Minecraft: Java Edition · Game update

Minecraft 1.13: Update Aquatic

Update Aquatic rebuilt Minecraft's oceans and added the trident, conduits and a set of water mobs. It also reworked commands, block IDs and data packs, which is why almost nothing written for 1.12 still worked.

Released
Server needs
Java 8
Protocol
393
Start a 1.13 serverStart a free server

Seven days free, no card. Pick 1.13 when you create the server, or switch an existing one from the panel.

What is new in Minecraft 1.13

The additions people noticed first, then everything else by area.

  • Oceans rebuilt with coral reefs, kelp forests and icebergs
  • Tridents, conduits and turtle shells added
  • Dolphins, drowned, turtles, phantoms and fish added
  • The Flattening replaced numeric block IDs with namespaced ids
  • Command syntax reworked and data pack tags introduced
  • Performance of the game was severely degraded by the rewrite

Blocks and items

  • Coral, coral fans and coral blocks in five variants, plus dead versions
  • Seagrass, kelp and dried kelp blocks
  • Prismarine stairs and slabs in three variants each
  • Stripped logs and stripped wood for all six wood types
  • Buttons, pressure plates and trapdoors for the five missing wood types
  • Blue ice, bubble columns, sea pickles and turtle eggs
  • Conduit crafted from a heart of the sea and nautilus shells
  • Trident weapon, turtle shell helmet and the debug stick

Mobs

  • Dolphins
  • Drowned, which can drop tridents
  • Cod, salmon, pufferfish and tropical fish
  • Phantoms
  • Turtles, which breed and lay eggs that hatch in stages

World and biomes

  • Ocean generation overhauled with new ocean biomes
  • Coral reefs generate in warm oceans
  • Kelp forests generate in oceans that are not warm
  • Icebergs made of packed and blue ice generate in frozen oceans
  • Seagrass generates in oceans, rivers and swamps
  • Buried treasure and buried treasure maps added
  • Buffet world type added

Gameplay

  • Swimming and improved underwater visibility and navigation
  • Bubble columns pull down over magma blocks and push up over soul sand
  • Trident enchantments Loyalty, Riptide, Impaling and Channeling
  • Conduit Power status effect from a built conduit
  • Potion of the Turtle Master and its variants
  • Carved pumpkins are now separate, made with shears

Commands and technical

  • Command syntax reworked across the whole game
  • The Flattening: numeric block IDs replaced by namespaced ids with block states
  • Block state values are now part of the block identifier
  • Data packs gained a tag system for blocks, items and entities
  • Data pack format 4

Running a Minecraft 1.13 server

What the release means for whoever runs the server.

  • Requires Java SE 8
  • Protocol version 393
  • Data pack format 4, same as resource pack format 4
  • It is mitigated by adding a JVM argument to the startup command line
  • The rewrite severely degraded performance compared to 1.12
  • Numeric IDs are gone, so older plugins, maps and commands need rewriting

Before you update a world: take a backup. A world opened in 1.13 cannot be opened in an older version again. How backups work here.

1.13 on FadeHost

The right Java, set for you
A 1.13 server needs Java 8 or newer, and the panel starts it with a Java that fits. Nothing to install, nothing to pick.
Server software for 1.13
PaperSpigotVanilla
Who can join
Players on 1.13. Other versions need plugins such as ViaVersion on a Paper server.
Start a 1.13 server

Patches after 1.13

The fix releases that followed, oldest first.

Minecraft 1.13.1

· Java 8

1.13.1 was a bug fix release for Update Aquatic that fixed 149 issues. It also added the forceload command and optimised liquids, chunks and mob spawning.

What 1.13.1 changed

Minecraft 1.13.2

· Java 8

1.13.2 was a small bug fix release for Update Aquatic that fixed 25 issues. Nearly all of the work went into performance, including world upgrading, startup time and mob spawning.

What 1.13.2 changed

Questions about 1.13

When was Minecraft 1.13 released?

Minecraft: Java Edition 1.13, Update Aquatic, was released on July 18, 2018.

What Java version does a Minecraft 1.13 server need?

Java 8. On FadeHost the server starts with the right Java for its Minecraft version on its own, so there is nothing to install or switch.

What did Minecraft 1.13 add?

Update Aquatic rebuilt Minecraft's oceans and added the trident, conduits and a set of water mobs. It also reworked commands, block IDs and data packs, which is why almost nothing written for 1.12 still worked.

Can players on another version join a 1.13 server?

Only players on 1.13 itself: its network protocol (393) is its own. A Paper server can let other versions in with plugins such as ViaVersion and ViaBackwards.

Can I update my world to Minecraft 1.13?

Yes. Take a backup, switch the server to 1.13 and start it: the world is converted on the first boot. A world opened in 1.13 cannot be opened in an older version again, so keep the backup until you are sure.

How do I start a Minecraft 1.13 server?

Create a server on FadeHost and pick 1.13 in the software list: Paper, Spigot and Vanilla are there for this version. It is online in about a minute. The free tier runs a 2 GB server at no cost, and a paid server is sized to the RAM you need.

The release before

Minecraft 1.12.2

September 18, 2017

The release after

Minecraft 1.13.1

August 22, 2018

Read on

Change a server's version

Version, software and loader build are one setting in the panel.

Java version errors

What the wrong Java looks like in the console, and why it does not happen here.

RAM calculator

How much memory a server needs, sized from servers measured on our nodes.

Every Minecraft version

All releases, what each one added and the Java it needs.

Release facts from the Minecraft Wiki:Java Edition 1.13. Minecraft is a trademark of Mojang; FadeHost is not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft.