Minecraft Beta & Preview 26.40.26 – Boats, Beds, Ender Dragon & More
What Changed
Minecraft Beta & Preview 26.40.26 dropped on 17 June 2026 for both Bedrock (Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, iOS, and Android) and contains a wide spread of fixes and quality-of-life improvements. No single headline feature dominates; instead this build polishes dozens of rough edges across gameplay, graphics, audio, and the user interface.
- Boats now behave like Java Edition: they break in fewer hits and self-repair any accumulated damage over time.
- Bed item sprites have been updated to actually look like their in-world blocks, finally matching what you place.
- Fences in pre-generated structures (Villages, Woodland Mansions, Ancient Cities and others) now connect properly to adjacent blocks instead of floating awkwardly.
- Ender Dragon now deflects projectiles while it is perching, closing a long-standing gap with Java Edition behaviour.
- Sulfur Cube changes: Observers and Redstone Lamps can no longer be absorbed by the Sulfur Cube's slow-bouncy archetype, Sulfur Spikes have a growth limit, and Sulfur Cubes that have absorbed a block now deflect projectiles.
- TNT smoke particles fire less frequently, matching Java Edition's visual rhythm.
- Vibrant Visuals fixes: thrown projectiles no longer appear as solid blobs of colour, a stray green outline on distant blocks on some Android devices is gone, and transparent blocks like water and ice no longer wrongly render in front of clouds when Vibrant Visuals is disabled.
- Sound fixes: critical-hit and jump/land sounds now respect the Player volume slider. Music now plays in Lush Caves, Meadow, Stony Peaks, Snowy Slopes, Frozen Peaks, and Swamps.
- World seed privacy: non-operator players on a dedicated server can no longer see the world seed in the Game Settings menu.
- Windows cloud sync: world data is now backed up and synced across devices on the same Windows platform.
- Character Creator no longer reverts cosmetic changes after a game restart.
- Split-screen on PlayStation works again when the primary player is signed in with a local account.
Why It Matters
Many of these changes chip away at the long list of differences between Java and Bedrock editions, boats, TNT smoke, and Ender Dragon projectile deflection are all bringing Bedrock in line with how Java has worked for years. The seed-privacy fix is a meaningful security improvement for anyone running a multiplayer server, and cloud sync for Windows worlds adds a useful safety net against data loss.
The Sulfur Cube and Sulfur Spikes adjustments suggest that this newer mob family is still being actively balanced, so expect further tweaks in upcoming previews.
Java and Bedrock
This release is Bedrock-only, it is a Beta & Preview build and does not affect Java Edition at all. Several of the fixes explicitly close parity gaps toward Java Edition (boats, TNT smoke, Ender Dragon deflection), so Java players already enjoy these behaviours. Java snapshot players should watch the separate Java snapshot channel for their own pre-release news.
For Server Owners
Two changes deserve attention if you run a Bedrock-accessible server:
- World seed privacy is now enforced for non-operator clients on dedicated servers. If you previously relied on all players being able to read the seed, be aware that access is now restricted by operator status.
- Dedicated server logging, the
content-log-file-enabledoption now correctly creates the log file when set totrue, which is handy for diagnosing content issues. - The API graduates several block-breaking event classes from beta to the stable v2.9.0 API surface, which matters if any of your add-ons or plugins hook into those events.
- AI component schemas are stricter from version 1.26.40 onwards, any custom entity JSON with invalid data in the affected components will fail to load, so review your packs before upgrading.
For Parents
Nothing in this update changes the core, family-friendly nature of Minecraft. A few fixes are worth a smile though:
- The Character Creator no longer forgets your child's customised skin after restarting the game, no more frustrated "my skin changed back!" moments.
- Music now plays in several biomes that were previously silent (Lush Caves, Swamps, Meadow, and the snowy mountain biomes), making exploration feel more alive and atmospheric.
- The PlayStation split-screen fix means families sharing one console with a local account should find it much easier to jump in together.
- Windows cloud sync means your child's world progress is automatically backed up, a reassuring safety net against accidental deletion or a broken device.
For Players
Here's the fun stuff in plain language:
- Boats are tougher to smash accidentally, and any dings they take heal on their own, great news for river and ocean explorers.
- Bed icons in your inventory now look exactly like the colourful beds you actually place in the world.
- Village and Mansion fences no longer have weird gaps, structures look much cleaner now.
- The Ender Dragon fight got harder (in the best way), arrows and tridents bounce off it while it perches, just like on Java.
- Your jump and critical-hit sounds finally listen to the volume slider you set.
- New biome music! Head into a Lush Cave or a Swamp and enjoy the fresh soundtrack.
Do SNT Kingdoms Need an Update?
No action needed, and SNT kingdoms are not affected by this release.
SNT kingdoms run Paper 1.21.11 backends behind a Velocity proxy, with Geyser + Floodgate handling Bedrock crossplay. This build is a Bedrock Beta & Preview, not a stable release, so it is not pushed to regular players automatically. More importantly, Minecraft client version 26.x uses Mojang's new year-based versioning which PaperMC, Velocity, and the Via family have not yet migrated to, meaning 26.x clients cannot connect to SNT kingdoms at this time regardless.
Bedrock players connecting to your kingdom should remain on the current stable Bedrock release. If a young player accidentally enrolled in the beta programme, a parent or guardian can follow Mojang's instructions at aka.ms/JoinMCBeta to opt back out and return to the stable version. Once PaperMC and the broader server ecosystem fully support the 26.x version line, SNT will evaluate and schedule an upgrade, we'll publish a dedicated update post when that time comes.