Minecraft 1.18 Snapshot 21w39a for Java Edition: Full list of changes revealed

The list of Minecraft 1.18 snapshots keeps increasing every week, and the developers have released another one today. The snapshot 21w39a is out for Java Edition and can be installed directly from the official Minecraft launcher.

The developers call this one an "advanced snapshot" because it includes four new advancements. Along with that, a lot more changes can be observed to how effects are displayed in inventory, spawning of zombies, and much more.

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Minecraft 1.18 Snapshot 21w39a

All newly added advancements

• Caves & Cliffs: This advancement can be completed when the player falls from the top to the bottom in the overworld.
• Feels like home: Players can complete this advancement by riding on a strider for more than fifty blocks in the overworld.
• Star Trader: This advancement is completed when the player trades with a villager while standing at the build height limit, which is 319.
• Sound of Music: This is completed when a player plays music with a jukebox in a Meadow biome.

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General changes in snapshot 21W39A

• Trees that have generated alone in the meadows will now always have a bee nest.
• Drowned can spawn in aquifers generated inside dripstone caves.
• Zombies can no longer spawn inside dripstone caves.
• Players will now always find water breathing potions inside buried chests. This will be helpful when exploring aquifers.
• Default brightness has been changed to fifty.
• Effects have been redesigned to look cleaner on the inventory screen.

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Effects

• List of active effects is now shown to the right of the inventory, which was previously on the left side.
• When the inventory effects list is visible, it will be hidden from the game view to reduce screen clutter.
• Two modes of how lists are shown have been introduced: compact and classic. Classic is the pre-existing effect list, and compact is a single icon for each effect. The compact mode is suitable for players that play Minecraft on small screens.
• Minecraft will automatically switch between the two new effect screens to suit the available screen estate.

Interested readers can learn about the technical changes made in snapshot 21w39a from the official Mojang article.