Mojang just dropped the first snapshot for the third major update of 2026 featuring a new fall colored forest biome near cold areas, poplar trees in three leaf variants, bouncy shelf mushrooms, red shrubs, abandoned campsites full of loot, and wool stairs plus slabs.
Mojang wasted no time. One week after Chaos Cubed launched they pushed 26.3 Snapshot 1 live and it is stacked. The headliner is the Dappled Forest, a new biome that generates near cold areas and comes packed with poplar trees showing red, orange, and yellow leaf colors depending on the variant.
Everything added in the first snapshot
Poplar logs yield a full wood set. Fallen poplar trees scatter the forest floor. Shelf mushrooms grow on trees, come in small and large sizes, bounce players like beds when jumped on, and respond to bone meal. Red shrubs grow in patches, feed the composter, and also grow with bone meal.
- Abandoned campsites generate in over 20 biomes with multiple style variants, chests, and barrels containing loot
- Wool stairs and slabs for every wool color that dampen vibrations
- New leaf particle effects matching the three poplar colors
- Updated wandering trader trades for saplings and mushrooms
The abandoned camps are the real surprise. They are not limited to the new biome. You will run into them while exploring regular forests, taigas, and several others. Early testers report decent loot and a nice bit of world flavor.
If you want to test it yourself the Java snapshot is available through the launcher by enabling snapshots in installations. There is also a server jar for cross platform testing. Back up your worlds because snapshots can corrupt saves. Bedrock players get the matching preview through the beta program.
Bug reports go to the usual Mojang tracker and feedback is open on the official site. The community is already building resource packs to make the red shrubs bushier and debating the best build styles with the new warm gray poplar planks.
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