Minecraft Bedrock Edition 26.40 – Dappled Forests, Cushions & Big Bug Fixes
What Changed
Bedrock Edition 26.40, released on 31 July 2026, is a substantial update covering new experimental content, accessibility improvements, and a long list of gameplay and technical bug fixes. Here are the highlights:
- Dappled Forest biome (experimental): A cool new forest biome found near cold regions, featuring Poplar Trees in three leaf colours (red, orange, yellow), fallen logs, Shelf Mushrooms, and Red Shrubs.
- Poplar Trees: A brand-new tree type with coloured falling leaf particles, Poplar Saplings (also tradeable with Wandering Traders), and a full set of Poplar wood blocks crafted from Poplar Logs.
- Shelf Mushroom: Grows on Poplar Trees, comes in small and large sizes, can be bone-mealed, used in stews, and has a satisfying bounce when stepped on, just like a bed.
- Red Shrub: A decorative plant that spreads with Bone Meal and can be composted.
- Abandoned Camps (experimental): A new procedural structure appearing across nearly 20 biomes, each with a biome-themed design, loot chests and barrels, and Straw Beds inside.
- Straw Bed: A one-use bed crafted from 3 Hay Bales (yielding 4 beds) that lets you skip the night without changing your spawn point, perfect for adventurers on the move.
- Cushions (experimental): Sit-able decorative items crafted in 16 colours from Wool Slabs. Place one on any flat surface and right-click to take a seat.
- Wool Stairs and Slabs: All 16 wool colours now have matching stair and slab blocks, unlocking a huge range of cosy building options.
- Bug fixes: Ghost blocks on interactive containers, fence connections in pre-generated structures, TNT smoke frequency, Sulfur Cube block absorption, accessibility narration, and much more were all corrected.
- Accessibility: A new screen distortion slider lets players control nausea-effect visuals and portal warping, and furnace screen narration was significantly improved.
Why It Matters
26.40 is more than a patch, it plants the seeds (literally) of the next major wave of Minecraft content. The Dappled Forest, Abandoned Camps, and Cushions are all experimental features from the upcoming Drop 3, meaning Mojang is letting players road-test them now and shape their final form with feedback. At the same time, the quality-of-life fixes, especially around ghost blocks, fence connections, and accessibility narration, make everyday survival gameplay noticeably smoother and fairer.
Java and Bedrock
This is a Bedrock-only release. Java Edition players won't see these features until Drop 3 arrives on that platform. The water fog colour fix in Sulfur Caves does bring Bedrock slightly closer to Java parity, which is always welcome for cross-platform friend groups. Java Edition remains on its own separate versioning track for now.
For Server Owners
If you run a Bedrock-compatible server of your own, note that the experimental features, Dappled Forest, Cushions, Abandoned Camps, require Drop 3 experiments to be enabled in your world settings. They will not appear in standard worlds without that toggle. The bug fixes, however, apply universally once players update their clients. Also worth reviewing: the Sulfur Cube no longer absorbs Observer and Redstone Lamp blocks, so any redstone contraptions near Sulfur Cubes should be re-tested after the update.
For Parents
This update is a safe and positive one for younger players. The new biome and structures add fresh places to explore and discover, which keeps the game feeling exciting without changing any core rules. The accessibility improvements, particularly the screen distortion control, are genuinely helpful for children who find flashing or warping visuals uncomfortable. There is no new combat, no new hostile mobs, and nothing in this update that changes the game's age-appropriate nature. The Straw Bed is a lovely gentle mechanic: your child can skip scary nights in a new world without permanently moving their safe spawn point.
For Players
Get ready to explore, this update is packed with cool stuff to discover!
- Hunt down a Dappled Forest near snowy or cold biomes and collect all three colours of Poplar Saplings to grow a rainbow forest at your base.
- Try Bone Mealing a Shelf Mushroom from small to large, then break it for two mushroom items to make stew.
- Craft some Cushions in your favourite colour and furnish your house, you can actually sit on them!
- Keep a stack of Straw Beds in your inventory when exploring far from home. Sleep anywhere, no strings attached.
- Go looting at an Abandoned Camp, each biome has its own themed design, so the one in the Pale Garden looks very different from the one in a Bamboo Jungle.
- Build cosy curved furniture and soft flooring using the new Wool Stairs and Slabs.
Known issue to watch out for: Arrows fired downward can currently get stuck in your own hitbox (MCPE-240527). Until that's patched, aim carefully in close-range fights!
Do SNT Kingdoms Need an Update?
No action is needed on your end, and Bedrock 26.x clients cannot connect to SNT kingdoms at this time. Here's why: SNT Gaming kingdoms run on Paper 1.21.11 backends with Velocity proxy, ViaVersion/ViaBackwards/ViaRewind, and Geyser+Floodgate for Bedrock crossplay. The upstream projects, PaperMC, Velocity, and the Via family, have not yet completed their migration to Mojang's new year-based version numbering (26.x). Until that migration lands, Bedrock players will need to stay on an earlier supported Bedrock version to connect to their kingdom.
We are watching the upstream projects closely and will push the necessary updates to every kingdom the moment compatibility is confirmed, no hassle, no manual work required from you. That's the beauty of a fully managed kingdom. 🏰