Minecraft 1.21.5: Spring to Life Update
A comprehensive guide to all the new features and changes
Mojang has released Minecraft 1.21.5, the "Spring to Life" update, bringing a host of new features, improvements, and technical changes to enhance your Minecraft experience. This update focuses on environmental enhancements, mob improvements, and technical advancements.
Update Highlights
- Fallen trees added to the world generation
- Wolf sound variants with unique personalities
- Redesigned spawn eggs with unique visuals
- Firefly bush generation in more biomes
- New tntExplodes game rule
- Enhanced entity data storage system
- Improved SNBT syntax for commands
World Generation & Environment
Fallen Trees
One of the most visually impactful additions to this update is fallen trees, bringing Java Edition into parity with Bedrock. These decorative variants add a new level of realism and detail to your Minecraft forests.
- Available in four wood types: Oak, Birch, Jungle, and Spruce
- Birch fallen trees come in both shorter and longer variants
- Some fallen trees are decorated with mushrooms or vines
- Generate in most biomes where their standing variants grow
- Exceptions: Meadow, Bamboo Jungle, River, and Grove biomes
- Flower Forest has fallen birch trees but not fallen oak trees
Flora Improvements
- Leaf Litter is now tinted based on its biome location
- Leaf Litter is now replaceable by other blocks
- The Firefly Bush can now generate near water in Mangrove Swamps and Badlands (very rarely)
- Cactus Flowers can now be placed on Farmland
Mobs & Animals
Wolf Sound Variants
Wolves now have more personality than ever with unique sound variants:
- 6 new Wolf sound variants with unique ambient, hurt, death, growl, whine, and pant sounds
- New personality variants: big, cute, puglin, angry, grumpy and sad
- Original Wolf sounds now used for the "classic" variant
- Each Wolf gets a random sound variant, independent of their texture variant
Spawn Egg Visual Overhaul
Spawn eggs have received a complete visual redesign:
- Each Spawn Egg now has a unique visual capturing the mob's personality
- Egg shapes reflect the in-world size of the mob they spawn
- Smaller mobs have proportionally smaller spawn eggs
- Improved readability and accessibility with distinct designs
Sheep Wool Color Distribution
Sheep wool colors now vary by biome, adding more environmental diversity:
- Black Sheep most common in cold biomes
- Brown Sheep most common in warm biomes
- Pink Sheep remain very rare but can spawn anywhere
- Cold biome uncommon colors: gray, light gray, white and brown
- Warm biome uncommon colors: gray, light gray, white and black
- The Sheep wool texture has been tweaked to remove the stark line at the back
Gameplay Changes
New Game Rule: tntExplodes
A new game rule has been added from Bedrock Edition: tntExplodes. When set to false, TNT will not explode and cannot be primed. This gives map makers and server administrators more control over gameplay. The default value is true.
Other Gameplay Improvements
- Blocks that are broken by a Piston now play their breaking sound
- Updated the menu panorama for the first Game Drop of the year
- The textures of Test Blocks and Test Instance Blocks have been updated
Technical Improvements
Entity Data Storage
All entities can now store custom data, a feature previously only available on Markers. This is exposed as aminecraft:custom_data component, so it can be set by spawning items and matched by predicates.
SNBT Improvements
Object notation used in commands for NBT, text components and inline predicates (a.k.a. SNBT) has been extended:
- New operations including bool() and uuid() functions
- Fixed bugs related to SNBT text components preventing escapes from working
- Any interface with NBT data within the game now supports heterogeneous lists
Version Updates
- Data Pack Version: Now 70
- Resource Pack Version: Now 54
- New command line argument
--renderDebugLabelsis available for the client
Bug Fixes
The Spring to Life update includes numerous bug fixes:
- Wolf barking and whining sounds are now properly subtitled
- Fixed issues with SNBT text components preventing escapes from working
- Fixed flying into water with an elytra putting the player into an erroneous state
- Fixed beacon beam rendering issues
- Fixed leaf litter placement on walls and fences
- Fixed cactus flowers not being able to be held by endermen
- Fixed reduced armor glint applying to tridents
- Fixed temperate cows having strange mapping/harsh borders
- Fixed baby cows' heads being incorrectly positioned
- Flow Pottery Sherd is now in the correct spot in the creative inventory
How to Get the Update
The update is available through the Minecraft Launcher. Open your launcher and it should automatically update to the latest version. If you're playing on Bedrock Edition (console, mobile, or Windows 10/11), check your platform's store for the update.
Warning
Testing versions can corrupt your world, so please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.
Related Content
Want to learn more about specific features or find guides for the new content? Check out these related articles:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Minecraft 1.21.5 Spring to Life update?
The Spring to Life update (1.21.5) is a comprehensive update that adds fallen trees, wolf sound variants, redesigned spawn eggs, improved biome-specific features, and numerous technical improvements to Minecraft.
What are fallen trees in Minecraft?
Fallen trees are new decorative variants that come in four wood types: Oak, Birch, Jungle, and Spruce. They can be found in biomes where their standing variants grow and some are decorated with mushrooms or vines, adding more realism to forests.
How do wolf sound variants work?
Wolves now have 6 new sound variants (big, cute, puglin, angry, grumpy and sad) with unique ambient, hurt, death, growl, whine, and pant sounds. Each wolf gets a random sound variant independent of its texture variant.
What is the new tntExplodes game rule?
The tntExplodes game rule, when set to false, prevents TNT from exploding and being primed. This feature was previously only available in Bedrock Edition but has now been added to Java. The default value is true.
What technical improvements does the update include?
Technical improvements include: data pack version updates (now at 70), resource pack version updates (now at 54), extended SNBT syntax with new operations, universal entity data storage for all entities, and numerous bug fixes.
How has sheep wool distribution changed?
Sheep wool colors now vary by biome: black sheep are most common in cold biomes, brown sheep in warm biomes, while pink sheep remain rare everywhere. The sheep wool texture has also been improved to remove the stark line at the back.
Will the Spring to Life update break my existing worlds?
While the update should be compatible with existing worlds, it's always recommended to backup your worlds before updating. New features will generate in unexplored chunks, while your existing builds will remain intact.