Minecraft took to the seas with the first part of its Update Aquatic release in May, and now it's time for phase two. Microsoft and Mojang have announced that the second phase of the two-part update is rolling out now on Windows 10, VR, mobile, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch starting today.
While the first phase delivered a whole load of new nautical creatures and items to check out, phase two brings new underwater zombies, sea turtles, nautilus shells, and much more. Here's a full look at all of the new features included in this update:
- Realms are now available on Nintendo Switch
- The Drowned - These dangerous, underwater zombies lurk in dark, deep water and will come up to the shore at night
- Sea Turtles - These gentle creatures can be found swimming in oceans and tanning on beaches. Protect their eggs so more can hatch!
- Turtle Shell and Scute items
- Potion of the Turtle Master
- Nautilus Shells - Can be found while fishing or held by the Drowned
- Conduits can now be constructed underwater and give players the Conduit Power effect. Craft them with Nautilus Shells & Heart of the Sea
- Bubble Columns - Magma Blocks create downward flowing columns and Soul Sand creates upward flowing bubbles
- New Achievements!
- Added new commands that only affect worlds with Education Edition enabled: 1. /ability - Sets a player's ability 2. /immutableworld - Sets the immutable state of the world 3. /worldbuilder - Toggle World Builder status of caller
Along with the new bits, Update Aquatic phase two also includes some changes to the current gameplay. Here's the rundown:
- Changed the menu background to be themed for Update Aquatic
- Undead mobs will now sink in water and can walk on the bottom
- Improved the steering of Boats when using keyboard and mouse by pressing W to move forward and S to reverse
- Dolphins can now be given Raw Fish or Raw Salmon and will swim towards the nearest Ocean Ruins or Shipwreck
- Husks that have sunk in water will now transform into Zombies and Zombies will transform into Drowned
- Skeleton Horses can now be ridden underwater
- Skeletons and Strays will switch from ranged to melee attacks while underwater and switch back when out of water
- Coral blocks will no longer die as long as one side is touching water
- Improved player swimming at the surface of water Tr>- idents can now be enchanted with Mending and Unbreaking
- Added an animation when using Riptide in first person perspective
- Slightly decreased the friction of Blue Ice
- Updated the texture of the top of Kelp
- Updated the texture of Cooked Fish
- Updated the Riptide spin texture
- Default Field of View has been reduced from 70 to 60 and can be adjusted in Video Settings
- Tridents will no longer break blocks in Creative mode
- The Inventory button has been moved to the top of the Store page
As for those playing the Java version of the game, Mojang says it's not quite ready to roll out Update Aquatic yet, but it's putting the finishing touches on it. For now, you can check out the Java version's prerelease to get an early look at the update's features.
Otherwise, if you own Minecraft on practically every other platform, you can hit the oceans now and start exploring all of what's new.
