Minecraft 26.1: Features, New Mobs, Biomes, Release Date & More

The Spring drop in Minecraft is about to arrive, and the snapshots and previews focus on the smallest and fluffiest parts of the game. Yes, the baby mobs will be getting a massive visual upgrade, making them undeniably cuter. But not just their looks, the brand new sounds and animations will obviously bring out a soft “aww” every time they come close to you. With that said, let’s break down everything we know so far for the Minecraft 26.1 update and a little bit of what we can reasonably expect.

Editor’s Note: last updated on February 14, 2026, to include new features in the Spring drop

Minecraft 26.1 Release Date (Speculated)

We can expect the next Minecraft update, 26.1, to be released towards the end of March. We make this speculation based on previous release patterns, which give us a solid clue about the timing of the Minecraft 26.1 drop. Since The Garden Awakens was released, Mojang has leaned heavily into a game-drop system, releasing content throughout the year instead of a massive overhaul.

Building on this, we see that last year, the Spring-themed update Spring to Life was released on March 25, 2025. And, we saw a similar trend of releasing new drops at the end of each quarter. So, unless the development hits a snag, we will be playing with our fluffy companions by the end of March.

Although Mojang has not made it official, we will update this page once we get the Minecraft 26.1 release date.

What is the Minecraft 26.1 Update Called?

We can predict that the Minecraft 26.1 update, releasing this spring, will be called “Cute Companions.“

While Mojang has not revealed a flashy name for the next Minecraft update, all signs are pointing towards the cute baby animals. Well, with the brand new year, Minecraft is going to follow a new versioning system. So, in Minecraft 26.1, the value ‘26‘ refers to the year 2026, and ‘.1‘ refers to the first game drop.

All New Biomes in Minecraft 26.1 (Rumored)

As of now, there are no new biomes that are confirmed to be released in Minecraft 26.1. But honestly, I feel that’s okay because the next update is going to be focused more on introducing cuter mobs in the game.

However, players are always dreaming of a brand new biome, and so am I. After the Pale Garden in Minecraft, a fair part of the community has been asking for peaceful and roleplay-friendly biomes.

Among all sorts of innovative ideas floating around, I feel that a Hot Springs biome would be a perfect fit. Alongside the ponds and open lava pools, we will also notice a few misty water pools in Minecraft’s Overworld. Imagine how cool it would look with the gentle steam being released quietly and the wildlife casually wandering around it. Moreover, just the thought of finding new minerals around the hot water springs and using them in unique crafting recipes is thrilling to me.

All New Minecraft 26.1 Mobs (Confirmed)

Minecraft 26.1 continues to build on the cute companions theme by remodeling their visuals. Instead of simply shrinking their adult models, the baby mobs are redesigned with unique proportions, animations, and sounds. So, check them out right here.

New Ground Baby Mob Models

The highlight of the next Minecraft update lies in the revamped baby mobs. Until now, these animals were just a smaller version of their adult counterparts, having enormous heads and tiny bodies. But the Spring drop is going to completely change this with the new baby mob models and textures.

Each baby mob is designed uniquely, and the following animals will be receiving the updated textures: cow, sheep, pig, chicken, cat, ocelot, wolf, mooshroom, and rabbit. The new designs are fluffier and more expressive with all the new baby animal sounds.

However, with the latest Minecraft 26.1 Snapshot 2, the rabbits have received special attention as both the adult and baby versions have new animations. Another important change in all the baby models is that the baby chickens are now yellow in color and look more like Flappy Bird.

Adding to the texture changes, the baby pigs, cats, and wolves now have exclusive sounds. They will now emit softer and squeakier sounds that genuinely feel adorable in Minecraft. There are new baby horses that appear smaller and rounder. This applies to donkeys, mules, zombie horses, and skeleton horses.

Aquatic Baby Mob Remodels

The latest Minecraft 26.1 Snapshot 5 shifts the focus from baby mobs that spawn on the ground to those in the water. The dolphins, squids, glow squids, turtles, and axolotls are now redesigned to make them feel more playful and distinct.

The proportions of the aquatic baby mobs now have unique proportions with rounder shapes. Similar to the ground mobs, the bounding boxes of these aquatic babies have been increased slightly.

Feral Baby Mob Remodels

Adding to the aquatic mobs, the set of feral baby mobs has also been remodelled. This includes the mobs: Bee, Fox, Goat, Camel, Armadillo, Polar Bear, and Llama.

Similar to all new baby mobs, the younger versions of these animals have a darker pupil without any white spots to make them look cuter. Moreover, the baby camels won’t have a saddle rendering on them.

Additional Minecraft 26.1 Features Coming in Spring

Beyond the mob remodels, Minecraft 26.1 spring drop will bring in several new features to make the game more immersive. These can seem small but are quite necessary quality-of-life improvements.

Craftable Name Tags

The second meaningful addition to the Spring drop is the craftable Name Tag. Previously, you could only get these from the loot chests found in the dungeons, mineshafts, Ancient Cities, and Woodland Mansions. But now, you can craft these by using 1 Paper and any 1 Metal Nugget.

Simply open up the crafting table, place a paper on any cell, and any metal nugget (Copper, Iron, or Gold) on the diagonally right cell. Introducing this recipe perfectly supports the update’s theme of bonding with mobs.

Spawn Egg Changes

If you enjoy Minecraft in creative mode, there is good news for you all. Now, there is no need to find a couple of animals and breed them to get their baby variants. All you need is the respective mob egg, point it towards the mob, and right-click to spawn the baby.

Golden Dandelions

One of the important additions of Minecraft 26.1 spring drop is going to be the golden dandelions. It has been introduced in the snapshots and has a unique function. When you feed a golden dandelion to a baby mob, it will stay young forever and won’t age anymore.

A golden dandelion can be crafted using a regular dandelion and 8 gold nuggets. Open up a crafting table, place the regular flower at the center, and surround it with the gold nuggets on all sides.

Visual, Lighting, and Performance Improvements

Beyond the new Minecraft 26.1 features, the lighting has been improved, the texture quality is made better, flickering or bug rendering is reduced, and the default RAM allocation is also increased for smoother gameplay.

Other than that, a bunch of items have been polished that you might not notice as well. These include cleaner menus, better marketplace skin handling, text input bugs being fixed, and accessibility options being improved.

And that is all about the new features, mobs, biomes, and the release date speculation for the next Minecraft 26.1 update. So, are you excited to check these features in the next update? Tell us in the comments below.