Minecraft gets glowing squids in its new Caves & Cliffs snapshot

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Minecraft already has squids, but not ones that glow.

Minecraft Glowing Squid
(Image credit: Mojang)
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(Image credit: Mojang)

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The forthcoming Minecraft Caves & Cliffs update is still a while away, but dedicated players have already sampled its wares in the form of content snapshots. The latest of these, memorably titled 21W03A, adds glowing squids and glowing lichen to the Java Edition of the game.

That's pretty cool, because the ocean is a very drab place, especially in the dark. The glow squid can be spotted "from even far distances" and will drop glow ink if you slay the helpless beasts. This ink can be used on signs, works with colours, and can be used to craft a glow item frame. Oh, and if you're hunting down glowing squids, expect to find axolotls in the vicinity: apparently the latter really love to attack the former.

As for the glow lichen, it can also be put to practical purpose. Once harvested with shears, you can use bonemeal to spread it along block surfaces, effectively making those blocks glow. It'll be like a rave.

The other small addition is a tweak to dripstone blocks, which can now be crafted from four pointed dripstone. Aside from that, it's a big list of bug fixes, which you can find over on the official Minecraft website. As always, you'll need to enable snapshots from the "Installations" menu in the Java Edition launcher.

The Caves & Cliffs update is expected to roll out in summer, or winter in Australia. To find out what the block building phenomenon has ready this year, check out the state of Minecraft in 2021.

Shaun Prescott
Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.