The next big Minecraft update will overhaul the Nether by adding multiple new biomes, including Soulsand Valley and Netherwart Forest, as well as a new civilization called the Piglins who you can steal from or barter with.
The Piglins, which look a bit like Zombie Pigmen, will live in the Nether and guard chests of gold. They’re immediately hostile to the player, unless you wear gold armor, in which case they’ll only attack you if you try to pinch loot from their chests. You can also barter with them by throwing gold in their general direction, and they’ll respond by spewing out new, unannounced items. You can see them in this video from yesterday’s Minecon.
The Piglins won’t be the only new mob: they’ll hunt Piglin Beasts, which look like a cross between pigs and warthogs. They’re also hostile to the player, and gold won’t do you any favors with them. However, slaying them will get you meat, which makes them the first reliable source of decent food in Minecraft’s Nether. The Piglin name is still up for debate, and Mojang is asking fans to suggest and vote on other names here.
The Nether update, which doesn’t yet have a release date, also adds biomes to the underworld, two of which were shown off at Minecon. They were Soulsand Valley, a surreal, eerie chasm full of stalactites and blue flames, and the Netherwart Forest, which has a variety of different, weird trees. You can see Soulsand Valley here—the forest comes soon after in the same video.
Lastly, the update adds a new block called a target block: if you fire an arrow at it, it triggers a redstone reaction that can lead to fireworks, an upbeat tune on note blocks, or whatever else you care to program. You can watch the full reveal of the Nether update, starting with the target block, in the video below.
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