pause menu in some worlds. Content creators no longer need to override both focus_border_frame.png and pause_screen_border.png for correct behavior
• Items can now have the transparentattachable tag applied to make attachable items not render for the player wearing them in the first person perspective
• Fixed an issue where V2 Villagers were not properly updating their MoLang variables on initialization

GameTest framework

• Updated Blocks shorthand helpers to be camelCase
• Updated Blocks shorthand to only include vanilla blocks
• Added Blocks.get to fetch a block and return null if it doesn't exist
• Added BlockStates to enumerate all block states
• Added setState to Block to update its block state
• Added BlockPos class
• Added ItemStack class GameTest Module
• Added Tags to enumerate all built-in tags
• Updated all methods that took x, y, z position to take a BlockPos
• Exposed padding when registering game test
• Fixed issue where previous failed GameTest markers still show up in new worlds

Movement prediction

• Fixed projectiles on third-party servers ignoring server movement packets
• The server will adjust the player's fall distance to take into account the client player's position when a player movement correction or anomaly is detected

Network packets

• Changed cipher algorithm to AESGCM256 for UDP stream