The most recent Minecraft update, Caves & Cliffs Part 1, came out in early June as the first of a two-part release that will overhaul Minecraft's mountain biomes and underground cave generation. The first half of Caves & Cliffs added new items, blocks, and mobs into the game. The second half will handle world generation. Although Caves & Cliffs Part 2 likely won't be coming out until the 2021 holiday season, the game will still be updated before then in order to patch bugs and resolve other technical issues.
The Caves & Cliffs update was first announced during Minecraft Live 2020, and was originally scheduled to release as one large update. However, technical difficulties emerged due to the scope of Minecraft's world generation changes, and the release was eventually split into two halves early on in 2021. As of this June, new mobs such as the axolotl and goat can be found in underwater ravines and mountaintops, and even new ore like copper can be encountered alongside iron. Their spawn conditions and rate, however, will change when Part 2 comes out.
The 1.17.1 Pre-Release 2 update was released on June 29, and while it didn't add any additional content to the game, it did fix several of the issues that arose when the 1.17 update initially dropped. It's likely that there are still some bugs that have yet to be fixed - or even discovered - but given that there are still months remaining before Part 2's scheduled release, Mojang Studios has plenty of time to help smooth things over.
Minecraft's Caves & Cliffs 1.17.1 Pre-Release 2 Fixes Explained
The patch notes were detailed on the Minecraft website, which also includes a more in-depth look at some of the bug reports that the Pre-Release 2 update addresses. Here's an overview of the significant changes:
- Deaths of named mobs are now logged
- Calcite is no longer quieter than other blocks
- Creative mode obtained bucket of axolotl/tropical fish now spawn different varieties
- Emerald ore generates less often
- Attempting to walk through flowing water no longer switches the player from swimming into normal mode constantly
- Diamond ore distribution was fixed
- Players can no longer steal the item a villager is holding for trade by killing it
- Wandering Trader obtained tropical fish come in different varieties again
- /clear command clears stacks after dropping items from them
Pre-Release 2, like similar Minecraft Pre-Releases, is available for the java edition of the game and can be accessed through the Minecraft launcher. It's probable that after some time these improvements will also be released as an official Minecraft patch, but for the time being players are still welcome to test them out in Pre-Release form. As more time es following the Part 1 update, Mojang Studios will more than likely continue ironing out some of the issues that arose from Minecraft's latest additions.
