Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Beta 1.17.40.21 lands with more experimental features and changes

The Minecraft beta program continues with new fixes and more for testers.

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What you need to know

What you need to know

Yesterday, Mojang Studiosreleased a new patch update for Minecraft: Bedrock Editionwith a flurry of improvements across the board. Work isn’t done on the more experimental side, however, as today marks the release ofMinecraft: Bedrock Edition Beta 1.17.40.21. Today’s release continues to iterate on the first half of theCaves and Cliffs Update, while also adding to the experimental feature set pertaining to the second part arriving later this year.

There’s nothing terribly exciting in this build, with world generation for flat worlds being updated and copper becoming more prevalent on the experimental side. On the other hand, players can expect lots of bug fixes and technical updates across the board, touching on things like elytra, world generation, and more. The beta is available now to download and test on Xbox, Windows 10, and Android devices.

Normally, Mojang makes a habit of releasing Minecraft: Bedrock Edition betas and Minecraft: Java Edition snapshots around the same time, but an unforeseen issue prevented a snapshot release today. If you prefer to play the legacy version of Minecraft on PC, a snapshot may be arriving tomorrow.

Minecraft is often considered to be one of thebest Xbox gamesyou can play, and this is supported by a wide selection oftoys and giftssuitable for any Minecraft fan. Part of this success can be undoubtedly attributed to Mojang’s constant drive to improve Minecraft with these betas and snapshots. If you’re interested in the future of Minecraft, be sure to tune into Minecraft Live 2021 next month.

The full changelog for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Beta 1.17.40.21 includes:

Experimental Features

Experimental Features

Flat world generation

Gameplay

Copper ore

Features and bug fixes

General

Gameplay

World generation

Mobs

User interface

Character creator

Technical updates

Animation

Graphical

Graphics

Molang

GameTest Framework

Available everywhere you play.

Minecraft is an inarguable and complete success. It has sold copies in the hundreds of millions, has a huge following of dedicated players, and lets you unlock your every creative desire. It’s also available on every platform imaginable, including Xbox, Windows 10, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. Play with anyone and play anywhere.

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Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter@BoddyZachary.