Minecraft's bountiful 1.8 update pre-released, brings performance improvements and rabbits

"Doors and fences now come in all wood type variants," reads one of the patch notes for Minecraft's 1.8: The Bountiful Update, proving that this release is a pretty big deal. Other, less game-changing improvements include new enemies, new blocks, client-side optimisation and other 'under-the-hood' changes. And rabbits. The patch, which officially goes live on Tuesday, 2 September, can now be downloaded in pre-release form by enabling development versions in the Minecraft launcher.

"These changes consist of both new features, and large game structure changes," writes Mojang's Jens Bergensten , "such as replacing the hard-coded “block renderer” with a system that is able to read block shapes from data files, or performance enhancements such as multi-threading the client-side chunk rendering."

You can find Mojang's patch notes below.

  • Added Granite, Andesite, and Diorite stone blocks, with smooth versions

  • Added Slime Block

  • Added Iron Trapdoor

  • Added Prismarine and Sea Lantern blocks

  • Added the Ocean Monument

  • Added Red Sandstone

  • Added Banners

  • Added Armor Stands

  • Added Coarse Dirt (dirt where grass won't grow)

  • Added Guardian mobs, with item drops

  • Added Endermite mob

  • Added Rabbits, with item drops

  • Added Mutton and Cooked Mutton

  • Villagers will harvest crops and plant new ones

  • Mossy Cobblestone and Mossy Stone Bricks are now craftable

  • Chiseled Stone Bricks are now craftable

  • Doors and fences now come in all wood type variants

  • Sponge block has regained its water-absorbing ability and becomes wet

  • Added a spectator game mode (game mode 3)

  • Added one new achievement

  • Added “Customized” world type

  • Added hidden “Debug Mode” world type

  • Worlds can now have a world barrier

  • Added @e target selector for Command Blocks

  • Added /blockdata command

  • Added /clone command

  • Added /execute command

  • Added /fill command

  • Added /particle command

  • Added /testforblocks command

  • Added /title command

  • Added /trigger command

  • Added /worldborder command

  • Added /stats command

  • Containers can be locked in custom maps by using the “Lock” data tag

  • Added logAdminCommands, showDeathMessages, reducedDebugInfo, sendCommandFeedback, and randomTickSpeed game rules

  • Added three new statistics

  • Player skins can now have double layers across the whole model, and left/right arms/legs can be edited independently

  • Added a new player model with smaller arms, and a new player skin called Alex?

  • Added options for configuring what pieces of the skin that are visible

  • Blocks can now have custom visual variations in the resource packs

  • Minecraft Realms now has an activity chart, so you can see who has been online

  • Minecraft Realms now lets you upload your maps

  • Difficulty setting is saved per world, and can be locked if wanted

  • Enchanting has been redone, now costs lapis lazuli in addition to enchantment levels

  • Villager trading has been rebalanced

  • Anvil repairing has been rebalanced

  • Considerable faster client-side performance

  • Max render distance has been increased to 32 chunks (512 blocks)

  • Adventure mode now prevents you from destroying blocks, unless your items have the CanDestroy data tag

  • Resource packs can now also define the shape of blocks and items, and not just their textures

  • Scoreboards have been given a lot of new features

  • Tweaked the F3 debug screen

  • Block ID numbers (such as 1 for stone), are being replaced by ID names (such as minecraft:stone)

  • Server list has been improved

  • A few minor changes to village and temple generation

  • Mob heads for players now show both skin layers

  • Buttons can now be placed on the ceiling

  • Lots and lots of other changes

  • LOTS AND LOTS of other changes

  • Removed Herobrine

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.