Another snapshot is going out, and this one introduces the Sculk. They're a bit creepy, but don't let that put you off. Pick up some good vibrations!
New Features in 20w49a
Added Dripstone Caves biome
Added Sculk Sensors
Dripstone Caves biome
This biome doesn't generate naturally yet, since it is designed for the upcoming larger caves. However, if you want to see the biome in the current caves you can create a single-biome world with dripstone caves.
Contains plenty of Pointed Dripstone on the floors and ceilings, and small pools of water
In some places you'll find larger stalagmites, stalactites, and columns built from Dripstone Blocks.
Sculk Sensors
Introducing the bizarre, tendril-filled world of Sculk - prepare for Sculk Sensors to creep you out with their unique ability to detect vibrations nearby.
A vibration is anything that causes physical motion; if you are careful, there are some motions that are undetectable to sensors by sneaking.
These sneak-friendly vibrations currently include walking, falling to the ground or throwing/shooting projectiles.
Sculk Sensors will not listen to vibrations that are directly created by other Sculk sources.
When a vibration is detected, a signal is sent from the source location to the sensor at a speed of 1 game tick per block.
Other vibrations cannot be detected by a sensor when a signal is already travelling to it.
When the signal has arrived, the sensor will be activated for 40 game ticks (approximately 2 seconds).
While activated, the sensor cannot detect other vibrations.
Sculk Sensors can detect vibrations in an 8 block radius around it.
The efficient tool to mine Sculk Sensors is the Hoe.
They can be waterlogged.
Redstone Emission
Sculk Sensors emit a redstone signal when they are activated.
The strength of the redstone signal is inversely proportional to the distance the vibration signal travelled.
This means that the closer the vibration is, the stronger the redstone signal is.
The output is also scaled based on the Sculk Sensor's radius, so it can reach the max redstone signal strength when the vibration is 0 distance away (directly on top of the sensor).
Vibration Frequencies
Sculk Sensors have a unique interaction with comparators.
Each vibration in the game falls under a certain frequency value, and this value can be measured with a comparator.
With the right contraption, this allows you to detect when a certain action has occured nearby.
Vibration Type
Frequency Value
Step
1
Flap
2
Swim
3
Elytra Free Fall
4
Hit Ground
5
Splash
6
Wolf Shaking
6
Projectile Shoot
7
Projectile Land
8
Start Eating
7
Finish Eating
8
Hit Entity
9
Add Item To Armor Stand
9
Open Block
11
Close Block
10
Switch Block
11
Unswitch Block
10
Press Block
11
Unpress Block
10
Attach Block
11
Detach Block
10
Open Container
11
Close Container
10
Dispense Failed
10
Use Flint And Steel
12
Place Block
12
Destroy Block
13
Place Fluid
12
Pickup Fluid
13
Cast Fishing Rod
15
Reel-In Fishing Rod
14
Extend Piston
15
Contract Piston
14
Explosion
15
Lightning Strike
15
Wool Occlusion
Wool has a special interaction with Sculk Sensors.
If a wool block is in the way of a vibration source, the sensor will not be able to detect it.
Technical Tidbits
Sculk Sensors have a cooldown period of 1 tick after being placed or after deactivating.
During this short cooldown period, it cannot detect vibrations. This is to prevent it from activating itself when a contraption it is powering is being unpowered. Feedback is welcome on this point!
Changes in 20w49a
The Fullness of a bundle now shows up regardless of whether Advanced Tooltips are on or off
Stalactites and stalagmites merge if the tips are next to each other, unless you press shift while placing
Technical Changes in 20w49a
A new game event system has been implemented to support Sculk Sensors detecting vibrations.
World height related values are now exposed for customized worlds
Removed the max-build-height server setting
Added occludes_vibration_signals block tag. Anything in this tag will occlude vibrations, and inherits wool tag entries by default
New particle types: vibration and dust_color_transition
A new game event system has been implemented to support Sculk Sensors detecting vibrations.
Game Events
This system has been developed to identify when certain in-world actions are happening in nearby chunks, particularly so the new Sculk Sensor can detect these events as vibrations.
The following is a list of the initial game events:
minecraft:step
minecraft:swim
minecraft:flap
minecraft:elytra_free_fall
minecraft:hit_ground
minecraft:splash
minecraft:projectile_shoot
minecraft:projectile_land
minecraft:entity_hit
minecraft:block_place
minecraft:block_destroy
minecraft:fluid_place
minecraft:fluid_pickup
minecraft:block_open
minecraft:block_close
minecraft:block_switch
minecraft:block_unswitch
minecraft:block_attach
minecraft:block_detach
minecraft:block_press
minecraft:block_unpress
minecraft:container_open
minecraft:container_close
minecraft:explode
minecraft:armor_stand_add_item
minecraft:wolf_shaking
minecraft:dispense_fail
minecraft:fishing_rod_cast
minecraft:fishing_rod_reel_in
minecraft:piston_extend
minecraft:piston_contract
minecraft:flint_and_steel_use
minecraft:eating_start
minecraft:eating_finish
minecraft:lightning_strike
Tags
There are also game event tags that come with this, and can be modified by data packs. They can be found under data/minecraft/tags/game_events.
vibrations Determines which game events are considered vibrations by the Sculk Sensor. Currently, all added game events are in this tag by default.
ignore_vibrations_stepping_carefully Which game events should be ignored by the Sculk Sensor when the source of the event is sneaking.
The following game events are in ignore_vibrations_stepping_carefully by default:
minecraft:step
minecraft:hit_ground
minecraft:projectile_shoot
Fixed bugs in 20w49a
MC-18880 The Absorption effect has no texture for poison/wither hearts (appears empty instead)
MC-201840 Optional function tags sometimes don't run even when the tag exists
MC-203797 Placing or removing a block over the void causes a DecoderException on servers
MC-204314 Double copper slabs only drop a single slab when mined
MC-205043 Absorption hearts appear broken when taking freezing damage
MC-205096 Hardcore hearts lose all color when player is taking freeze damage
MC-205391 Waxing cut copper doesn’t prevent it from oxidising