Java Edition 26.2

26.2

Edition	Java Edition
Official name	Chaos Cubed
Planned release date	Q2 2026
Development versions	Snapshots (3) (View all)
◄◄  26.1 26.2 ◄  26.1.2

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26.2, the release of Chaos Cubed, is an upcoming game drop for Java Edition set to release in the second quarter of 2026. It focuses on the sulfur caves, a cave biome that is home to sulfur cubes, as well as the new sulfur and cinnabar blocks and their respective variants. This update also updates the rendering engine to use Vulkan, which is part of the long-term plan to add Vibrant Visuals to Java Edition.

Additions

26.2 block and item additions

Blocks

Cinnabar (and its block family)

• A red-colored block that generates in sulfur caves.
• Can be crafted or cut into the following blocks:
  • Cinnabar stairs, slabs, walls.
  • Polished cinnabar, stairs, slabs, walls.
  • Cinnabar bricks, brick stairs, brick slabs, brick walls.
  • Chiseled cinnabar.

Potent sulfur

• Generates naturally in water pools inside the sulfur caves biome.
• Produces bubbles which rise up to 4 water source blocks above it.
• When placed underneath up to 4 water source blocks, it generates a cloud of nausea-causing gas on the water surface.
  • This cloud spreads across adjacent water with a maximum radius of 3 blocks.
• Can be crafted from 9 sulfur blocks.

Sulfur (and its block family)

• A yellow-colored block that generates in sulfur caves.
• Can be crafted or cut into the following blocks:
  • Sulfur stairs, slabs, walls.
  • Polished sulfur, stairs, slabs, walls.
  • Sulfur bricks, brick stairs, brick slabs, brick walls.
  • Chiseled sulfur.

Sulfur Spike

• Generates naturally on sulfur blocks inside the sulfur caves biome.
• Forms a stalactite if placed on the ceiling or a stalagmite if placed on the floor.
• Can be combined to form longer stalactites & stalagmites.
• Stalactites and stalagmites merge if the tips are next to each other, unless you press shift while placing.
• Stalagmites will break if they're not attached to something below.
• Stalactites fall down if not attached to something above.
• Being hit by a falling stalactite hurts, and they are sharp.
• Thrown Tridents break Sulfur Spikes.

Items

Bucket of sulfur cube

• Can be obtained by using a bucket on an adult sulfur cube.

Sulfur cube spawn egg

• Added sulfur cube spawn egg.

Mobs

Sulfur cube

• Spawns in the new sulfur caves biome.
• When a player interacts with it while holding a block, the sulfur cube will absorb the block and disable its AI.
• With a block inside, a player can also interact with the sulfur cube while holding shears to shear the block.
  • This enables its AI.
• The sulfur cube will follow a player holding a block it can absorb.
• The sulfur cube can also look for block items nearby and move towards them to absorb them.
• When killed, the sulfur cube splits into two smaller sulfur cubes.
• The small sulfur cube can be tempted and fed with slimeballs to grow them into large sulfur cubes.
• With a block inside, the sulfur cube will not take any fall or player damage and will become a physical object that players can interact with by punching and pushing.
  • However, it can still take damage from lava.
• A large sulfur cube can be picked up using an empty bucket.
• Dispensers can now equip and swap blocks inside a sulfur cube, as well as shear it with shears to remove the block it is holding.
• Dispensers can spawn a sulfur cube from a bucket of sulfur cube.
• With a block inside, it will assume one of the archetypes (listed below) and change its physical properties to match the block it absorbs:
  • Each archetype is characterized by the speed of the ball when hit, how bouncy it is when colliding with blocks and collidable entities, as well as its ground friction, air drag and if it floats in liquids
  • There are the following archetypes:
    • Regular: medium speed, medium bounciness, medium ground friction and low air drag.
      • It is buoyant.
      • Used when absorbing stone and mineral blocks.
    • Bouncy: fast speed, high bounciness, medium ground friction and low air drag.
      • It is buoyant.
      • Used when absorbing wooden blocks.
    • Slow Flat: slow speed, low bounciness, medium ground friction and medium air drag.
      • Used when absorbing metal blocks.
    • Fast Flat: fast speed, low bounciness, medium ground friction and low air drag.
      • Used when absorbing organic blocks.
    • Light: slow speed, high bounciness, medium ground friction and high air drag.
      • It is buoyant.
      • Used when absorbing all wool blocks.
    • Fast Sliding: fast speed, no bounciness, low ground friction and low air drag.
      • Used when absorbing icy blocks.
    • Slow Sliding: slow speed, no bounciness, low ground friction and low air drag.
      • Used when absorbing shroom blocks.
  • There are also two special archetypes:
    • High Resistance: very slow, low drag with low bounce with high friction.
      • Used when absorbing soul sand and soul soil.
    • Sticky: same properties as a golf ball, but sticks with extremely high ground friction and no bounce to simulate stickiness.
      • Used when absorbing honeycomb block.

World generation

Sulfur caves

• Added sulfur caves underground biome.
• Generates naturally underground and inside hills or mountains.
• Has bands of sulfur and cinnabar.
• Spawns the sulfur cube mob as well as cave spiders.
• Generates with sulfur pools which contain potent sulfur.

Sulfur spring

• Is a new feature which generates naturally above the sulfur caves biome.
• Consists of sulfur, potent sulfur and magma blocks.
• Sulfur springs come in 4 different size variants:
  • Small
  • Medium
  • Large
  • Extra Large

General

Attributes

• Added minecraft:air_drag_modifier
  • Determines how much drag is applied to an entity while in the air.
  • Accepts values between 0.0 and 2048.0.
  • Default value: 1.0 – the entity uses existing drag when moving in the air.
  • Minimum value: 0.0 – no drag is applied to the entity.
  • Values higher than 1.0 increase the drag applied to the entity when moving through the air.

• Added minecraft:bounciness
  • Determines what portion of the velocity is restituted after the entity collides with blocks and collidable entities.
  • When landing on bouncy blocks, like beds and slime blocks, the higher bounciness (of the block or the entity) is applied.
  • Accepts values between 0.0 and 1.0
  • Default value: 0.0 – no velocity is restituted.
  • Maximum value: 1.0 – full velocity is restituted, collisions with blocks and collidable entities will have no effect on lowering the velocity.

• Added minecraft:friction_modifier
  • Determines how much ground friction is applied to the entity with regards to the block it is on.
  • Accepts values between 0.0 and 2048.0
  • Default value: 1.0 – friction of blocks is not modified.
  • Minimum value: 0.0 – friction of blocks is reduced to zero.
  • Values higher than 1.0 increase the friction applied to the entity from the blocks it is on.

Data component format

• Added minecraft:sulfur_cube_content
  • Represents the item that is absorbed by the sulfur cube.
  • Format: item that is absorbed by the sulfur cube.
    • e.g. minecraft:sulfur_cube_content=green_wool

Game events

• Added minecraft:bounce
  • Emitted when an entity collides with a block or a collidable entity with non-zero bounciness.
  • Has a vibration frequency of 2.

Identifiers

• Added minecraft:sulfur_cube_archetype registry with the following values:
  • regular
  • bouncy
  • slow_flat
  • fast_flat
  • light
  • fast_sliding
  • slow_sliding
  • high_resistance
  • sticky

• Entry format: Object with fields:
  • items: item tag that contains all items that can be fed to Sulfur Cubes of this archetype
  • buoyant: boolean indicating if the Sulfur Cube of this archetype floats in liquids
  • attribute_modifiers: a list of objects with fields:
    • attribute: attribute to modify
    • id: unique identifier for the modifier
    • amount: amount to modify the attribute by
    • operation: how to modify the attribute, one of add_value, add_multiplied_base and add_multiplied_total

Options

• Added "Graphics API" in the video settings.
  • There are three values: Default, Prefer Vulkan and Prefer OpenGL.
    • "Default" is the recommend rendering engine the game will use unless there is issues.
      • Currently, it is the same as "Prefer Vulkan"
    • "Prefer Vulkan" will attempt to render using Vulkan, but fall back to OpenGL if it doesn't work.
    • "Prefer OpenGL" will attempt to render using OpenGL, but fall back to Vulkan if it doesn't work.

Particles

• Added sulfur_cube_goo
  • Particles showing on a sulfur cube mob when hopping around.

Tags

• Block tags
  • Added #suppresses_bounce
    • Contains all blocks that suppress the bounciness of entities when colliding with them.
  • Added #glazed_terracotta and #concrete blocks collection tags
  • Added #shears_extreme_breaking_speed
    • Contains blocks that can be broken with shears with speed 15.
  • Added #shears_major_breaking_speed
    • Contains blocks that can be broken with shears with speed 5.
  • Added #shears_minor_breaking_speed
    • Contains blocks that can be broken with shears with speed 2.

• Damage Type Tags
  • Added minecraft:sulfur_cube_with_block_immune_to for all damage types that sulfur cubes are immune to when having a block absorbed.

• Item tags
  • Added #glazed_terracotta, #concrete, and #concrete_powders items collection tags.
  • Added #sulfur_cube_food
    • Contains all items that can be fed to small sulfur cube.
  • Added #sulfur_cube_swallowable
    • Contains all items that can be placed inside a large sulfur cube.
  • Added the following tags for items that can be placed inside a sulfur cube to determine its archetype:
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/regular
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/bouncy
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/slow_flat
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/fast_flat
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/light
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/fast_sliding
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/slow_sliding
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/high_resistance
    • #sulfur_cube_archetype/sticky

Vulkan support

• As previously announced, it is intended to switch the game from OpenGL to Vulkan.
• Vulkan is not supported by older hardware or drivers – OpenGL will be used as a fallback on those cases.
• The current requirement is Vulkan 1.2 with dynamic rendering and push descriptors, but this requirement may increase or decrease over time.
• Currently an experimental rendering backend, and may not be as performant or stable.
• Under Vulkan, it is preferred the player's dedicated graphics card over any integrated graphics, which is a change from OpenGL.
• The player can see which backend is being used in the F3 debug overlay (in the system_specs section).
• On macOS, MoltenVK is used to translate Vulkan to Metal.

Changes

Mobs

Hoglin and zoglin

• Fixed their babies' left ear texture so they are properly mirrored.

Command format

General

• When granting or revoking several advancements, the command output will now report how many advancements changed state across all players.
• When granting or revoking advancements or a criterion on several players, the command output will now report the number of players that any change applied to.

Gameplay

Vibration

• When an entity bounces off of a block or other collidable entity, it emits a vibration of frequency 2.

General

General

• Profiling the game with Tracy (launching with --tracy) now includes GPU timings.
• Rendering now uses a reversed depth buffer, which helps with Z-fighting on most hardware.

Attributes

• The minimum value of minecraft:knockback_resistance is now -2.0.

Configured features

• minecraft:geode
  • The fields cannot_replace and invalid_blocks in blocks section of feature configuration now also accept an ID and a list of IDs in addition to a tag.
• minecraft:root_system
  • The field root_replaceable in the feature configuration now also accepts an ID or a list of IDs in addition to a tag.
• minecraft:vegetation_patch
  • The field replaceable in the feature configuration now also accepts an ID and or a list of IDs in addition to a tag.
• minecraft:waterlogged_vegetation_patch
  • The field replaceable in the feature configuration now also accepts an ID and or a list of IDs in addition to a tag.

Data pack

• The pack format version is now 101.2.

Debug screen

• The entity_spawn_counts debug entry now refers to the ambient mob count as AM and the axolotl mob count as AX instead of referring to both as A.
• The fps F3 screen entry will now report which type of present mode is used (e.g. mailbox or fifo relaxed), as opposed to just vsync.

Dimension types

• The field infiniburn now also accepts an ID and a list of IDs in addition to a tag.

Performance

• Upgrading certain worlds from before 26.1 can now be faster.

Resource pack

• The version is now 85.0.

Shaders

• The core/rendertype_text, core/rendertype_text_see_through, core/rendertype_text_intensity, core/rendertype_text_intensity_see_through, core/rendertype_text_background, and core/rendertype_text_background_see_through shaders have been replaced by core/text and core/text_background
  • Variants are now controlled by shader defines: IS_GUI, IS_SEE_THROUGH, and IS_GRAYSCALE

Sounds

• Added sounds for sulfur block:
  • block.sulfur.break
  • block.sulfur.hit
  • block.sulfur.place
  • block.sulfur.step
  • block.sulfur.fall
• Added sounds for potent sulfur:
  • block.potent_sulfur.break
  • block.potent_sulfur.hit
  • block.potent_sulfur.place
  • block.potent_sulfur.step
  • block.potent_sulfur.fall
  • block.potent_sulfur.noxious_gas
• Added sounds for cinnabar:
  • block.cinnabar.break
  • block.cinnabar.hit
  • block.cinnabar.place
  • block.cinnabar.step
  • block.cinnabar.fall
• Added sounds for sulfur cube:
  • entity.sulfur_cube.jump
  • entity.sulfur_cube.squish
  • entity.sulfur_cube.hurt
  • entity.sulfur_cube.death
  • entity.sulfur_cube.absorb
  • entity.sulfur_cube.eject
  • entity.sulfur_cube.bounce
  • entity.sulfur_cube.hit
  • entity.sulfur_cube.push
• Added sounds for small sulfur cube:
  • entity.small_sulfur_cube.jump
  • entity.small_sulfur_cube.squish
  • entity.small_sulfur_cube.hurt
  • entity.small_sulfur_cube.death

Structure processors

• minecraft:protected_blocks
  • The field value now also accepts an ID or a list of IDs in addition to a tag.

Tags

• Block Tags
  • #concrete_powder collection tag has been renamed to #concrete_powders.
  • Added cinnabar, sulfur, and potent_sulfur to #overworld_carver_replaceables tag.
  • Added cinnabar, and sulfur to #sculk_replaceable tag.
  • Added cinnabar_slab, polished_cinnabar_slab, cinnabar_brick_slab, sulfur_slab, polished_sulfur_slab, and sulfur_brick_slab to #slabs tag.
  • Added cinnabar_stairs, polished_cinnabar_stairs, cinnabar_brick_stairs, sulfur_stairs, polished_sulfur_stairs, and sulfur_brick_stairs to #slabs tag.
  • Added cinnabar_wall, polished_cinnabar_wall, cinnabar_brick_wall, sulfur_wall, polished_sulfur_wall, and sulfur_brick_wall to #walls tag.
  • Added cinnabar, cinnabar_slab, cinnabar_stairs, cinnabar_wall, polished_cinnabar, polished_cinnabar_slab, polished_cinnabar_stairs, polished_cinnabar_wall, cinnabar_bricks, cinnabar_brick_slab, cinnabar_brick_stairs, cinnabar_brick_wall, chiseled_cinnabar, sulfur, potent_sulfur, sulfur_slab, sulfur_stairs, sulfur_wall, polished_sulfur, polished_sulfur_slab, polished_sulfur_stairs, polished_sulfur_wall, sulfur_bricks, sulfur_brick_slab, sulfur_brick_stairs, sulfur_brick_wall, and chiseled_sulfur to #mineable/pickaxe tag.

• Entity Tags
  • Added minecraft:sulfur_cube to non_controlling_rider, and not_scary_for_pufferfish tags.

• Item Tags
  • Added cinnabar_slab, polished_cinnabar_slab, cinnabar_brick_slab, sulfur_slab, polished_sulfur_slab, and sulfur_brick_slab to #slabs tag.
  • Added cinnabar_stairs, polished_cinnabar_stairs, cinnabar_brick_stairs, sulfur_stairs, polished_sulfur_stairs, and sulfur_brick_stairs to #slabs tag.
  • Added cinnabar_wall, polished_cinnabar_wall, cinnabar_brick_wall, sulfur_wall, polished_sulfur_wall, and sulfur_brick_wall to #walls tag.

Textures

• Block sprites
  • Added new block textures:
    • block/chiseled_cinnabar.png
    • block/chiseled_sulfur.png
    • block/cinnabar.png
    • block/cinnabar_bricks.png
    • block/polished_cinnabar.png
    • block/polished_sulfur.png
    • block/potent_sulfur.png
    • block/sulfur.png
    • block/sulfur_bricks.png
• Item sprites
  • Added new Item sprites:
    • item/sulfur_cube_bucket.png
• Entity textures
  • Added new entity textures:
    • entity/sulfur_cube/sulfur_cube_outer.png
    • entity/sulfur_cube/sulfur_cube_inner.png

World generation

• Dripstone features
  • Renamed the feature type pointed_dripstone to speleothem
    • Added the field base_block – Block State, describes the block forming the base of the speleothem.
    • Added the field pointed_block – Block State, describes the block creating the columns of the speleothem.
    • Added the field replaceable_blocks – Block ID, list of Block IDs, or hash-prefixed Block Tag describing which blocks this feature can generate on.
    • Renamed the field chance_of_taller_dripstone to chance_of_taller_generation
  • Renamed the feature type dripstone_cluster to speleothem_cluster.
    • Added the field base_block – Block State, describes the block forming the base of the speleothem.
    • Added the field pointed_block – Block State, describes the block creating the columns of the speleothem.
    • Added the field replaceable_blocks – Block ID, list of Block IDs, or hash-prefixed Block Tag describing which blocks this feature can generate on.
    • Renamed the field dripstone_block_layer_thickness to speleothem_block_layer_thickness.
    • Renamed the field chance_of_dripstone_column_at_max_distance_from_center to chance_of_speleothem_at_max_distance_from_center
    • Renamed the field max_distance_from_edge_affecting_chance_of_dripstone_column to max_distance_from_edge_affecting_chance_of_speleothem.
  • Adjusted the feature type large_dripstone.
    • Added the field replaceable_blocks – Block ID, list of Block IDs, or hash-prefixed Block Tag describing which blocks this feature can generate on.

• Added the noise_gradient surface rule.
  • Replaces blocks based on the specified noise and gradient list.
  • Format: object with fields:
    • noise – noise id, the noise to sample.
    • gradient – non-empty list of objects with fields, the list to sample based on the noise value:
      • state (optional) – the block state to select at this index.
        • If this field is not defined, the surface rule will not replace any block when sampling this entry.

• Added the sequence feature type
  • Generates a list of placed features in order. If any feature in the list is not placed, the following features will also be skipped.
  • Format: object with fields:
    • features – list of Placed Features or hash-prefixed placed feature tag, the features to generate.

• Added the template feature type
  • Places one template randomly chosen from the given Weighted List of Identifiers. By default, the template will be spawned randomly rotated, centered around the origin.
  • Format: object with fields:
    • templates – Weighted List of structure template entries. Each structure template entry is composed of an Identifier and a list of rotations to randomly choose from.
      • id – The template Identifier.
      • rotations – Optional list of rotations to choose from and apply to this template if it is picked.
        • Allowed values: none, clockwise_90, 180, counterclockwise_90
        • If not specified, defaults to all allowed values.

Fixes

31 issues fixed

From released versions before 26.2

• MC-236770 – The "Ambient" and "Axolotl" mob caps both display as "A" in the debug overlay.
• MC-252814 – The clamp density function takes a direct input and doesn't allow a reference.
• MC-269520 – The game freezes when using /locate in a world without structures enabled.
• MC-269786 – "ID" is not capitalized in some strings.
• MC-277395 – The "options.screenEffectScale.tooltip" string displayed when holding your mouse cursor over the "Distortion Effects" slider is improperly capitalized.
• MC-277396 – Strings referencing nether portals are inconsistently capitalized.
• MC-279122 – Some strings that contain the abbreviation "id" are improperly capitalized.
• MC-279125 – Some /locate strings are missing articles before the word "reasonable".
• MC-279126 – The "mco.configure.world.restore.download.question.line1" string incorrectly spells the word "singleplayer" as "single player".
• MC-279137 – The "options.directionalAudio.on.tooltip" string is missing a hyphen between the words "HRTF" and "compatible".
• MC-279138 – The "command.failed" string is missing a conjunction.
• MC-279154 – The "advancements.story.enter_the_nether.description" string is missing a serial comma.
• MC-279156 – The titles within some player reporting and punishment menus are improperly capitalized.
• MC-279158 – The "I know what I'm doing!" button is improperly capitalized.
• MC-279182 – Strings used to describe water and lava conversion game rules are missing commas.
• MC-279183 – The "options.allowServerListing.tooltip" string is missing a comma.
• MC-279184 – The "datapackFailure.title" string is missing an article and always pluralizes the word "pack".
• MC-279186 – The "build.tooHigh" string is missing an article before the word "Height".
• MC-279189 – The "mco.configure.world.leave.question.line1" string is missing a comma.
• MC-302488 – Strings that contain the term "Safe Mode" are inconsistently capitalized.
• MC-302628 – Dolphins don't dismount minecarts when passing over activator rails.
• MC-304113 – Underwater fog is not applied correctly at low render distances.
• MC-304873 – The "options.textureFiltering.rgss.tooltip" string is missing a hyphen between the words "shader" and "based".
• MC-304874 – The "options.textureFiltering.anisotropic.tooltip" string is missing a hyphen between the words "hardware" and "based".
• MC-305467 – The ender dragon's death animation effects render in front of worn armor.
• MC-306064 – Mobs can be forced to look like they're dying while they aren't by using commands.
• MC-306399 – The Spectator mode 'Teleport to Player' action only updates the list of valid targets after the Spectator menu is hidden.
• MC-306840 – Dolphins still drown themselves when no players are nearby.
• MC-306890 – Campfires cause bees to work much more slowly.
• MC-306903 – Cubic Bézier easing functions sometimes produce wrong values.
• MC-306946 – The block light transition from level 1 to 0 under the night sky is not smooth when Smooth Lighting is enabled.