Minecraft’s ‘Better Together’ Update is Live – Introduces Cross-Platform

Better Together

Minecraft is a game that allows players to express their creativity in a sandbox environment on a single-player or multiplayer level. Players can enjoy hours on end of building worlds and avoiding the creatures of the night on their own or hop online with friends and work together for a common goal. The developers at Mojang understand that and have released their newest update that brings players from different consoles together for the first time in the latest patch released for the title called ‘Better Together’.

Announced on the game’s official website, Minecraft will bring players on Xbox, mobile, VR and Windows 10 together in the newest update by allowing those systems to join multiplayer servers in one place. Additionally, players will have the ability to share links to realms, with the exception of the Xbox One which will be coming in the near future. The ‘Better Together’ update is free to those who own the game on Xbox One, Android, iOS, and Windows 10. Xbox One gamers who own the hard copy version of Minecraft will need to wait for a short period of time as the developers finalize the update that will be released for that version. Nintendo Switch players will also have to wait a little longer, as the update is not ready and will not be released until this winter.

Take a look at the detailed release notes for the ‘Better Together’ update:

New Features:

  • Stained Glass
  • Fireworks (with Elytra boost!)
  • Parrots
  • Banners
  • Armor Stands
  • Jukebox and music discs
  • Recipe Book
  • Book & Quill
  • Ravines
  • Coarse Dirt
  • New world start options: Starting Map; Bonus Chest; Trust Players
  • New game rules: Show Coordinates; TNT Explodes; Natural Regeneration
  • Added ‘/tickingarea’ command to create areas that still update when no players are there
  • Player permissions
  • Zombie Villager spawn egg
  • In-game host options
  • Paper doll viewer
  • Outline selection toggle
  • In-game player names toggle
  • HUD opacity toggle
  • Expanded Xbox Live multiplayer world settings
  • New loading screens with funny and helpful tips
  • How to Play screen
  • Remix 3D export functionality (Windows 10 only)
  • New achievements
  • Server Partners
  • Realms invite links
  • Mash-up Packs and Texture Packs will now decorate the main menu and in-game HUD

Tweaks:

  • Rebalanced most of the game sound effects and music, such as rain being much quieter
  • It is now much easier to see underwater after drinking a Potion of Water Breathing and Potion of Night Vision
  • Blaze Powder is now needed to fuel brewing stands
  • Ice blocks are now transparent
  • Maps can now be held off-hand and show the heads of players’ skins
  • Locator maps now track the owner’s position, regardless of dimension
  • Worlds can now be set to Invite Only, Friends Only, or Friends of Friends
  • Various improvements and changes to navigating the user interface
  • Redesigned button mapping and added Pick Block for controllers
  • Render Clouds and Fancy Leaves can now be toggled in Video Settings
  • Skins can now be changed from the pause menu
  • Chat messages can now be muted
  • Items picked up are now animated on the hotbar
  • Stained glass and banners will now spawn on End Cities
  • Increased the default player limit on worlds from 5 to 8 on higher-end devices
  • Block placement speed now matches the player’s movement speed
  • Temperature decreases with height and it can now snow at high elevations
  • Observer blocks have updated textures and will now blink red when outputting a redstone pulse
  • Adjusted the color that flashes when mobs are attacked
  • Brick Blocks, Nether Brick Blocks, and Clay Blocks have been renamed to better differentiate from other items
  • Underwater particles
  • Jungle leaves are now transparent on higher-end devices when Fancy Leaves are enabled
  • Changed the sound effects for Creeper explosions
  • Added sound effects for placing Eyes of Ender into portal frames and opening The End portal

Bug fixes:

Too many to mention. My favourites are: making cats purr again, preventing bats from swimming underwater and stopping llamas from creepily turning their heads to stare at you while riding them.

Like what you see from the big ‘Better Together’ update for Minecraft? Ready to get all your friends together without having to worry about what system everyone has? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below, and don’t forget to check out DFTG on Twitter for gaming and entertainment news live 24/7!

Matt Ruppert715 Posts

Navy Veteran with a penchant for the FPS genre, Chewy has all aspects of the gaming community covered. Don't expect to see him on a console any time soon, however - though he has experience in all platforms, the PC Master Race has a firm hold on him.

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