All experimental features coming in the Minecraft Bedrock 1.21.80 update

Minecraft Bedrock 1.21.80 is an upcoming update from Mojang that will land before the official summer game drop. This is a minor update that will introduce lots of new experimental features, some of which will be officially released with the next game drop. Mojang is currently planning to release all these features under the experimental section, just to get some community feedback.

Here is a list of all the experimental features coming with the Minecraft Bedrock 1.21.80 update.

Every major experimental feature coming with the Minecraft 1.21.80 update

Dried ghast

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Dried ghast is a new upcoming block that can be found in Soul Sand Valley near Nether fossils, or it can be crafted using eight ghast tears and one bone block. When submerged in water, it will take 20 minutes to go through four growth stages and finally turn into a ghastling — the baby variant of a happy ghast.

Ghastling

Ghastling is an adorable baby variant of a happy ghast that will be smaller in size compared to a full ghast, and have a peaceful smile on its face. It will have reddish gills on its sides and will follow the player who was nearest to it when it grew into a ghastling.

This creature will automatically grow into a happy ghast in 20 minutes, but the growth rate can be accelerated if it is fed snowballs.

Happy ghast

A ghastling grows into a happy ghast, which is the main new upcoming feature in the summer game drop. This creature is the exact opposite of a regular ghast and will be friendly towards players and other mobs. One of its primary features is that players can sit on the creature to fly in Minecraft. It can be lured by snowballs or directed using a harness, allowing players to control a happy ghast's flight.

Players can also connect a happy ghast to any other entity using a lead, allowing for easy transportation.

Harness

Harness is a saddle-like item that can be crafted and used to control a happy ghast's flight. It can be crafted using three leather, two glass blocks, and one wool block of any color. The color of the wool will determine the color of the harness.

Once crafted, it can be placed on a happy ghast. When the creature does not have any players on it, its goggles will be up on its head. However, when players fly a happy ghast, the goggles will cover the mob's eyes, as shown in the picture above.

Locator Bar

The locator bar is a brand-new HUD feature introduced by Mojang. This bar will show the location of other players by displaying them as dots on the XP bar. When players are not actively collecting XP, the HUD will not show the XP bar, instead, it will be replaced with the locator bar, especially in a multiplayer world.

In the locator bar, the distance of the player will be determined by the size of the dot. The arrows above and below the dot determine whether the player is above or below in the world. However, if a player doesn't want to appear on a locator bar, they'll either need to crouch or wear a mob/carved pumpkin head.

Vibrant Visuals

Vibrant Visuals is a visual upgrade announced by Mojang in their bi-annual live event earlier this year. This will essentially be the company's first attempt to make their own shader pack for both Bedrock and Java Edition. This will also be an experimental feature in the Bedrock 1.21.80 update.

Vibrant Visuals brings directional lighting and shadows, point light, a special kind of reflections, volumetric fog, and other graphical enhancements. With it, the game essentially uses a brand new graphics engine, one that will change how default Minecraft looks in the future.

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About the author

Akshat has been a Minecraft writer at Sportskeeda for almost three years. He has loved gaming since childhood, and the fact that Need For Speed Most Wanted is still installed on his PC is proof that the flame burns strong even today. This love for the racing franchise spilled over to F1 fandom, leading him to cover the sport as well for the company.

Akshat's articles have accrued over 19 million views so far at Sportskeeda. He prefers both solo and multiplayer titles and is a huge admirer of popular gamers Shroud and Philza. Akshat places huge emphasis on accurate, relevant, and ethical content, and does thorough research using social media, videos, and a multitude of websites before writing an article.

Akshat's other hobbies include cars, mechanical keyboards, psychology, and philosophy. He would recommend indie and Slice of Life games to a gaming skeptic because of their ease of play, compelling storyline, and message.

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Edited by Akshat Kabra