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Let's talk about Archeology!

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Archaeology is coming to Minecraft in update 1.20, and you can try it out right now in Java snapshot and as an experimental feature in Bedrock!

This new system has several components, introducing a new craftable item (the brush) and new blocks (suspicious sand and decorative pots), as well as changes to desert temples and wells. You can read more about how it all works in the changelogs linked below. 

We're still developing archeology, so your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated as work continues in the lead-up to the final 1.20 release. Let us know what you think in the comments! 

How to test new Minecraft Features: 
https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/testing-new-minecraft-features

Latest Changelogs:

You can find all previous changelogs in the Knowledge Base in the "Beta Information and Changelogs" category.

 

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  • 2
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    there no customization like we saw in the original showcase and there should be at least 50 pieces or a similar number of pieces that you can combine to make self expressed pots. The sand animation should look like the more natural one in the original showcase . Pots should come in different sizes/shapes which can be made from a new crafting block that “shapes” the pots. This can leave room for an archeologist villager who sells players the appropriate blocks and items. One of the main shapes should be a flask, bowl for suspicious stews, buckets, and just the normal small and big pot which can both hold flowers. This should also mean the bigger pot should be able to hold at least 2-5 flowers. small pots can have only one piece on each side while the more bigger pots like buckets and big pots can have 1-6 pieces on each side. adding colors to the pots gives the pots a more natural look that resemble clay colors. Since this is archeology update it’s appropriate to add more prehistoric blocks/fossil which can be restored by tapping on them with a torch flower or a different flower/item. This should mean the torch flower or whatever item gets used should be more rare and adding 2 or 3 prehistoric mobs to dig sites should be able to be revived. These prehistoric fossils can be added later on in ocean and make way for mythological animals like for example (very unlikely) the squid that drowns players showcased in an earlier minecon vote

  • 1
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    Excellent feature!! I have been waiting for this for years and you did not disappoint. However I feel there could be room to grow. As with many of these “customizable 1.20 features why not make the pots more customizable. Maybe have specific shards for other ruins such as garrison temple or jungle temple. This could introduce suspicious gravel (guardian temple) or suspicious dirt (jungle temple). This would not only allow for more exploration where players try to collect them all but then there will be more options for decorations and shards. I also recommend being able to dye the pots. As with dyeable terracotta, the pots, which are made out of terracotta, could allow for even more customization on top of the shards. Lastly I feel as if the pots could hold items. This would give map makers the ability to creat custom loot where you don’t know what you’re getting. You can put maybe three slots in them, and the only way to get the items would be to break the pots. Again amazing job, you truly made many minecrafters happy with this one

  • 2
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    I think pots could serve a purpose more than for just decoration by being able to put a chest in the middle of the crafting recipe and turning it into a "Storage Pot".It would only have one item slot when interacted with but it'd have the ability of holding MORE than one stack,maybe 2 or 2 and a half stacks of a single item.I think it would be really cool to see in-game.

  • 0
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    The Archaeology system is a good addition to the game. There is a lot of potential and improvements to be made but I want to share some thoughts in what has been introduced. The pot is neat and fits more within Minecraft than its first design shown in 1.18 (I believe there can be more variations in pots but this could complicate the shards). An idea I would like pots to do is to be use a storage for one item or hold water but not lava. As for the shards themselves they look really detailed, though I think there is not as much freedom as placement of shards as in the first preview where we saw the user place multiple shards in one side of the block. The brush works well but I think the recipe should change where we place three feathers on top, a sting in the left and right, and two sticks down the middle. The recipe as of now seems too simplistic and would make sense to have feathers as the top of the brush which can give feathers more use for crafting brushes. Please understand these are just my thoughts and any changes are not a must.

  • 2
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    I like the concept so far, but there should be rare items that can be dug up beside the pottery shards and sniffer eggs. Like diamond and emerald blocks, or even some exclusive armor trims.

  • 3
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    Some basic feedback and constructive criticism.

    Firstly, these new pots look terrible in comparison to the older Minecon 2020 pots.  No pretty colors, pot is way too tall and narrow, and overall there just aren’t enough different designs for ceramic shards.  I liked it better when there were 16 pretty colored ones, they looked so much nicer had had way better character than these ugly things, (no offense Jappa, I’m sure you did the best with what you had).

    Second, why is it we can no longer fire our own clay pots?  That was so much more intuitive and interactive in the older 2020 version, and the fact we could have up to 8 ceramic shards on a pot instead of just 4 was way cooler too.

    Third, I will admit, the new suspicious sand is a great idea, but what are you to do about Jungle Temples?  Do these not deserve their own dig sites?

    Fourth, just to remind you, we still need Netherite/Trimable Horse Armor.

    I think that’s it.  Rockatoa, Brickticks out!

     

  • 2
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    Shards to craft New armor trim pattern

  • 1
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    I have some ideas for archaeology: 

    First, I would love if the brushing system was more like the one shown in MC Live 2020, where you'd be slowly brushing off the block until the item was uncovered, but you could break it and lose it if you weren't careful. 

    Besides that, maybe other structures like ancient cities, ocean ruins or jungle temples could have suspicious sand/gravel spots to dig in, and unique pot designs and trims you could use to decorate, kind of like smithing templates.

    Finally, this might be an overstretch, but consider adding the "Excavation site" structure showcased in the 2020 Live. I know it's been a long time and development changes a lot, but those ideas were really good. This structure could help placing suspicious sand/gravel in biomes without "ancient" structures, like plains or forests.

    I can't wait to see how this new system evolves. I hope we get to see its full potential added to the game!

  • 2
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    In creative you should be able to put an item and suspicious sand in the crafting grid to make it drop that item for map making

  • 4
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    Hi Mojang!

    I think it would be interesting to be able to store liquids in large quantities in the decorative pots, a bit like cauldrons, but with a lot more slots.

    If we want to go further we can imagine transporting them like a sulker but for liquids. Even if just being able to put liquid in it would already be a good feature.

     

  • 2
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    The idea of a Villager Archeologist that can duplicate for you pottery shards for some diamonds or perhaps for something else like armor trims in crafting table because at least in their current state I think they are pretty rare

  • 2
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    you should be able to find damaged armor, tools, and weapons in suspicious sand, also skeleton skulls of course 

  • 3
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    I want to see this in other biomes, possibly even in the nether and the end, allowing for piglin shards or shulker shards. I feel like u could maybe add armour trims found by archeology as well. I also want to echo one of the other comments about gilded pots that sounds amazing, I’d love to decorate my base with different gilded pots.

  • 1
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    I like the Archeology feature, really, especially possibility to find diamonds or emeralds.

    However, after checking three temples, is becomes quite unsurprising. What may add some more surprise: if the "suspicious sand room" was generated more randomly - at least in random corners of the main hall - and if it was less obvious. Maybe the main room floor should stay as sandstone, requiring several attempts to find the sand room. It would be also nice to have several blocks of suspicious sand spread around the temple, like the desert well has. Also, not every block of suspicious sand should contain an item. Or maybe some "trash" items like bones or leather armor should be found sometimes, like when fishing. 

    Also, I think that suspisious sand is still too recognizable from the normal sand, especially if the area is artifically lit. 

    About pots, I really like how they are stackable and how they make nice columns. Good idea with crafting using bricks, it allows to make a pot even from one shard. Which is necessary, as I quess from three temples, brushing whole room rarely brings complete pot. 
    And yeah, it would be nice to see more patterns, like even enough to show an ancient alphabet? 

    The last thing about pots, I'd like to find some other use than pure decoration. They can serve as a container, I don't know if the same as barrel, or just for liquids, potions - or fish?

  • 3
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    I really like it so far, a couple things I would improve on are:

    • Having to harden the pots above a fire such as in the old concept trailer, I thought that was cool.
    • More places to find the suspicious sand such as but not limited to ocean ruïns and/or monuments.
    • Having the brush crafting recipe changed to:
    [F][F][F]
    [x][c][x]
    [x][s][x]
    Where F, x, c, s stand for feather, nothing, copper ingot and stick respectively. Not only would this give another use to copper, it would also make a bit more sense with the visual design of the brush (feathers) but that could just be me.

  • 0
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    • A fun idea but needs a lot of improvements
    • There should be at least 2 more archeology shards I personally think one of them should be a pickaxe this could be used with the diamond and the other one should be a creeper this could be used with the skeleton cause maybe the creeper kills the player on one of the pots and they become a skeleton these are only two of few many shards you could put into the game to make self expression.
    • The concept of of manually placing the shards on the clay pot should return from Minecraft Live 2019.
    • More structures should incorporate archeology like jungle temples maybe you could make suspicious gravel and/or dirt?
    • Smaller detail but the brush crafting recipe should incorporate copper since its mostly useless in its current state and the texture already seems to have copper on it all that's needed is just to put it on the recipe.
    • The dune smithing template should be apart of the loot box for suspicious sand instead of being apart of a desert temple chest this would add more incentive to go dig in desert temples/desert wells
    • Overall its great addition to the game it just seems limited in its current state and could just use some more minor tweaks. thank you and keep up the great work!
  • 0
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    More than 4 shards would make customization a lot more fun in my opinion. Maybe even of different materials. I think it’d be fun to have one for every mob, it allows you to show some experiences with different mobs that were experienced in the distant past of your world!

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I'm so excited for this feature! I can see this growing into some very fun gameplay! Here are my thoughts:

    1. I prefer the pot crafting method that was shown when they were originally announced. Where you stick the shards into a wet, unfired clay pot and then set the ground/ coal block underneath it on fire to set it. I also think it would be cool if you could add color or minerals to them. Both for added customization and also to tie in with the new armor trims. Also, there is a practice called "Kintsugi", according to Wikipedia, where you repair broken pottery with gold. Maybe you can do something with that? Lastly, I'm not a big fan of the current pattern designs. I have no suggestions for better ideas, though. 

    2.I think it would be nice if the pots could be used as storage. I saw this idea in a YouTube video, I forget who's it was, but perhaps it could work that the pots have to be destroyed to get what you put in them back? 

    3. I do like the new, extra, sand-filled room that is now in the desert temples, but I feel like they're not enough. Something more ought to be done with these rooms.

    4. I do not like the recipe for the brush. The texture implies it's made with copper, feathers, and sticks. Not just string and sticks. I also think the coloration of the brush tip is oddly pink/orange.

  • 1
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    The pots seem great! Imo I think it'd be cool if we still had to cook them similar to the early preview; it may seem like an unnecessary step as a mechanic, but it seemed much cooler and would add more immersion to the game, so I think it'd be much more fun than simply crafting the pot in the crafting table. We could craft the base pot out of clay, place it down, slap shards onto it, and light a fire or campfire underneath it. We could cook it without shards, too, for the blank pot. Maybe the base and shards could be dyed as well! With dyes, we could have a black pot with a white skull, or any other color variation. I know that'd take more work, though, so it's understandable if it doesn't happen.

    I also think more shards would be awesome too, like a creeper face shard, a rose shard...maybe even a mysterious, bearded, eyes-with-no-pupils Steve face shard?

    Finally, I agree with others saying the brush recipe is odd. I think it should at least have a copper ingot between the string and the bottom stick, since the item appears to have copper around the stick in its texture.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Great work on this feature! Would love to see the crafting be more similar to what was shown in Minecraft Live 2020. I think the new pots would work well with that old idea. Placing the shards on a clay pot and using fire to "craft" it would be awesome!! I would love to build a functional area to craft my Decorated Pots instead of only using a crafting bench. 

  • 6
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    New villager : The archeologist. Uses a new workbench that is related to archeology

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    It would be nice to be able to put items in decorated pots (or just one item). The reason for this is because it would be awesome to have a pot with the prize decoration on at the end of an adventure map that has some loot in. You could also make the pots create a redstone signal when an item is removed, so this could set off a trap or something. This might even be a great way to update the jungle temples, as they need it by now.

    Edit - just realized someone else put a suggestion very similar to this (but its a great idea).

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I think the texture of the decorated pot should not be shaded like it is, from lighter at the top to darker at the bottom. I don't think any other block in the game is shaded this way. It also makes it so you can't stack the pots to make a tall pot, because they don't blend together. Also, the pots currently don't have a breaking sound. It would be cool if they were affected by gravity and shattered back into the fragments if they fell.

    I'm confused about the brush crafting recipe, because the texture looks like it is made of feathers and copper, which neither are in the recipe. All of the other features and updates in this snapshot are extremely cool!

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    Cool update! The desert should not be the only place where archaeology is done. You should also be able to do archaeology in the Badlands with Red Suspicious Sand, and the Ancient City with Suspicious Gravel. I submitted a feedback suggestion about the Ancient City.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Love the new archaeology feature. However, a couple things to maybe improve it.

    1. Add more kinds of suspicious blocks, like suspicious soil or suspicious soul sand, which each possess their own loot tables and give you unique things based on the respective biomes.
    2. Similarly, variations to the pots would be really cool, maybe a shorter pot that's not quite a full block tall, and the ability to add gildings to the pots with various ores and materials to make them even fancier.
    3. Kind of related to the suspicious soil, but bring back the dig sites that were introduced in Minecraft live to other biomes, since the shards are definitely a bit rare atm.
    4. Maybe alter the brush recipe to include a copper ingot above the bottom stick, the current recipe is both really cheap and doesn't really reflect the image, as well as adding a new use to copper

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of suspicious sand's implementation. Having a separate block with a notably different texture kinda ruins the magic of uncovering mysteries. Its probably fine for people not following the snapshots, but the brushing process is very uninteresting for anyone who is aware.

    An implementation more similar to infested blocks (Same texture, vastly different mining speed) would be much more engaging. Possibly with a tool to detect if there are any of the blocks nearby. So you know you can find some, then you dig carefully to find them and then brush away the sand to actually get the reward.

    As it stands, the experience feels too structured. Like we're handed the opportunity in a very obvious manner rather than truly discovering something.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    Sus sand in and around temples is definitely too rare. Even using commands, I had trouble finding any, I can't imagine bothering with the system at all in survival if it takes more than 15min to come across anything.

    There definitely needs to be more dig sites and ruins in deserts. If it's too rare, only few people will interact with it, especially after novelty wears off.

    People also suggesting to use feathers and copper in the brush recipe, but even if it would make more sense, I prefer the current recipe. You already need to go out of your way, so then gatekeeping the brush behind mining and chicken farming would be a significant disincentive. String and sticks are all available things in deserts.

    It could be cool to have a faster and more durable copper brush, and a wooden brush with only 32 durability.

    Overall though, I really like it. I like how easy it is to break sand by accident, I love how Minecrafty it all feels. Exciting stuff!!

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    What if you could put tall flowers in them?

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Agree about the suggestions for the brush recipe: a diagonal shape using feathers as the bristles (string makes no sense being rather flimsy 'bristles'), copper, and stick, matching the texture better and is more logically functional.

  • 1
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    Maybe brushing animation should appear to extend from the hand rather than tilt against the hand?