Minecraft’s next drop: Java Snapshot 5 and Bedrock Preview compared

1.Introduction

Minecraft's next game drop is still in testing. Mojang published Java 26.4 Snapshot 5 and Bedrock Preview 26.70.21 on 20 October 2026, bringing Packed Ice Bricks to both branches.1 The shared feature makes these updates worth covering together, while their edition-specific changes need separate treatment.

2.The shared addition: Packed Ice Bricks

The new building set expands packed ice into a brick family. Java includes slabs, stairs, walls and a chiseled variant, with Stonecutter support. For builders, that gives an ice structure more shapes than a wall of full cubes.

The Bedrock changelog also introduces the brick set and notes that naming, inventory placement and waterlogged behaviour are still being finalised. A testing build is useful for trying a design, but it is too early to treat every detail as the final stable specification.

3.Java Snapshot 5: an advancement and a technical boundary

The new advancement is named What Goes Around Comes Around. Its task is to kill a Frostbite with an Ice Ball; Frostbite is the mob involved, not the advancement's name.

Mojang also changes data and resource pack versions and the login protocol.1 Server owners should check compatibility rather than assuming a stable server, plugins and a snapshot client belong in the same setup.

If you only want to see the new blocks, a separate test world is enough. Keep experiments away from the world your friends rely on, and use the version-specific server instructions if you decide to test multiplayer.

4.Bedrock Preview: more than a matching block list

The Bedrock build adds its own adjustments, including Ice Ball damage behaviour, crevasses in Ice Caves and mob changes. Its notes also describe ambient sounds around ice. Java and Bedrock share the upcoming drop, but one changelog should not be used as a substitute for the other.

Minecraft on phones uses Bedrock rather than Java. Preview or beta access still depends on your device and programme availability; a Java snapshot download is not a mobile update. Follow the platform-specific route linked from Mojang's Preview notes.2

5.Back up before testing

Mojang warns that testing versions can corrupt worlds. Make a backup before opening a world in either branch, and keep the backup separate from the copy you experiment on.

• Check which edition and test version you are launching.
• Back up the world, then work in a new world or a disposable copy.
• Keep stable play and experimental testing separate; record the version when reporting a bug.

6.What this means for the stable release

These are snapshot and preview builds. The two changelogs reviewed here do not establish a stable release date, and this article does not announce the drop as available to every player.

Builders can already explore the direction of the new set. Server owners and players protecting a long-running world have a different priority: follow the release notes, check compatibility and wait for the appropriate stable build before moving their main world.