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Minecraft Java Edition Snapshot 25w02a, released January 8, 2025, adds cold- and warm-biome pig variants, Wildflowers, Leaf Litter, and falling-leaf particles. It also revises the Lodestone recipe. This is a historical Java testing build, not the current Minecraft version; Wildflowers, Leaf Litter, and falling-leaf particles later appeared in the Java Edition 1.21.5 release notes.
What’s new in Minecraft snapshot 25w02a?
The Java Team described the update this way: “This snapshot adds new ambient features to the game, including wildflowers, leaf litter, and falling leaves.” The most visible additions are biome-specific pig appearances and decorative details for forests and meadows. The snapshot also makes Lodestones cheaper to craft in iron.
Where do cold and warm pigs spawn?
Pig appearance is determined by the biome where the pig spawns. Temperate pigs remain the default in biomes that do not spawn either of the new variants.
Cold pigs
Cold pigs spawn in Old Growth Pine Taiga, Old Growth Spruce Taiga, Taiga, Snowy Taiga, Windswept Hills, Windswept Gravelly Hills, and Windswept Forest.
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Warm pigs
Warm pigs spawn in Savanna, Savanna Plateau, Windswept Savanna, Jungle, Sparse Jungle, Bamboo Jungle, Eroded Badlands, Wooded Badlands, and Badlands.
How breeding affects a piglet’s variant
A bred piglet randomly inherits the variant of one of its two parents. The biome where the parents breed does not determine the baby’s appearance.
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Where do Wildflowers spawn, and what can you do with them?
Wildflowers grow naturally in Birch Forests, Old Growth Birch Forests, and Meadows. They are decorative blocks that can also be crafted into Yellow Dye.
- Up to four flowers can occupy one block space.
- Placing another Wildflowers block can increase the number in that space, and Bone Meal can produce more.
- The block has four orientations.
- Craft Wildflowers into Yellow Dye.
How do you get Leaf Litter?
Leaf Litter generates in Forests, Dark Forests, and Wooded Badlands. You can also make it by smelting any Leaves block. It can be used as smelting fuel.
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- Up to four pieces fit in one block space.
- It can be oriented in four directions.
- The Java Edition 1.21.5 notes specify that Leaf Litter is generated with the world and does not regenerate during gameplay. The smelting recipe should not be taken as evidence that it is renewable.
Which leaves can produce falling-leaf particles?
The snapshot gives these Leaves blocks a chance to spawn falling-leaf particles: Oak, Jungle, Acacia, Dark Oak, Spruce, Mangrove, Birch, Azalea, and Flowering Azalea. The official notes do not give a numerical chance.
What else changed in 25w02a?
Lodestone recipe and loot
The revised recipe uses one Iron Ingot surrounded by eight Chiseled Stone Bricks. Lodestones can also be found as loot at Ruined Portals in the Overworld or Nether.
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Other gameplay and accessibility changes
- Iron blocks and iron fittings have new sounds.
- Farm animals can spawn in Badlands, and Short Grass generates more sparsely in Meadows.
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Technical changes
For technical users, the snapshot updates Data Pack version to 62 and Resource Pack version to 47, adds a data-driven registry for pig variants, and moves command text components to SNBT in commands including /tellraw and /title.
How to try the snapshot safely
- Open Minecraft Launcher and go to the Installations tab.
- Enable snapshots in the launcher, then create or select an installation for the snapshot.
- Back up any world you plan to use, or run the snapshot from a folder separate from your main worlds. Mojang warns: “Testing versions can corrupt your world, so please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.”
These instructions apply to Java Edition snapshots. The January 2025 overview described Bedrock testing through Preview/Beta separately; at that time, falling-leaf particles were available there while Wildflowers and Leaf Litter were still forthcoming. That was the status then, not a statement about current Bedrock availability.
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