Minecraft is getting more copper

We’ve got yet another Minecraft snapshot to take a good look at – and dive into, if you’re of the test-driving kind. This one comes a little later than usual, with Mojang usually dropping the latest batch of experimental changes on a Wednesday, but hey – a pesky little “endermite somehow got into the snapshot machinery” yesterday, so that naturally needed squishing. Now, though, we’ve got our rundown of Minecraft Java Snapshot 21W38A (catchy, I know).

This marks the second Minecraft Caves and Cliffs Part II snapshot, and there’s a decent-sized list of changes coming up, the most notable of which touch on the sandbox game’s distribution of ore – in this case, copper. As of this snapshot, the amount of copper to be found has gone up. The studio doesn’t really go beyond this detail – the patch note just reads, “increased the amount of copper” – so it’s not clear by how much, but if you’re keen for more copper, well, it’s a lucky day for you.

Additionally, though, Mojang has announced that copper ore now generates “up to y 95 (as originally designed)”. Oh, and lapis lazuli now generates in “blobs” as other ores already do, rather than appearing spread out. Lovely stuff.

Sprinting is getting a minor but probably quite handy tweak, too. While colliding with any block beforehand would cause your sprinting character to slow to a walk, now they’ll keep sprinting if they only glanced a block (in “very minor angles of collision”). For bigger collisions with blocks, you’ll still slow right down.

Elsewhere, there are some new technical changes – including the addition of a new setting called ‘simulation distance’ – as well the re-introduction of diagnostic tracking to help “better understand our players and to improve their experience”. Plus, there’s the usual run of bug fixes and some other bits, too.