The second part of the Minecraft 26.1 snapshot cycle continues refining features introduced earlier. Instead of adding large new systems, Snapshots 7 to 11 focus on polishing creature visuals, expanding sound variants for animals, improving the Golden Dandelion mechanic, and fixing bugs discovered during testing. Overall, these snapshots represent the final tuning phase before the full release of Minecraft 26.1.
Snapshot 7: hostile baby mobs, new animal sounds and a trumpet note block
Snapshot 7, released on February 10, 2026, mainly introduces updated baby versions of several hostile and humanoid mobs. Mojang redesigned the models and textures of baby zombies, husks, drowned, piglins, zombified piglins, villagers and zombie villagers, while also adjusting their hitboxes to better match their new proportions.
This snapshot also adds sound variants for several animals. Cats now include a royal sound variant, pigs have mini and big variants, cows gain a moody set of sounds, and chickens receive a picky variant. The game can now randomly assign these variants to animals while keeping the original sound set under the classic variant.
Another interesting addition is a new musical instrument for note blocks. When a note block is placed on a copper block, it now produces a trumpet-like sound. The sound slightly changes depending on the oxidation level of the copper block.
Finally, the Golden Dandelion can now also be used on baby hoglins, expanding its gameplay usage to more mobs.
Snapshot 8: the final wave of baby mob updates
Snapshot 8, released on February 17, 2026, is described by Mojang as the final gameplay batch for this upcoming game drop. It completes the visual overhaul of baby mobs by introducing updated models for pandas, hoglins, zoglins, striders and snifflets.
Mojang also adjusted several baby mob hitboxes so they can fit into tighter spaces. Many baby mobs can now occupy spaces only one block tall and half a block wide, including baby zombies, husks, drowned, piglins, zombified piglins, villagers and zombie villagers.
This snapshot also introduces a small but useful building improvement. The stonecutter can now directly convert stone and deepslate into several additional variants, making it easier for builders to obtain polished or brick variants when working on large projects.
Mojang also improved how IME candidate windows appear in-game on supported platforms such as Windows and macOS, which helps players using special text input methods.
Snapshot 9: a quick bug-fix update
Snapshot 9, released on February 18, 2026, does not introduce new gameplay features. Instead, it focuses on fixing several urgent issues discovered in Snapshot 8.
Among the fixes were a crash that occurred when entities moved outside the world’s vertical limits, a visual bug where entity shadows appeared too high above the ground, and an issue where kittens would repeatedly meow while lying down. Mojang also corrected a display issue related to IME text input.
This snapshot mainly serves as a stability update, which is common during the later stages of development when most new features are already implemented.
Snapshot 10: Golden Dandelion improvements
Snapshot 10, released on February 24, 2026, continues refining gameplay elements introduced earlier in the update cycle. The most noticeable change concerns the Golden Dandelion.
The item now displays different particles depending on its effect. When it stops a baby mob from aging, green particles move downward. When aging is re-enabled, green particles move upward. This visual feedback makes the mechanic easier to understand during gameplay.
Mojang also reduced the head size of baby zombies, husks and drowned, fixed a texture issue with the snifflet, corrected missing animation on baby strider bristles, and ensured that striders properly inherit warmth from the strider they stand on, matching behavior in Bedrock Edition.
Snapshot 11: final tweaks to trades, textures and sounds
Snapshot 11, released on March 3, 2026, continues the final polishing phase. Mojang fixed several visual details for rabbits, baby hoglins, baby pandas and baby goats. Baby goats now correctly rotate their heads during their horn attack animation.
Two gameplay adjustments are particularly noticeable. The master librarian villager no longer sells name tags. Instead, they now offer red and yellow candles for three emeralds. Meanwhile, the wandering trader now sells name tags for one emerald.
Pig sound variants also received additional improvements, including new eating sounds, and the trumpet sound produced by note blocks on copper blocks received further adjustments.
Mojang also mentioned a known issue in this snapshot: when running the game in fullscreen mode, minimizing the game may prevent it from being restored properly.
What to remember from Snapshots 7 to 11
Snapshots 7 to 11 are mainly focused on polishing the Minecraft 26.1 game drop. The most visible changes include the continued visual overhaul of baby mobs, new sound variants for several animals, improvements to the Golden Dandelion mechanic, and various quality-of-life adjustments for building and trading.
At the same time, Mojang has spent part of this cycle fixing bugs and stability issues discovered during testing, as demonstrated by Snapshot 9. This suggests that Minecraft 26.1 is approaching its final stabilization phase, where the focus shifts from adding features to ensuring reliability and smooth gameplay.
