Minecraft Nether Update vs Caves and Cliffs Update: 3 major differences

With Minecraft updates being released almost every year, there are plenty of additions being made at all times. Through game patches and snapshots, there is a clear progression to be seen wherever the developers have implemented new material into the game.

The previous update - Minecraft's 1.16 Nether Update - brought so much life to the Nether Dimension. Much of that content was highly anticipated and necessary for game progression.

Meanwhile, the new update - Minecraft 1.17 Caves and Cliffs Update - introduced an entirely new caving system into the main dimension of the game.

There are so many differences between the two Minecraft updates. Here are the top three differences players will find when playing the upcoming Minecraft 1.17 update.

Major differences between the two latest Minecraft updates

#1 Types of biomes in Minecraft 1.16 and 1.17 updates

Types of biomes in Minecraft 1.16 and 1.17 updates (Image via Minecraft Wiki)

One of the biggest differences between the two latest updates is the types of biomes they've added to the game.

Minecraft 1.16 introduced multiple Nether biomes, all of which appear at the surface level in the underworld.

Minecraft 1.17, on the other hand, is introducing new and improved cave biomes which occur underground. These caves come in plenty of forms, from Lush Caves to Dripstone Caves, but they cannot occur in any dimension besides the main overworld dimension.

#2 Minecraft Ores in 1.16 and 1.17

Minecraft Ores in 1.16 and 1.17 (Image via Polygon.com)

While both updates brought new-look ores to the game, the Minecraft 1.16 Nether Update introduces a new ore entirely called Netherite.

Netherite has become an essential in Minecraft as it is currently the best material in the game for tools, weapons, and armor.

Minecraft 1.17, on the other hand, is not implementing new ores into the game. Instead, there are new ore variants being added to account for the additional stone variants. There are now Deepslate versions of all ores in the game.

#3 Greater world expansions in Minecraft 1.17 Update

Greater world expansions in Minecraft 1.17 Update (Image via Imgur)

The most notable difference between the two updates is the amount of effort being put into this upcoming update. Although Minecraft developers always strive to put out amazing new content with each update, Minecraft 1.17 Caves and Cliffs is changing the game in a major way.

The new update introduces an entirely new height limit to the game, adding over fifty blocks of height to the world to account for the cave expansion. This is massive, as it gives players a lot more room to build vertically.