Minecraft Java 26.3 Snapshot 1: Dappled Forest, Abandoned Camps & Wool Stairs
What Changed
Java Edition 26.3 Snapshot 1, released on 23 June 2026, is the first public test build for the next Minecraft game drop. It's packed with new wilderness content and some surprisingly handy building blocks.
The Dappled Forest Biome
A brand-new forest type appears near cold biomes, dressed in autumn colours and hiding secrets. Inside you'll find:
- Poplar Trees, three leaf colour variants (Red, Orange, and Yellow), each shedding matching falling-leaf particles. Fallen Poplar logs also dot the forest floor.
- Shelf Mushrooms, small or large fungal growths that cling to Poplar trunks. Step on one and you'll bounce, just like a bed. Grow small ones into large ones with Bone Meal; large ones drop two mushroom items when broken and can be used in Mushroom Stew.
- Red Shrub, a decorative plant that spreads to adjacent spaces when fed Bone Meal and can be composted.
- Abandoned Camps, mysterious structures scattered with chests and barrels full of loot. Who left them? Nobody knows.
- Familiar passive mobs: Sheep, Chicken, Cow, Pig, Rabbit, and Fox, all in their cold variants.
Abandoned Camps Across Many Biomes
The Abandoned Camp structure isn't exclusive to the Dappled Forest. It spawns in over a dozen biomes, from Meadows and Cherry Groves to Swamps, Bamboo Jungles, and even the Pale Garden, with each biome getting its own themed design.
Wool Stairs and Wool Slabs
Every coloured Wool block now has matching stair and slab variants. They dampen vibrations just like regular Wool, opening up a whole new world of cosy, sound-proofed builds.
Other Tweaks
- Mushroom Stew and Suspicious Stew can now be crafted using any two mushrooms (not just the classic pair).
- Breaking a Decorated Pot now preserves the data on dropped Sherds, including custom names.
- Falling leaf particles have been removed from Spruce Trees.
- Poplar Saplings and Shelf Mushrooms are available through Wandering Trader deals.
Why It Matters
This snapshot is a meaningful creative update. The Dappled Forest gives builders a gorgeous new palette, autumnal logs, three shades of leaves, and Wool stairs/slabs mean more texture and variety in almost every build style. The Abandoned Camp structure also raises exciting story possibilities: who were the campers, and what are they running from? For explorers and adventurers, loot-filled camps scattered across a huge range of biomes make every new world feel a little more alive and mysterious.
Java and Bedrock
This is a Java Edition snapshot only. Bedrock Edition players are not receiving these features in this build. Mojang typically brings major biome and structure content to Bedrock in a later, coordinated release. If you play on Bedrock, keep an eye on official Bedrock preview notes for when the Dappled Forest makes its way to your edition.
For Server Owners
On the technical side, this snapshot bumps the Data Pack version to 108.0 and the Resource Pack version to 89.0. If you maintain custom data packs or resource packs, those will need updating before use on a 26.3 server.
The /item command received a significant overhaul, it now supports multi-slot sources, plus two new sub-commands: /item fill (repeating items to fill all slots) and /item override (fills slots and clears any extras). If your server uses item-manipulation command blocks or data packs, audit those carefully before migrating.
Pottery Sherds are now fully data-driven, and several commands, including /give, /tick, and /team, now properly signal errors rather than silently failing. That's great news for debugging complex command setups. The Minecraft Server Management Protocol also advances to 3.1.0, adding world-upgrade notifications for server software.
For Parents
This update is all about exploration and creativity, a beautiful new forest to discover, mysterious campsites to loot, and bouncy mushrooms to stumble across. There is no new combat, no frightening hostile mobs unique to the biome, and no changes to game ratings or safety features. The Shelf Mushroom's gentle bounciness and the colourful autumn forest make this feel like a warm, storybook addition to the game. It's a wonderful snapshot for younger players to experiment with in a test world.
Remember: snapshots are experimental. Mojang recommends using separate worlds for testing, as snapshot worlds may not be fully compatible with the release version later.
For Players
Ready to explore? Here's your quick cheat-sheet for the Dappled Forest:
- 🌲 Look for it near cold biomes, it won't appear in warm or desert regions.
- 🍄 Bounce on Shelf Mushrooms for fun, or use Bone Meal to grow them big and harvest two mushroom items at once.
- 🪵 Craft with Poplar Logs to get a whole new wood set for your builds.
- 🎒 Raid Abandoned Camps for loot, but maybe also wonder who left in such a hurry…
- 🧱 Try Wool Stairs and Slabs to add soft, cosy shapes to your rooms.
- 🌿 Bone Meal a Red Shrub to spread it into a decorative patch.
- 🍲 Mix any two mushrooms to brew Mushroom Stew, no more hunting for specific types!
Do SNT Kingdoms Need an Update?
No action needed, and SNT kingdoms cannot run 26.3 clients yet. Our kingdoms run on Paper 1.21.11 backends behind a Velocity proxy, with ViaVersion/ViaBackwards/ViaRewind supporting clients from version 1.13 through 1.21.11. The Mojang year-based versioning system (26.x) is not yet supported by PaperMC, Velocity, or the Via family of plugins, so 26.3 snapshot clients cannot connect to your kingdom at this time.
None of the snapshot's new biomes, structures, or blocks will appear in your existing kingdom worlds, and that's completely fine, your Survival, SharedLife, RandomLoot, Chaos, Spleef, and Rivals worlds are stable and unaffected. When the full release eventually lands and the broader server ecosystem catches up, SNT will evaluate and manage the upgrade as always. You don't need to do a thing.