Minecraft Beta & Preview 26.20.26: Sulfur Cube Physics, Realms Hub Logs & More
What Changed
Minecraft Beta & Preview 26.20.26, released on 8 April 2026, rolls out across Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, iOS (Preview) and Android (Beta) with a wide assortment of fixes and a few genuinely exciting additions. Here are the headline changes:
- Sulfur Cube knockback overhaul: The Sulfur Cube now reacts to hits in a physically believable way. Strike it from the left and it flies right; hit it from below and it launches upward; heavier damage sends it further. Combat with this mob just got a lot more skill-based.
- Smelting damaged armor yields nuggets: Toss worn-out armor into a furnace and you'll now get metal nuggets back instead of nothing useful — a small but satisfying economy fix.
- Flowerpot placement restricted: You can only place blocks on top of a flowerpot while crouching, preventing accidental stacking during normal play.
- Ghost item bug squashed: Interacting with a Jukebox or Composter while holding armor no longer conjures a phantom duplicate item in your inventory.
- Audio fix: The placement sound now plays correctly when you waterlog a block — a small polish touch that makes building feel more satisfying.
- Realms Admin log: A new Admin log has appeared inside the Realms Hub, giving realm owners a dedicated place to review activity. Several Realms Stories crashes and loading issues were also resolved.
- UI improvements: Emojis now render properly in small hotbar tooltips, and a broken setting for touch-control "Delayed Breaking Blocks" is visible again.
Why It Matters
This is a beta, so nothing here is final — but the direction is clear. The Sulfur Cube knockback rework signals that Mojang is leaning into more dynamic, physics-driven mob encounters, which will make boss-style fights feel more rewarding. The armor-smelting change closes a long-standing gap between Java and Bedrock behavior, and the ghost-item fix removes a bug that was genuinely confusing for younger players. The Realms Admin log is a meaningful quality-of-life step for anyone managing a community realm.
Java and Bedrock
This release is Bedrock-only — it covers the Beta & Preview program on Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, and iOS. There is no corresponding Java Edition snapshot in this update. Java players will want to keep an eye on the separate Java snapshot channel for news on their version.
For Server Owners
If you run a Bedrock-compatible server or use add-ons, there are important technical changes to be aware of:
- Stricter AI goal schemas: From format version 1.26.20 onward, several mob behavior goals (
random_hover,random_sitting,random_stroll,go_home, and item-giving behaviors) will refuse to load if their JSON contains invalid data. Any custom entity packs using these goals should be audited now. - New
minecraft:apply_knockback_rulesformat: This component now accepts an array of presets with an actor filter field, giving add-on creators much finer control over knockback behavior. minecraft:chest_obstructionout of experimental: This block component is now stable for format version 1.26.20+, safe to use in production add-ons.- Multi-block fixes: Several components (
minecraft:replaceable,minecraft:random_offset,minecraft:placement_filter) were fixed or restricted for multi-block structures — review your custom blocks if they use these. - Custom dimensions in scripting (beta API): A new
registerCustomDimensionmethod and a before-startup event hook let script authors register custom dimensions — a powerful capability for advanced server projects. - Voxel Shapes experiment: 19 vanilla blocks (including cake slices, candle cakes, and composters) now have accurate non-cube collision shapes when the experiment is enabled, improving face culling and visual fidelity.
For Parents
Your child's game won't update to this version automatically on release day — betas and previews are opt-in only. That said, it's worth knowing what's coming so you're not caught off guard. The armor-smelting nugget change is a nice resource-management lesson hidden inside a game mechanic: even broken things have value. The Sulfur Cube's new behavior makes fights a little more challenging, so younger or more cautious players may find it trickier — but fairer — than before. Nothing in this update changes online safety settings or parental controls.
For Players
Here's what you're actually going to notice when you play:
- Fight the Sulfur Cube smarter: Where you stand and how you attack now changes how the cube moves. Try circling it and striking from different angles!
- Recycle your old armor: Before you throw away that battered iron chestplate, smelt it — you'll get iron nuggets back to craft something new.
- Flowerpots stay tidy: You won't accidentally stack things on top of flowerpots anymore unless you crouch on purpose.
- Smoother sounds and hotbar: Little polish touches like waterlogging sounds and emoji tooltips make the game feel more complete.
Do SNT Kingdoms Need an Update?
No action needed — and SNT kingdoms are not affected by this beta. Our kingdoms run on Paper 1.21.11 backends behind a Velocity proxy, with Geyser + Floodgate bridging Bedrock players. This beta targets Bedrock client version 26.x, which our infrastructure does not yet support — PaperMC, Velocity, and the ViaVersion family have not migrated to Mojang's new year-based versioning scheme, so 26.x clients cannot connect to SNT kingdoms at this time.
Your kingdom continues to run smoothly on the current stable stack. When the relevant upstream projects (PaperMC, Velocity, Geyser, ViaVersion) ship compatibility with the 26.x line, we'll evaluate and stage any necessary upgrades — as always, with zero downtime disruption to your players. Keep playing; we'll handle the technical side.