Minecraft Java Edition versions
The current Java Edition release, recent release dates, and the version changes that affect how MCUtility’s tools and guides work.
Current release
Java Edition 26.3 is the latest release. The numbers below come from the version.json file inside the official server download, compared with the release before it.
| Detail | 26.3 (current) | 26.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Release date | ||
| Game drop | Wilderness Bound | Chaos Cubed |
| Protocol version | 777 | 776 |
| Data version | 5023 | 4903 |
| Resource pack format | 97.1 | 88.0 |
| Data pack format | 121.0 | 107.1 |
| Java needed to run the server | Java 25 | Java 25 |
- Protocol version: clients and servers must have the same number to connect, unless a plugin or proxy translates between them.
- Data version: stored in worlds and other saved data, so the game knows which version wrote them.
- Pack formats: the
pack_formatnumbers that resource packs and data packs declare inpack.mcmeta.
Recent releases
Release dates are from Mojang’s version list. Since 26.1, versions are numbered by year, game drop and hotfix.
| Version | Game drop | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 26.3 | Wilderness Bound | |
| 26.2 | Chaos Cubed | |
| 26.1.2 | Hotfix | |
| 26.1.1 | Hotfix | |
| 26.1 | Tiny Takeover | |
| 1.21.11 | Mounts of Mayhem | |
| 1.21.10 | Hotfix | |
| 1.21.9 | The Copper Age |
Changes that affect MCUtility
Not a full changelog: only the changes that decide how a tool, guide or reference page on this site behaves.
| Version | Change | See |
|---|---|---|
| 26.3 | The white-list setting in server.properties is now true by default. | server.properties Generator, Whitelist Creator, server.properties settings |
| 26.2 | Added the chat-spam-threshold-seconds and command-spam-threshold-seconds server properties. | server.properties Generator, server.properties settings |
| 26.1 | First release with the year.drop.hotfix version numbers. The game and server now need Java 25. | Not tool-specific |
| 1.21.11 | Game rules were renamed to lowercase IDs with underscores, for example commandBlocksEnabled became command_blocks_work. | server.properties Generator, How to configure server.properties |
| 1.21.9 | The pvp, allow-nether, enable-command-block and spawn-monsters server properties became game rules. The Server Management Protocol settings were added, and spawn chunks were removed. | server.properties Generator, Chunk Calculator, How to see chunk borders in Minecraft |
| 1.21.2 | Added the pause-when-empty-seconds server property and removed spawn-animals and spawn-npcs. | server.properties Generator |
| 1.20.5 | Items can be given a custom maximum stack size from 1 to 99. | Stack Calculator, Minecraft stack sizes and container capacity |
| 1.18 | The Overworld’s height range became Y −64 to 319. | Chunk Calculator, Minecraft coordinates and world limits |
| 1.16.2 | Portals travelling to the Nether now only search 16 blocks around the target for an existing portal, down from 128. | Nether Portal Calculator, Why your Nether portal links to the wrong place |
| 1.16 | JSON text components gained hex colours. Entity UUIDs in NBT are stored as arrays of four integers. | Gradient Generator, UUID Lookup, Minecraft text formats compared, Minecraft UUID format |
| 1.8 | The 64 × 64 skin format added separate left arms and legs and an outer layer for every body part. | Skin Viewer, Skin Downloader, Minecraft skin format |
About this page
- It covers Minecraft: Java Edition only. Bedrock Edition versions aren’t listed yet.
- Snapshots, pre-releases and release candidates aren’t listed. Changes are added once they are in a full release.
- Values are checked against Mojang’s version list, the official server downloads and the Minecraft Wiki.