Minecraft gets new cow variants, bush types, and ambient sounds to desert biomes in the latest public testing update
Mojang Studios has shared the details for Minecraft's latest public testing update.
Ahead of the release of Minecraft's first content update of 2025, the developer has outlined several features that it will be adding to the game but can now be tested via the latest Java snapshot.
As detailed in latest blog post, among these new features are two new cow variants, including a cold cow, which «brings cozy with them wherever they go» thanks to their fluffy coat and can be found in cold biomes, as well as the auburn warm cow which can be found around sandy biomes.
Mojang is also continuing to implement new foliage to bring Minecraft's sandbox world to life. With the new update, players will come across the «firefly bush» that will spawn dancing fireflies at night-time, illuminating darkened areas. The firefly bush can be found in swamps and bodies of water and players will also be able to bury them below other blocks to make them sparkle.
Another new plant, simply called «bush», has also been added to the game, a fairly unremarkable tuft of greenery that can be found sprouting in forests, birch forests, plains, windswept hills, and other green biomes.
Finally, even more ambient sounds are being introduced to the game, this time to desert biomes.
«Next time you’re surfing the dunes of the desert biomes, husks and warm cows won’t be the only things heard stirring in the sandbanks,» Mojang said. «Listen out for whispers of sand and other new ambient desert sounds coming from clusters of sand and terracotta blocks. The dead bush will also carry the chirping of crickets, rustling twigs, and howling winds as you journey across this expansive terrain.
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»You can also bring the soothing sounds of the deserts to your own builds by placing the dead bush on two sand blocks outside, or by clustering several sand or terracotta blocks together."
These new features, alongside the six new gameplay features that were added last
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