Everything new in Minecraft Snapshot 20w49a

Mojang has yet again released a marvelous snapshot for Minecraft, bringing in sculk sensors, and more changes.

Minecraft's newest weekly snapshot brings new cave generations and a brand new block that players have been waiting for since the 1.17 Caves & Cliffs update was announced: sculk sensors.

Dripstone is, of course, Minecraft's new stalagmite and stalactite block featured in caves that can deal immense damage when used properly, and a new fix brings a renewable source of lava.

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Minecraft's Snapshot 20w49a

Image via Minecraft

This snapshot brings in a handful of changes and additions, and the full in-depth listing can be found here.

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Image via Minecraft

Sculk sensors

One of the biggest additions to Minecraft is the introduction of sculk sensors, blocks from the awaited deep dark biome which is yet to be released. These sensors pick up vibrations caused by entities or the world itself within a radius of seven blocks. Sculk sensors' main use is their redstone capabilities.

There are an impressive 35 different parameters, ranging from extending pistons to a wolf shaking. These occurrences will send a vibration towards a nearby sculk sensor, activating it and sending out a redstone signal. The strength of this signal is determined by the parameter, with the examples of pistons and wolves having a strength of 15 and 6 respectively.

For a full guide on the uses of sculk sensors, YouTuber xisumavoid has an eight-minute review detailing their vast uses in his video here.

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Image via Minecraft

Dripstone and renewable lava

Dripstone can now be found in cave generation in new worlds. However, players must currently go into the world options and create a single biome world of just dripstone caves. This will turn the entire topside of the overworld into a plains biome while also filling caves with dripstone and amethyst biomes.

The fixed feature regarding dripstone is that it can now fill cauldrons with lava or water depending on which liquid is above the block. To achieve this effect, have lava on top of a dripstone block with a pointed dripstone beneath the aforementioned block. This will cause lava particles to drip off the stalactite and if a cauldron is placed below, it will eventually be filled with lava.

Combine this effect with piston feed tapes, and an automated lava farm is now possible.

With such incredible features coming out, it's only a matter of time before fans of Minecraft find some incredible tutorials for new redstone designs and wonderful ideas regarding the additions and changes in this snapshot.

For more on Minecraft 1.17 Caves & Cliffs information, read this article.