On October 13, 2026, Mojang released the fourth snapshot for Minecraft 26.4, adding two new features: a fragile block called Brittle Ice and a playlist system for the jukebox. It builds on the ice caves that showed up in earlier snapshots of this same drop, this time with a new block and a quality-of-life upgrade that fans of building atmospheric party spots in their bases will love.

Brittle Ice, the ice that gives you away

The new block generates naturally in ice caves as part of a terrain feature called a crevasse, a winding, narrowing fissure carved into exposed terrain. When a player or mob steps onto a slab of it, it starts to crack and falls apart after a moment, so getting around the ice caves in 26.4 Snapshot 4 now takes more care than before.

The Frostbite mob, introduced in the previous snapshot, walks across brittle ice with no consequences, which makes it a natural resident of this environment. The block can only be collected with a tool enchanted with Silk Touch, and you can also make it yourself: any water block that touches a block of blue ice horizontally turns into brittle ice. The developers summed up the addition briefly in the official post: "be careful not to dance on brittle ice, or it will start cracking under your feet."

  • Frosted ice now emits a vibration event when it changes state, which matters for sculk sensors
  • Ice, frosted ice and brittle ice no longer show the inner faces of blocks when placed next to each other
  • Zombies, Drowned and Husks are immune to freezing and take no damage from the Freezing effect
  • Drowned first turn into regular zombies before becoming Frostbites in powder snow

The jukebox finally plays playlists

The snapshot's second big addition is Jukebox Playlists. Just place a single chest, trapped chest or any copper chest variant directly above a jukebox, and the music discs inside it will start playing as a playlist. Tracks play in slot order, skipping empty slots and items that aren't discs, then loop back to the start.

When a disc finishes, the jukebox automatically swaps it for the next one from the list in the chest. If the chest has no music discs in it, the disc currently in the jukebox simply plays again from the beginning. Ejecting the current disc skips to the next available entry, which lets players build fully automated party consoles without swapping discs by hand.

Technical changes and world generation

The snapshot bumps the data pack version to 124.0 and the resource pack version to 100.1. Map and mod creators will also notice changes to the sound system: the minecraft:intentionally_empty sound event has been removed, and sound fields in many mob structures, such as chickens, cows, cats, pigs and wolves, are now optional instead of required.

World generation gets a new feature type called crevasse, which carves winding, narrowing fissures into the terrain. Parameters such as maximum width (2 to 8 blocks), maximum length (4 to 16 blocks) and the minimum area required before carving begins give data pack creators flexibility when designing their own ice formations.

What this means for players in Poland

Snapshots only come to Java Edition, so Bedrock players have to wait for the full 26.4 release, just like owners of Bedrock Edition 26.3, which is still the current stable version. People building big survival bases should keep brittle ice in mind when planning paths near ice caves, and automation fans will surely appreciate the jukebox's new options for building cozy lounge areas. You can grab the snapshot through the official launcher, following the instructions in the Minecraft Java Edition download section, and you'll find the full list of changes from past updates in the version overview.

Mojang hasn't announced a release date for the full 26.4 yet, but more snapshots should arrive over the coming weeks, continuing the previously teased ice caves and Frostbite mob.

Sources