What you need to know
- Mojang Studios has released Minecraft: Java Edition 1.20.3 and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition 1.20.50 to players across all platforms.
- The Trails & Tales patch updates differ slightly between versions, but share the same two major features.
- Decorative pots are now actually useable for storage, and can be smashed with wayward projectiles.
- Bats have also been redesigned, aligning them more with Minecraft's art design and making them much cuter (it's definitely the ears).
Tired of navigating your maze of decorative pots without being able to toss random items into them? Terrified of being jump scared by pixellated demon bats every time you go underground? Then these Minecraft updates are for you! Mojang Studios has released the 1.20.3 patch update for the Java Edition and the 1.20.50 patch update for the Bedrock Edition, with both featuring similar headlining changes.
You can read the full changelogs on Minecraft.net, but I'll summarize what you need to know here. For one, the decorative pots finally introduced with the Minecraft Trails & Tales Update now have an actual purpose besides just looking nice and taking up space. Pots can be used as storage just like chests and barrels, with the added characteristic of being smashable via projectiles. Now you can store liberal amounts of sand in your pots and roleplay your favorite tomb raiding movie.
Additionally, bats have been given a long overdue texture overhaul in both version of Minecraft. Gone are the dense and dark wads of terror that flit around dank caves — bats now more closely follow Minecraft's modern art design, look more distinct, and are undeniably adorable. Mojang Studios made a point of giving its flying puppies big ears, too.
Elsewhere, you can expect lots of general fixes, changes, and improvements across both versions of Minecraft, and some vanilla parity enhancements, too. The Bedrock Edition is also getting a bunch of new experimental features from the upcoming Minecraft 1.21 update, giving players another sneak peek at what's coming next to everyone's favorite survival crafting game (and one of the best Xbox games of all time).
Minecraft isn't the only Xbox game being updated today — Forza Horizon 5's Winter Wonderland update brought a ton of new cars and features to the ongoing open-world racing game today. In other Minecraft-related news, the previous head of Mojang Studios, Helen Chiang, has moved into an expanded role at Xbox Game Studios, with a new person stepping in as the studio head.
