Minecraft 26.3 Preview: Dappled Forest and Abandoned Camp Explained

Dappled Forest: the new biome

Dappled Forest brings an autumn-like atmosphere with warm colors, built around a new tree type:

The biome mainly generates near cold biomes, and is built as much for builders looking for a new color palette as for explorers.

Abandoned Camp: the new structure

Abandoned Camps are small surface structures that generate across a wide range of land biomes, including Dappled Forest, with biome-specific variations. Each camp is built mainly from wool stairs and fences shaped into a tent, typically featuring a copper lantern and a campfire. Depending on where it spawns, a camp might also include a lone tree, a small pond, cobwebs, or a tiny crop patch.

New blocks: wool stairs and slabs

26.3 also adds wool stairs and wool slabs, giving builders stair/slab shapes for every wool color to match the new Abandoned Camp aesthetic — useful well beyond just recreating camps.

Should you update your server now?

Since 26.3 is still in snapshot as of this writing, it isn't the stable release yet — running a snapshot on a server you care about carries real risk (snapshots are for testing, not long-term worlds; save compatibility with the eventual stable release isn't guaranteed). Wait for the full 26.3 release before updating a server your group actually plays on, and check our Minecraft server cost and RAM sizing guides if you'll need to resize once new chunks generate with the new biome and structures.

Frequently asked questions about Minecraft 26.3