Minecraft Java 26.3 RC1: Dappled Forest, Abandoned Camps & Wool Stairs Arrive in Testing

By SNT Gaming · 2026-09-11 · updatesjavasnapshotplayersparentstechnical

What Changed

Minecraft Java Edition 26.3 Release Candidate 1, published on 10 September 2026, is a substantial game-drop preview packed with new nature and exploration content. Here is everything that arrived:

• Dappled Forest biome, a brand-new forested biome that spawns near cold regions, complete with its own mob roster (Sheep, Chickens, Cows, Pigs, Rabbits, and Foxes in their cold variants).
• Poplar Trees, three seasonal colour variants (Red, Orange, and Yellow Poplar Leaves), each with matching falling-leaf particles. Their logs craft into a full new Poplar wood set. Saplings drop from leaves and also appear in Wandering Trader stock.
• Fallen Poplar Trees, horizontal log structures that add atmosphere and serve as hosts for Shelf Mushrooms.
• Shelf Mushroom, a small-to-large mushroom that grows on Poplar logs. Use Bone Meal to promote a small one to large. Large ones drop two items when broken, work in Mushroom and Suspicious Stew recipes, and have a satisfying bounce when stepped on, just like a Bed.
• Red Shrub, a decorative ground plant that spreads with Bone Meal and can be tossed into a Composter.
• Abandoned Camp structures, ruins with Chests and Barrels full of loot, spawning in over a dozen biomes (Meadow, Cherry Grove, Taiga, Pale Garden, Swamp, Savanna, and more), each with a design themed to its host biome.
• Wool Stairs and Wool Slabs, every dyed and undyed Wool colour now has stair and slab variants, and all behave like regular Wool for vibration dampening.

On the changes side: Spruce Trees lose their falling-leaf particle effect, and both Mushroom Stew and Suspicious Stew can now be crafted using any two mushrooms rather than specific types. Decorated Pots now preserve sherd data (including custom names) when broken.

Why It Matters

The Dappled Forest is the headline act here, it fills a gap between the cold and temperate forest families and gives explorers a visually striking destination with its auburn and gold canopy. Abandoned Camps are particularly exciting because they scatter discoverable loot across a huge range of existing biomes, making familiar landscapes feel fresh again. Wool Stairs and Slabs are a long-requested building addition that opens up enormous creative possibilities for soft, colourful construction. And the Shelf Mushroom's bounce mechanic is pure fun, a small detail that will delight young players immediately.

Java and Bedrock

This release is Java Edition only. It is a Release Candidate, meaning it is very close to a stable release but still in testing, bugs may exist and the feature set could change before the final version ships. Bedrock Edition players are not receiving this update at this time; Mojang typically releases equivalent content drops on Bedrock on a separate schedule.

For Server Owners

If you run your own Java server, a few technical points deserve attention:

• Data Pack version is now 108.0 and Resource Pack version is 89.0, any custom packs will need version bumps before they load cleanly.
• The /item command has been significantly reworked with new fill and override sub-commands and multi-slot sourcing. Any command-block or data-pack scripts that use /item replace should be reviewed carefully.
• The /give, /tick, and /unpublish commands now properly signal errors rather than silently failing, good for debugging, but scripts that ignored return codes may now surface unexpected errors.
• Minecraft Server Management Protocol 3.1.0 adds world-upgrade notifications (upgrade_started, upgrade_progress, upgrade_finished, upgrade_failed), which is helpful for monitoring software.
• Some legacy log-line patterns that third-party server software used to watch for have been removed. Switch to the official Server Management Protocol if your monitoring relies on log scraping.
• Pottery sherds are now data-driven, opening new customisation options for data-pack makers.