Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales” update: Features, theme, and everything we know
The next Minecraft update is about player expression and representation.
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For over a decade, Minecraft has dominated the video game industry and topped sales charts. The creative-survival classic’s undeniable success is due, in no small part, to the combined efforts of the bustling Minecraft community and the post-launch support of Mojang Studios. Now, players know the first details of what’s coming next to Minecraft with the arrival of the 1.20 update.
Dedicated to player expression, representation, and makingMinecraft"Minecraftier," Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales” may end up being an excellent update for Minecraft across Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Windows PCs, and mobile devices. It may even spawn a new wave ofgreat Minecraft toys and gifts. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming content release, including what features will be included and when players can expect the update to arrive.
What is Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”?
Revealed duringMinecraft Live 2022, theMinecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales” updateis the next major content update following 2022’s 1.19 “The Wild Update” release. Mojang Studios has already detailed the initial features of the highly anticipated update, but changes to how the studio approaches Minecraft releases mean a less exciting announcement and a more interesting development cycle.
Instead of a hyped reveal featuring early concept art, unfinished prototypes, and ambitious promises, Mojang Studios is only sharing details and features that are close to completion. To this end, Minecraft 1.20 didn’t even have a name at its release, with Mojang Studios aiming to work with the community before naming the update closer to release. Of course, Mojang Studios has since revealed thatMinecraft 1.20 is the “Trails & Tales” update. Mojang Studios hopes to avoid missed expectations, and wants to include the community in the development process even more than with previous updates.
We do know the general theme of the 1.20 update. Mojang Studios is focusing this release on player expression, representation, and making Minecraft “Minecraftier.” That means improving the ways in which the player can build and interact with their worlds, better representing different parts of the world in Minecraft, and incorporating much-requested quality-of-life features that simply make Minecraft better. All of its announced features are aimed at these pillars.
Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”: Features & gameplay
Minecraft is already one of thebest games on XboxandPC, and it’s only set to improve further with every successive update. Minecraft 1.20 will presumably be packed from end-to-end with new features and improvements for players to enjoy, but Mojang Studios is only announcing them when it’s confident those features will meet expectations and arrive on time. We’ll continually update this section as we learn more about the features and additions coming to Minecraft with the expansive Trails & Tales content update.
Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”: Major new features
During Minecraft Live 2022, Mojang Studios revealed the first four features arriving with Minecraft’s Trails & Tales update. These features became available for players to test via snapshots andMinecraft Previewwithin a matter of days, although they changed and evolved over time as Mojang Studios collected feedback from players on the features. Other new content and additions have arrived in otherMinecraft 1.20 snapshots and preview builds.
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Here’s everything we know about the features and gameplay additions confirmed for Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”:
Building & crafting
Here are all the Minecraft 1.20 features related to building, crafting, and decorating:
Armor trims images:
World & mobs
Here are all the Minecraft 1.20 features related to the world and its mobs (minus the Sniffer, which is detailed further below):
Archeology images:
Cherry Grove biome images:
Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”: Other and related features
New default characters
Minecraft 1.20’s featureset is admittedly limited at the moment, but there are other features that are related to the upcoming content update or may arrive alongside it that have been confirmed by Mojang Studios. One such feature is the addition of seven new default characters to join Steve and Alex. These new default characters are now available to any player with updates likeMinecraft: Bedrock Edition 1.19.50, and makes Minecraft far more inclusive for players just starting out.
The characters include Makene, Efe, Noor, Kai, Ari, Sunny, and Zuri, with each character possessing unique appearances and characteristics. Mojang Studios will also use all seven of the new characters in trailers and marketing materials.
The Sniffer
One extra feature that’s arriving with Minecraft 1.20 is the Sniffer, the winner of theMinecraft Live 2022 Mob Vote. Players can already get their hands on the Sniffer in recent Minecraft 1.20 snapshots and previews. Here’s everything we know about the Sniffer:
Sniffer images:
Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”: Cut, delayed, and future features
There are plenty of additional features that haven’t been announced yet for the Trails & Tales update, but there are also a handful of features that haven’t been mentioned or flat out aren’t arriving with the imminent content update. Here’s what we know about cut features or features that aren’t arriving with Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”:
Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales”: Release window
Over four months separated the release of Minecraft 1.19 “The Wild Update” in early June from the announcement of Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales” in mid-October, leaving many players wondering when the title’s next content update can be expected. This early on, it’s understandable that Mojang Studios didn’t have an exact release date for which players can wait, but we did get a broad release window during which the Trails & Tales update should arrive.
Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales” is set to release at some point in 2023. Mojang Studios didn’t even provide a general window beyond that, but we expect the update to be finished and released before summer ends. Before that time, Mojang Studios will continue announcing and testing new features for the update, with the Minecraft community continually providing feedback to help the studio iterate on its new content. We’ll update this section as soon as we learn more about when Minecraft 1.20 will be released.
If you’re interested in participating in the development of Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales,” its first features are already in the hands of players.Minecraft: Bedrock EditionandMinecraft: Java Editionplayers can now test a handful of experimental Minecraft 1.20 features through snapshots and Minecraft Preview.
Updated March 29, 2023 —Updated with the official “Trails & Tales” name.
While we wait for Minecraft 1.20 “Trails & Tales,” embark on other new Minecraft adventures by purchasing new skins, texture packs, worlds, and full DLC expansions via the Minecraft Marketplace. Minecoins are the currency of choice here.
Minecraft is included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox and Windows PCs, making Microsoft’s flagship, value-driven gaming subscription the best place to experience Minecraft’s latest update.
Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter@BoddyZachary.
