5 major changes in Minecraft 1.20.5 snapshot 24w04a

Minecraft's latest Java Edition beta, in the form of snapshot 24w04a, made some pretty compelling changes to the game that should make fans happy. While a few adjustments were made to Experimental Features (predominantly armadillo and breeze mobs), Mojang also sprinkled in some solid fixes to improve overall performance for both single-player worlds and dedicated servers.

This is to say nothing of the handful of bug fixes that addressed issues from previous Minecraft Java snapshots. Whatever the case may be, not all of the changes in snapshot 24w04a are created equal. Some will prove to be more impactful than others as the 1.21 update development cycle continues.

With that in mind, it doesn't hurt to examine the most impactful changes that arrived in Mojang's latest Java Edition snapshot.

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The most significant changes made in Minecraft Java Snapshot 24w04a

1) Re-tooled armadillo behavior and defensive mechanics

Armadillos are a bit more responsive to their surroundings in Minecraft 24w04a (Image via Mojang)

Armadillos have already undergone revisions in Minecraft, and they'll likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. In snapshot 24w04a, Mojang decided to make armadillos more aware of their surroundings while also giving them an additional measure of protection. This arrived in the form of updated curling behavior as well as the addition of a defensive value to curled armadillos.

In 24w04a, when armadillos detect a player or mob that recently damaged them, they'll curl into a ball as quickly as they can. Moreover, when rolled up, armadillo shells will partially protect them from damage. It isn't much, but a defensive armadillo should be able to nullify "weak attacks," according to Mojang, though it's unclear as to which attacks this entails.

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2) Expanded breeze behavior

Breeze mobs in Minecraft won't just target players in snapshot 24w04a (Image via Mojang)

Breeze mobs, much like armadillos, are still being actively developed. These creatures and the trial chambers they inhabit are still Experimental Features in Minecraft. Snapshot 24w04a gives breezes an extended targeting capability while making them a bit less volatile when conflicting with other hostile mobs like skeletons, zombies, strays, spiders/cave spiders, husks, and slimes.

As of 24w04a, breezes can target both players and iron golems with their wind charge attacks. Moreover, the hostile mobs named above will no longer attack breezes when they're accidentally hit by a wind charge. Breezes won't retaliate when they're hit by those hostile mobs, either.

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3) The transfer command

The transfer command should be useful for admins on dedicated servers (Image via Mojang)

A relatively surprising addition to Minecraft's latest snapshot is the transfer command. When used by players with operator privileges, this command allows them to be transferred between servers. Keep in mind this command is only usable on dedicated servers, but it should still be a particularly powerful tool for many server administrators.

Instead of having players disconnect and reconnect to various dedicated servers, the transfer command allows admins to shift their players around when needed. It even has designated port functionality, as some servers require specified port numbers for connections.

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4) Improved world optimization

Optimizing singleplayer worlds and dedicated Minecraft servers should be easier post-24w04a (Image via Mojang)

Mojang continues to implement performance improvements for Minecraft as its development cycle continues, and snapshot 24w04a introduces a new way to do so. This is thanks to a revamped "forceUpgrade" .jar setting for singleplayer worlds and dedicated servers as well as a new startup parameter for dedicated servers known as "recreateRegionFiles."

The forceUpgrade setting will now upgrade the directories of both entities and points of interest (POI). Meanwhile, the recreateRegionFiles startup setting operates similarly to forceUpgrade but will also rewrite all of the in-game chunks regardless of whether they've been forced to upgrade or not. This provides new and defragmented region files for the dedicated server.

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5) Higher copper grate output

Minecraft fans can receive more copper grates from the stonecutter in 24w04a (Image via Mojang)

Although this is a relatively situational change, it should be a nice one for builders. The new copper blocks in the 1.21 update are currently available as Experimental Features, including copper grates. As of 24w04a, when players use blocks of copper in a stonecutter, they can now receive four total copper grates instead of one.

This makes the stonecutter more productive for players hoping to build with the game's new copper blocks, like the copper grate. They'll get more return on investment for depositing their blocks of copper into the stonecutter.

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