Minecraft 1.18 update was a 2-part update. First part went live with the 1.17 update, which we got introduced to goats, glow squid and axolotls alongside with brand new amethyst blocks.
1.18 update focuses at, mostly caves. New biomes, new mobs, new blocks that enables wireless Redstone connection. We have a lot to cover in this patch. Let’s see what Mojang has to offer for us, players.
New Features
- Bundles
Bundles are like chests which helps you organise your inventory. You can put many stuff into your Bundle and it only covers 1 inventory slot which helps you carry more items than you should be carrying.
- Sculk Blocks and Wireless Redstone
Sculk Growths are a new redstone(ish) power source and it simply allows you to use redstone without any connection, wireless. If a Sculk Sensor detects any activity, it will send a redstone signal which can be used to operate any system without any redstone physical connection.
Negative thing about this “wireless” signal is it can be blocked with literally anything. Even a wool block can help you block the signals. If you’re planning to use Sculk Sensors for any Redstone activity, using it in a City or Castle build can be more useful than using it in a TNT trap.
Caves
- Noise Caves
Noise Caves are new caves which gets generated underground. It comes with 2 varieties; cheese and spaghetti. Cheese Caves have more wide open space but they’re short. Spaghetti Caves being the opposite, long and narrow.
- Lush Caves
Lush Caves are full of fruits and flowers. They are inspired by paintings made by Swedish painter John Bauer. To find a Lush Cave, you can try to find Azalea trees. Azalea trees are the biggest tip for these caves, if you find one just start digging and you’ll succeed in the end.
- Dripstone Caves & The Deep Dark Biome
Stalagmites and stalactites were introduced at 1.17, but they’re the main reason what differs Dripstone Caves from the others. If you destroy a block at the top of a stalactite, the rest will drop down. Stalagmites act like spikes, it can hurt you and your friends alongside. They also drip water and lava, so it can be used as a water bucket for some situations.
At the Minecraft Live presentation, Mojang has hinted a third new biome called the “Deep Dark” some of the current mobs and items being inside of it. But we can’t see anything about this biome at this patch.
Changes to Mob Spawns
Mobs that spawn in the dark will now spawn in “complete darkness” meaning some areas will be safer now.
Changes to Terrain Limits
Now we can place blocks to higher and lower places than we were allowed to at the past. Which creates an opportunity for new snowy biomes. Here are some of them:
- Mountain Meadow: Found in Y-level 100 to 140 in mountains, this biome has sweet berry bushes, cornflowers, and dandelions growing in the soil. No trees will naturally grow here.
- Mountain Grove: Found on the lower slopes of mountains if they’re between Y-level 110 and 140, this biome has polar bears and rabbits running around a forest of spruce trees. You’ll also find snow, snow blocks, and powder snow on the ground.
- Snowy Slopes: If the mountain still goes up between Y-level 140 to 170, you’ll soon see lots of snow and ice, but no plants. This is also the biome where Minecraft goats spawn.
- Lofty Peaks: Any set of mountain blocks above Y-level 170 results in a Lofty Peak biome or Snow Capped Peaks, depending on temperature. There is no life here.
- Snow Capped Peaks: Just like Lofty Peaks, this biome appears above Y-level 170, but it has to be extremely cold for the Snow Capped Peaks to form. The only real difference is there’s more snow and ice blocks, and is the only place where you can see naturally forming Packed Ice.
Warden
The Warden is found in the Deep Dark biome and the only focus of it is to make you fall off from your chair. The good thing is that it can only be found underground so you don’t have to face this scary thing on the ground. They are completely bling and they only react to vibrations, footsteps and thrown objects. They can make your screen black when one of them is nearby.
