Minecraft Update Tests Armadillos and More

Minecraft's newest beta puts Armadillos and Wolf Armor into testing.

By Ricky Frech

Over the last few years, Minecraft developer Mojang has made it a tradition to hold a mob vote during its Minecraft Live event. This year, voting came down to a race between the crab, the penguin, and the armadillo, with the latter claiming the final prize in a tense showdown. It's been about a month since the vote was announced, and Mojang is now taking the first steps to add the armadillo to Minecraft. While the new mob isn't available for primetime just yet, the armadillo has been added to the Minecraft: Bedrock Edition preview and beta versions, as well as the Java Edition snapshot.

As a reminder, if you've forgotten from the Minecraft Live announcement, "The armadillo is a savannah-dwelling mob that's easily startled." Once it runs into something it deems a threat, the armadillo will roll into a ball and stay that way until it feels safe again. Obviously, the armadillo is threatened by most hostile mobs, but the player can also cause it to roll up if they approach the creature while running. If you want it to feel safe, you'll want to approach while crouching to make sure you're moving slowly enough to not come off as a threat. 

You'll want to do exactly that because armadillos will drop scutes, which you can use to craft the other thing that's being tested in the latest preview build: wolf armor. It has the same strength as diamond horse armor, so your furry friend will be well-protected on your next adventure. Again, both of these features are in the early testing stages. You won't see them in the main version of the game until sometime next year. By then, Mojang will hopefully have all of the kinks ironed out.

What's Next for Minecraft?

While developer Mojang undoubtedly has more projects in the works, the biggest news out of the Minecraft universe in recent days is that the upcoming film version of the hit game has added another star. Peacemaker's Danielle Brooks was revealed to be in the cast earlier this month, joining Jason Mamoa and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. The film will be directed by Jared Hess, who previously directed movies like Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite. Minecraft: The Film is currently slated for 2025, though that date could move around depending on how production goes.

On the gameplay front, Update 1.21 was also announced at Minecraft Live 2023. It'll include the armadillo, as well as focus on "combat, adventures, and tinkering." The update doesn't have a firm release date yet but is tentatively set for mid-2024.

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