The Nether Update is a major update themed around revamping the Nether. It adds multiple new features to this dimension, such as new biomes and mobs. The update was announced at MINECON Live 2019[1] and was released on June 23, 2020, only for the Java and Bedrock editions of Minecraft.[2] It was released as Java Edition 1.16 and Bedrock Edition 1.16.0.[3][4]
This update's development on Java Edition started with snapshot 20w06a, which was released on February 5, 2020. The first pre-release was released on June 4, 2020, followed by the second on June 5, the third on June 10, the fourth on June 11, the fifth on June 12, the sixth on June 15, the seventh on June 16, and the eighth on June 17. The only release candidate was released on June 18.
This update's development on Bedrock Edition started with beta 1.15.0.51, which was released on February 12, 2020. Bedrock Edition 1.15.0 was skipped to bring parity between major versions of Java and Bedrock.[5]
For China Edition, the full update was released on January 28, 2021.
Key art
Additionally, features from this update was released for Education Edition in 1.17.30 on November 2, 2021.
An example of the biomes in the Nether as of the update, with a crimson forest to the far left, nether wastes up close, warped forest on the back, and basalt deltas to the far right.
Generates naturally in soul sand valleys, or by lighting soul soil or soul sand on fire. It burns infinitely on these blocks. Soul fire does twice the damage as normal fire. It glows in blue light. It scares and wards off any nearby piglins.
Crafted similarly to a torch, but with soul sand or soul soil block on the bottom. It glows with a light level of 10, in a blue appearance, and scares off nearby piglins.
Crafted as a regular lantern would, but with a soul torch replacing the regular torch. Glows blue, and emits a light level of 10. It wards off nearby piglins.
Crafted as a regular campfire, but with soul soil or soul sand replacing the coal. Emits a blue glow, with a light level of 10. Wards off nearby piglins.
Generates naturally in their corresponding biomes, the crimson and warped forests, on crimson or warped nylium. When fertilized with bone meal, it grows into crimson or warped huge fungi, as long as it is planted on its corresponding nylium. Can be obtained infinitely from applying bone meal to nylium of either type.
Woodlike blocks that make up the stems of crimson and warped huge fungi. Can be crafted into corresponding plank, slab, stair, fence, fence gate, door, trapdoor, button, or pressure plate variants. Does not burn, and can be stripped with an axe.
A variant of Nether wart block that generates in warped forests and as part of huge warped fungi. It does not have a crafting recipe and can be obtained only from the previously said sources.
Mostly generate in their corresponding forest biomes; however, crimson roots can also generate in soul sand valleys and rarely in warped forests. Generates on nylium or soul soil, and can be obtained by fertilizing nylium with bone meal.
Generates in large patches in basalt deltas, forming stacking structures, although it can also generate in basalt pillars in soul sand valleys. Can be infinitely generated by placing a lava source or flowing block next to blue ice, as long as it is also adjacent to soul soil. Can also be used to craft polished basalt.
Generates in both brick and raw form in bastion remnant structures. Can be polished through a stonecutter or by crafting 4 together. Polished variants can also be turned into button or pressure plates, or bricks. All variants have a corresponding slab, stair, and wall variants. Also generates in basalt deltas in large patches and in small patches in other Nether biomes.
Generates in all Nether biomes. Drops 2–4 gold nuggets upon mining, although this can be increased with Fortune. Mining with Silk Touch gives the block itself, which can be smelted into a gold ingot. Aggravates any nearby piglins if mined.
Can be obtained via bartering with piglins or from a ruined portal. Emits a light level of 10, and purple "teardrop" particles. Six crying obsidian and 3 glowstone create a respawn anchor.
Rare ore block found in the Nether, that is most commonly found below lava level, at y = 15. Can be smelted into netherite scraps, and generates in blobs of 1–3, always unexposed to air. Does not burn up in fire or lava when dropped.
A redstone block that is crafted with 1 hay bale and 4 redstone dust. When hit with any projectile, it emits a redstone signal for a short period, without the necessity of a comparator.
A block that can be used to set a spawn point in the Nether. For it to work, it must be charged using a maximum of four glowstone blocks, and a minimum of one. It explodes violently if used in the Overworld or the End.
Crafted with 1 netherite ingot and 8 chiseled stone bricks, or rarely found in bastion remnant loot chests. When a compass is used on it, the compass always points to the lodestone, unless it is in a different dimension as the lodestone (in which it swerves in random directions), the lodestone is broken, or it is used on a different lodestone.
Generates hanging lanterns in bastion remnants, or crafted from 2 iron nuggets and one iron ingot. Can be waterlogged, and can hang lanterns and various other blocks.
Can be used on diamond armor/tools in a smithing table interface to create netherite armor/tools, retaining the name, enchantments, and damage to durability. Does not burn up in fire or lava when dropped.
Significantly stronger and more durable than diamond armor, with a new statistic that affects knockback called Knockback Resistance. Does not burn up in fire or lava when dropped.
Crafted with one fishing rod and one warped fungus. Attracts nearby striders, and when a strider is ridden, it leads it in the direction the warped fungus on a stick is held. When riding the strider, using the warped fungus on a stick with the use key boosts the strider's movement speed for a significant amount of time, but also removes some durability.
Spawns commonly in crimson forests, uncommonly in nether wastes, and in bastion remnants. Attacks the player unless it is wearing at least one piece of gold armor. Attacks wither skeletons and the wither on sight, while occasionally attacking hoglins for food. Are attracted by gold-related items, except for some. If the gold-related item is an armor piece or sword, they equip it. Piglins are afraid of soul light-related blocks. Can be bartered by giving them a gold ingot, which causes them to throw a random item in their bartering loot table in return.
Spawns in lava oceans in the Nether. Can be bred with warped fungus, which creates a baby strider. Can be ridden by using a saddle on it, but can be controlled only with a warped fungus on a stick, similar to pigs in the Overworld.
A hostile mob that spawns in crimson forests and in hoglin stables in bastion remnants. Is afraid of warped fungus and can be bred using crimson fungus. Babies also attempt to attack, but when attacked back, they run away immediately.
A dangerous hostile mob that spawns in bastion remnants. Attacks the player regardless if it's wearing gold armor or not and is not attracted by gold-related items, neither can be bartered. They also attack wither skeletons and the wither on sight, just like regular piglins. Their attack damage is quite large, capable of killing an unarmored player in a few hits.
A rare structure that generates out of four different types, and can generate in any biome except for basalt deltas. Made entirely of blackstone and basalt, it spawns piglins, piglin brutes, and, if is the hoglin stables variant, hoglins. Contains loot chests and gold-related blocks that aggravate any nearby piglin if mined or opened.
Large tree-like structures that generate in crimson and warped forests. Their structure is made of stems, wart blocks, shroomlights, and if it's a huge crimson fungus, weeping vines.
A new generated structure that comes in many different sizes, always containing 1 loot chest. They can spawn in any Nether or Overworld biome, even underground, in water, or in lava lakes. Occasionally contains a block of gold, and is made of stone bricks if generated in the Overworld, and blackstone bricks if in the Nether.
A dangerous landscape made entirely out of soul soil and soul sand, with occasional basalt pillars and nether fossils. Skeletons and ghasts spawn commonly in soul sand valleys, while endermen are less common. Soul fire is also generated.
A biome floored with crimson nylium, containing crimson fungi, huge crimson fungi, crimson roots, and the occasional warped fungi. Weeping vines occasionally generate on the roof in this biome. Hoglins, piglins, and zombified piglins spawn in this biome, with the last one being less common.
A biome containing similar traits to the crimson forest, with warped fungi, huge warped fungi, warped roots, nether sprouts, and the occasional crimson fungi and roots as part of the vegetation. Twisted vines generate in large quantities in this biome. Endermen spawn frequently here.
A hard-to-surpass biome made of stalk-like basalt pillars and patches of blackstone. Lava pools ringed with magma blocks appear in this biome frequently. Magma cubes frequently spawn here, alongside ghasts.
1.16.50 was released exclusively on iOS to improve stability and fix crashes.
1.16.60 was released exclusively on PS4 to improve stability and reduce crashes.
1.16.61 was released exclusively on PS4 to fix critical bugs and crashes.
1.16.100 added new commands, expanded and improved the add-on and script engine mechanics, changes to certain block mechanics/gameplay, more parity from Java Edition, realms, and featured server support for PlayStation 4, revamps the achievement/trophy UI, and fixes bugs.
1.16.101 was released to fix an issue for mobile devices.
1.16.200 implemented RenderDragon to Windows 10 and added new audio settings, ray-tracing features, changes to death messages, and fixes bugs.
1.16.201 was released to fix some critical bugs and crashes.
1.16.210 added more new ambient sounds to the Nether, and fixes bugs.
1.16.220 added the ability to change signs' text's color with dyes, and fixes bugs and crashes.
1.16.221 was released to fix some critical bugs and crashes.
The original mix of Pigstep before converted to mono.
Trivia
Similarly to the announcement of the Update Aquatic, this update was announced during the development of the previous release, and before the features of that version were included in a full release.
Version numbers are the same for both Java and Bedrock editions, starting with this update.[5]
The Nether was originally going to be the theme of 1.13, but it was later changed to be the version for the Update Aquatic.[6]
Another screenshot which shows two piglins hunting a hoglin. Nether wart blocks seem to be growing on the ground. Note the piglin wearing golden leggings.
A soul sand valley that has generated next to a warped forest.
"This concept was made as we started talking about introducing huge nether warts in the Nether. This eventually led to us deciding to turn it into its own biome." – Johan Aronson, art director.
"We wanted to extend the palette in the Nether to enhance the feeling that you're not in the Overworld anymore. This was an experiment to find a suitable, contrasting palette to the original Nether setting." – Johan Aronson, art director.
There are guides for this update!
Soul fire
Soul torch
Soul lantern
Soul campfire
Crimson and warped fungi
Crimson and warped stems (with stripped variants)
Crimson and warped hyphae (with stripped variants)
Crimson and warped planks
Warped wart block
Shroomlight
Weeping vines
Twisting vines
Crimson and warped nylium
Crimson and 
Warped roots.
Nether sprouts
Soul soil
Basalt
Blackstone (and its variants)
Nether gold ore
Crying obsidian
Ancient debris
Block of netherite
Target
Respawn anchor
Lodestone
Chain
Nether bricks variants
Quartz bricks
Netherite scrap
Netherite ingot
Netherite armor
Netherite tools
Warped fungus on a stick
"Pigstep" by Lena Raine
Lodestone compass
Snout banner pattern
Piglin Spawn Egg
Strider Spawn Egg
Zoglin Spawn Egg
Hoglin Spawn Egg
Piglin brute Spawn Egg
Piglin
Strider
Zoglin
Hoglin
Piglin brute
Bastion remnants
Basalt pillars
Huge fungi
Ruined portals
Nether fossils
Soul sand valley
Crimson forest
Warped forest
Basalt deltas
Soul Speed: allows players to walk quickly on soul sand.
Zombie pigman
Nether Update logo
Original Nether Update logo
Nether Update artwork
A view of the soul sand valley.
Another view of the soul sand valley.
Some soul fire present in the soul sand valley.
A view of the crimson forest biome.
A close-up view of the crimson forest.
A view of the warped forest biome.
A close-up of the warped forest.
Multiple piglins.
Multiple hoglins.
A target block being shot that activated the redstone lamps.
A view of the warped forest, with the red Nether fungi being replaced by two new types of fungi.![A baby hoglin shown on Twitter.[8]](./_assets_/20054f0f503920473ee29441f8464491.png)
Another screenshot which shows two piglins hunting a hoglin. Nether wart blocks seem to be growing on the ground. Note the piglin wearing golden leggings.
A soul sand valley that has generated next to a warped forest.![A teaser for the strider posted by @kingbdogz on Twitter.[9]](./_assets_/b92d69ccb85c1a0d9d7a80e63279da75.png)
"This concept was made as we started talking about introducing huge nether warts in the Nether. This eventually led to us deciding to turn it into its own biome." – Johan Aronson, art director.
"We wanted to extend the palette in the Nether to enhance the feeling that you're not in the Overworld anymore. This was an experiment to find a suitable, contrasting palette to the original Nether setting." – Johan Aronson, art director.
Artwork by Johan Aronson, art director.
Concept art of an early design of the strider.
Concept art of the strider.
Development
