Mojang released 26.3 Snapshot 2 yesterday with a new rendering system meant to kill translucency glitches for good, plus distant mob AI deactivation that will break countless automated farms. Nether generation, block tools, and textures for the next drop also changed.
If you run farms or care about clean visuals in Minecraft Java, yesterday’s snapshot matters. Minecraft 26.3 Snapshot 2 replaces the old improved transparency hack with a proper order-independent transparency system. The goal is to stop the endless glitches where transparent blocks make distant objects vanish or sort incorrectly.
Rendering That Actually Works
The new OIT approach renders translucent stuff in any order without the old sorting headaches. It fixes long-standing bugs like many transparent things failing to render behind slimes. Performance takes a hit and minor artifacts remain, such as weird cloud colors through multiple layers, but this feels like the real fix players have waited years for. Known issues include broken Vulkan rendering on Mac and incorrect entity lighting.
Mob, Nether, and Tool Changes
- Persistent mobs now match non-persistent ones and stop wandering when players are far away
- Drowned holding tridents switch to melee within three blocks
- Raising a shield takes priority over using a hoe or shovel for tilling and pathing
- Cave air no longer generates in Nether caves with several carver and feature type updates
- New block_transformer data component for turning blocks with sounds, particles, and custom loot
Resource pack version bumped to 90 with updated shelf mushroom and poplar door textures. Data pack hits 109 and adds new world gen tools including copy properties providers, overlay features, and height-based predicates. The default server whitelist is now true. These are the kinds of incremental changes that shape the next big drop focused on exploration.
Test it in a throwaway world. Snapshots can corrupt saves and the Mac Vulkan bug is rough. Creators like slicedlime already posted full breakdowns within hours of release. If you depend on complex farms or spend time staring at water and leaves, load this up and see what broke.
