Minecraft updates with first 1.8 snapshot, brings survival and adventure changes

Mojang are gearing up to tackle Minecraft's version 1.8. As always, that means the regular unveiling of snapshot updates - giving the development team the chance to pre-test features and look for bugs before they pull the big red update lever. Naturally, as the first step towards 1.8, it's a significant update. For one thing, it adds three new types of stone; For another, it brings some pretty useful changes for both Survival and Adventure modes.

"3 new stone types!
"Major Enchanting & Repairing changes!
"Mossy stone bricks recipe!
"Updated Villager trading!
"Doors stack!
"Slime blocks!
"Lots of other tweaks, changes, bug fixes and secret features!"

And! Here's! What's! Happened! To! Adventure! Mode!

"Adventure Mode no longer lets you place/destroy blocks.
"But that can change!
"Added Entity Selectors! Use @e in certain commands to target entities. You can limit it with [type=Chicken] or [type=!Skeleton]
"Added a /blockdata command!
"Added 'Lock' (String) NBT tag on most containers.
"Added an optional entity parameter to /kill (try: /kill @e[type=!Player]
"Added optional arguments to /clear for max item count (use 0 to not actually delete anything) & NBT data
"Lots of other tweaks, changes, bug fixes and secret features!"

The "that can change" on the list refers to a tweet made by Jeb . It showed an "Adventure Shovel" that allowed the players to remove specific blocks, as defined by the maker of that map.

You can download the snapshot through the Minecraft launcher, by creating a new profile and selecting the option to "enable experimental development snapshots". Be warned though, as a Snapshot, it will probably have some bugs .

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.