Minecraft players, get ready for some exciting changes and improvements in the latest Java Edition update, version 1.20.2! This update introduces a host of new features, optimizations, bug fixes, and experimental changes that will enhance your experience, along with some less-than-stellar changes to players’ rights. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the key highlights of this update, ensuring you’re well-informed on the latest happenings of our favorite block game.
Player Skin & Name Reporting
One of the most significant updates in this release is the implementation of the Player Reporting Tool. It’s now easier for players to report skins and usernames that violate the game’s Community Standards. Reported skins or usernames will be manually reviewed by Minecraft moderators to ensure a safe and inclusive gaming environment. This system is quite impactful, with player names and skins that are deemed inappropriate being permanently banned from the game entirely. This means there will actually be names and skins that cannot be used by anyone ever again, depending on Minecraft’s moderation team. Skin and username reports can lead to actions like banning the skin or name or suspending the player for repeated offenses.
Mob Attack Reach Changes
Minecraft’s combat mechanics have seen adjustments. The calculations determining whether a mob can attack a player or other mobs have been changed. This change impacts various aspects of gameplay, including mob reach based on their bounding boxes. Mobs can now attack players with the bottom of their hitbox, assuming the player’s head is within range. This is quite a drastic change, and will most likely have a massive impact on mob farms which overwhelmingly depend on the bottom of the mob being harmless.
If a mob is entirely below you, or entirely above you, it will not be able to reach you. While riding on a medium-sized mob, like a horse, you will be protected from small mobs, like baby zombies. While riding on a tall mob, like a camel, you will be protected from standard-size mobs, like zombies. Also, ravagers won’t be able to attack you through a few block-thick walls anymore. To escape from an Enderman, you’ll need to be at least 3 blocks above the ground, not 1.5 as before.
Networked Play
Online multiplayer(s) will appreciate the improvements in network performance. (see what I did there?) The update significantly enhances online play, especially for players with low-bandwidth connections. The game world now loads faster when joining a server. Players with low-bandwidth connections can interact with the world while some chunks are still loading.
Vibrations and Miscellaneous Tweaks
Vibrations no longer risk being lost on the simulation distance limit. Several minor tweaks and improvements have been made to various vibrations for different items, with each use of an item or state change of a block having its own independent vibration value. For example, using bone meal has a vibration of frequency 3. Turtle eggs hatching have a vibration frequency of 11.
Technical Changes
For the tech-savvy Minecraft enthusiasts, there are several notable technical changes.
Resource and data pack versions have been bumped to 18. The history of used commands is now saved and accessible across different worlds. Networking has been optimized for a smoother experience on low-bandwidth connections, with improved support for multi-version packs. The network protocol has been updated to accommodate future data-driven content. Server administrators can now control IP logging with a new “log-ips” option. A new validation for symbolic links in datapacks and resource packs has been added. When hitboxes are displayed through F3+B, entities that have a passenger will display the passenger’s attachment point. Hitbox displays now show passenger attachment points when using F3+B. Debug screen charts can be toggled more easily, and new charts for ping and network traffic are available with F3+3. Additionally, the LWJGL library and default Java version have been upgraded to improve performance and compatibility.
Experimental Features – Villager Trade Rebalance
An interesting but relatively unwelcome set of changes has been introduced in this Minecraft 1.20.2 update, affecting villager trades with the librarian, cartographer, wandering trader, and armorer.
Different village biomes now offer unique enchantments from master librarians. This means that you will not be able to obtain desired enchanted books unless you are in the proper biome. Cartographers sell new Explorer Maps which lead to other villages in different biomes to accommodate this change. Wandering traders have lower prices and can buy items. This was needed since his trades are dogwater. Armorers now sell different armor sets with various enchantments. Also, trading for diamond armor now costs a small diamond fee along with the emerald price.
Structure Loot and Bug Fixes
Loot in various structures has been updated, and certain enchanted books have a higher chance of appearing. Additionally, around 200 bugs have been fixed, improving overall game stability and performance.
Conclusion
Wow! What a (not so) massive update! Although it ain’t no 1.21, this update didn’t do much damage and only served to improve the game. Minecraft 1.20.2 brings a wealth of exciting changes and features, focusing on player reporting (for some reason), gameplay optimizations, and experimental balance changes to villagers. I’m not too sure what this means for 1.21, but I’m here for it regardless. In any case, I wish you all the best!
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