Minecraft Java 26.3 Snapshot 3: Cushions, Straw Beds & Custom Shaders
What Changed
Mojang dropped Java Edition 26.3 Snapshot 3 on 7 July 2026, and it's a cosy one. Two brand-new items headline the release, alongside a wave of technical additions that open exciting doors for server customisation.
- Cushion, a sit-able decorative block available in all 16 wool colours. Craft three Wool Slabs of the same colour to make one cushion. Place it on any flat surface, right-click, and your character takes a seat, perfect around a campfire.
- Straw Bed, a single-use sleeping item that lets you skip the night without resetting your spawn point. Craft three Hay Bales to receive four Straw Beds. Note: attempting to use one in the Nether or The End will destroy it instantly.
- Gothic language support has been added to the game's language menu.
- /posteffect command, server operators can now add, remove, list, and clear post-processing shader effects on individual players' screens, unlocking fully custom visual experiences via resource packs.
- Data Pack version bumped to 110.0; Resource Pack version to 91.0.
- Further technical additions: a
minecraft:compostabledata component, a new Number Provider registry, improved Potion Content predicates, and shared Silk Touch / Shears predicates in loot tables.
Why It Matters
The cushion is a small item with a surprisingly big social impact, for the first time players can sit down together around a campfire, adding a genuinely cosy, role-play-friendly moment to the game. The straw bed solves a long-standing adventurer's dilemma: you're deep in a cave, night is falling, but you don't want to move your precious home spawn. Now you can sleep safely without any commitment.
On the technical side, the /posteffect command is a significant creative milestone. Map-makers and server developers can now apply cinematic or gameplay-relevant screen effects, think a blurry drunk potion haze or a dramatic vignette when health is low, entirely through resource packs and commands, without any mods.
Java and Bedrock
This is a Java Edition snapshot only. Bedrock Edition players won't see cushions, straw beds, or the /posteffect command in their version yet. Bedrock follows its own preview cycle, and Mojang has not announced a Bedrock equivalent for these features at this time. Cross-platform families should keep an eye on Bedrock Preview notes separately.
For Server Owners
The /posteffect command is the headline technical gift here. Once this ships in a full release and server software catches up, you'll be able to craft immersive screen effects for events, imagine a red-tinted battlefield shader firing when a player enters a PvP zone, or a dreamy blur when they enter a magic area. Custom brewing recipes also become more powerful thanks to updated potion predicates.
The straw bed is excellent for adventure-map and exploration-focused servers: players can rest without admins having to worry about spawn points being accidentally overwritten in carefully designed worlds.
Cushions have no collision and can overlap most objects, handy for decorating lobbies and social spaces without blocking movement.
For Parents
Nothing in this snapshot changes online safety, chat, or account settings. The new items are purely creative and comfort-focused additions. The straw bed is actually a gentle quality-of-life feature worth noting: kids who play on adventure worlds can now sleep through the night without the frustration of losing their home base location. It reduces one common source of in-game upset! The cushion is a fun decorative item that encourages creative building and social play, great for kids who love setting up cosy base camps with friends.
For Players
Time to redecorate! Here's your quick crafting cheat-sheet:
- Cushion: 3 Wool Slabs (same colour) → 1 Cushion. Mix and match all 16 colours to style your base.
- Straw Bed: 3 Hay Bales → 4 Straw Beds. Keep a stack in your bag when you're exploring far from home, you can sleep safely without moving your spawn.
A few things to remember about straw beds: they're one-time use only, so they burn through your supplies fast if you're sleeping every night. Save them for long expeditions. And never try to sleep in the Nether, not only will a normal bed explode, a straw bed will just quietly disappear. You've been warned!
Cushions also make the perfect campfire circle setup. Gather your friends, place cushions around a campfire, and sit down together for some proper cosy vibes.
Do SNT Kingdoms Need an Update?
No action needed, and SNT kingdoms cannot run 26.x clients yet. Our kingdoms run on Paper 1.21.11 backends with a Velocity proxy, and the broader ecosystem (PaperMC, Velocity, ViaVersion/ViaBackwards) has not yet migrated to Mojang's new year-based versioning scheme. That means 26.x Java clients cannot connect to SNT kingdoms at this time.
This is a snapshot, not a full release, snapshots are experimental builds not intended for live servers. When 26.3 eventually ships as a stable release and the server software stack fully supports it, we'll handle all backend updates automatically. Your kingdom stays online, safe, and stable, you don't need to do a thing. We'll announce when 26.x connectivity arrives.