Mojang has released Minecraft Preview 26.70.21, another Bedrock Edition test build that lays the groundwork for the fourth drop of 2026. The biggest addition is a set of packed ice brick blocks, and alongside it the studio has tossed in a free Music Features add-on with a Disc Press and a Pocket Jukebox. The build is described in the official changelog on minecraft.net.

Packed ice bricks on consoles and phones

Preview 26.70.21 is the Bedrock counterpart of what already landed in Bedrock Edition in earlier Java snapshots. The new block set includes bricks, slabs, stairs, walls and chiseled variants of packed ice, all tinted blue and purely decorative. The key difference from regular packed ice: the bricks don't melt, and a pickaxe is the best tool for mining them.

Mojang notes in the changelog that some parts of the block still need polish. Known issues include naming, instrument sounds, placement in the Creative inventory, and behavior when flooded with water. That's typical for a feature in Preview: the mechanics work, but the details get ironed out in later builds.

Ice Caves get more dangerous

The changes also touch the Ice Caves biome, announced earlier along with the Frostbite mob. Players can now fall into a cave when thin ice breaks beneath them, and the crevasses themselves generate more densely and with more varied ceiling heights. Combat balance is tweaked too: the Ice Ball projectile deals 2 base damage, which drops as it loses speed in flight.

  • Cows, pigs, chickens and frogs summoned with spawn eggs in Ice Caves spawn as their cold variants
  • Wither Skeletons can now pick up Ice Balls from the ground
  • Polar Bears, Snow Golems and Strays are immune to the freezing effect
  • Frostbite no longer spawns naturally underground outside the Ice Caves biome
  • Polar Bears no longer spawn on thin ice

Free Music Features add-on built into the game

Besides the icy news, Mojang is testing something completely different: the Music Features Add-On, which comes to the game for free with no need to download it from the Marketplace. In the changelog the studio says it outright: “This is a free add-on that is already built into your game, meaning that when you load the game you will already have the pack”. All you need to do is add the “Music Features Add-On” resource pack to a world to unlock the new blocks and items.

The centerpiece is the Disc Press, a block that presses music onto Blank Discs, turning them into Track Discs you can play in a jukebox. In Preview the press comes preloaded with tracks from Minecraft's main menu, so you can use it right after entering a world. There's also the Pocket Jukebox, a portable player that holds up to 20 discs. Only the player carrying it hears the music, and its color depends on the bundle used in crafting, and it can be dyed after it's made. Mojang cautions that these features don't work on Realms yet.

Java Edition parity fixes

A good chunk of the fixes in 26.70.21 bring Bedrock Edition closer to how Java behaves, which matters mostly for servers that bridge both platforms. Mining Fatigue now slows mining by the same amount as in Java, and Haste and Conduit Power likewise increase mining speed according to the Java values. The base damage of Guardians (from 5 to 6) and Elder Guardians (from 5 to 8) has changed, and damage dealt by mob projectiles now scales with difficulty the same way as in Java.

A fairly annoying Frost Walker bug has also been fixed: water freezing around the player now works in a circle instead of directionally, and the effect only activates when the player is standing on the ground. This prevents situations where ice forming beneath a player jumping into water caused lethal fall damage.

How to try the preview

Minecraft Preview installs alongside the regular Bedrock Edition and lets you check out upcoming features before their official release. The build is available on consoles, phones and Windows, and Mojang collects bug reports at bugs.mojang.com, while feedback on the new mechanics goes to feedback.minecraft.net. For players building winter bases or exploring seeds with icy biomes, it's a chance to try the new block set before it reaches the stable version of the game.

Sources