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Let's talk about the Sniffer!

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Minecraft Live 2022's Mob Vote Winner, the Sniffer, is coming to Minecraft as part of update 1.20 and is now available in Java snapshot and as an experimental feature in Bedrock! 

The Sniffer is an ancient being, found in eggs unearthed from suspicious sand. Once hatched, they can help you search for seeds of ancient plants such as the Torchflower, which can add some prehistoric panache to your world!

There's still plenty of work to be done on developing the Sniffer, so your amazing feedback will be crucial in helping us iterate over the coming weeks. As well as your general thoughts and feedback on the Sniffer, we've also prepared a few questions:

  • Does the time it takes for a Sniffer to dig up seeds feel reasonable?
  • Does it feel like the Sniffer is searching for seeds?
  • Do the growth mechanics for the Torchflower feel intuitive?
  • How do you feel about the speed at which the Sniffer moves through the world?

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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  • 6
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    Ancient Seeds makes me think of the Judean Date Palm, which was made de-extinct by human assisted germination of 2000 year old seeds. Maybe how some of the ancient seeds be endangered or extinct plants?

  • 4
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    I think some cool plants that could be found are rafflesia flowers, sundew plants, pitcher plants, and venus fly traps.

  • 4
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    Maybe add more variation in new ancient plants - tall plants, vines, etc...

  • 4
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    Makes sense to be a neutral mob instead

  • 2
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    The sniffing animation is too much, esp the big sniff. It would look better if toned down, maybe the nose rises only a few pixels high.

  • 3
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    The Torchflower should maybe have emissive rendering, though it may be simpler if it emitted a small amount of light. More plants tied to the sniffer should be added as well.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    the sniffers snout should be shortened only a few pixels so it looks less top heavy and more aligned with the concept art during the mob votes.

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    It will be great that the sniffer not only lay down to dig seeds. It will be great that it also lay down just to chill and feel the sun in their body after a long time being extinct

  • 2
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    that the sniffer take out a flower that illuminates and others that are poisonous

  • 2
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    My idea is that every biome (including the nether biomes and the end) should have the sniffer be able to sniff 3-10 different types of seeds depending on how much lack of features it has

  • 4
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    I agree sniffers should have more hp!! I love its animation too. Also, make it so that it can also dig up other common seeds like pumpkin, wheat, etc to at least increase the uniqueness of the ancient plants. To connect with the exploration theme of the update, you might have it so that every major biome has more chances of dropping an ancient plant native to it. Torchflowers should also emit a glow of at least 2-4 light level. As per farming it, there should be a rare chance of dropping another seed (if you're keeping the 1 seed=1 plant rule). I know you're adding more plants anyway so good job at that!

  • 7
    Registered User commented
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    The sniffer should dig up different ancient seeds depending on the biome

  • 6
    Registered User commented
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    I would like to see some more interesting uses for the torch flower beyond just using it as decoration, and I would like to see more flowers and maybe a new tree.

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    I just think that the plants could have more uses other than decorative purposes but otherwise it is perfect as always (look up plant ideas on this website and you'll be surprised by the ideas you'll find)

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    No comment at this time on questions 1 and 2

    For question 3 I believe that the Torch Flower and any other ancient flowers added in this update should be potion ingredients accompanied by more potions and brewing stand effects. I have been a long time fan of the brewing stand system and would very much like to see more potions added to the game, especially if the mechanics are wacky.

    As far as the sniffer concerned, considering it's size, shape and passiveness, I would say the speed at which it moves makes sense.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    Torch flower should faintly glow. Also, it should be crafted into red-orange dye, which would be a new color. This would give us more options for banners, carpets, beds, wools, armor, sign text, and more! As for the glazed terracotta, maybe some sort of flowerier flame shape to mimic the torch flower a bit. Just a thought.

  • 2
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    I think the sniffer is adorable and I would be happy even without more sniffer plants, however I do have two issues:

    In my opinion it'd be far better if the sniffers laid an egg after breeding, similar to how turtles do it. Not only do they already lay eggs, but this would make transporting them as eggs a lot easier.

    My second issue is that there is no official sniffer plushie for me to buy in the merch store yet.

  • 6
    Registered User commented
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    Loving what's been added so far, but I do think the torchflower should emit light. It would make sense, and be perfect for a more natural looking light source. I love glow berries for this reason but they can only hang from ceilings. I think all the plants in this update mesh really well with the lush caves too.

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    I think that, just like frogs, sniffers should have different, but subtle, texture variants depending on the type of biome they hatch in. Cold biome sniffers would have a more minty color on their leaves, temperate biome sniffers would have the regular color, and warm biome sniffers could have a more yellowish tint. Maybe, if they happen to hatch in a cherry blossom biome, their leaves would be entirely pink, maybe have some purely visual flowers sprouting when they grow to be adults.

  • 8
    Registered User commented
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    • The time it takes for a sniffer to dig up seeds feels reasonable, yes. Perhaps if anything it could vary depending on the "rarity" of the seed? Like rarer plant seeds take longer.
    • Yes, it does feel like the sniffer is searching for seeds.
    • The growth mechanics do feel intuitive.
    • I feel like Sniffers move just a little bit too slowly, a slight speed increase would be great.

    As far as other feedback:

    • Sniffers should either be made a little bit taller, or have some size variation. They are essentially dinosaurs after all.
    • Torchflowers should give off light, maybe even the same level as torches, given the name.
    • I know this is just the first snapshot, but I hope we get at least a handful(like 5-6) plants that the Sniffer can dig up seeds for, if not more. It would be cool if some were even biome-exclusive seeds(perhaps even some exclusive to the Nether?). Suggestions:
      • A overworld-equivalent of weeping vines that can be climbed
      • Some kind of prehistoric-looking fern plant or fern, like Cycads, Selaginella lepidophylla or Horsetail restio. Plants from the Jurassic period in particular would be good inspiration sources.
      • Some kind of flowering vine would be really cool
      • Something like the formerly extinct Judean Date Palm would be cool
    • This may already be planned for when the Sniffer eggs are introduced, but I think that when Sniffers are bred they should lay an egg instead of a Snifflet directly.
  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    Please let the sniffers just lay down sometimes. The big cuties deserve a rest. I think this would mean seperating the sort of thud sound as they lay to dig from the rest of the dig noise. I suggest "sniffer plops" as the subtitle for this sound.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    I think the Sniffer should search for random seeds like it does now, but if you already have a full grown plant, you can make them sniff the plant and they will go search for more of them for maybe about 35 seconds, and you'd have to follow them, to make it more interesting. And then they would dig a random, bigger amount of seeds (maybe 1-5 seeds)

    This would also be good, because it's a bit bad that they only dig 1 each time considering you don't get any seeds back from farming the plants.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    sniffer sounds so sad, can it sound a little bit happier?

  • 1
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    I think the Sniffer makes for an interesting addition. I would love to have more ancient mobs. It could be that all ancient mobs are either in rare, obscure locations, such as the ancient cities, or need to be revived. If enough ancient enemy mobs are added, an effective enchantment like Smite would be interesting.

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    The time is reasonable.
    I indeed feel like the sniffer is searching for something.
    If I see something with a "seed" in it's name I intuavely think to plant it, so it think it's good.
    Speed of the sniffer feels right and makes him gentle which fits the mob perfect.

    Things I would change/add:

    Torch flower should light up in the dark or at least glow (like a glowsquid)
    Sniffer should have more hp.
    I think sniffer on a rare occasion should find something else in the ground then seeds (not necessarily something new for example: emeralds, flint, bowl, mushrooms)

    Plants that sniffer sniffs should have a unique properties so players take would take time to get them 

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I think the model for adult sniffer makes it look too thin, like it could fall over while walking, it would be cool if it was made a nir more chunkier to support its wobbly walking animation!

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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     Sniffer Needs these things to make it better

    • Ability to pick up Biome Specific seeds

        Sniffer should have an ability to pick up plants

        From other biomes like Torchflower for Plains,

        And this will expand the Floral side of Minecraft

     

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    Sniffer should have more health, preferably around 100.

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    Sniffer, due to its size, should be resistant to knockback.

  • 6
    Registered User commented
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    Add the ability to sit on a sniffer using a saddle. Not to ride, namely to sit. This is an adorable addition to the game