Minecraft Java 26.4 Snapshot 5: Packed Ice Bricks, Frosty Advancements & More
What Changed
Java Edition's 26.4 Snapshot 5, released on 20 October 2026, is one of the chillier updates in recent memory. Here's the full rundown of what's new:
Packed Ice Bricks, a builder's new best friend
- Craft Packed Ice Bricks by arranging four Packed Ice blocks in a 2×2 grid.
- Full variant family included: Slab, Stair, Wall, and Chiseled versions are all available.
- Every variant can also be cut straight from a Stonecutter, no extra crafting recipes to memorise.
- Packed Ice Bricks and Chiseled Packed Ice belong to the Fast Sliding Sulfur Cube archetype, so yes, things slide on them.
A new advancement: "What Goes Around Comes Around"
An Adventure-category advancement has been added for players who defeat a Frostbite mob using an Ice Ball. Fight ice with ice and earn the badge!
Mob behaviour & ambient sounds
- Mobs can now break Decorated Pots, Chorus Flowers, and Speleothem blocks with projectiles in Adventure mode worlds, unless the mob_griefing gamerule is disabled.
- Regular Ice blocks now emit subtle ambient sounds when surrounded by at least eight Ice blocks horizontally, with one Air block above and one Water block below.
Video settings (Windows only)
A new experimental "Prefer DXGI Present" option appears in Video Settings on Windows. It can improve IME support, Variable Refresh Rate, and alt-tab speed in fullscreen, but it's off by default and won't work on all hardware.
Technical & data pack changes
- Data Pack version bumped to 125.0; Resource Pack version to 100.2.
- The Login Protocol has been reworked, encryption and compression are now explicitly negotiated via new packets rather than applied instantly, eliminating a race condition on dedicated servers.
- Several sound fields on
minecraft:consumableandminecraft:equippabledata components are now fully optional. - The
interpolateddensity function is renamed toupscaleand gains five configurable upscaling modes per axis. - Entity immunity tags have been split into granular tags: #immune_to_poison, #immune_to_regeneration, #immune_to_freezing, #immune_to_wither, and #immune_to_weakness.
Bug fixes
Over 25 bugs were squashed, including: icicle rotation and model issues, jukebox chest-pulling edge cases, Creakings attacking Creative-mode players, paintings breaking outside the world border, Ruined Portals missing from ice caves, and mushrooms spreading incorrectly.
Why It Matters
Packed Ice Bricks fill a long-standing gap in the icy building palette, finally giving cold-biome builders the same structural variety that stone and deepslate players have enjoyed for years. The ambient ice sounds are a small but meaningful atmospheric touch, and the Login Protocol fix closes a real reliability bug that could cause connection corruption on busy dedicated servers.
Java and Bedrock
This snapshot is Java Edition only. Bedrock Edition does not receive snapshot releases; its equivalent features typically arrive in preview builds on a separate schedule. Bedrock players on SNT kingdoms connect seamlessly through Geyser, so there is nothing to action on the Bedrock side right now.
For Server Owners
If you run your own Java server independently, a few things deserve your attention:
- The Login Protocol change (explicit encryption/compression negotiation) means any custom proxy or plugin that intercepts login packets may behave unexpectedly until it is updated to handle the new packet handshake flow.
- Data Pack authors need to update to version 125.0 and rename any use of the
interpolateddensity function toupscale. - Resource Packs must declare version 100.2 and can optionally add the two new block textures (
block/packed_ice_bricks.pngandblock/chiseled_packed_ice.png). - The split immunity entity tags mean any data pack referencing
#ignores_poison_and_regenor#freeze_immune_entity_typesmust migrate to the new tag names.
For Parents
Snapshot releases are experimental test builds, they are not the finished game and are not recommended for everyday play. Think of them as a work-in-progress sneak peek that developers release so enthusiasts can test features and report problems. Your child's regular Minecraft worlds should stay on the current stable release. If your family plays on an SNT kingdom, there is nothing you need to do, everything is managed for you.
For Players
Ice builders, this one is for you! Packed Ice Bricks bring a gorgeous new frosty block set with stairs, slabs, walls, and a chiseled version, all cuttable in the Stonecutter. Hunt down a Frostbite and defeat it with an Ice Ball to unlock the brand-new "What Goes Around Comes Around" advancement. Keep your ears open in icy caves too, Ice blocks now have soft ambient sounds that make cold biomes feel extra atmospheric.
Remember: snapshots are only available through the Java launcher's "Latest Snapshot" option and can be unstable. Back up your worlds before jumping in!
Do SNT Kingdoms Need an Update?
No action needed, and SNT kingdoms cannot run this snapshot yet. Here's why:
- SNT kingdoms run Paper 1.21.11 backends and a Fabric 1.21.4 backend, with Velocity as the proxy layer.
- PaperMC, Velocity, and the ViaVersion family have not yet migrated to Mojang's year-based versioning scheme (26.x). Until they do, 26.x clients simply cannot connect to the network.
- Clients running version profiles from 1.13 through 1.21.11 continue to connect normally via ViaVersion, ViaBackwards, and ViaRewind.
- All six game worlds, Survival, SharedLife, RandomLoot, Chaos, Spleef, and Rivals, remain fully playable on stable builds.
We keep a close eye on every snapshot so that when the broader ecosystem catches up to 26.x, your kingdom will be ready to upgrade smoothly. Until then, keep building, no ice picks required. ⛏️