Mojang’s latest snapshot, 25W06A, hatches colorful new chicken breeds, introduces the parched look of dry grass, and adds the delicate cactus flower-fresh touches that hint at deeper biome variety and subtle survival twists ahead.
In addition, you will discover new cactus flowers and fresh new blocks of dry grass. That said, let’s dive right in and check out all the new features brought in this update.
Minecraft Snapshot 25W06A Brings New Chickens
Minecraft Snapshot 25W06A introduces several new chicken variants that bring more variety to farms and wild biomes. Players can now encounter unique breeds with distinct feather colors, patterns, and behaviors, adding personality to flocks and new uses for breeding. Some variants may prefer certain environments or drop special items, encouraging exploration and experimentation with crossbreeding. These changes make raising chickens more engaging while expanding the range of animal diversity in the game.
While you were busy trying out the new Pig and Cow variants introduced into Minecraft, Mojang rolled out another new snapshot that brings new chicken variants into the game. Like the previous ones, chickens now have a Warm and Cold variant.
While these can be found in their respective biomes, you will find the original models in all other zones. They will be named Temperate Chickens. Moreover, if you try making farms with these chickens, you might soon discover the new types of eggs introduced in this update.
The Blue egg spawns a cold Chicken, while the Brown egg spawns a warm chicken. Finally, the eggs of the temperate variants remain the same and are white in color. Also Read: Minecraft Wildflowers: How to Get, Uses and More
Cactus Flowers and New Dry Grass Adds More Detail
Cactus flowers bring a fresh splash of color to desert biomes, growing naturally on top of cacti and adding a subtle decorative element to arid areas. Players can collect these blossoms for crafting dyes or simply for decoration, bringing new life to dry regions. Alongside the flowers, patches of dry grass now appear in warmer biomes, giving the terrain a more authentic and weathered feel. Together, these additions create richer scenery and new opportunities for creative building and landscaping.
In addition to the chickens, Snapshot 25W06A brings in a new form of flowers growing in the desert and badland biomes. Yes, now the desert and the badlands won’t look so barren after all. These flowers can spawn naturally and be placed manually. However, the chances of a flower spawning on top of a cactus increase with its height.
Finally, there are new forms of dry grasses including a short and tall dry grass variant. These are distinguishable from the normal grass variants as both of these are just a block high. These can spawn in both desert and badlands biome. These blocks are really useful since you can feed them to the sheep to regrow their wool, use them in the composter to make Bone Meal, or use them as a fuel source in Minecraft.
So, these are the latest features introduced in Minecraft Snapshot 25W06A. If you are looking for further details on the technical stuff, feel free to check out the official patch notes linked at the beginning.
How to install Minecraft Snapshot 25w06a
Minecraft Snapshot 25w06a installs easily through the official Minecraft Launcher for Java Edition.
Launcher Steps
Open the Minecraft Launcher and navigate to the Installations tab. Toggle the “Snapshots” option in the top-right corner to enable snapshot versions. Create a new installation, select “Latest Snapshot” from the version dropdown, name it (e.g., “25w06a”), and click Create.
Launch and Backup
Select the new installation from the list and click Play to download and launch the snapshot. Always back up worlds first, as snapshots may cause corruption-use a separate folder for testing.
Third-Party Notes
Launchers like TLauncher require enabling snapshots in settings, then selecting and installing 25w06a from the version list. Avoid unofficial sources to prevent security risks.
What are the new features in 25w06a
Minecraft Snapshot 25w06a introduces several biome-themed features and technical tweaks for Java Edition.
Chicken Variants
Warm chickens spawn in warm biomes and lay brown eggs, while cold chickens appear in cold biomes and lay blue eggs; the original chicken is now called temperate. These variants match biome rules used for pigs and cows, with updated textures in resource pack version 51.
Dry Grass Blocks
Short Dry Grass and Tall Dry Grass generate in deserts and badlands, placeable on sand, terracotta, or dirt. Sheep eat them to regrow wool, and they can be bonemealed or used as fuel.
Cactus Flower
This pink flower grows on top of cactus blocks in deserts and badlands, with height increasing spawn chances and new sounds for breaking or placing.
Technical Changes
Random ticks now apply to any block in simulation distance or chunk-loaded areas, enabling crop growth or ice melt beyond player vicinity. New gamerule “allowFireTicksAwayFromPlayer” controls fire spread outside 8 chunks; firefly bushes gained nighttime ambient sounds. Various bug fixes address crashes, placements, and visuals like leaf litter.
