Final Minecraft snapshot of the year introduces adorable axolotls

It’s been quite a year for Minecraft. The massive game has found even more success due to a resurgence on Twitch and the promise of next year’s Caves and Cliffs update has players interested. So, what better way to end the year than with a goofier snapshot that doesn’t add too much that’ll change the game? The latest snapshot for Minecraft does exactly that, adding one new thing: adorable little axolotls.

These amphibious creatures won’t spawn naturally in the game just yet. To see them in action, players will have to go into creative mode and nab a spawn egg. Once they do though, they’ve got a pal for life, or at least, until the thing gets hungry again.

Axolotls have a unique set of behaviors for players to get used to. For starters, the creatures love tropical fish and will swim with a player holding one or mate when given some. They’re also appreciative little creatures that will give a player regeneration and remove mining fatigue if they kill a mob the axolotl was fighting. Of course, sometimes fights won’t work out for axolotls. In those cases, the creature will actually play dead in an attempt to stop being attacked. A full list of what the axolotl will do in Minecraft can be found here.

Technical changes

For Minecraft players that have been enjoying the game’s sculk sensors added in the last snapshot, the new block has received some changes. Eating no longer triggers a vibration for the sensor, as it didn’t make sense with the block’s design philosophy. It’s just as well that walking on wool or tossing wool on the ground no longer causes vibrations either. The sculk sensor has also had a number of its frequency values changed due to player feedback. The list of values changed can be found at the bottom of today’s snapshot update.