I'll maintain this thread and report when new Minecraft snapshots come out, plus links to get them and the features that were added.

Snapshot 12w03a

Time for the snapshot of week 3, 2012! List of changes, since 1.1 last week:

* Ladders regained their collision box, and vines are climbable when they have a solid block behind them
* Added jungle biome (requires a new world) with new tree and leaf types
* Updated language files
* Dispensers will place mobs instead of releasing the spawner egg
* Zombies have new path-finding AI
* Wolves have new AI and can be bred (when tame)
Get the snapshot here:

Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w03a/minecraft.jar
Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w03a/minecraft_server.jar
// jeb and jon

Source: Jeb's blog


Snapshot 12w04a

Time for the snapshot of week 4, 2012! List of changes:

New jungle-specific mob that can be tamed
Skeletons have new AI and a few new behaviors
Various minor bug fixes and changes
Added an experience item to creative mode
Added a flame item…
Updated language files
Get the snapshot here:

Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w04a/minecraft.jar
Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w04a/minecraft_server.jar
If you havent downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download

As you know, Minecraft is run using the Light-weight Java Game Library (LWJGL). We’ve been using a really old version of LWJGL because last time we tried to update it the game broke down and became unplayable for a lot of people. We are going to try to update it again once we release Minecraft 1.2.

However, the recent LWJGL version (2.8.3) includes a bunch of fixes for those of you who play with non-latin languages. If you want to try it out (to be able to chat in Japanese or Korean, for example), you should go to LWJGL’s download page and get lwjgl-2.8.3.zip (link for the lazy). In it you will find a folder called “jar” and a folder called “native.” Pick the files in those folders and replace the files located in your “.minecraft/bin” and “.minecraft/bin/natives” folders. Chatting in Korean should be a lot easier now.

Source: Jeb's blog


Snapshot 12w05a

Here’s the development snapshot of week 5, 2012! List of changes:

Many mob-related bug fixes (and some new behaviors)
Ocelots are easier to tame, and cats can be told to sit
Many small bug fixes and tweaks
Villagers will try to detect village houses and live in them
Updated language files (now with 50% less profanities!)
Get the snapshot here:

Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w05a/minecraft.jar
Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w05a/minecraft_server.jar
If you havent downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download


Snapshot 12w06a

Here’s the development snapshot of week 6, 2012! List of changes:

Many minor bug fixes and tweaks
Doors have been changed to properly detect if they are open or closed. Double doors in existing maps will need to be updated
Villagers will move indoors during night and rain, and socialize with each other
Zombies will break down wooden doors on hard difficulty
Added cat sounds
Better movement for mobs in water
Added rare mob item drops
Get the snapshot here:

Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w06a/minecraft.jar
Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w06a/minecraft_server.jar


Snapshot 12w07a

Here’s the development snapshot of week 7, 2012! List of changes:

Added new world file format called “Anvil” (256 max height and 4096 block IDs*)
Multi-player light calculations do no longer cause affected blocks to be transmitted to the clients, instead the clients will recalculate the light on their own
Villagers will repopulate villages based on how many houses there are available
Some nights in villages will be worse than others…
Added a redstone-controlled light source
Decreased chance for the rare mob drops
All animals use the new AI system now
* The game can’t use the full range of IDs yet because there are still some assumptions that IDs above 256 are items.

Update! New version number is 12w07b, fixing the following problems:

Crash bug corrupting levels when spawning mobs above the 255th block
Sheep animation is correct in SMP
Get the snapshot here:

Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w07b/minecraft.jar
Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w07b/minecraft_server.jar
If you havent downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download

NOTE: This snapshot will convert the maps you load to the new file format. If you want to revert to the old format, you need to replace the “level.dat” file with the file called “level.dat_mcr”. The new format will write world regions to files called “*.mca”, so your original regions will remain as “*.mcr”.


Snapshot 12w08a
Here’s the development snapshot of week 8, 2012! We’ve been a little bit busy with the LEGO trip and Mojam, so the list of changes is a bit shorter than usual:

Added a defense mob to villages
Added up-side-down stairs
Many changes to the world and lighting system
Get the snapshot here:

Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w08a/minecraft.jar
Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w08a/minecraft_server.jar
If you havent downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download

Next week we will mainly focus on bug fixing.

wonder how you could breed a dog...dog eat wheat wierd

You use rotten flesh to breed wolves. The jungles are awesome. The new zombie AI is great and is gonna catch you off-guard. Ladders are back to normal. Vines are current ladders. No more vulgar language in translations. Mob dispensers are great for troll server ops.

A new snapshot has recently been released, adding new items, new mobs and new mob behavior.

Looks like a huge focus is on making mobs smarter.

EDIT: The new jungle mob is confirmed to be cats. ^~^