Minecraft: Java Edition · Game update

Minecraft 1.8: Bountiful Update

1.8, the Bountiful Update, added ocean monuments, rabbits, guardians, banners and a long list of decorative blocks. It also rebuilt the command system for map makers and put each dimension on its own server thread.

Released
Server needs
Java 8
Protocol
47
Start a 1.8 serverStart a free server

Seven days free, no card. Pick 1.8 when you create the server, or switch an existing one from the panel.

What is new in Minecraft 1.8

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

  • Ocean monuments with guardians and elder guardians
  • Rabbits, endermites and armour stands
  • Banners in 16 colours with layered patterns
  • Spectator mode and a customizable world border
  • Slime blocks, barriers, granite, diorite and andesite
  • Many new commands including fill, clone and worldborder

Blocks and items

  • Granite, diorite and andesite, each with a polished form
  • Prismarine, prismarine bricks, dark prismarine and sea lanterns
  • Slime blocks that bounce and drag neighbours with sticky pistons
  • Barrier blocks: solid, invisible and creative only
  • Banners in 16 colours with up to six pattern layers
  • Red sandstone with chiselled, smooth, slab and stairs forms
  • Fences, fence gates and doors for every wood type
  • Iron trapdoor, coarse dirt, wet sponge and prismarine shards

Mobs

  • Rabbits with eight skins, including Toast and the Killer Bunny
  • Guardians spawn in ocean monuments and attack with a beam
  • Elder guardians inflict Mining Fatigue III and drop wet sponge
  • Endermites sometimes spawn when a player throws an ender pearl
  • Rabbits drop raw rabbit, rabbit hide and a rabbit's foot
  • Sheep now drop raw mutton

World and biomes

  • Ocean monuments generate underwater with eight gold blocks inside
  • Granite, diorite and andesite generate in pockets within stone
  • Customized world type with seven presets and full terrain control
  • Debug world type added for resource pack makers
  • Red sandstone generates in mesa biomes at cave entrances
  • Wet sponge clusters generate in some monument rooms

Gameplay

  • Spectator mode added, reachable only through the gamemode command
  • Customizable world border that servers can override
  • Enchanting now costs one to three lapis lazuli as well as levels
  • Depth Strider enchantment and the Potion of Leaping
  • Armour stands display armour, pumpkins and mob heads
  • New Overpowered achievement

Commands and technical

  • New commands: fill, clone, blockdata, entitydata, worldborder, particle
  • New commands: execute, trigger, replaceitem, stats, testforblocks
  • New gamerules logAdminCommands, sendCommandFeedback, randomTickSpeed
  • Custom gamerule variables can now be created
  • Blocks use block states internally instead of raw metadata
  • Custom block and item models loadable from resource packs
  • Scoreboard gains reset, operation, test and enable subcommands

Running a Minecraft 1.8 server

What the release means for whoever runs the server.

  • Java 6 was the original minimum; run it on Java 8
  • Protocol 47; every release from 1.8 to 1.8.9 shares protocol 47
  • server.properties gains network-compression-threshold, max-tick-time and max-world-size
  • server.properties gains resource-pack-hash so clients can verify packs
  • Each dimension now runs on its own thread
  • Chunk rendering, chunk rebuilds and mob pathfinding are multi threaded
  • Player lists and pet ownership convert to UUIDs automatically
  • Sign command exploit: survival fixed in 1.8.1, creative only in 1.8.6

Before you update a world: take a backup. A world opened in 1.8 cannot be opened in an older version again. How backups work here.

1.8 on FadeHost

The right Java, set for you
A 1.8 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 1.8
SpigotVanillaForge
Who can join
Players on any version from 1.8 to 1.8.9: the network protocol is the same.
Start a 1.8 server

Patches after 1.8

The fix releases that followed, oldest first.

Minecraft 1.8.1

· Java 8

1.8.1 was a performance and bug fix release for 1.8 that closed 131 reported issues. It removed the client side TCP delay from Nagle's algorithm and fixed a server freeze from repeated block destruction.

What 1.8.1 changed

Minecraft 1.8.2

· Java 8

1.8.2 collected 48 fixes after an unusually long run of seven pre-releases. It reverted TNT explosion physics and adjusted several spawn rules, but shipped with a crash on world load.

What 1.8.2 changed

Minecraft 1.8.3

· Java 8

1.8.3 arrived one day after 1.8.2 purely to fix a serious crash on world load. It also cleared eleven other issues, including block placement above the build height limit.

  • Fixes the serious 1.8.2 crash on world load
  • Eleven issues fixed
  • Fixes block placement beyond the build height limit
  • Fixes players getting stuck in hoppers
  • Fixes TNT explosion delay problems

Minecraft 1.8.4

· Java 8

1.8.4 was a security release that closed an item duplication exploit and a server freeze triggered by malicious clients. It also locked player head skins to official Mojang servers.

  • Fixes an item duplication exploit
  • Fixes a server freeze caused by malicious clients
  • Player head skins restricted to official Mojang servers
  • Fixes custom player heads leaking IP addresses
  • 14 issues fixed

Minecraft 1.8.5

· Java 8

1.8.5 fixed a security issue, a scoreboard issue and changed a few splash texts. Five issues were closed in total.

  • Better server validation of movement packets
  • Invalid beacon effects are now validated
  • Certain attribute values are now bounded
  • Fixes a phantom custom player in the scoreboard
  • Added the GNU Terry Pratchett splash

Minecraft 1.8.6

· Java 8

1.8.6 existed to close one exploit: creative players on modified clients could make signs that ran any command. Dispensers also stopped placing command blocks.

  • Closes the creative sign command exploit
  • Dispensers no longer place command blocks

Minecraft 1.8.7

· Java 8

1.8.7 was released to fix four security issues, alongside six other bugs. Among them were a unicode crash that hit Turkish clients and a sign related crash.

  • Four security issues fixed
  • Fixes a unicode crash affecting Turkish clients
  • Fixes a sign related crash
  • Fixes a piston world border exploit
  • Skeletons no longer ignore players while seeking shade
  • Ten issues fixed

Minecraft 1.8.8

· Java 8

1.8.8 mainly fixed security bugs and crashes, closing 38 issues. It also added realm wide resource packs and tightened how mismatched resource packs are handled.

What 1.8.8 changed

Minecraft 1.8.9

· Java 8

1.8.9 closed the 1.8 line with thirteen fixes and a few Realms conveniences. It is the last 1.8 release, the last to ship a .exe server and the last with Twitch integration.

What 1.8.9 changed

Questions about 1.8

When was Minecraft 1.8 released?

Minecraft: Java Edition 1.8, Bountiful Update, was released on September 2, 2014.

What Java version does a Minecraft 1.8 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 1.8 add?

1.8, the Bountiful Update, added ocean monuments, rabbits, guardians, banners and a long list of decorative blocks. It also rebuilt the command system for map makers and put each dimension on its own server thread.

Can players on another version join a 1.8 server?

Players on any version from 1.8 to 1.8.9 can: the network protocol (47) is the same. Any other version has to match the server, unless a Paper server runs plugins such as ViaVersion and ViaBackwards.

Can I update my world to Minecraft 1.8?

Yes. Take a backup, switch the server to 1.8 and start it: the world is converted on the first boot. A world opened in 1.8 cannot be opened in an older version again, so keep the backup until you are sure.

How do I start a Minecraft 1.8 server?

Create a server on FadeHost and pick 1.8 in the software list: Spigot, Vanilla and Forge 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 1.7.10

June 26, 2014

The release after

Minecraft 1.8.1

November 24, 2014

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 1.8. Minecraft is a trademark of Mojang; FadeHost is not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft.