Minecraft “Trails & Tales” Update Now Live For Switch

Mojang has released a new update for Minecraft on Switch.

The “Trails & Tales” update brings the game up to Version 1.20.0., and adds a number of new features to the game, including the Cherry Blossom biome, the Sniffer mob, Armor trims, and more. You can check out the trailer  below, along with a summary of the new features via Mojang:

New Features

Archaeology

• Added a craftable Brush item
• Added Suspicious Sand and Suspicious Gravel
  • Suspicious Sand can be found in Desert Temples, Desert Wells and Warm Ocean Ruins
  • Suspicious Gravel can be found in Cold Ocean Ruins and Trail Ruins
  • These fragile blocks are hard to spot and easy to destroy, so be careful!
  • Brushing Suspicious Sand or Suspicious Gravel with a Brush will extract objects that were buried long ago
• Added the Trail Ruins, a buried structure from a lost culture
  • Four types of Armor Trim Templates can be found here
  • Trail Ruins can be found in Taigas, Snowy Taigas, all Old Growth forest biomes, and Jungles
  • A new music disc can be found by brushing suspicious blocks in this structure
    • When put in a Jukebox, “Relic” by Aaron Cherof is played
• Added Pottery Sherds
  • Pottery Sherds have pictures on them
  • A total of 20 sherds have been distributed between the 5 Archaeology sites: Desert Wells, Desert Temples, Cold Ocean Ruins, Warm Ocean Ruins, and Trail Ruins
  • They cannot be crafted, and are only found by brushing Suspicious Sand or Suspicious Gravel

Decorated Pots

• Crafting four Pottery Sherds together will create a Decorated Pot with a picture on each side
• Brick items can be used instead of Pottery Sherds in the Decorated Pot recipe
  • The sides that were made from Brick items will not have pictures
• Smash a Decorated Pot with any block-breaking tool to break it apart and get the Pottery Sherds back
  • Hitting the pot with bare hands, silk touch tools, or any other item will drop an intact pot instead
• Crafted Decorated Pots with at least one pattern have a hover tooltip displaying the Sherd & Brick ingredients

Cherry Groves

• Added a new Cherry Grove biome, with pretty cherry blossom trees
  • The biome can be found in the mountains, in similar places as Meadows
• Added a new Cherry wood set, with all the corresponding wooden things you can craft from it
• Pink particles fall from beneath Cherry Leaves
• Added a new Pink Petals block with lots of pink flowers on the ground
  • Each Pink Petal block can contain up to 4 petals
  • Using Bone Meal on it increases the number of petals
  • Placing a Pink Petal into an already placed block increases the number of petals
  • Drops the number of petals in the block when mined
  • Updated the seed picker with a Cherry Grove biome option

Bamboo Wood Set

• Added a new Bamboo wood set, with all the corresponding wooden things you can craft from it
• Block of Bamboo can be crafted from 9 Bamboo and can be stripped like other wood logs
• Bamboo Planks crafted from Block of Bamboo yield only 2 planks compared to 4 for wood logs
• Added a new “Mosaic” plank variant that is unique to Bamboo called the Bamboo Mosaic
  • It can be crafted with 1×2 Bamboo Slabs in a vertical strip
  • You can craft Stair and Slab variants of Bamboo Mosaic
  • Bamboo Mosaic blocks cannot be used as a crafting ingredient where other wooden blocks are used, but they can be used as fuel
• Added a unique Bamboo Raft and Bamboo Chest Raft which can be crafted like normal boats, but with Bamboo Planks
  • They function the same as ordinary boats, but have a unique look to them

Hanging Signs

• Hanging Signs are a more expensive version of normal Signs
  • Crafted with 2 chains and 6 stripped logs of your preferred wood type
  • Crafting results in 6 Hanging Signs
• Can be hung up in the following ways:
  • Underneath a block that can provide support in the center, like a full block or a fence
  • Attached to the solid side of a block
  • Attached to the side or underneath another Hanging Sign
• Unlike normal Signs, they cannot be placed directly on the ground without support from the side or above
  • However, Hanging Signs that have a horizontal bar will not pop when the supporting block is removed

Sign Improvements

• Sign text can now be edited after being placed in the world
  • This can be done by interacting with the Sign
  • Signs with non-text chat components can not be edited
• Both sides of the Sign can now have separate text and colors, allowing for further customization options
  • By default, a Sign will prompt you to input the front side’s text when placed
  • To apply text to the back-side, you must walk to the other side and interact with that face to edit it
• Signs can now also be waxed with Honeycomb, preventing any further edits to its text
• It is no longer possible to use Ink Sac, Glow Ink Sac, or Dyes if the Sign text is empty (MCPE-133778)

Sniffer

• The Sniffer is the mob vote winner of Minecraft Live 2022
• Sniffers are passive, friendly mobs
• Sniffers sniff the air and occasionally dig for seeds, which produces a Torchflower Seed or a Pitcher Pod item
• Sniffers can only dig grass and dirt-like blocks
• Sniffers can be tempted by, and bred with Torchflower Seeds

Sniffer Egg

• Can be found by brushing the Suspicious Sand of Warm Ocean Ruins
• When two Sniffers breed they do not immediately spawn a Snifflet; instead, a Sniffer Egg is dropped
• When placed in the world, the Sniffer Egg will hatch after some time
  • When placed on Moss, the Egg will hatch in approximately 10 minutes
  • On all other blocks, it will hatch in approximately 20 minutes

Torchflowers

• The Sniffer can occasionally sniff up a Torchflowers seed, and it can be used to breed two Sniffers
• The Torchflower seed can be planted on Farmland and grows into a Torchflower
• The full-grown flower can be harvested and replanted
• The Torchflower can be crafted into Orange Dye

Pitcher Plant

• The Sniffer can occasionally sniff up a Pitcher Pod item
• The Pitcher Pod, when planted on Farmland, grows into a Pitcher Crop
• The Pitcher Crop has five growth stages
• Once fully grown, the Pitcher Crop can be harvested, yielding a two-block-tall Pitcher Plant
• The Pitcher Plant can be crafted into Cyan Dye

Smithing

• Smithing Tables have been redesigned into a workstation for physical equipment upgrades and modifications
• Alongside slots for combining a piece of equipment and materials, there is now a required slot for an item type called Smithing Template
• Smithing Templates define what type of upgrade you will be making to a piece of equipment
  • It specifies both what type of items you can upgrade, and which ingredients are valid to customize the upgrade
  • There are currently two categories of Smithing Templates: Armor Trim and Netherite Upgrade
• Smithing Templates are consumed when used to upgrade an item in the Smithing Table
• You can craft a copy of a Smithing Template in the Crafting Table with 7 diamonds + 1 block of material that the template is made out of + 1 smithing template, which will output 2 of the same Smithing Template

Armor Trims

• You can now visually customize your armor with a variety of unique trims at the Smithing Table
• Armor trims are purely visual with no gameplay benefits
• Armor trims can be applied to Helmets, Chestplates, Leggings and Boots
  • All trim patterns are visually the same on an armor’s item icon, but the color will still change based on the trim material
  • To check which trim pattern a piece of armor has, you can hover over it in the inventory
• Armor Trim Smithing Templates can be found all throughout the world, and each of the following structures contain their own unique Smithing Templates:
  • Trail Ruins: Wayfinder, Raiser, Shaper, and Host Armor Trims
  • Pillager Outpost: Sentry Armor Trim
  • Desert Pyramid: Dune Armor Trim
  • Shipwreck: Coast Armor Trim
  • Jungle Temple: Wild Armor Trim
  • Ocean Monument: Tide Armor Trim
  • Ancient City: Ward and Silence Armor Trims
  • Woodland Mansion: Vex Armor Trim
  • Nether Fortress: Rib Armor Trim
  • Bastion Remnant: Snout Armor Trim
  • Stronghold: Eye Armor Trim
  • End City: Spire Armor Trim
• Smithing Templates are found in chests in their respective structure
  • Trail Ruins have no chests, Smithing Templates are instead found by brushing Suspicious Gravel
  • The Ocean Monument has no chests, Elder Guardians sometimes instead drop a Smithing Template upon death
• Some Armor Trim Smithing Templates are rarer than others, so be on the lookout for them to impress your friends!
• An armor trim has two properties: a pattern and a material
  • The pattern is defined by the Smithing Template used to apply the trim, and represents the visual pattern of the trim
  • The material is defined by which ingredient you used to apply the trim, and controls the color of the trim
• The viable ingredients you can use to define the color of your armor trim are the following:
  • Iron, Copper, Gold, Lapis, Emerald, Diamond, Netherite, Redstone, Amethyst, Quartz

Netherite Equipment

• Netherite equipment crafting now also requires a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
• Netherite Upgrade Smithing Templates can be found randomly in all Bastion Remnant chests
  • Every Treasure Room Bastion Remnant will contain 2 Smithing Templates
• This change was made for a variety of reasons:
  • Increase the time players utilize Diamond equipment before Netherite
  • Make Netherite equipment more significant achievement in the game’s progression
  • Adapt Netherite more naturally into the new Smithing Table crafting system

Camel

• Camels can be equipped with a Saddle and ridden by two players
• Camels spawn naturally when Desert Villages generate
• Camels can be tempted by holding Cactus
• Feed Cactus to Camels to breed them
• Camels are tall
  • Most hostile mobs will not be able to reach you when you are on a Camel
  • They can walk over Fences and Walls
• Camels randomly sit down
  • While sitting, it is difficult to convince them to move
• Camels can either walk slowly or sprint quickly
• They can also dash forward but will lose stamina for a while when doing so

Chiseled Bookshelf

• A new, chiseled variation of the Bookshelf
• Crafted with 6 Planks and 3 Wooden Slabs
• Can store Books, Book and Quills, and Enchanted Books
  • Holds up to 6 Books
  • Keeps the stories and lore of your world safe
  • Books can be removed and added to specific slots on the Chiseled Bookshelf
• Comparators can detect the last book placed/removed
  • Perfect for hiding secrets in your spooky library
• Works with Hoppers

Shield Customization

• A top Vanilla Parity feature request! A Shield can now be combined with a Banner to apply its pattern on it
  • The banner is consumed on use
  • A Shield can be combined with a Banner only if no pattern was previously applied

New Music

• Added the following new music tracks by Aaron Cherof to Cherry Groves, Desert, Jungle, Mesa, and Flower Forest biomes:
  • A Familiar Room
  • Bromeliad
  • Crescent Dunes
  • Echo in the Wind
• Added a new music disc which can be acquired by brushing suspicious blocks in Trail Ruins. When put in a Jukebox, Relic by Aaron Cherof is played

Calibrated Sculk Sensors

• A new variant of Sculk Sensors which allows you to filter vibrations based on their frequency level
• They are not found naturally and can only be crafted with 1 Sculk Sensor and 3 Amethyst Shards in the Crafting Table
• One side of the Calibrated Sculk Sensor can receive a redstone signal as input
  • The strength of that redstone signal is the only vibration frequency the Sculk Sensor will listen to
• They have a combined active and cooldown phase that lasts 20 game ticks
  • They output their redstone signal for the first 10 game ticks
• They can detect vibrations up to 16 blocks away

Sculk Sensor Phases

• Sculk Sensors and Calibrated Sculk Sensors now have three phases: Inactive, Active, and Cooldown
• The default phase is Inactive
  • This phase lasts indefinitely until the block receives a vibration
  • During this phase, the block is able to listen to nearby vibrations until one has been scheduled
• When a scheduled vibration is received, the block switches to the Active phase
  • This phase lasts 30 game ticks for Sculk Sensors, and 10 game ticks for Calibrated Sculk Sensors
  • During this phase, the block stops listening to nearby vibrations, wiggles its tendrils, and emits a Redstone signal and light
• After the Active phase has finished, the block switches to a Cooldown phase
  • This phase lasts for 10 game ticks
  • During this phase, the block keeps wiggling its tendrils, but no longer emits a Redstone signal nor light
  • Finally, once this phase is finished, the block will switch back to the Inactive phase
• Previously, these phases had different timings:
  • The Active phase lasted 40 game ticks for Sculk Sensors and 20 game ticks for Calibrated Sculk Sensors
  • There was no Cooldown phase
• These phase timings were tweaked so that it is less common for activated contraptions to recursively activate the Sculk Sensor that powered them

Vibration Resonance

• Blocks of Amethyst have a new behavior when placed adjacent to Sculk Sensors
  • If that Sculk Sensor receives a vibration, the Block of Amethyst will re-emit its frequency as a separate vibration at its location
• This behaviour is called Vibration Resonance, and allows players to move vibration frequencies across long distances without having to recreate the vibration naturally

Vibration Frequencies

• With the addition of Calibrated Sculk Sensors, vibration frequencies have been greatly simplified to prevent unwanted interference
• The following are category descriptions for each frequency and the expected events that they correspond to:
  • Movement in any medium (land, liquid or air)
  • Landing on any surface (land or liquid)
  • Item interactions
  • Gliding with an Elytra or unique mob actions (Ravager roaring, Wolf shaking, etc.)
  • Equipping gear
  • Interacting with a mob
  • Mobs and players getting damaged
  • Consuming items (drinking and eating)
  • Blocks ‘deactivating’ (Door closing, Chest closing, Button unpressing, etc.)
  • Blocks ‘activating’ (Door opening, Chest opening, Button being pressed, etc.)
  • Blocks changing (Cauldron water level rising, adding food to a Campfire, etc.)
  • Blocks being destroyed
  • Blocks being placed
  • Mobs and players spawning
  • Mobs and players dying or an explosion

Playable Mob Sounds

• When placing a Mob Head on a Note Block, that Note Block will now play one of the ambient sounds of that mob when played by a player or powered by Redstone
• Mob Heads can be placed on top of Note Blocks without sneaking

Piglin Mob Head

• Piglins will now drop their heads when killed by a charged Creeper
• Placing the Piglin head on a Note Block will play one of the Piglin’s ambient sounds
• The Piglin head will flap its ears when powered by Redstone, or when worn by a player while walking

New Achievements

• Smithing with Style – Apply these smithing templates at least once: Spire, Snout, Rib, Ward, Silence, Vex, Tide, Wayfinder
• Planting the Past – Plant any Sniffer seed
• Careful Restoration – Make a Decorated Pot out of 4 Pottery Sherds

Known Issues

• Boats that have been placed before today’s update may not function correctly until they have been broken and placed again, and any mobs inside boats may be ejected when loading your world for the first time. We hope to have this issue resolved soon, but you may wish to keep a backup copy of your world just in case – thanks for your patience!

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.