Movement nerf in recent Minecraft snapshot is a bigger deal than you might think

Minecraft 25w02a was the first Java Edition snapshot that Mojang released in 2025. They introduced loads of new features here that will later be officially released in an upcoming game drop. Mojang also fixes bugs in these snapshots. In the 25w02a, one of the most important bugs that they fixed was the diagonal movement speed bug.

Though the developers consider it a bug, the community has been exploiting it for several years, so much so that it has become an extremely useful movement technique. Since it has now been fixed in a snapshot, the upcoming Minecraft updates could have a massive effect on how players move.

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How does a recent movement change made in Minecraft snapshot 25w02a majorly affect the gameplay

What was the diagonal movement speed bug?

Players can walk faster when they crouch walk diagonally (Image via Mojang Studios)

Many unique game modes, including parkour, bedwars, skywars, and others, have been built with Minecraft as a base. Players have progressively figured out how to bridge swiftly to escape difficult scenarios in the majority of these games. They figured out to place blocks significantly more quickly by moving diagonally rather than in a straight path if they held down the crouch button.

In essence, if players move their character diagonally while holding down two directional and crouch buttons, their movement speed during crouching will be faster.

Players have been honing this method since it was discovered and, over time, it has become quite refined. They used it to do specific jumps and bridge swiftly. To travel even faster when bridging, players also occasionally leave the crouch key to walk faster.

Therefore, even though Mojang views it as a bug, the additional speed when going diagonally while crouching was regarded as meta in Minecraft.

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How the bug was fixed and will affect the gameplay

In the latest Minecraft snapshot 25w02a, Mojang fixed the bug that was reported under MC-271065. Since it is now fixed in a snapshot, it will no longer remain in any of the stable versions.

The diagonal movement technique while crouching is not only a technique used in custom game modes. Regular players who have been playing the game for several years now also use the technique to build bridges in their regular survival worlds.

Hence, when the next game drop releases where this bug is fixed, it will make a massive difference in how players will explore the world. They will have to make do with slower bridging techniques, and they won't be able to do certain jumps.

Of course, it will massively affect movement in custom game modes, where these kinds of techniques make the difference between winning and losing rounds.

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