Minecraft’s final update of the year is officially here — Mounts of Mayhem brings mounted combat to the Overworld

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2025 was packed with Minecraft content, featuring two Minecraft Live events and a whopping four major updates. As the year draws to a close, the latest update, Mounts of Mayhem, marks the final content drop of 2025 and also signals a change in how Mojang will number Minecraft versions going forward.

The Mounts of Mayhem update, revealed at Minecraft Live in September 2025, introduces a brand-new weapon progression system, several new creatures, and exciting mounted combat. It’s a wonderfully chaotic way to finish a fantastic year for Minecraft, the world’s most popular survival game.

The new Mounts of Mayhem update is now available for both Minecraft: Bedrock and Java Edition! Read on to learn everything about it, including details from an interview with Anna Lundgren, Senior Product Manager at Mojang Studios.

Lots of chaos, lots of mobs

“It’s fun to finish the year with a little chaos,” Lundgren shared at the end of our quick chat. And the new ‘Mounts of Mayhem’ update for Minecraft definitely lives up to its name – it’s more adventurous than the last three updates! Here’s a look at everything it adds to the game.

  • The spear: For the first time in many years, Mojang Studios has added a new tiered weapon to Minecraft, joining the sword and axe.
    • The spear is a melee weapon with extended minimum and maximum reach, and can be crafted with wood, stone, copper, iron, gold, diamond, or netherite.
    • The spear has jab and charge attacks, with the former dealing low damage and knockback, and the latter scaling damage and knockback based on material, angle, and velocity.
    • The spear is designed with mounted combat in mind, and can be used by players, zombies, husks, and piglins.
    • The spear also has the exclusive lunge enchantment, which changes the quick jab to a horizontal lunge, at the cost of durability and hunger.
  • The nautilus: Mojang Studios has added a brand-new mount specifically for underwater adventures.
    • The nautilus spawns in all ocean biomes, with the incredibly rare coral nautilus sometimes spawning in the warm ocean biome.
    • The nautilus is a neutral mob, but can be tamed (and bred) with pufferfish.
    • The nautilus can be equipped with a saddle and new nautilus armor (functionally similar to horse armor).
    • When riding a nautilus, players get the “Breath of the Nautilus” effect, which halts loss of oxygen when underwater.
    • The nautilus also has a dash, similar to the camel (but underwater).
  • Undead mounts: Players aren’t the only ones to enjoy mounted combat — three new undead mounts are also being added.
    • The zombie horse now spawns naturally in Survival mode with spear-wielding zombie riders, and can wear horse armor for protection from the sun.
    • The camel husk can spawn in deserts with spear-wielding husks and parched riders, and is immune to the sun.
    • The zombie nautilus can spawn underwater with trident-wielding drowned riders.
    • All three undead mobs are hostile when ridden by a hostile mob, but are neutral and can be tamed (but not bred) when the hostile rider is killed.
  • The parched: Mojang Studios also added a new hostile mob to Minecraft with the parched.
    • The parched is the skeleton archer counterpart to the husk, spawning in deserts with sun immunity.
    • The parched fires arrows of weakness, but shoots slower than normal skeletons.
    • The parched can also spawn with a husk riding a camel husk.
  • Other changes: We’ve covered the big additions, but here are some other miscellaneous updates included in this game drop.
    • Horses, donkeys, camels, and other mounts no longer sink in water when riding them.
    • You can now upgrade diamond horse armor to netherite horse armor with a smithing table.
    • Minecraft: Java Edition now has new graphics presets and options.

We’re ending the year with Mounts of Mayhem, and it’s packed with cool new stuff, including the long-awaited zombie horse – it’s finally available outside of Creative mode!

When I asked why the zombie horse wasn’t included in Survival mode without using commands, Lundgren explained that the original reason has been forgotten over time.

This update includes more features than were showcased at Minecraft Live. According to Lundgren, camel husks and the parched biome were planned all along, but weren’t finished enough to be revealed during the event.

Mojang is now handling updates and announcements differently. They’re releasing updates more often, but in smaller chunks, and are waiting to reveal new features until they’re almost finished and ready for testing by Minecraft insiders.

Lundgren highlighted the ability for horses to swim and the spear as standout additions from the recent Mounts of Mayhem update, and hinted that exciting things are planned for Minecraft in 2026.

You can find a complete list of all the new features and updates in the Mounts of Mayhem update by checking the changelogs for Minecraft: Java Edition 1.21.11 and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition 1.21.130.

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2025-12-09 23:10