The Mojang team has released Minecraft 26.4 Snapshot 5 for Java Edition, introducing a new set of blocks, Packed Ice Bricks, along with a fresh advancement for fighting ice with ice. The snapshot hit the launcher on October 20, 2026, and it also changes how the client negotiates an encrypted connection with the server, according to the official post on minecraft.net.

Packed Ice Bricks arrive in the game

Packed Ice Bricks are crafted from four Packed Ice blocks arranged in a 2x2 square, and the full set includes four variants: slab, stairs, wall, and a chiseled version. All of them can also be cut in a stonecutter, so players building wintry structures don't have to rely on crafting recipes alone. According to the Minecraft Wiki, unlike regular Packed Ice, the new bricks have standard friction and don't make characters slide when standing on them, which makes them a more practical building material than the base block.

The blocks belong to the "Fast Sliding Sulfur Cube" archetype, which means they share physics properties with other fast-sliding blocks in the game. The new set fits right into the seasonal 26.4 theme, which has been expanding on ice caves and frozen biomes for the past few weeks.

New advancement and gameplay changes

The snapshot adds the Adventure advancement "What Goes Around Comes Around," which unlocks after you kill a Frostbite mob with an ice ball, in other words, by beating the creature with its own weapon. It's a callback to earlier 26.4 snapshots, in which the Frostbite and ice balls appeared as new elements of the wintry caves.

Mojang has also changed how mobs destroy decorations: in Adventure mode, creatures can now break decorated pots, chorus flowers, and speleothem blocks with projectiles, unless the mobGriefing game rule is turned off. There are also new ambient sounds: regular ice now makes noises when it's surrounded by at least eight ice blocks horizontally, has air above it, and has water below.

Experimental graphics option for Windows

A new experimental option, "Prefer DXGI Present," has appeared in the video settings, available only on Windows. It makes the game try to present frames through DirectX instead of the standard path, which according to Mojang may improve IME handling, support for variable refresh rate (VRR), and alt-tab switching speed in fullscreen mode. The option is off by default, and the developers openly admit that not every piece of hardware will support it.

Networking changes under the hood

A less visible change, but an important one for server admins, affects the login protocol. Until now, connection encryption and compression were applied immediately on both sides, which sometimes led to malformed packets. In Snapshot 5, the server must explicitly send one of the packets carrying connection options (minecraft:login_finished or minecraft:apply_options), and the client confirms the change with the corresponding reply packet. Only then do both sides switch to the new settings. The data pack version has increased to 125.0, and the resource pack version to 100.2.

Map makers and world generation creators should also note a change to density functions: the old interpolated function has been renamed to upscale and clarified in terms of samples per axis, and the ore generation rules (ore and scattered_ore) no longer pass blocks rejected due to air exposure on to the next replacement rule.

What's next for the Fourth Drop

26.4, known to fans as the Fourth Drop of 2026, has steadily built out its winter theme over the past few snapshots. Brittle Ice and jukebox playlists came earlier in Snapshot 4, and before that came the ice caves and the Frostbite mob. For now, snapshots are available only in Java Edition, so Bedrock players will have to wait for the full release. You can find a full overview of the changes in this update so far on the Minecraft versions page. Mojang hasn't announced a release date for the final 26.4 yet, but given the pace of the snapshots, the full update should reach players later this year.

Sources