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Let's talk about Java UI Updates!

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With the new 24w09a snapshot, we're giving select parts of the Minecraft: Java Edition UI a new coat of paint! The UI has been updated to sport a fresher look and to be more consistent in terms of UI element layout and positioning. 

  • The menu background dirt texture has been replaced with a semi-transparent texture. 
    - If you like dirt, don't fret! The old texture has been moved to the built-in Programmer Art Resource Pack.
  • Paired with the new background texture is a blur layer to give a frosted glass effect.
    - The strength of the blur can be configured in Accessibility Settings.
    - In-game screens such as containers and books are not affected by these changes.
  • Outside the game, the menu panorama is persistently displayed across all screens, and is still configurable in the Accessibility Settings. 

  • While in-game, the world is now visible behind all menu screens. Instant feedback when changing graphics settings! 
  • Screen elements such as titles and buttons are positioned more consistentlly across different screens. 
  • The Player and World Backups screens in Realms have been updated.
  • After defeating the Ender Dragon and entering the End Portal, the End poem and credits are now displayed with a background based on the animated End Portal effect. 

With these changes, we want to deliver a better-looking, more user-friendly UI experience for Java Edition, while preserving the charm and familiarity of previous versions. Let us know what you think in the comments below! 

 

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62 Comments

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  • 7
    Registered User commented
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    The background being in every menu is nice but I already get kinda dizzy by it always moving when trying to focus on the options due to having some slight issues with motion sickness (fortunately it's not that bad but I can imagine others have it way worse).

    While it's nice to have it move in the main screen and I don't really want to fully turn it off it would be pretty nice if the background would just stop moving when going into the menus (or at least an option to stop it or revert to the dirt one be in the accessibility menu)

  • 8
    Registered User commented
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    For me, the transparent background in the menu makes them feel too noisy and a bit distracting from an accessibility point. Even though the dirt background is in the resource pack, some players won't know unless they enable the pack. I feel like a button in the accessibility options to enable or disable the transparent background would be good.

  • 7
    Registered User commented
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    The update is bad. The old UI with the dirt background was rlly good. There is the option to enable that back again, but that requires an extra resource pack to be enabled and when you're ingame and pause the game, the dirt background appears?!?
    Revert these changes, no one likes that.

  • 12
    Registered User commented
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    I personally don't really like this update. I have the feeling Minecraft Java is intentionally made more like bedrock edition every update. If you keep the changes, please at least add a setting to make this toggleable. Also, moving the button in the options screen to the very bottom feels unnecessary to me... 

     

    The worst part of all ofcourse are the changes to the NBT system. This will break 99% of adventuremaps or other builds which use commands entirely. If you undo anything, please revoke the changes done to the NBT system. 

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    This is a great idea.

    Is it possible to incorporate this to the UI of the storage containers, also.

    Also could the background tint be a bit darker, and the buttons be a bit wider to support longer texts in these buttons < for mods >

    But aesthetically this is an improvement
    👀✨

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    The Java UI is now starting to look like Bedrock!

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    The panorama shouldn’t blur when you access game options by default.

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    The new frosted glass blur layer is amazing, and gives every menu with it a beautiful new look! This new effect should definitely also be applied to other in-game menus for consistency. It currently feels a bit awkward to have the pause game menu use the new effect and then the inventory and other GUI screens just use the normal darken effect. It might be nice to see a mix between the two of these menu background effects, something a bit darker than current but keeping the beautiful blur effect, otherwise the GUIs can get a little bit drowned out when accessing menus during daytime in the Overworld.

    The new End poem background is pretty, but a bit nauseating when trying to sit through and read the poem. It would be appreciated to have an accessibility feature to turn off or change the animated background to something that is more static.

  • 7
    Registered User commented
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    Very interesting! GG!

    However, there's something that could be improved in my opinion:

    • Like an existing mod does (Blur by Motschen), it would be interesting to see this blur, perhaps darker, even in regular containers to add an extra touch to the game. Also, I find it a bit annoying to see blurred slots, don't you think?

    • I would still add a themed background for when loading the Nether and the End, it would be more immersive!

     
     
     
  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    I really like the new background blur, but there are some performance drops in the game because of it, only in the main menu it goes smoothly, when clicking on any menu button, the performance drops a lot, I am not against it, but I would like that the user can choose between the new and old GUI, not putting the old resource pack, because it breaks completely if you are using additional textures, also will make that a lot of people who do not have a dedicated graphics will not be able to continue playing the same way in the future.

  • 11
    Registered User commented
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    think the dirt background should not be just available through programmer art, some people might want both the current art and the dirt background; perhaps a toggle?

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    - Switching between dimensions should display the animated nether portal (for the nether) and animated end portal (for the end).
    - Can we get an update to the play screen like bedrock edition?
    - Support for more fonts (NotoSans, Minecraft five or Minecraft ten)
    - All the title should use the Minecraft ten font for easy receipt
    - The GUI buttons, sliders, checkboxes should also be reworked after 15 years sticking with the old design

    - Animations when switching between UIs, screens and elements (bedrock parity)

    - Merging Worlds, Realms and Multiplayer into one play screen (bedrock parity) to navigate easier

    - Ability to directly switching skins from the game

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I think we forgot 24w08a

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    I love the new changes!

    The only change I'd like to see to this is the game pause menu. It feels like that menu in particular should not be blurred. I like to be able to see things happening in the background through it, and I tend to pause the game quite a lot. I do like the blur everywhere else though, so I prefer not to turn it off.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    The high contrast texture pack is not affected by most of the UI updates. Hopefully this is changed in the future.

  • 8
    Registered User commented
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    I'm all for these new changes, and it's really modernizing the UI. I do think the dirt background should be accessible through a toggle instead of through programmer art, but asides from that these changes are great!

  • 6
    Registered User commented
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    Overall I really like the new design, it looks a lot more modern and clean. The blur algorithm needs some improvements though - chat and other UI elements with finer details are looking really blocky.


    However, the buttons now no longer fit in with the rest of the design. They look a bit out of place. As sad as I would be to see the old button textures go, I believe it might be time for new buttons, sliders and so on.
    Just don't make them Bedrock-green, its too bright. 

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    “I think we forgot 24w08a”

    There were technical issues releasing 24w08a, so 24w09a was released.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    The option to blur the panorama when on the worlds, realms and friends screen should be added to Bedrock.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    the blur algorithm could be improved, but a positive change overall

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I like it overall. Feels fresh and better while still retaining Java edition's scrappy charm. I like the blur when on the main menu, but in-game it feels like a bit much at default settings (I turned it down to 25%). It would also be nice to be able to read chat somehow while paused while still having a "game paused" effect of some description.

    The panorama also seems to freeze and jump a bit when loading into / out of worlds.

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    I like the old one better. I know you want new ideas and you worked hard on them but I personally don't like it. But i play 1.16 more than the newest version anyway so it does not effect me much.

  • 6
    Registered User commented
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    This is an interesting change.

    However, a button in 'Accessibility Settings' to bring back the dirt background would be useful. I believe it's not a big request, and it can help players that enjoyed the classic dirt background, just like there's Programmer Art for having old textures.
    Using a resource pack to bring back the dirt background simply feels too inauthentic and clunky, and I'd have to constantly move around this resource pack between different installations, or may lose it accidentally, and so, an official solution (like that of the Programmer Art) would be appreciated.

    I understand 'Panorama scroll speed' is an option, but currently, blur seems to be too bothersome for my liking as it's confusing to navigate menus with all of the semi-transparency. This option does indeed stop the panorama visibly scrolling in the back, but the fact that it's moving (by default) makes it really hard to focus on whatever I'm doing, and it's motion-sickening.

    It feels as if there's little "depth" between the foreground and background, and the "solidity" of menus has been lost as a result.
    It's difficult to immediately discern between a UI element and panorama visuals constantly being in the back.
    It feels as if game's UI, and consequently the game, have lost what gave them the "Minecraft-y" feeling due to this "modernized" non-classic feel.

    Please do consider making this an optional UI setting, or at the very least, allow an option for the classic dirt background.

    Thank you.

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    The blur effect needs some improvement.
    It creates a lot of noise by duplicating the elements.
    The gaussian blur type would be more aesthetically pleasing.
    Some menus, such as the datapack one, need a dark background filter or a content box to increase the contrast and make the texts easier to read.

  • 9
    Registered User commented
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    I think the blur effect should use the Gaussian method instead of the Box one (I think that's the one that's currently being used), and if it's too computationally intensive it should switch to this method only under Fabolous graphics

  • 7
    Registered User commented
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    With all due respect and love, but is this what you call fresher? You just changed the background, that's all. I'm sure you're capable of so much more. What about updating those buttons? They're too long compared to the text inside them, it feels like a lot of unnecessary empty space. Why not make them more square, more balanced and steady, wider and thicker? Why not make it so that when you hover over them, they turn green, for example? We've had the same interface for over a decade, isn't it about time to update it, really update it? Real freshness. You have very talented artists capable of making beautiful things, why not dedicate some love to the interface, the first thing you see in the game? I personally wouldn't miss the current interface at all. It's 2024, why is it still just text surrounded by an ugly gray box? I understand that you want to keep the essence and are reluctant to make changes, but is it really the essence that the design is 15 year out of date? that it's ugly, but not ugly-cute like Minecraft is, but ugly because not enough effort and thought has been put into it? I repeat, you have the talent and human creativity, why is it that you still haven't put those resources into such a basic, important and fundamental aspect of the game: the user interface? Thank you.

  • 9
    Registered User commented
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    The fact that Java's user interface aesthetically looks more like Bedrock's is not a bad thing, quite the contrary. Both user interfaces have their challenges and shortcomings, but Bedrock's user interface is objectively more pleasing to look at and better aesthetically crafted than Java's. You can tell there is design and artists and planning there, unlike Java. For me, nostalgia and tradition are just impediments to change for the better and keeping old things just because they were always that way brings no real value. Please put the same love in the Java interface as in Bedrock.

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    looks very nice, although having an accessibility toggle is probably a good idea to avoid motion sickness and all that

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    I will miss the old school dirt background but hey new one looks cooler and smooth.

  • 7
    Registered User commented
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    Feedback here is from the perspective of a Java player and resource pack artist who plays both Texture Update and Programmer Art styles:

    Starting with great praise: The new UI is finally professional and I love how it looks with the current panorama (I anticipate 1.21's panorama). The blur filter not only looks good, but adds some awesome resource pack potential with the shaders (thank you for that!).

    Next, my sole gripe: due to how you implemented the new textures, the background shows on packs like ProgArt and High Contrast even where they didn't before (such as right when you pause). This means that pausing in multiplayer immediately obstructs the action. I propose you have a separate texture for the in-game overlay, even if in practice it is identical to the in-menu texture so that there can be more flexibility in adding custom menu textures. Just two new files can significantly improve UI creativity and avoid reducing quality of life for ProgArt users.

    Finally, something hopeful: the use of the portal shader for the credits background makes the credits look seamless with the portal which is really awesome and makes me extremely happy to look at. It could be cool to have the portal feeling by adding a ripple transition or something similar to still make it feel like you're going through that portal to somewhere (as ungracefully switching to a dirt background sort of did).

    Overall, the update so far is exciting, and I hope tweaks like these can be added to make it stellar. <3