If you were excited last month when Minecraft added a bunch of new pig variants, you may have something to steady yourself with: Mojang is back in open beta with a brand new content update, and this time the protagonist is a cow.
To be more precise, the latest Minecraft Java Edition snapshot update adds a total of two cow variants. There are furry, cold-hardy cows that roam around in snow-covered biomes, and heat-resistant cows that like to graze in sandy biomes.
Speaking of which, Mojang has also introduced new ambient sounds for the desert biome, including rustling quicksand, chirping crickets, rustling twigs, and howling wind. In addition, players can place dead shrubs on top of two sand blocks outdoors, or stack sand and terracotta blocks together to bring that desert atmosphere back to their base.
In other aspects, there are also many new changes in the bush world. Players who play Java Edition Snapshots will also be introduced to the new Firefly Bush, which, as its name suggests, will have circles of delicate twinkling light lingering on its branches at night. This kind of shrub grows near swamps and other water bodies. If players want to enjoy it near their home, they can dig up the firefly shrub and use bone meal to promote it after returning to the base. In addition, placing a firefly bush under a certain block can also cause the blocks above it to flicker.
Also in the realm of shrubs, the final addition to Minecraft is a new shrub that can be found in forests, birch forests, plains, windswept hills, and other green biomes. If you need a lot of shrubs at any time, you can also use bone meal to grow them.
All of the above – as well as the new pig variants, falling environmental foliage, and wildflowers added for testing in January – are now available as part of Minecraft: Java Edition’s latest snapshot, which players can experience by enabling snapshots in the Launcher’s Installation tab. Mojang says these new features will be rolling out to Bedrock Edition betas and previews "soon" and that all content currently in beta will be officially released later this year.
Mojang has not revealed when Minecraft's first full content update will be in 2025, but it has previously confirmed that it will change the way new content is released. Minecraft's traditional big summer updates are gone, replaced by smaller updates released multiple times throughout the year.