MINECRAFT 1.20: THE TRAILS & TALES UPDATE
The long wait is over: as you read this, the latest version of Minecraft – 1.20, the Trails & Tales Update – should be available for you to play! As ever, we’re going to take a deep dive into all of its new features, starting right here!
ARCHAEOLOGY
First demonstrated in 2021, the archaeology features let you explore the Overworld’s past in the classic Minecraft style: by digging it up.
Trail ruins are a new type of generated structure that appear buried inside taigas, old growth birch forests and jungles. Digging down under the surface will uncover much bigger structures than you initially see, as well as heaps of opportunities to harvest rare blocks and collect loot. From the suspicious gravel and sand that generates there, you can use new archaeology brush (crafted from a stick, a copper ingot and a feather) to uncover items as well as finding naturally generating mud blocks, terracotta and glazed terracotta.
Inside suspicious gravel and sand, you’ll be able to dig up everything from wooden hoes, bricks, candles and coal to more exciting items. 20 different pottery sherds can be crafted into decorated pots, while armour trims can change the appearance of your armour. You can use up to four sherds when making a decorated pot, though it’s possible to use a brick as a replacement for a sherd if you don’t mind making a pot with a blank side!
The most exciting thing you can find in suspicious sand, in warm ocean ruins, is a sniffer egg. Place it on a block to hatch a snifflet! It takes about 20 minutes for this to happen, or 10 minutes if you use a moss block.
SNIFFERS
The second new mob in the game, sniffers have been added after winning the Minecraft Live 2022 mob vote. They don’t spawn naturally and can only be hatched from sniffer eggs. They are very large, have 14 health points and drop nothing but experience if killed. If a sniffer wanders into an open space (at least 6x6 blocks), it has a chance to dig up a torchflower seed or pitcher pod. They can dig in dirt, grass, podzol, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, moss blocks, mud and muddy mangrove roots.
NEW PLANTS
The pitcher plant and torchflower are new plants grown from pods and seeds discovered by sniffers.
Pitcher pods can be planted on farmland where they will grow into full-size pitcher crops. They can be crafted into cyan dye, which was previously unavailable except by mixing two other dyes together.
Torchflowers can
