Minecraft 1.21 (Tricky Trials): New Mobs, Features, Expected Release, and More

Minecraft 1.21 is the new major update coming to Minecraft. The snapshot marathon is slowly wrapping up, giving players a chance to test out all the new features this update will bring to the game. And that’s exactly what we are covering here, shedding light on the release date and new features such as mobs and blocks coming with the Minecraft 1.21 update, aka the Tricky Trials update.

Last updated on April 26, 2024, at 8:30 AM PST to include the official name of the new Minecraft 1.21 update

Minecraft 1.21 Release Date

[UPDATE | October 15, 11:30 AM PT] – As confirmed during Minecraft Live 2023, Mojang is satisfied with the way they handled the development and testing of the previous update.

So, they are following the same cycle as last year, meaning the next Minecraft 1.21 update will be released sometime in June 2024. The quote below is from Mojang’s Sophie Austin in an official blog post.

While next year’s update doesn’t have a name yet, I’m going to call it “1.21” for now, even though it’ll be coming midway through 2024.

The official release date is still under wraps, but we will update this post once we have more details. So, stay tuned.

Why the yearly cycle, you ask? This was, unfortunately, a result of community disappointment as a lot of promised features were canceled or delayed in past updates, like the 1.18 Cliffs and Caves. So, with the Minecraft 1.20 update, the developer decided not to overpromise and underdeliver like the previous updates. Here’s a brief rundown of the recent update cycle. We expect the same pattern to continue with the upcoming Minecraft 1.21 update.

Minecraft 1.21 Update Name

The last major update – Minecraft 1.20 – didn’t have an official name when it was first announced in October 2022. Minecraft 1.20 got its official name months later. This was possibly an outcome of the community discontent mentioned in the previous section.

For this reason, the Mojang team took its sweet time with naming the Minecraft 1.21 update, but it has officially revealed the name for the next major update. The Minecraft 1.21 update will be called Minecraft Tricky Trials.

Mojang revealed the official name in the April edition of the Minecraft Monthly video, which we’ve embedded below. The name Tricky Trials aptly describes the upcoming update, which focus on the new challenges that players will face in the Trial Chambers, and well, they will be tricky for sure.

Minecraft 1.21: New Confirmed Mobs

The 1.21 update was officially announced at the Minecraft Live event in October 2023. So, let’s go over the new mobs that will be added to the game in the next major update.

1. The Breeze

The Breeze is a new hostile mob in Minecraft, only found in the new Trial Chamber structure (more on this below). This mob will be a rather playful wind-controlling mob. It will be constantly moving, jumping from one location to the other while attacking players.

The Breeze will have a distinctive attack called the “wind charge”. This unique ranged attack will not deal damage when it bursts and blows things away, but it will damage anything that it collides directly with. When that happens, it’ll create a wind burst knocking back entities by several blocks.

Not only that, but the wind burst also interacts with some blocks, such as levers, buttons, non-iron trapdoors and doors, lit candles, bells, and fence gates. The Breeze’s special projectile can also break decorated pots, chorus flowers, and pointed dripstone.

This will make it even harder to defeat the Breeze since certain rooms inside the Trial Chambers contain spots with trapdoors and blocks with levers. This special hostile mob will provide combat experiences you have never had in Minecraft before. Not only that, but it also drops breeze rods, items used in several crafting recipes (see section below).

2. The Bogged

The Breeze is not the only hostile mob in Minecraft 1.21, as we’ve also got the Bogged. It’s a green skeleton variant that shoots poison arrows at you, applying a poison status effect for 4 seconds. You will encounter the Bogged in swamps and mangrove swamp biomes where it’ll spawn together with regular skeletons and other hostile mobs.

One more place the Bogged spawns is trial chambers. Trial spawner with bone blocks, podzol blocks, and red mushrooms around it will spawn up to six Bogged mobs for a player in the single-player mode. So, if you find a trial chamber with the Bogged spawners, don’t forget to bring and drink milk to make the poison go away faster.

Once you kill the Bogged, it will drop usual skeleton drops like bones, arrows, and bows, as well as poison arrows. In addition, you can use shears on a Bogged and obtain two mushrooms of the same type or one of each type.

The winner of the Minecraft Mob Vote 2023 was the armadillo, and while we expected this little mob to arrive with the 1.21 update, it was released in the Minecraft 1.20.5 update called Armored Paws.

Minecraft 1.21 New Biomes

With the 24w13a snapshot, Mojang has announced that there will be no new feature additions to Minecraft 1.21. So, to answer your question – No, there will be no new biomes or biome updates introduced in this major update.

New Confirmed Features in Minecraft 1.21

1. Crafter

Now this is the feature no one saw coming, but everyone wanted. The crafter block is the ultimate form of the crafting table. It’s an incredible utility block that can allow you to automate crafting in Minecraft. Instead of making and pulling the items out yourself, you can hook this block to Redstone and have the items pulled automatically.

Moreover, it’ll also act as a container block, since it will be possible to leave the ingredients inside it and craft the item you want whenever you want. By activating this block, the item you completed the crafting recipe for will get crafted and pushed out.

If you also add a collection system, like a hopper, below or in front of the crafter, the item crafted will get picked up and moved wherever you need it to go. You can also use hoppers to channel the items inside the crafter.

One more amazing feature of this block is that you can toggle slots, so you can program the crafter where to place the ingredients. We’ve created a dedicated guide about the crafter block in Minecraft 1.21, so check it out to learn everything related to this mind-blowing addition.

With that said, you’ll be able to infinitely craft an item or a block without actually having to do all the boring placements yourself. What do you think about this game-changing block? Tell us in the comments below!

2. Trial Chambers

Trial Chambers are new, procedurally generated structures in Minecraft that focus on exploration and combat. You can easily find trial chambers while exploring caves in the deepslate layers, thanks to the explorer map, by using commands or with a seed finder website.

Moreover, this structure has lots of different and unique rooms. However, one thing that all trial chambers have in common is the corridor, a passageway with decorated pots, barrels, candles and flower pots.

While exploring the tunnels of the Trial Chambers, you will stumble upon parkour challenges, underwater rooms, safe rooms with beds, vaults, ominous vaults, and lots and lots of trial spawners. You’ll never find two identical chambers, meaning they will get exciting every single time (and we can’t wait to explore them all).

The structure will consist of all sorts of epic blocks, such as new building tuff and copper block variants, which we will mention a bit later in the post.

3. Ominous Bottle

The ominous bottle is an item that affects both the already existing feature and the brand-new 1.21 feature. Once you consume it, you’ll receive the Bad Omen effect of the level the bottle itself has. So, this effect is no longer obtainable automatically.

You may get it by killing pillager raid captains, looting standard and ominous vaults. These drinks don’t behave like other potions, so there are no splash variants. It can also stack up to 64. With the Bad Omen effect, you can walk into a village and it’ll turn into Raid Omen.

4. Trial Spawner

The trial spawner is a special spawner type that will adapt to the number of players that join the battle in the new Trial Chambers. It spawns a limited number of mobs, unlike the regular monster spawner. The mobs that the trial spawner spawns are classified into 3 categories.

Every trial chamber will spawn mobs from all three categories and only one mob per category. The blocks around a spawner indicate the mobs that will spawn from it. With that said, here are the mobs that the trial spawner can spawn and the blocks that are associated with them:

• Melee
  • Zombie (mossy cobblestone)
  • Husk (chiseled sandstone)
  • Slime (moss block)
• Small Melee
  • Silverfish (stone bricks)
  • Baby Zombie (cobblestone and mossy cobblestone)
  • Spider (stone and cobweb on top)
  • Cave Spider (stone and cobweb on top and podzol with a red mushroom)
• Ranged
  • Stray (packed ice)
  • Skeleton (bone block)
  • Bogged (bone block and podzol with a red mushroom)
• Breeze (chiseled tuff)

Once you defeat the mobs, the trial spawner goes into the cooldown state, which lasts for 30 minutes and is indicated by the smoke particles. Not only that, but the spawner itself drops some precious resources, encouraging you to find even more. However, you can come back once the cooldown has worn off, and enjoy the battle once again.

It takes a long time to mine and break the trial spawner, and it’s unobtainable in survival. The trial spawner represents a well-balanced combat experience that you can enjoy on your own or with your friends.

5. Ominous Trial Spawner

Ominous trials spawner is the more difficult version of the trial spawner. It doesn’t spawn naturally but it’s also right in front of your eyes. How’s this possible? Well, when you have the Bad Omen effect, you can approach a trial spawner and it’ll automatically turn into an ominous trial spawner, if it’s not in cooldown or if the previous active phase wasn’t the ominous one.

This spawner will summon mobs with equipment and also random projectiles and potions above you and the mobs. It provides an especially chaotic and fun experience you’ll enjoy.

6. Trial Key

The trial key is a brand-new item coming in Minecraft 1.21. You may only get trial keys in the Trial Chambers from multiple sources. One of them is the chest at the entrance of the structure, the second one is the decorated pots in the corridor and the third is the trial spawner, which has chances of dropping the trial key after you complete its challenge.

You are most likely to get the trial key from the trial spawner. The trial key opens the vault block in the Trial Chambers.

7. Ominous Trial Key

The Ominous trial key is the ominous version of the trial key. Unlike its regular counterpart, it can only be obtained once you kill all the mobs that have been summoned by the ominous trial spawner. There is a 30% chance you’ll get this scary-looking key.

8. The Vault

The vault block in Minecraft is a special container block that requires the trial key to open. It looks similar to the trial spawners, but you can easily tell them apart thanks to the different top sides and gray pixels Vault has that the trial spawner doesn’t. Also, the vault has a spooky face with a closed mouth on the front side. When you get close, the mouth will open and orange particles will emit towards the vault.

You can then use the trial key on the vault and it will spit out items like armor and tools onto itself that you can pick up. Every player that opens the vault will be rewarded, but only once. So, you cannot farm this block over and over again.

9. Ominous Vault

You probably get the point by now, so the ominous vault is an ominous version of the vault. Unlike the ominous trial spawner, this block generates naturally in trial chambers. They are a bit harder to spot, but are easily distinguishable from normal vaults, as they’re bluish and have three scary skulls instead of one. These blocks give you usually far better rewards than the normal vaults, including the heavy core item.

10. Breeze Rods

Breeze rods are items you get by killing the Breeze. By default, you will get 1-2 breeze rods per kill, but with the looting enchantment, the number of breeze rods can increase to up to eight per single Breeze kill.

These items are used in crafting recipes for the wind charge, the new mace weapon, and the flow armor trim. Also, you may combine it with the damaged mace in an anvil to restore 25% of the mace’s durability.

11. Heavy Core

Heavy core is an item that’s smaller than a full solid block. You can only obtain it from the ominous vault in trial chambers, where the chance of it being chosen is only 8.4%. This item can be combined with the breeze rod in a crafting grid to make the mace.

12. Mace

Mace is an incredibly strong melee weapon you may craft with a breeze rod and heavy core. Its base stats are the same as the diamond sword’s, but its damage can be increased by falling more than 1.5 blocks. Every block you fall beyond that point increases the mace’s damage by 1.5 hearts.

Not only that, but you can enchant it with the exclusive mace enchantments to further increase its damage. This means you can one-shot the Warden, the strongest mob in the game with 500 hit points by falling for about 45 blocks and hitting it with the density 5 enchanted mace.

If you manage to hit the target, you’ll negate all fall damage and also deal a ton of damage to the mob. Furthermore, mace will also create an AOE that will knock back nearby entities. You may also repair the mace with the mending enchantment and some XP. So, it’s safe to say that the mace is very very OP.

13. Wind Charge

Wind charge is an item and a projectile you can use by right-clicking or using the secondary action button. You can get 4 of them by breaking down breeze rods in a crafting grid. Also, it can be acquired from vaults and ominous vaults.

It will behave very similarly to the Breeze’s attack, as it will create a small area of effect that will knock back entities and even damage them if it hits them directly. Not only that, but it will also fling players in the air, making it a super cool addition to parkour mini-games.

The wind charge will get consumed after you use it, it stacks to 64 and has a cooldown of half a second between each use. It’ll seemingly travel forever unless it hits something. You may place it in the dispenser as well.

14. Copper and Tuff Blocks

Throughout the entire Trial Chambers structure, you will find all sorts of amazing new and unique building and decorative blocks. Though, you can craft those and many more whenever you wish.

These gorgeous blocks were recently added to the game in Minecraft snapshot 23w43a. We have showcased all the new blocks in the linked post, so check it out to learn more about them. All the building blocks coming to Minecraft 1.21 update, known so far, are the following:

• Chiseled Copper
• Copper Grate
• Copper Door
• Copper Trapdoor
• Copper Bulb
• Tuff Slab
• Tuff Stairs
• Tuff Wall
• Chiseled Tuff
• Polished Tuff
• Polished Tuff Slab
• Polished Tuff Stairs
• Polished Tuff Wall
• Tuff Bricks
• Tuff Brick Slab
• Tuff Brick Stairs
• Tuff Brick Wall
• Chiseled Tuff Bricks

All of the copper blocks mentioned above behave as the already-existing copper blocks. Meaning, they will oxidize over time, can be waxed with honeycomb, and can be scraped with an axe.

15. Copper Bulb

The copper bulb is the new light source block coming to Minecraft. It’s far more unique than most other ones as well because the amount of light they emit depends on the oxidation stage they are at. If this block is fully oxidized, it will emit the lowest light level. On the other hand, if it’s at the initial stage and fully orange, Copper Bulb will glow the brightest. Similarly to the regular copper blocks, you can scrape off the oxidation from the oxidized copper bulbs, making them emit more light.

You can wax the copper bulb as well to preserve its state. This block can only be turned on and off with a redstone signal. It’s not enough to deactivate the power source it’s attached to, you’ll need to power it again to fully turn off the bulb. Moreover, if the copper bulb is receiving constant power from a source, it’ll display it with a red dot in the center of its texture.

16. New Armor Trims, Banner Patterns and Pottery Sherds

Minecraft 1.21 introduced two new armor trims (flow and bolt armor trims), two banner patterns (flow and guster banner patterns), and three new pottery sherds (scrape, guster, and flow pottery sherds).

All of these are related to the Breeze, chiseled tuff top texture, and the scrape sherd hints at the copper block scraping mechanic.

We previously mentioned leaks about the Minecraft Marketplace pass, which will be a subscription service available for players with the 1.21 update. However, while the 1.21 update still does not have an official release date, the Marketplace pass has gone official on March 12.

Although Minecraft is one game, it has two different versions – Java and Bedrock Edition. Mojang has been trying to bring parity to their feature set for the past couple of years. Their efforts were rather successful as more and more exclusive to one edition features lost that title. However, there are still some distinguishable features that should be fixed in the Minecraft 1.21 update.

These are all the confirmed new features coming to the Minecraft 1.21 update. The developers have announced recently that no more new additions will come to the game. So, what is your favorite 1.21 feature? Let us know in the comments below!