Trails & Tales

Trails & Tales
Release date	Java and Bedrock editions:; June 7, 2023; Minecraft Education:; August 8, 2023
Version(s)	Java Edition 1.20; Bedrock Edition 1.20.0; Minecraft Education 1.20.12;
	◄◄ The Wild Update Bats and Pots ► Tricky Trials (Java & Bedrock) ►►; Cloud Update (Education) ►►

There are guides for this update!

See Java Edition guides/Trails & Tales and Bedrock Edition guides/Trails & Tales for a guide to all of the new features introduced in Trails & Tales.

Trails & Tales is a major update released on June 7, 2023 as Java Edition 1.20 and Bedrock Edition 1.20.0.^[1] Its theme is "creativity and self-expression through representation and storytelling", focusing mostly on decorative blocks, customization options and resources for player-driven in-game storytelling and roleplay. It introduces armor trims, trail ruins, the camel and sniffer mobs, the archaeology system, the cherry grove biome, and other features. The name of the update was revealed in Minecraft Monthly on March 2, 2023.^[2]

Additions

Blocks

Calibrated Sculk Sensor

Crafted using a sculk sensor and three amethyst shards.
Can be used to filter vibrations.

Chiseled Bookshelf

Crafted using six wooden planks and three wooden slabs.
Can store books, enchanted books, written books, and book and quills.

Decorated Pot

Crafted using bricks or pottery sherds.

Hanging Signs of all wood types

Crafted using six stripped logs and two chains.
Can be placed on the wall or ceiling.

Piglin Head

Obtained from piglins killed from charged creepers.

Sniffer Egg

Found by brushing suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins.
Hatches into snifflets.

Suspicious Gravel & Suspicious Sand

Contains loot that can be obtained by using a brush on it.

New bamboo blocks:

Block of Bamboo and its stripped variant
- Crafted using nine bamboo.
- Cannot be turned back into regular bamboo.
Bamboo Planks
Bamboo Mosaic
- Bamboo Mosaic Stairs
- Bamboo Mosaic Slab

New cherry wood type, found in the cherry grove biome:

New flowers:

Pink Petals
- Found in cherry grove biomes.
- Can be crafted into pink dye.
Pitcher Plant & Torchflower
- Obtained by growing their respective seeds.
- Can be crafted into cyan dye and orange dye respectively.

Items

Brush

Crafted using a feather, a copper ingot, and a stick.
Used for archaeology.

Pitcher Pod & Torchflower Seeds

Obtained from sniffers.
Has to be grown like a crop.

Pottery Sherds

Obtained by brushing suspicious sand or gravel.

Smithing Templates

Found in various structures, including the trail ruins.
Can be duplicated with seven diamonds and its corresponding material.

New music disc:

Aaron Cherof - Relic
- Obtained by brushing suspicious gravel in trail ruins.

Spawn eggs:

Camel Spawn Egg
- Used to spawn a camel.
Sniffer Spawn Egg
- Used to spawn a sniffer.

Mobs

Camel

Spawns in desert villages.
Supports two riders.
Has the ability to dash.
Can be bred with cacti.

Sniffer

Hatches from sniffer eggs.
Digs out torchflower seeds or pitcher pods occasionally.
Can be bred with torchflower seeds.

Non-mob entities

Cherry Boat

Including a chest variant.

Bamboo Raft

Including a chest variant.

Biome

Cherry Grove

Generates with cherry trees and pink petals.

Structures

Cherry tree Trail ruins

A buried structure found in taiga, snowy taiga, old growth taigas, old growth birch forests, and jungles.
Four armor trims, seven pottery sherds, and a music disc can be found here.

Gameplay mechanic

Archaeology

Allows the player to find artifacts from suspicious sand or gravel.

Music

Four new ambient tracks from Aaron Cherof were added; all would play on the main menu until Tricky Trials.

"Echo in the Wind"
- Plays in cherry groves, flower forests, lush caves, old growth taigas, and badlands.
"A Familiar Room"
- Plays in any biome that does not already have a corresponding set of biome-specific music.
"Bromeliad"
- Plays in badlands, bamboo jungles, cherry groves, flower forests, forests, jungles, old growth taigas, and sparse jungles.
"Crescent Dunes"
- Plays in deserts and badlands.

Changes

Blocks

Mob heads

Can now be placed on note blocks to produce the mob sounds associated.

Further revisions

Java Edition

1.20.1 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.
1.20.2 was released to add the "Villager Trade Rebalance" experimental toggle and the /random command, and fix bugs.
1.20.3, retroactively dubbed as Bats and Pots, added experimental additions to the "Update 1.21", and fixed bugs.
1.20.4 was released soon after to fix a critical bug involving decorated pots.
1.20.5, dubbed as Armored Paws, added armadillos and wolf armor.
1.20.6 was released soon after to fix a critical bug involving trader llamas.

Bedrock Edition

1.20.1 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.0.
1.20.10 was released to bring more parity from Java Edition and fix bugs.
1.20.12 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.10.
1.20.13 was released to fix a crash in 1.20.12.
1.20.14 was released exclusively on PlayStation to fix a crash in 1.20.13.
1.20.15 was released to fix a crash in 1.20.13.
1.20.30 was released to add experimental changes to the villager and wandering trader trades (named "Villager Trade Rebalancing"), bring more parity from Java Edition, and fix bugs.
1.20.31 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.30.
1.20.32 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.30.
1.20.40 was released to bring more parity from Java Edition and fix bugs.
1.20.41 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.40.
1.20.50, retroactively dubbed as Bats and Pots, added experimental additions to "Update 1.21", brought more parity from Java Edition, and fixed bugs.
1.20.51 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.50.
1.20.60 was released to add experimental additions to "Update 1.21", and fix bugs.
1.20.62 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.60.
1.20.70 was released to add experimental additions to "Update 1.21", and fix bugs.
1.20.71 was released for an unknown purpose.
1.20.72 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.70.
1.20.73 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.70.
1.20.80, dubbed as Armored Paws, added armadillos and wolf armor.
1.20.81 was released to fix critical bugs related to 1.20.80.

Promotions

World

In promotion of Trails & Tales, a free map was released on the Marketplace. Produced by The Hive, the map tells the story of an archeologist, who is able to travel through time during the night and recover artifacts during the day, visiting a Desert Bazaar, Cherry Grove, and Ancient Caves in the process. Along the way the player is able to learn various new mechanics featured in the map, including archeology, camels, armor trims, chiseled bookshelves, and growing the sniffer's plants.

Event server

In promotion of Trails & Tales, a free event server was released. Open from 10 AM PST June 23rd to 10 PM PST June 25th, players could explore many regions with their own minigames, including the Cherry Grove, Camel Canyon, and the Lost World, and earn many exclusive items.

Quotes

The 1.20 update is all about self expression, specifically self expression through representation, story telling, and world building. And, it’s the journey - your trails - that ties it all together. The Minecraft worlds belong to the players – and so do the stories, or tales, about those worlds.

— Agnes Larsson on minecraft.net

Minecraft Marketplace creators The Hive bring you the Timeless Trails adventure map! Become a Trails & Tales expert as you explore a cherry blossom village, delve into ancient caves, and trek across the desert on camelback to find a unique armor trim.

— Marketplace description for Timeless Trails

Have you been having a sniffing time exploring the new update? I’ve hatched a snifflet, met a baby camel, and my cherry wood cottage is looking pretty and pink. But just like the girl-turned-blueberry in Willy Wonka, I want MORE. Luckily, starting in just two days’ time (!) there’s going to be a very special weekend-long event, themed around the Trails & Tales Update!

— Minecraft.net description for Trails & Tales Event^[3]

Videos

Trailer

Soundtrack

Aaron Cherof - "Echo in the Wind" (view on YouTube)

Aaron Cherof - "A Familiar Room" (view on YouTube)

Aaron Cherof - "Bromeliad" (view on YouTube)

Aaron Cherof - "Crescent Dunes" (view on YouTube)

Aaron Cherof - "Relic" (view on YouTube)

Gallery

Official artwork

Logo.^[4]
Update logo with background.
Key art.
Key art 2.
Cherry tree valentines artwork.
Decorated pot valentines artwork.
Sniffer valentines artwork.
Animation of Steve and Makena riding a camel.

Development screenshots

Clay pots.
Ceramic shards.
An excavation site.
A sniffer with an earlier texture and model.
An early sniffer laying down.
An early sniffer at sunset.
A sniffer with its final texture and model. This image is horizontally flipped.
A sniffer in a desert. This image is horizontally flipped.
A sniffer laying down.
A sniffer in a swamp.
A sniffer in a snowy biome.^[5]
A sniffer in a plains village.^[6]
Trail ruins
Calibrated sculk sensor
Hanging sign
Armor trims
Many of the features added in the update

Concept artwork

Concept art of archaeology.
Concept art of the camel showcasing the different coloring and face shapes considered during development.
Concept art of the camel showcasing the many designs of its face.
Concept art of the camel showcasing the camel's height next to a player and three blocks.
The 2 dimensional pixel art of the sniffer shown at Minecraft Live 2022.
The 2 dimensional pixel art of the snifflet shown at Minecraft Live 2022.
The 2 dimensional pixel art of the sniffer egg shown at Minecraft Live 2022.
Sniffer concept art with rascal and tuff golem.
Colorized sniffer concept art.
Sniffer's beak sketch.
A sketch of a centipede walking which was the sniffer's walking animation inspiration.
Sniffer's walking animation sketch.
Watercolor art for the sniffer.
Watercolor art for the sniffer.
Watercolor art for the sniffer.
Watercolor art for the sniffer.
Watercolor art for the sniffer.

Trailer

Trails and Tales trailer concept art.
Animatic of Steve, Ari, Alex, and Zuri's scene in the trailer.
Animatic of Steve fighting the elder guardian.
Animatic of Ari recovering a sherd.
Timelapse of building Zuri's house featured in the trailer.

References

↑ "The Trails & Tales update is coming" by Sofia Dankis, Sophie Austi – Minecraft.net, May 26, 2023.
↑ "1.20 NAME REVEAL and more | MINECRAFT MONTHLY" – Minecraft on YouTube, March 2, 2023
↑ "Trails Tales Event" by Sophie Austin – Minecraft.net, June 23, 2023.
↑ "We’re excited to share this update built around storytelling, and for you to share your own stories of adventure, creation, and more! Learn about the Trails & Tales Update and how you can test the features now: http://aka.ms/1-20-Update-Name-Reveal" – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), March 2, 2023
↑ "Cherry blossom biome Sniffer Archaeology Try out three new 1.20 features now in Java snapshot! Sniffer and archaeology also available in beta/preview, with cherry blossom biome coming at a later date." – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), February 15, 2023
↑ "The sniffer is making its debut in Minecraft 1.20 and will be coming soon to snapshot/beta! Raise your if you're ready to meet your newest friend. http://aka.ms/Sniffer-1-20" – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), February 13, 2023

External links

Navigation

[1] "The Trails & Tales update is coming" by Sofia Dankis, Sophie Austi – Minecraft.net, May 26, 2023.

[2] "1.20 NAME REVEAL and more | MINECRAFT MONTHLY" – Minecraft on YouTube, March 2, 2023

[3] "Trails Tales Event" by Sophie Austin – Minecraft.net, June 23, 2023.

[4] "We’re excited to share this update built around storytelling, and for you to share your own stories of adventure, creation, and more! Learn about the Trails & Tales Update and how you can test the features now: http://aka.ms/1-20-Update-Name-Reveal" – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), March 2, 2023

[5] "Cherry blossom biome Sniffer Archaeology Try out three new 1.20 features now in Java snapshot! Sniffer and archaeology also available in beta/preview, with cherry blossom biome coming at a later date." – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), February 15, 2023

[6] "The sniffer is making its debut in Minecraft 1.20 and will be coming soon to snapshot/beta! Raise your if you're ready to meet your newest friend. http://aka.ms/Sniffer-1-20" – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), February 13, 2023

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Release date	Java and Bedrock editions: June 7, 2023 Minecraft Education: August 8, 2023
Version(s)	Java Edition 1.20 Bedrock Edition 1.20.0 Minecraft Education 1.20.12
◄◄ The Wild Update Bats and Pots ► Tricky Trials (Java & Bedrock) ►► Cloud Update (Education) ►►