Java Edition Combat Tests/Development versions
This is a list of Java Edition Combat Tests development versions.
1.14.3 - Combat Test
1.14.3 - Combat Test is the first experimental version of a future combat update.[1] Although it is a version for a future major release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.14.3 Pre-Release 4. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post. This is the first ever experimental snapshot released in 2019.
Additions
Gameplay
- New attribute: generic.attackReach.
- Represents the attack reach of a player.
- Only used by players.
- Default base: 3.0; minimum: 0.0; maximum: 6.0.
- Value is the number of blocks away the player can attack from.
- Weapon modifier now modifies generic.attackReach with Operation 0 and UUID 26cb07a3-209d-4110-8e10-1010243614c8.
- Added a "Combat Reach" parameter (using attribute generic.attackReach) to swords, hoes and tridents.
Changes
Gameplay
- Players can now only attack when the weapon is fully charged.
- Different weapons and items have different attack ranges, all separate from the block breaking reach.
- The attack timer can be charged to 200%.
- The attack timer reaches 200% after the recharging animation of the sword is fully complete.
- A 200% charge is required for critical hits and the sweeping attack.
- A 200% charge also deals higher knockback while sprinting.
- Weapons with shorter cooldowns give victims shorter attack invulnerability times (invincibility frames).
- The attack control can now be held down, attacking whenever the attack cooldown reaches 100%.
- It is now possible to hit mobs through non-full-sized blocks such as grass.
- Changed how the attack indicator works.
- When on crosshair mode:
- The meter only appears after the attack is 100% recharged, showing the progress of reaching 200% charge instead.
- The "+" now only appears below the attack indicator when at 200% charge.
- When on hotbar mode:
- The meter only appears while charging the initial 100%.
- When on crosshair mode:
Sweep attack
- Performing a sweep attack now requires the Sweeping Edge enchantment.
- Now requires the attack timer to be at 200%.
- Is now performed regardless of whether an entity is hit.
Items
- Increased attack speed for all axes to 2.
- All axes deal 1HP more damage than their sword counterparts.
- Attack reach remains at 3 blocks.
- Changed the attack speed for most hoes:
- Wooden: 2; stone: 2.5; diamond and gold: 3.5.
- Changed the damage dealt for all hoes:
- Wooden, stone, and gold: 2HP; iron and diamond: 3HP.
- Increased attack reach to 4 blocks.
- Increased attack speed for all pickaxes to 2.5.
- Increased damage for all pickaxes by 1HP.
- Attack reach remains at 3 blocks.
- Critical hits bypass shields.
- Removed warm-up delay from shields (0.25 second activation cooldown).
- When in the off-hand, shields activate when sneaking.
- Shields no longer knockback attackers when they block.
- Increased attack speed for all shovels to 2.
- Decreased damage for all shovels by 1HP.
- Attack reach remains at 3 blocks.
- Increased attack speed for all swords to 3.
- Increased damage for all swords by 1HP.
- Increased attack reach to 3.5 blocks.
- Increased attack speed to 2.
- Decreased base damage from 9HP to 7HP.
- Increased attack reach to 4 blocks.
| Tool | Axe | Hoe | Pickaxe | Shovel | Sword | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage | Speed | Damage | Speed | Damage | Speed | Damage | Speed | Damage | Speed | |
| Wood | 6HP | 2 | 2HP | 2 | 3HP | 2.5 | 2HP | 2 | 5HP | 3 |
| Gold | 6HP | 2 | 2HP | 3.5 | 3HP | 2.5 | 2HP | 2 | 5HP | 3 |
| Stone | 7HP | 2 | 2HP | 2.5 | 4HP | 2.5 | 3HP | 2 | 6HP | 3 |
| Iron | 8HP | 2 | 3HP | 3 | 5HP | 2.5 | 4HP | 2 | 7HP | 3 |
| Diamond | 9HP | 2 | 3HP | 3.5 | 6HP | 2.5 | 5HP | 2 | 8HP | 3 |
Combat Test 2
Combat Test 2 is the second experimental version of a future combat update.[2] Although it is a version for a future major release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.14.4. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Changes
Gameplay
- Attacking while crouching now disables the shield during the attack.
- Shield is reenabled after the weapon has reached 200% charge.
- Removed auto-attacking by holding the attack button.[note 1]
- Weapon reach is always active and increased by half a block during a special attack.
- The hotbar attack indicator now only appears after the attack is 100% recharged, showing the progress of reaching 200% charge instead.
Items
- Now protect against critical attacks again.
- Decreased the attack speed of all swords to 2.5.
- Increased damage to 8HP.
Fixes
From the previous development version
- Weapon cooldowns now no longer apply to players in Creative mode.
- Fixed scale of the hotbar attack indicator.
Combat Test 3
Combat Test 3 is the third experimental version of a future combat update.[3] Although it is a version for a future major release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.14.4. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Additions
Gameplay
- Added the Chopping enchantment for axes.
- Adds 1 damage and 0.5 seconds (10 game ticks) of shield stunning per level.
- Maximum level is III.
- Mutually exclusive with Sharpness.
- Added a "Shield Indicator" option that displays when the shield is active, similar to the attack indicator.
- Found in video settings, the available options are "OFF", "Crosshair" or "Hotbar".
- Added an option to hide shields when active.
- Found in video settings and labeled "Shield Animation".
Changes
Items
- Now always disable shields for 1.6 seconds (32 game ticks), instead of having a 25% to disable them for 5 seconds (100 game ticks).
- Now only use 1 durability when attacking instead of 2.
- Changed attack speed from 2.5 back to 3.0.
- The attack key can again be held down to automatically attack when the attack meter is full.
- Attacks now only happen when the sword is at 120% charge, slower than if attacks were timed.
Non-mob entities
Projectiles
- No longer trigger a mob's invulnerability timer, which means that Multishot can hit and deal damage to the same mob with all three arrows.
Gameplay
- Knockback resistance is now on a scale instead of being random.
- Arc of available protection has been decreased to 100 degrees instead of 180 degrees (i.e., attacks from outside this arc of 100° aren't blocked).
Combat Test 4
Combat Test 4 is the fourth experimental version of a future combat revision.[4] Although it is a version for a future revision, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.15 Pre-release 3. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Additions
Gameplay
- All sword enchantments can be applied to axes in the enchanting table.
- This includes the enchantments Looting, Sweeping Edge, Knockback and Fire Aspect. Axes could previously only receive Sharpness, Smite or Bane of Arthropods through an anvil. This has been changed so that axes can receive these enchantments naturally in the enchanting table, alongside their exclusive enchantment, Chopping.
- Added an option to disable shields being activated by pressing crouch.
- Located in the accessibility menu.
Changes
Items
- Removed the option to hide the shield.
- Now stack to 64.
- Can be shot from dispensers.
- Channeling still works on dispensed tridents.
- Tridents with Loyalty that fall into the void return to their owner upon breaking in the void.
- Tridents with Impaling now deal enchantment damage to all mobs that are in water or rain.
Non-mob entities
- Arrow uncertainty value has been decreased from 1.0 to 0.25.
Thrown snowballs
- Now have 4-tick cooldown.
- Not rendered for the first 2 ticks to prevent screen flickering.
Thrown eggs
- Not rendered for the first 2 ticks to prevent screen flickering.
Gameplay
Combat
- The attack timer is now unaffected by switching items, only resetting when the player actually performs an attack.
- Critical attacks now trigger at 100% attack timer charge.
- Sprint-knockback attacks now trigger at 100% attack timer charge.
- Default attack reach has been decreased from 3 blocks to 2.5 blocks.
- Attacking with a 200% charge now adds +1.0 to the attack reach, up from +0.5.
Combat Test 5
Combat Test 5 is the fifth experimental version of a future combat revision.[5][6] Although it is a development version for a future release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.15.2 Pre-release 2. This version was released on Reddit and Minecraft.net, but it does not appear in the launcher.
Additions
Gameplay
- Added a "Coyote Time" that activates for a fraction of a second after a player aims at something, but attacks outside its bounding box.
Changes
Items
- Lowered the attack damage of most tools and weapons, as shown in the following table:
| Tool | Axe | Pickaxe | Shovel | Sword | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | |
| Wood | 6HP | 5HP | 3HP | 3HP | 2HP | 2HP | 5HP | 4HP |
| Gold | 6HP | 5HP | 3HP | 3HP | 2HP | 2HP | 5HP | 4HP |
| Stone | 7HP | 5HP | 4HP | 3HP | 3HP | 2HP | 6HP | 4HP |
| Iron | 8HP | 6HP | 5HP | 4HP | 4HP | 3HP | 7HP | 5HP |
| Diamond | 9HP | 7HP | 6HP | 5HP | 5HP | 4HP | 8HP | 6HP |
- Now have an attack damage of 7HP, instead of 8HP.
Non-mob entities
Thrown eggs
- Now have a 4-tick cooldown.
Gameplay
Attacking
- Increased the attack damage of unarmed attacks from 1HP to 2HP.[note 2]
- Changed the swing animation to emphasize the rhythm of the attacks.
- Saturation is no longer capped by the hunger level of the player. [note 3]
- Upon eating food, the player's saturation is always set to the food's provided saturation amount unless their current saturation level exceeds what is obtainable from the food. [note 3]
- High saturation no longer gives a fast regeneration boost.
- Changed food eating speed from 32 game ticks (1.6 seconds) to 40 game ticks (2 seconds).
- The player now naturally regenerates health when above a hunger level of 7 () instead of 18 ( × 9).
- The player now naturally heals every 60 game ticks (3 seconds) instead of every 80 game ticks (4 seconds).
- The player now takes damage from starvation every 60 game ticks (3 seconds) instead of every 80 game ticks (4 seconds) when the hunger bar is empty.
- Natural healing now always drains food points.
- Saturation is not used when healing damage, and is only relevant to other actions that drain the hunger bar.
- The player can now sprint at any hunger value.
- Reintroduced upwards knockback when hitting players in the air.
- Players now get knockback from hits that deal less than half a heart of damage, including no damage.
Combat Test 6
Combat Test 6 is the sixth experimental version of a future combat revision.[7] Although it is a development version for a future release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.16.2 Pre-release 3. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Changes
Items
- Removed other weapon enchantments from the enchanting table.
- Bow and arrow accuracy now slowly decreases the longer the player keeps the bow charged.
- This is accompanied by a wobbling animation that gets progressively more intense.
- Arrows are now 100% accurate by default.
Non-mob entities
Projectiles
- Player momentum is added to thrown projectiles, but only in the direction the player is aiming.
Gameplay
- Entities with bounding boxes smaller than 0.9 block (such as rabbits and bats, for example) now have them inflated to that value.
- Increased base reach from 2.5 to 3 blocks, and removed bonus reach for delayed attacks.
- Missing an attack now only puts a 4 game tick delay until the next attack, regardless of weapon.
- Removed "Coyote Time", which was introduced in the previous combat test.
- Renamed Chopping to Cleaving.
- Nerfed Sweeping Edge enchantment to 25/33/37.5% (was 50/66/75%).
- Removed the attack indicator completely, since it is no longer used by any systems.
- Reverted eating speed to 32 ticks (1.6 seconds).
- Eating is now interrupted if something hits the player.
- The player now naturally heals every 40 game ticks (2 seconds) instead of every 60 game ticks (3 seconds).
- The player now takes damage from starvation every 40 game ticks (2 seconds) instead of every 60 game ticks (3 seconds) when the hunger bar is empty.
- Natural healing drains food points 50% slower.
- Reintroduced the rule that sprinting requires more than 6 points of food.
- Only protect up to 5 damage for melee attacks (still 100% against projectiles).
- Recover faster after an attack.
- Swords always have sweeping attacks again, axes have it with the Sweeping Edge enchantment.
Fixes
From the previous development version.
- Fixed knockback calculation.
- Fixed damage value on items being off-by-one client-side.
- Fixed a bug that caused players to be unable to attack/interact after respawning.
Combat Test 7c
Combat Test 7c is the seventh experimental version of a future combat revision.[8] Although it is a development version for a future release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.16.2. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Two private testing versions of Combat Test 7c were developed: Combat Test 7 and Combat Test 7b, given to testers on August 12 and August 13, 2020, respectively.
Changes
Items
- Made weapon enchantments available to axes if they are applied from a book in an anvil.
- Removed bow inaccuracy for holding too long.
- Can now stack to 16.
- This does not apply to splash potions and lingering potions.
Gameplay
- Returned the "200% time" attacks ("charged" attacks below) and the +1 reach bonus.
- Missed attacks do not count as charged and are still fast.
- Players cannot get the reach bonus while crouching.
- Added a hard-coded single tick to the attack rate when auto-attacking, instead of being 20% slower.
- Returned sweeping to only work for charged attacks and when having the Sweeping enchantment.
- Returned base reach to 2.5 blocks.
- Removed the eating interruption for getting hit.
- Returned the attack indicator.
- Now add a 50% knockback resistance when active.
- Are now always instant.
- Protect against 100% explosion damage.
Fixes
From the previous development version
- Netherite weapons have updated stats.
- Using shields while crouching is now no longer desynchronized when attacking air.
- Players in spectator mode can no longer sweep in the air.
- Knockback attribute no longer have a random chance to completely prevent knockback.
- Fixed player speed bug for crouching vs using shield.
Combat Test 8b
Combat Test 8b is the eighth experimental version of a future combat revision.[9] Although it is a development version for a future release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.16.2. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Combat Test 8 was released earlier for private testing.
Changes
Gameplay
- Cleaving now adds +2/+3/+4 points of damage (was +1/+2/+3).
Combat Test 8c
Combat Test 8c is the ninth and most recent experimental version of a future combat revision which changes the mechanics of shields.[9] Although it is a development version for a future release, this combat experiment is a fork of 1.16.2. This version was released only on Reddit, so it does not appear in the launcher or in any Minecraft.net blog post.
Changes
Gameplay
- Fixed knockback calculations for shields.
- Disabled crouch-shielding while jumping.
- Shields with banners are now much stronger than normal shields (10 absorption instead of 5, increased knockback resistance).
- This is just a quick way of testing different types of shields without adding new items, and is not going to actually be implemented.[9]
Notes and references
- ↑ Hold to auto-attack is always enabled for controller and touch controls.
- ↑ This change was made before Bedrock Edition's unarmed attack damage was lowered from 2HP to 1HP in 1.18.30, which cited parity with Java Edition as a reason.
- ↑ a b This change was made in Combat Test 5, however went unmentioned in the changelogs.
- ↑ "A custom Java Edition snapshot to test new combat mechanics" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, June 26, 2019
- ↑ "Update: Custom Java Edition snapshot to test new combat mechanics (version 2)" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, August 15, 2019
- ↑ "Updated Combat Test Snapshot (number 3) and a custom map for combat testing" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, November 1, 2019
- ↑ "Since doing something this the last minute on a Friday is a great idea: Combat Test Snapshot Number 4" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, November 30, 2019
- ↑ "Experimental Combat Snapshot - version 5" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, January 16, 2020
- ↑ "Experimental Combat Snapshot v5" – Minecraft.net, January 16, 2020.
- ↑ "Combat Test version 6" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, August 7, 2020
- ↑ "Combat test snapshot version 7c" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, August 14, 2020
- ↑ a b c "Here we go again... Combat test snapshot 8b" – u/jeb_ on Reddit, August 21, 2020