Top 5 important changes in Minecraft 1.20 Trails & Tales update

Minecraft 1.20 is steadily approaching, and players have a plethora of features and other content to look forward to. However, while new implementations like cherry grove biomes and sniffer mobs are great, many changes in the 1.20 update aren't as noticeable. In fact, many of the alterations and tweaks in the Trails & Tales update haven't been featured in any trailers or other media by Mojang.

Just because these changes and fixes aren't represented in official videos or other promotional Minecraft materials doesn't mean they aren't important. Quite the contrary, many changes made in the Trails & Tales update impact the future of the sandbox game.

If players are curious about the most significant changes in the 1.20 update, it isn't a bad time to examine them closely.

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The Five Most Important Changes Arriving in the Minecraft 1.20 Trails & Tales Update

5) Damage Tilt Tweaks

When Minecraft players take damage in-game, they're met with a somewhat disorienting screen shake/tilt. If they take damage multiple times in a short period, it can be pretty tricky for some players to ascertain what's actually going on in front of them. Fortunately, the 1.20 update has added damage tilt to the game's accessibility settings. Now, if players hate that their screen rattles around when they're hit by a mob or take other forms of damage, they can reduce the screen shake by a given percentage or disable it entirely if they'd like.

It certainly isn't the biggest change being made in Minecraft 1.20. Still, it should be beneficial for players with certain accessibility needs or those just annoyed by screen shaking.

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4) Fire Spread Changes Depending on Biome

When a fire starts in Minecraft, it can spread quickly depending on the nearby flammable blocks. This makes locations like forests particularly vulnerable to turning into a towering inferno, as the wooden trees are prone to catch fire quickly. However, the rate at which fire spreads and is snuffed out in the 1.20 update has become biome-dependent.

Specific biomes will allow the fire to spread quicker than others based on certain conditions, which players should keep in mind if they're torching areas to clear space or find themselves in an unexpected blaze.

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3) Individual Paintings in the Creative Mode Inventory

For years, Minecraft players playing the vanilla version of the game had to continually place a painting block until they got the desired design. While this is still true to some extent in Survival Mode, Creative Mode has received an improvement in update 1.20. Specifically, players in Creative Mode will notice that when they open the creative inventory and search for paintings, they'll find each painting design as a block.

This should allow fans to easily select which painting design they wish to use in a build without breaking and replacing a painting multiple times.

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2) Chiseled Bookshelf/Hopper Functionality

Chiseled bookshelves have become one of the more intriguing blocks added in Minecraft 1.20, particularly because of their ability to function with many Redstone-compatible blocks. However, recent 1.20 snapshots have also shown that these new bookshelf blocks can interact with hoppers. For example, if players place a chiseled bookshelf atop a hopper, the books they put into the bookshelf will be fed through the hopper.

It's unclear what this may mean for new builds at the moment. Still, the creativity of the Minecraft community will undoubtedly find some use for this functionality sooner rather than later.

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1) Reworked Netherite Upgrade Mechanics

Update 1.20 introduced new items known as smithing templates meant to work with the revamped smithing table block. While most templates create trims for a player's armor, one template exists to upgrade gear into netherite quality. Gone are the days when players could combine their diamond gear with a single netherite ingot and receive the netherite equivalent. Players need their diamond gear, a netherite ingot, and a netherite upgrade smithing template.

According to Mojang, this change made the diamond and netherite gear feel more like an accomplishment. While that may be true, not every player in the Minecraft community is necessarily on-board with the change. Regardless, Mojang appears to be moving forward with this significant alteration, for better or worse.