Craft and conquer Minecraft’s May update finally lets you build your own saddle

Finally, after over 15 years of player requests, Minecraft’s latest snapshot can now implement a strangely important feature: crafting saddles.

Other than some new ambient music, a few movement speed tweaks, and some features that won’t be in the game in the future because “no sign of moving forward” kind of idea in Minecraft, this snapshot does one more thing that changes how Mojang plans to support Minecraft going forward: Snapshot 25w20a. Released on May 13, the 25w20a Java snapshot is small but changes how you play.

Minecraft snapshot changes the game

Saddle up—finally

Saddles have been unobtainable through crafting, only obtainable by looting chests, trading with villagers, and often fishing long enough to finally get lucky. Snapshot 25w20a finally makes it possible to craft saddles, as you can now craft a saddle with 3 leather and 1 iron ingot. Unbelievable.

This is not a quality-of-life tweak. This is a huge change to how you develop your travel, exploration, and taming strategy. No more chance timing. No more latency. So what does it take to craft a saddle? Once you’ve picked up leather for the first time, that’s it. The recipe is instantly unlocked, and that’s it.

In Snapshot 25w20a Mojang (Minecraft Snapshot) also added functionality to remove saddles and gear with shears, but it has to be used in certain ways. If ANY mob has a rider or you’re crouched, all is lost. Ravagers, though? Good luck with that.

Loot tables rebalanced, luck replaced

Now that saddles are craftable, Mojang has also reworked where they appear. Dungeon-style loot drops—like those in jungle temples or ancient cities—will now hand out leather instead.

This might annoy speedrunners and purists, but it’s a bigger theme: giving players more control over how they play.

Dispenser interactions have also been nerfed. You can no longer shear mob gear using dispensers, so it’s a level playing field for both survival and creative gameplay.

New tracks add depth, not just noise

Music also gets a refresh in this update, with five new ambient pieces by Amos Roddy:

• Below and Above

• Broken Clocks

• Fireflies

• • Lily pad

• O’s Piano

A new music disc, Tears, is also available—but you’ll have to bounce a Ghast’s fireball back at it to get the drop.

And yes, music now plays when the game is paused, with track names in the pause menu. Small change, big immersion boost.

Goodbye -VR

One of the big losses in this update: VR support has been removed from Minecraft Bedrock Edition as of 1.21.80.

We knew this was coming since 2024, but it still hurts for mixed-reality players who loved the blocky world. Java Edition still leads in experimental features, but maybe this is a step towards platform simplification, or maybe Mojang just changed their priorities.

Tools for modders and datapack devs

Modders weren’t left out. Mojang added a new experimental feature: dialog boxes.

These allow datapack creators to show messages with clickable actions, options, and warnings. Dialogs can even pause the gameame in single-player mode, opening up new possibilities for tutorials or quest systems.

Datapack and resource pack versions have been updated, and there are permission tweaks to allow safer use of clickable text in multiplayer commands.

What else?

• Less fog during rain

• New panorama and region info in the main menu

• New player hands visuals

• Crafting UI changes to fit flows

All of these are tiny polish updates, but a unified polish doesn’t waste legacy systems.

Mojang has one foot in the past and one foot in the future

Of course, being able to craft a saddle seems like a small thing, but it’s where Minecraft is heading—removing friction, letting players craft their experience, and reducing randomness.

And the cancellation of VR as we know it shows Mojang can just walk away from it, that their message is clear—double down on what works and cut what doesn’t.

More updates are coming before the final release of the next Minecraft spinoff, and with the Minecraft Movie doing well, the franchise will be heading into 2025 with a firmer grip on that engine that drives it.

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