Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w15a lets the Warden attack you from afar

What you need to know

• Mojang Studios is in the middle of developing the next major content update for Minecraft, The Wild Update.
• On Wednesday, the studio released Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w15a to test a fresh batch of changes with insiders.
• The headlining addition in the snapshot is a brand-new ranged attack for the terrifying Warden mini-boss mob.
• Plenty of bug fixes and other changes, including to mangrove swamps, are also featured in the snapshot.

The Wild Update is expected to arrive later in 2022 with a ton of new features for Minecraft, but Mojang Studios isn't forcing players to wait that long to try out some of those new features right now. Pre-release betas and snapshots have been arriving for weeks, and a new Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot is now rolling out to players with a fresh batch of new features, changes, and bug fixes.

Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w15a is the latest release for The Wild Update, and continues development with new features and plenty of changes in which players can sink their teeth. The headlining feature of this particular snapshot is absolutely the addition of a long-distant range attack for the Warden in the Deep Dark, which terrifyingly includes the Warden's rib cage opening to unleash a devastating sonic attack.

Mangrove swamps and vibrations also enjoy healthy tweaks, while a couple dozen bugs are being squashed. The latest Minecraft snapshot is now available to test on PC and through PC Game Pass, and arrives as part of Mojang Studios' efforts to develop The Wild Update for a full release later this year. Minecraft: Java Edition is one of the best PC games you can play, and this snapshot is a small part of why.

The full changelog for Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshot 22w15a includes:

New features

• Added advancement "When the Squad Hops into Town" for getting each Frog variant on a Lead
• Added advancement "Sneak 100" for sneaking near a Sculk Sensor or Warden to prevent it hearing you
• Added a new ranged attack to the Warden

Warden ranged attack

• Building up high, hiding behind walls or being out of range of their powerful melee attack will cause Wardens to switch to their ranged attack
  • Their rib cages will open up to shriek a sonically charged ranged attack that can penetrate walls

Changes

• Added Darkness effect to "How Did We Get Here?" advancement
• Allays have a natural health regen of 2 health per second
• The main menu background now shows a Wild Update panorama
• Mud generates all the way from the surface down to stone in Mangrove Swamps
• Tall Mangroves are far more common than Short Mangroves in Mangrove Swamps
• Moss Carpet generates on top of Mangrove Tree's roots
• The Wandering Trader will now sometimes offer Propagules for sale
• A previous change to Noteblocks that only Wool and Wool Carpets would block the sounds has been reverted
• Wardens can now sniff you from further away
• The vertical range Wardens get angry at a target while sniffing is now 20 blocks instead of 6 blocks

Vibrations

• Carpets, like Wool blocks, will now dampen the vibrations caused by their placing, breaking or dropping as items
• Carpets now also dampen the vibrations caused by running and jumping over them

Technical changes

• Removed item_delivered_to_player advancement trigger
• Added thrown_item_picked_up_by_player advancement trigger
• Added avoid_vibration advancement trigger
• Added sonic_explosion particle

Advancements

• thrown_item_picked_up_by_player
  • Triggered when a player picks up an item that was thrown by an entity
  • Conditions:
  • player — a predicate for the player picking up the item
  • entity — a predicate for the entity that threw the item
  • item — a predicate for the item
• avoid_vibration
  • Triggered when a vibration event is ignored because the source player is holding the sneak key
  • Conditions:
  • player — a player for which this trigger runs

Game events

• Renamed game event tag ignore_vibrations_on_occluding_block to dampenable_vibrations
• Added block tag dampens_vibrations to indicate blocks which will not trigger vibrations when placed, broken or stepped on
• Renamed item tag occludes_vibration_signals to dampens_vibrations item tag as well

Fixed bugs

• Item frames / Glow item frames don't change their hitbox if they contain a map
• Joining a world that uses custom resources shows default resources until fully loaded
• Phantoms with NoAI can go through blocks
• Glow lichens cannot be put on soul sand
• Leashes from two or more invisible entities connect to each other
• Vines cannot be placed on the sides of 8 layers of snow
• Glow lichen cannot be placed on the side of 8 layers of snow
• Vines cannot be placed on the sides of soul sand
• The word "ingot" within the "Serious Dedication" advancement description is improperly capitalized
• Sleeping in a custom dimension with "natural" set to false causes crash
• The word "villager" within the "Star Trader" advancement description is improperly capitalized
• Sculk shriekers replace water blocks
• The inside texture of mangrove roots darkens when solid blocks are placed adjacent to them
• Unexpected culling of inner sculk shrieker faces
• sculk_charge cannot be used in /particle command
• Vines, glow lichens, and sculk veins cannot be placed on the side or top faces of mud
• Mangrove Roots cannot be composted
• Map color for mangrove sign and mangrove wall sign is incorrect
• You can't open the boat with chests without a shift, even when you can't get into the boat
• Activated sculk shriekers fail to summon the warden when broken
• Darkness pulsing option is not saved
• Inconsistent shading in boat item sprites
• Warden despawns when far away
• Mangrove stairs come after nether wood stairs in the Building Blocks tab
• Allay can be pushed around with {NoAI:1b}
• New advancement names are not properly capitalized
• Warden can be pushed when emerging and digging
• Mangrove trees don't replace certain blocks with roots
• Recovery compass isn't sorted with regular compass in creative inventory
• You can use a Recovery Compass on a Lodestone
• Growing a Mangrove Tree with bone meal creates a ghost block
• Game crash related to the frog occurred (Accessing LegacyRandomSource from multiple threads)
• Mangrove roots sometimes don't generate waterlogged when generating within water
• Cave carvers don't cut through mud
• Mangrove Leaves do not drop from Silk Touch tools
• Water got removed after waterlogged Mangrove Propagule grows
• Top of Sculk Shrieker model is vertically squished
• Warden can forget a target it just roared at
• Powering a beacon disconnects player from server
• Harsh chunk borders appear when upgrading a 1.18.2 world
• Chance to have mangrove roots not waterlogged when growing from a sapling while underwater
• The Birthday Song advancement description is incorrectly capitalized
• note_block is inconsistently spelled as noteblock in the allay_deliver_cake_to_noteblock advancement
• UUID launch argument required
• The "You Got a Friend in Me" advancement is incorrectly presented in the past tense
• Mangrove Log and Mangrove Planks don't spawn in bonus chest
• Can't plant sugar cane on mud
• Can't plant bamboo on mud
• Can't plant big dripleaf on mud
• Overworld vegetation cannot be placed on muddy mangrove roots