Minecraft 26.3: all the features announced so far

Minecraft 26.3: all the features announced so far

Minecraft’s next major update is taking shape. Mojang is currently testing Minecraft Java 26.3, the third game drop of 2026, with a new autumn-colored forest biome, abandoned camps, a complete poplar wood set, and several highly anticipated additions for building, exploring, and sharing new adventures with friends.

This update does not have an official name or an exact release date yet. Its content may still change, but the first six snapshots already provide a solid overview of what is coming.

Here are the highlights so far:

• A new biome, the Dappled Forest, with red, orange, and yellow foliage.
• New poplar trees, mushrooms, shrubs, and building blocks.
• Abandoned camps to discover across many biomes.
• Wool slabs and stairs available in all 16 colors.
• Cushions that players can finally sit on.
• A single-use straw bed that does not change the player’s respawn point.
• A new World Options screen in the pause menu, with LAN settings, command access, and port selection.
• Several technical changes for servers, data packs, and resource packs.

Here is the first official presentation of the Dappled Forest:

The Dappled Forest, an autumn-colored woodland

The most visible new feature in Minecraft 26.3 is the Dappled Forest, a forest biome that can generate near colder regions. It immediately stands out thanks to its poplar trees, whose leaves come in three colors: red, orange, and yellow.

The leaves produce their own colored particles as they fall. The forest floor is enriched with leaf litter, red shrubs, and new mushrooms that grow on standing or fallen trunks. Together, these elements create an autumn atmosphere that feels very different from Minecraft’s classic forests.

Poplar trees also introduce a complete new wood set. The planks have a warm gray tone that should pair well with stone, copper, dark woods, or medieval builds. Saplings can grow with any of the three foliage colors, allowing players to create varied autumn parks and landscapes.

Two new plants complete the biome:

• The Shelf Mushroom comes in small and large forms. It grows on poplar trees, can be enlarged with bone meal, and has a slight bouncing effect.
• The Red Shrub keeps its red color wherever it is replanted and can spread with bone meal.

Abandoned camps to discover

Minecraft 26.3 introduces a new structure: the abandoned camp. It will not be limited to the Dappled Forest. Different variants can generate in many biomes, including forests, taigas, swamps, savannas, jungles, meadows, pale gardens, and wooded badlands.

Each camp adapts its appearance to its surroundings. Players may find tents, campfires, decorative elements, and chests or barrels containing loot. These places tell a small story without imposing a fixed narrative: who set up the camp, and why was it abandoned?

In an existing world, the new biome and structures will need to be found in chunks that have never been generated before. Communities that explore extensively should therefore plan to open new areas or create a temporary exploration world.

Wool slabs, stairs, and cushions

Builders will gain much more freedom. Every wool color now receives a matching slab and stair, giving players 16 variants of each block. Like other wool blocks, these new shapes can dampen vibrations, which also opens new possibilities around sculk sensors.

The slabs are also used to craft the new cushions. Three wool slabs of the same color create a matching cushion. It can be placed on a flat surface, and a player can interact with it to sit down.

This feature has been requested for a long time. It will make it much easier to furnish houses, taverns, meeting rooms, grandstands, campfires, and social areas on multiplayer servers.

The straw bed completes the exploration equipment. Three hay bales craft four straw beds. A player can use one to skip the night without changing their respawn point, after which the bed is destroyed. Attempting to use it in the Nether or the End also destroys it.

For a survival community, this disposable bed could become a useful resource during long expeditions because players can sleep far from their base without losing their main respawn point.

What is also changing on the technical side

Minecraft 26.3 is not limited to visible new features. The snapshots also include several changes for server administrators, data pack creators, and resource pack authors.

• In Minecraft 26.3, the white-list property will be enabled by default in new server configurations. As a reminder, it restricts access to players on the allowlist. Administrators should therefore check this list before opening a new instance.
• New possibilities are being added for custom brewing recipes and data components.
• The /posteffect command can apply or remove visual effects supplied by a resource pack.
• The Java graphics engine continues its technical transition around Vulkan, transparency, shaders, and SDL3. These changes mainly affect the client, but server-enforced resource packs will need to be tested.

This change does not automatically alter existing configurations, but it is still advisable to check the white-list value after an upgrade.

How to prepare your Minecraft 26.3 server

Snapshots are test versions. They may contain bugs, change their formats from one week to the next, or damage a world. You should therefore never update your main server directly.

Before the stable release:

1. Make a complete backup of your worlds, configurations, plugins, mods, data packs, and resource packs.
2. Create a server copy or a separate instance dedicated to testing.
3. Check the compatibility of Paper, Purpur, Spigot, Fabric, Forge, or NeoForge, along with every essential extension.
4. Test player connections, the whitelist, permissions, automated commands, and enforced packs.
5. Prepare access to fresh chunks so your community can discover the Dappled Forest and abandoned camps.
6. Monitor CPU load and TPS while several players explore and generate new areas at the same time.

If you want to prepare exploration areas without causing major generation spikes on release day, read our guide Chunky Minecraft: pre-generate your map and reduce lag.

Minecraft 26.3 is already shaping up to be an ideal update for renewing exploration and creating new gathering places on a server. If you want to discover the snapshots on a separate instance or prepare a new adventure with your community, you can create your Minecraft server for free on BoxToPlay.