Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w03a is the first release of 2022, includes lots of bug fixes

What you need to know

• Mojang Studios is now releasing the first Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot of 2022 with plenty of tweaks and bug fixes.
• The snapshot is minor, but lays the groundwork for the upcoming 1.18.2 patch update and future 'The Wild Update' snapshots.
• Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w03a is now available for PC players to test.

Mojang Studios has already begun rolling out the Minecraft: Bedrock Edition betas for 2022, but as of yet has not released a corresponding snapshot for the legacy Java Edition. On Wednesday, that all changed. Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w03a is now available for players to test, and includes a fresh batch of fixes to improve the overall experience.

While this may be the first Minecraft snapshot of 2022, it's not a very exciting one. There are a handful of changes to world seed input, a new command, and a decent number of issue resolutions all included within, but no major new features or additions. This snapshot continues work on the upcoming 1.18.2 patch update for Minecraft: Java Edition, which was already released for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.

Afterward, Mojang Studios intends to turn its full attention onto developing The Wild Update, the next major content update for Minecraft that will add new mobs, areas, blocks, and much more. We'll have to wait a little longer before we begin seeing snapshots for The Wild Update, however, as Minecraft: Java Edition doesn't include an "experimental features" toggle like the Bedrock Edition does.

Minecraft is one of the greatest games ever made, and holds on to its title as one of the best PC games by continually evolving with new features and content. For the first time, Minecraft: Java Edition is available to play through PC Game Pass.

The full changelog for Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w03a includes:

Changes

• A seed of the number zero is no longer handled as a special case
• Any spaces before / after an inputted seed will now be trimmed
• Ender chests are no longer gift wrapped around Christmas

Technical changes

• The locate command now uses a namespaced id parameter
• Added command: placefeature

placefeature

• New command that places a configured feature at a given location. Syntax: placefeature <id> [pos]
• Parameters:
  • id: The namespaced id of a configured feature to place
  • pos: The position to use as the origin for the feature placement (if omitted, ~ ~ ~ is used)

Fixed bugs

• Standing on entities with solid collision boxes (shulkers, boats) kicks you for flying
• Server: Entering a boat / minecart / horse while going upwards from jumping causes a kick for flying
• Riding a boat with NoGravity on a server without flight enabled causes kick for flying
• Underwater fog doesn't hide edge of chunks correctly at low render distances
• Kicked for flying using trident with Riptide enchantment
• Blindness does not work underwater for certain graphics cards
• Knockback Resistance on players is still affected by chance
• Twisting vines don't reliably protect the player from fall damage
• Player can see farther in powder snow with blindness effect
• Pointed dripstone can form below some non-full (non-solid) blocks
• The Zero-Width Non-Joiner shows as a "ZWNJ" box
• Some blocks that negate fall damage don't reliably protect mobs at certain heights
• Sky background is visible on certain reduced fog situations
• /spreadplayers command does not allow for negative "under" values
• Game crashes when replacing a block with a wall with blockstate up:false
• "Done" button in controls submenu is very low
• Crash report and tick profiling causes Failed to find module info for _ spam to log
• Meadow trees can spawn without bee nests
• Snow / powder snow can generate underwater
• Glitchy chunk rendering persists since 21w41a
• Broken culling in very long caves
• JFR JSON report's bytesPerSecond is incorrectly calculated
• Powder snow is part of #goat_spawnable_on block tag / Goats can spawn on powder snow
• Sandstone generates 2-5 layers instead of 3-8 layers
• Snow Blocks, Powder Snow aren't a part of #azalea_root_replaceable / Rooted dirt can't replace Snow Blocks & Powder Snow
• Entities are displayed faster than chunks
• Suffocation always uses the entity head center position for predicate and collision box
• Pointed dripstone clusters create holes in the ground when generating in aquifers
• Falling blocks at chunk generation cause tons of entities and (client-side) lag
• Driver view angle resets when another player enters or exits boat
• Unable to select "What is Realms?" button using Tab
• Console spam: Skipping update for removed player
• Raid waves can spawn outside of simulation distance
• Upgrade to 1.18 makes chests invisible and empty
• Fog effect for void, blindness, water, lava & powder snow is cylindrical
• Crash when reloading chunks
• Flying with an elytra and colliding with floating flowing water sometimes doesn't reset fall damage
• Memory leak leading to crashes when loading pre-1.18 chunks
• Baby turtles suffocate on soul sand
• Game crashes when dispenser with shears is used on non-beehive block in #beehives tag
• Game crashes when villager tries to open non-door in #wooden_doors tag
• Game crashes when dispensing a bone meal in a warm ocean and there is a block with no facing block state in #wall_corals
• Game crashes if coral related block tags are empty during coral reef generation