How to download Minecraft Java Edition 21w11a Snapshot

Minecraft is one of the most endearing games of today's generation, and it has only gone from strength to strength in terms of quality.

Modern video games need to constantly evolve by gathering feedback from their audience and delivering compelling content.

Minecraft has been able to do just that, and the devs have been able to develop an ingenious way to gather feedback and deliver new content simultaneously.

Instead of rolling out all the new content at once, Minecraft devs often release chunks of it in "Snapshots" for Java Edition ahead of a major update. At the same time, they can organically gather feedback from players and incorporate the changes into the full update.

How can players download the Minecraft Java Edition 21w11a Snapshot?

This week's Snapshot, 21w11a, focuses on adding new functionality to copper, among several other changes. To download a Minecraft Snapshot for Java Edition, simply follow these steps:

1. Open the Minecraft Launcher.
2. Select the "Installations" tab in the top-left corner.
3. Toggle "Enable Snapshots" to be checked.

NEW FEATURES IN 21W11A

• Lightning rods can now, for the very first time ever, be waterlogged
• New functionality for applying and removing wax from Copper
• Bonemealing rooted dirt now grows hanging roots underneath

WAXING COPPER AND OXIDIZATION

• Right-click with Honeycomb on Copper Blocks to wax them
• Use honeycomb in a dispenser to wax Copper Blocks
• Axes can scrape off wax and oxidation of Copper Blocks
• Lightning strike hitting Copper will clean its oxidation

CHANGES IN 21W11A

• Waxed Copper Blocks can be crafted into 4 Copper Ingots
• Tweaked the cave sizes
• Slightly increased the frequency of Diamond Ore blobs
• Hanging roots block now renders randomly offset
• Breaking a Big Dripleaf stem now drops a Big Dripleaf Block
• Moss Blocks can be crafted with cobblestone or stone bricks to make the mossy versions of those blocks
• The facing direction of Small Dripleaf Blocks is now determined by which direction the player is facing when placing it
• Fully-grown Amethyst Clusters now drop 4 Amethyst Shards (or more with Fortune) when mined with a pickaxe, and drop 2 Amethyst Shards when broken by hand, piston, or other means

TECHNICAL CHANGES IN 21W11A

• Added F3+L shortcut to generate and persist performance metrics from in-game

For a full list of changes, head over to the official Minecraft website, linked here.