A new Minecraft update adds more sturdy ways to brighten up your base

· PCGamesN

A new Minecraft snapshot has just dropped, and it adds even more building materials to spruce up your base in 2026's next game drop. The preview build for the upcoming update, which introduces the Dappled Forest biome and has now been in testing for a month, has slowly been growing bigger. We've had the introduction of cushions to the sandbox game, which both add a new dynamic to decoration and allow us to sit down properly for the first time ever. Wool stairs and slabs have made colorful structures more flexible. Now we've got something more solid.

While the new wool-based additions are certainly useful, it's not the most robust material to build your Minecraft base out of. Enter a more durable solution: concrete. A mixture of gravel, sand, and water that was already capable of being produced in any of the 16 standard dye colors, it can now be turned into slabs and stairs to suit your creative needs. Essentially, these will function similar to their woolen counterparts, but in a sturdier form.

Mojang has also made the new abandoned camps into more of a gateway to adventure. These small points of interest, which you can encounter dotted about the map, now have a chance to contain a map inside one of their chests. These can lead you towards other abandoned camps, or "various other types of structures in the overworld," the developer teases. What could that mean? You'll just have to set out on a journey to discover that. They're now marked as 'Explorer Maps' (rather than being standard Filled Maps), and each bears an icon based on its contents.

You want a better hint? Okay, but be warned that it might spoil a touch of the mystery. Along with the potential of directing you towards numerous other abandoned camps in different biomes, you can also find Explorer Maps for the likes of the ancient city, trial chambers, mineshafts, desert and jungle pyramids, warm ocean ruins, and woodland mansions. Given that the list includes some of the most sought-after locations in the world, you'll definitely want to keep an eye out for any abandoned camp you find.

The new patch also rolls out a few other small updates. Player icons on a map will now always show the direction they are facing. Cushions will no longer prevent vibrations when being placed, interacted with, or broken. The abandoned camp chest has had its potential for Firework Rockets removed, with Gunpowder added in its place, and the loot table for the barrels has been tweaked as well.

The latest build of Minecraft update 26.3 is available now via Java snapshot 7 and Bedrock preview 26.40. You can access these through the regular launcher by changing your version prior to starting the game. Given its theming and the usual pace of game drops, I'd expect the Dapped Forest to land fully in the fall, so we shouldn't be waiting too much longer for the finished thing.