A big part of what has made Minecraft such a huge success is the variability that’s possible within its voxel-based building confines. Modders and developers have poured thousands upon thousands of hours into creating custom content and refining the game with new mechanics and changes. But all of that work takes development time and testing to get right. And a big part of the testing and debugging methodology for Minecraft is Minecraft Snapshots.
Think of Minecraft Snapshots like you would a beta build of any software. Minecraft Snapshots are a means for the developers at Mojang to test and refine new features by leveraging the millions of users who own the game. Snapshots are a feature that allow developers to deploy multiple versions of the game to Minecraft Java Edition.
How to play Snapshots in Minecraft?
First up, always back up your worlds before switching to any Snapshot. It’s also good practice to back up any world files before changing or adding mods as well. Snapshots and mods can be pretty buggy, so keep that in mind, as we don’t want to lose hours of progress.
When you’re ready to actually play a Snapshot, head over to the main site to preview each Snapshot. All of them are directly available via the Launcher in Minecraft Java Edition. For example, the newest Snapshot, 20w60a adds some new elements to the Nether, To choose the Snapshot you want, just head to the Installation tab within the launcher and select your desired Snapshot. There’s even a button to load the lates
If you prefer a video guide, we have included a great one down below.
