Mojang’s sandbox game pivoted from one large update to four smaller drops per year over two years ago now. With the second game drop of 2026, Chaos Cubed, Minecraft will get new blocks, a new area, and more. The next Minecraft update is the first one since the changes to the naming format that was introduced with Tiny Takeover, so it’s now known as 26.2.
We’ll cover all of the new Minecraft features, including the next Minecraft update release date and what Chaos Cubed includes. We’ve also got the dates of all of the recent Minecraft updates.
In This Article
Next Minecraft release date estimate
New Minecraft update features
Sulfur Caves
Cinnabar and Sulfur
Sulfur Cube
New music
Party up
Previous Minecraft updates
Next Minecraft release date estimate
The next Minecraft update, the Chaos Cubed drop, will be released on June 16, 2026. Mojang has promised four updates a year, and since Tiny Takeover was released on March 24, the release date falls in line with the update cadence.
For players using the game’s Snapshots feature, where you can try out new additions in beta form, you will be able to get up close and personal with the new Minecraft drop’s contents ahead of time.
Thanks to a recent video put out by the Minecraft team we can let you know what won’t be included. “We try to avoid bringing in pop culture references,” commented X, “Like hot dogs or pirates!” added X. “However, we could do Villagers that live on the sea, so it’s about finding that balance to ensure that the Minecraft world is its own unique place.” Having said that, in a recent interview with product manager Anna Lundgren, she told us “nothing is off the table” for future releases.
Mojang also said, “When it’s time for us to start work on a new update we start to brainstorm ideas and we look at community feedback. Someone says a joke and we’re like, ‘That’s so fun.’ For example, when we worked on Village and Pillage, we added a lily of the valley, and it’s really poisonous in the real world. We wanted to educate players about that. One of the developers overheard our discussion and popped up like, ‘What about adding a suspicious stew?'”
New Minecraft update features
The new Minecraft update adds new blocks and a new underground biome, and the details were teased during March 2026’s Minecraft Live, and elaborated upon further in May’s Minecraft Live from TwitchCon. The Chaos Cubed drop adds the Sulfur Block, which Mojang calls the “most unpredictable mob.”
Sulfur Caves
The Sulfur Caves will add a new area to your underground exploration. Located in the overworld but beneath the surface, the Sulfur Caves will add a new aesthetic as well as several new blocks. The Sulfur Caves will be dotted with red and yellow blocks–more on those later–as well as Sulfur pools. These pools are bodies of water in varying sizes, but watch your step near them. They may look inviting, but thanks to the potent sulfur lurking beneath their surface, these pools will inflict the nauseous effect, sending you dizzy. Using a block of Potent Sulfur underneath a magma block submerged in water will create a geyser.
As a result, Sulfur Springs and Geysers can be found on the surface of the overworld, above Sulfur Caves. If you spot one and dig down, you’ll find the new cave. Geysers even shoot water high in the air at a high pressure, so they can throw you–or other mobs–soaring.
Cinnabar and Sulfur
These two blocks can be found in the Sulfur caves mentioned above. Each of them can be crafted into various forms of building and brick blocks, meaning a town of brightly-colored houses will soon look more eye-catching than ever.
Sulfur Spikes have also been added to the Snapshots version of the game–the early staging area where players can test the new Minecraft features ahead of release. These spiky versions of the new Sulfur blocks generate naturally and can be used to form stalagmites or stalactites when places on the floor or ceiling respectively.. They will merge together if placed next to each other, and they hurt when they fall, so watch your head!
Sulfur Cube
The Sulfur Cube is one of the main events for the Chaos Cubed drop. I’ve not seen anything like it in Minecraft so far. The Sulfur Cube will absorb other blocks, whether they’re near to it, or because the player has fed it. If a Sulfur Cube consumes a wood block, it’ll act like a cubic ball, but if you feed it some ice it’ll slide around. Mojang hasn’t yet confirmed a full list of the blocks that the Sulfur Cube can consume, but with things like slime balls or fire charges existing, we’re sure there’ll be some wild combinations to explore.
Sulfur Cubes can be found in Sulfur Caves and will bounce around aimlessly until they’re fed another block. Once absorbed, each block has a different effect on the Sulfur Cube’s physical properties. You can feed TNT and magma to Sulfur Cubes for devastating effects. You can transport a Sulfur Cube in a bucket, so don’t worry about them getting too chaotic to be contained.
New music
The music disc “Bounce” will be added with the Chaos Cubed drop. You can find it in chests inside mineshafts that intersect with Sulfur Caves.
Party up
Partying up with your friends is easter than ever in Bedrock Edition. While this was rolled out for Java in the Snapshots, it was rolled back a few short days later, showing that Mojang might need a little more time to get the feature working more efficiently across all editions.
Bedrock users rejoice though, as you’ll be able to create a group of players that can seamlessly move between different realms, and even different worlds. Use the social menu in the game’s main menu to create a party for up to 15 people. You can choose from having the party be invite only, or open so that any of your friends can come and go as they wish.
Previous Minecraft updates
Here are the previous Minecraft updates and their release dates:
Tiny Takeover – March 24, 2026
Mounts of Mayhem – December 9, 2025
The Copper Age – September 30, 2025
Chase the Skies – June 17, 2025
Spring to Life – March 25, 2025
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