5 game-changing Minecraft updates that surpassed expectations

Minecraft has come a long way since its early days as a side project, and every update to the game brings something different. However, many fans regularly anticipate the game's yearly major content update, even if they don't always live up to the hype. While certain major updates don't always hit the spot, they often surpass expectations.

No Minecraft update is universally loved by fans or considered perfect, but many end up becoming influential to the game's history. Moreover, these same updates are commonly known to have blown past the expectations of the fans, many of which have a particularly high standard for the beloved sandbox game.

Note: This article solely relies on the writer's opinions

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Five game-changing Minecraft updates that surpassed fan expectations

1) The Nether Update

The 1.16 Nether Update is often hailed as the greatest in Minecraft's history (Image via Mojang)

The Nether Update may be the most praised of all Mincecraft updates as many players didn't expect just how transformative it would be. The update completely overhauled the Nether dimension to add new biomes, new blocks, and new inhabitants, many of which have become staples of the game and incredibly useful to players regardless of their goals.

Speedrunners rely on piglin bartering heavily, netherite armor remains the best set in the vanilla game, and ruined portals have provided easier access to the Nether than before. The Nether may be a harsh place, but the Nether Update made it one of the most exciting places to visit, filled with combat, loot, and more than a few things to discover along the way.

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2) Caves & Cliffs

Caves & Cliffs was such a huge Minecraft update it couldn't be contained in a single part (Image via Mojang)

While it does have its detractors, there's little doubt that Caves & Cliffs changed Minecraft's Overworld forever and gained plenty of admirers along the way. Massive caves and mountain ranges became commonplace, and the addition of new cave biomes allowed fans to collect new stone blocks like the incredibly useful dripstone as well as meet axolotl mobs for the first time.

Raw iron, raw gold, and copper ores were introduced, and amethyst geodes and shards made excavating the underground more entertaining. More than anything though, the world generation overhaul was highly praised, though some fans have since soured on the massive caves that have become ordinary after the update was released.

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3) Village & Pillage

Village and Pillage helped make Minecraft's villages as useful as they are today (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft's villages existed before Village & Pillage, and they were certainly useful. However, this update made them one of the best structures in the game by adding villager job site blocks like the blast furnace, smoker, cartography table, smithing table, stonecutter, grindstone, and composter that players could use as well. Bamboo and scaffolding were also added, which was great for builders.

The technical jigsaw block allowed players to build structures instantaneously in their worlds, and the addition of pillagers gave villagers a nemesis and provided access to pillager raid farms that would quickly become beloved to players. Throwing in cats, pandas, wandering traders, banner patterns, crossbows, new dyes, new stairs, slabs, and walls was the icing on the cake.

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4) Ender Update

The 1.0 Ender Update effectively completed Minecraft's Survival Mode progression (Image via Mojang)

While not every modern Minecraft fan may remember the Ender Update in 2016, they all continue to benefit from it. The update is well known and appreciated for introducing the End dimension, the Ender Dragon, and the end of the "story" of the conventional Survival Mode. For the first time, players could feel as though they'd beaten the game in a sense.

This resulted in ultimately creating a thriving speedrunning community that would rush from the world spawn to complete the Ender Dragon battle as quickly as possible. This update also laid the foundation for future additions like elytra, one of the most beloved items in the game for transportation.

The Ender Update also signaled the end of the alpha testing phase for the original Minecraft: Pocket Edition as well as the end of the beta for the Windows 10 Edition, transitioning those popular platform editions out of development and into their official releases.

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5) Update Aquatic

Update Aquatic signaled Minecraft's transition after Mojang was purchased by Microsoft, and it didn't disappoint (Image via Mojang)

Update Aquatic arrived at a strange time in Minecraft's life cycle. It happened when Mojang Studios was in the process of becoming a subsidiary of Microsoft. Due to the extended time between this update and the heralded World of Color update, many fans were concerned that the Microsoft acquisition would lead to a loss in quality for Mojang's sandbox title.

Fortunately, Update Aquatic (version 1.13) proved to be a lot more than players expected. It overhauled the seas of the game world, which had been relatively unimpressive till that point. This included the addition of marine mobs like dolphins and turtles, structures like ocean ruins and shipwrecks, as well as incredibly useful items like tridents, phantom membranes, and the debug stick.

Kelp has become a highly useful fuel, food, and XP source. Blue ice is a core component of ice highways for transportation, and bubble columns and stripped logs also had some surprises to offer. All in all, Update Aquatic was a huge relief to many fans who had worried for over a year if the game would continue to evolve and grow under Microsoft.