Minecraft 1.21, the Tricky Trials update, is out now

Minecraft 1.21 - Two players stand together in a copper Trial Chamber looking at a Trial Spawner block
(Image credit: Mojang Studios)

Just as it did the last few years, June's bringing more to Minecraft in the form of the Tricky Trials update. Released today, Minecraft 1.21 combines the features doled out in recent preview snapshots, adding new blocks, new bad guys, and new bludgeoning implements.

Trial Chambers are the main thrust of the update. They're a new, procedurally generated underground structure you might find in your subterranean expeditions, filled with traps, enemies, and—if you survive—rewards. In addition to new blocks and decorations, Trial Chambers feature the Trial Spawner block: a new variant of mob spawner, which generates a specific number of enemies on a cooldown. Kill all the enemies, and the Trial Spawner will generate some loot as a reward.

Trial Chambers are also where you'll find 1.21's new enemies. The Breeze is like the windy cousin of the Nether's Blaze enemy, shooting explosive wind projectiles. Joining the Minecraft rogues gallery alongside them are the Bogged, a new variant of skeletons equipped with poison arrows, because I didn't already have enough lethal hazards flying out at me from darkened tunnels. The Bogged will also spawn in swamp and mangrove swamp biomes.

The 1.21 addition with the most potential, in my opinion, is the Crafter. It's a redstone-powered, automated crafting table, which can be fed ingredients by hand or from hoppers. My hope is that its inclusion means I'll soon be seeing Satisfactory-tier factory automation from Minecraft's most brilliant minds.

Rounding out the new update is the mace, a new weapon that can do a falling smash attack for extra damage and knockback, and new wolf variants that can now spawn in biomes you couldn't find wolves previously.

For the full rundown on the update's new features, check out our Minecraft 1.21 guide, which we've been compiling throughout the new version's development and preview releases. Otherwise, go with my blessing as you venture out to fill your wolf collection. 

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Minecraft update: What's new?
Minecraft seeds: Fresh new worlds
Minecraft texture packs: Pixelated
Minecraft skins: New looks
Minecraft mods:  Beyond vanilla

Lincoln Carpenter
Contributor

Lincoln spent his formative years in World of Warcraft, and hopes to someday recover from the experience. Having earned a Creative Writing degree by convincing professors to accept his papers about Dwarf Fortress, he leverages that expertise in his most important work: judging a video game’s lore purely on the quality of its proper nouns. With writing at Waypoint and Fanbyte, Lincoln started freelancing for PC Gamer in Fall of 2021, and will take any excuse to insist that games are storytelling toolkits—whether we’re shaping those stories for ourselves, or sharing them with others. Or to gush about Monster Hunter.