Minecraft Java 26.4 Snapshot 8 released on 10 November 2026. After Snapshot 7 delivered the last new features of the winter drop, this one is about getting things right. The headline is the Ender Dragon, which had stopped flying properly in the 26.4 snapshots. The cold mobs get balancing changes too: every undead mob is now immune to Freezing, and ice balls hit softer.
Image: Mojang Studios, from the official 26.4 Snapshot 8 announcement.
RateData pack 127.0, resource pack 103.0
XP levelJava 26.4 Snapshot 8
Build time10 November 2026
DifficultyIntermediate
Snapshots can break worlds. Test them in a copy, never your main save. Data packs written for Snapshot 7 may stop loading here, because validation errors now block packs and commands (see the data pack section).
Everything new, at a glance
| Change |
What it does |
| Ender Dragon |
Flies, dives and perches properly again |
| Freezing |
Every undead mob is now immune |
| Ice ball |
Deals less damage |
| Cold sulfur cube |
No longer floats on water |
| Creative inventory |
Snow layers and snow blocks sit next to the snow brick set |
| Languages |
Javanese and Chavacano (Zamboanga) added |
| Data pack 127.0 |
Stricter validation that can stop packs and commands loading |
| Bug fixes |
43 issues fixed |
The Ender Dragon flies again
Mojang's notes put it plainly: the dragon "has forgotten a thing or two about flying". Several bugs made the fight strange or stuck, and Snapshot 8 fixes them:
- Dives toward the player work again (MC-197201).
- Dives to the exit portal follow the right path (MC-271336).
- The dragon no longer gets stuck flying back and forth between two points (MC-271337).
- Its vertical speed is correct again, which caused the erratic flight (MC-272431).
If you tried to beat the dragon in a 26.4 snapshot world and it never came down to perch, that was the bug, not your setup. Our Ender Dragon guide covers the whole fight, from the crystals to the perch window.
Every undead mob is immune to Freezing
The Freezing effect arrived with frostbites in Snapshot 3. Snapshot 8 makes all undead mobs immune to it. In the game data, the #immune_to_freezing entity tag no longer lists zombies, strays and frostbites one by one; it now holds the polar bear, the snow golem and the whole #undead tag. That adds, among others:
- Skeletons, bogged, parched and wither skeletons
- Zombie villagers, zombified piglins and zoglins
- Phantoms and the Wither
Plain skeletons in particular could still be frozen in Snapshot 7 (MC-312972). For you, the change means Freezing no longer weakens undead attackers: if you relied on powder snow to soften skeletons or zombie villagers, it will not anymore.
Ice balls deal less damage
Mojang only says the ice ball's damage "has been reduced". The game code shows how. An ice ball deals its speed on impact multiplied by a factor, rounded up, and Snapshot 8 lowers that factor from 1.395 to 1.3:
- Frostbites throw at a speed of 1.6, so a close hit still deals 3 damage (2.08 rounds up to 3, as 2.23 did before).
- Your own throws start at 1.5 when you stand still, so a close hit drops from 3 to 2 damage.
- Ice balls slow down in flight, so long throws now drop to lower damage sooner.
Those figures come from reading the Snapshot 8 game files, not from an in-game test, so expect small differences when the thrower is moving. If you farm frostbites, our frostbite ice ball farm guide covers how to keep their throws away from your AFK spot.
Smaller changes
- Cold sulfur cube: it no longer floats, matching the other archetypes with similar properties. It still freezes water it moves over, and a separate fix stops it making frosted ice on flowing water (MC-312981). If you planned ice bridges with it from Snapshot 6, test them again. Our sulfur cube guide explains how archetypes work.
- Creative inventory: snow layers and snow blocks now sit next to the snow brick set in Building Blocks.
- Languages: Javanese and Chavacano (Zamboanga) are new options.
- Frostbite sounds: a new
entity.frostbite.throw sound, and the throw is no longer pitched wrongly.
Bug fixes worth knowing
Among the 43 fixes:
- Leaf decay: growing a tree next to logs that are not part of it no longer makes its leaves decay (MC-312833).
- Water fog: swimming on the surface no longer renders the water fog wrongly (MC-312944).
- Nether ravines: some ravines no longer expose the bedrock ceiling (MC-312990).
- Riding: mobs you ride now take vertical knockback when hit, and rideable mobs launched by wind charges keep moving.
- Inventory: the outer edges of slots are selectable again, and item tooltips no longer appear too high or too low.
- Minecarts take fall damage again with the Minecart Improvements experiment off (MC-313091).
- Texture reloads: entity and GUI textures reload without restarting the game.
- Breezes: their eyebrows glow again (MC-313087).
For data pack and resource pack authors
- Pack formats: data pack 127.0, resource pack 103.0.
- Validation: most validation problems in loot tables, predicates, item modifiers, slot sources, number providers, villager trades and advancement triggers no longer stop an element loading. Two problems are now hard errors instead: an element that calls itself recursively through tags or IDs, and an element that needs context values the caller does not provide. Such errors now also stop commands compiling, in functions and in the console.
- Context:
minecraft:command is split into minecraft:command_predicate (for example /execute if predicate) and minecraft:command_modifier (for /item ... modify). A new report, loot_context_requirements.json, lists what each context provides.
- Conditional elements: an element with a
condition is only validated if the condition has all the context it needs, so conditions let one loot element work in several contexts.
- Commands: the
commands.json report moves argument details under an argument field and now includes suggestions. A new pattern argument type matches regular expressions, mainly for server-side mods and plugins.
- Tags: new block tags
#triggers_ambient_ice_block_sounds and #triggers_ambient_ice_crystal_sounds.
- Shaders: terrain vertex data in
terrain.vsh now comes from a texel buffer with a new packing. The order-independent transparency shaders and the boat water mask moved to subpasses; core/blit_depth.fsh is removed and core/blit_depth_bounds.fsh is added. Shader packs that edit terrain or water rendering will need updates.
- UI: a new sprite,
friends/tab_focused.png.
What comes next
Snapshot 8 adds no new gameplay features, which fits Mojang's statement that Snapshot 7 was the last feature build. The next step should be pre-releases, and the release date is still unannounced. Our 26.4 release date page tracks the window and everything in the drop.
Frequently asked questions
Why won't the Ender Dragon land or move in 26.4?
Earlier 26.4 snapshots had several bugs in the dragon's flight: it stopped diving at the player, got stuck flying between two points and moved erratically. Snapshot 8 fixes all of them.
Which mobs are immune to Freezing in Minecraft 26.4?
From Snapshot 8, every undead mob (zombies and their variants, skeletons and their variants, phantoms and the Wither) plus polar bears and snow golems.
How much damage does an ice ball do now?
Its speed on impact times 1.3, rounded up. A frostbite's throw still hits for 3 up close; a player's throw drops from 3 to 2. Before Snapshot 8 the factor was 1.395.
Does the cold sulfur cube still float?
No. Snapshot 8 removes its buoyancy so it behaves like the other archetypes with similar properties.
Is Snapshot 8 the last 26.4 snapshot?
Mojang has not said. Snapshot 7 was the last one with new features, so pre-releases are the usual next step.
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