Minecraft 1.21.80 Bedrock Edition Update: New Features, Flat Worlds and Plant Overhaul

Minecraft 1.21.80 Bedrock Edition Update: Everything You Need to Know

IT'S UPDATE DAY, MINECRAFT FANS! The latest Minecraft Bedrock Edition update (1.21.80) has arrived with some exciting new features, changes, and experimental content that will transform your gameplay. Let's dive into everything new in this May 2025 update!

VR/MR Support Discontinued

Unfortunately, we start with some bad news. As of May 2025, Minecraft has discontinued support for all VR and MR devices. If you're currently playing Minecraft on a VR headset, these new features won't be available to you moving forward.

Plant Overhaul: A New Look for Your World

One of the biggest changes in this update is a complete plant parody overhaul that affects nearly every plant in the game:

• All plants now have adjusted random offset range values
• This changes how plants position themselves on blocks (not always centered)
• Many plants have adjusted X, Z, and Y positioning
• Grass types show the most noticeable Y-range changes, with variations in height
• Even pointed dripstone has new random offset values (which might affect drip farms!)

The changes apply to everything from mangrove propagules to deep underwater coral plants and fans. This gives your Minecraft world a more natural, less grid-like appearance.

Improved Elytra Mechanics

Good news for flight enthusiasts! This update includes a significant change to elytra flying and rockets:

• When using a rocket while flying near a block, you'll now get a flight boost
• Previously, the rocket would just launch straight up with no boost
• This makes elytra flying more consistent in tight spaces
• Warning: It might make crash landings more common!

Profanity Filter Toggle

Console players should note that the update includes a default-on profanity filter toggle:

1. Access it through Pause > General settings
2. The filter can sometimes be overzealous, censoring innocent combinations of letters
3. If your signs are showing up with asterisks or censored content, you might want to turn this feature off

Structure Updates

The update pushes back some structure-related features into experimental mode:

• Data-driven jigsaw structures remain in experimental mode
• Mojang continues working on better structure tools for Bedrock Edition
• If you're a survival-only player, you likely won't notice this change

New Commands in Bedrock Edition 

The update introduces a powerful new command: /place

• Use /place structure to place pre-defined structures in your world
• Currently supports a limited number of structures
• Great for experimentation and exploration
• Also adds /place jigsaw for custom structure creation

Flat World Presets (Experimental)

For the first time ever, Bedrock Edition now offers multiple flat world presets:

1. Classic Flat - The original super flat world with grass, dirt, and bedrock
2. Tunnelers Dream - A high-altitude world with layers of stone and dirt for mining
3. Water World - A 60-block deep ocean world (dangerous in survival!)
4. Overworld - Pre-1.18 style world with traditional height limits
5. Snowy Kingdom - A freezing world covered in snow
6. Bottomless Pit - No bedrock at the bottom - fall straight into the void!
7. Desert - Sand and sandstone as far as the eye can see
8. Redstone Ready - Perfect for building complex redstone contraptions

While these presets are available, they're still being polished to match Java Edition parity.

Trail Ruins Parity

Trail Ruins structures now have parity with Java Edition:

• Trail Ruins in Birch Forest and Old Growth Birch Forest biomes will match Java Edition's placement
• Using the same seed will place the structures in identical locations across editions

Technical Changes

The update includes numerous technical changes laying groundwork for future updates:

• The leashable component now supports multiple presets
• This prepares for upcoming features like flying mobs and improved leashes
• Various backend improvements that most players won't notice directly

Realms Updates

Realm owners get a new "Set Region" option that helps:

• Locate your realm server closer to your physical location
• Potentially improve performance and reduce latency
• Provide a smoother multiplayer experience

Experimental Features

The update includes some exciting experimental features you can enable in world creation:

Happy Ghast Mob

• Find or craft Dried Gas blocks in the Nether
• Place them in water to rehydrate (takes 20 minutes)
• They'll transform into a small Gasoline mob
• When it grows, you can attach a harness and fly with up to 4 players!

Locator Bar

• A new bar appearing above your experience bar
• Helps locate other players in multiplayer worlds
• Makes finding friends much easier

Vibrant Visuals

• A complete visual overhaul for Minecraft
• Beautiful water effects, clouds, and sunlight
• Dynamic shadows that match blocks and plants
• Stunning sunrise and sunset visuals
• Note: Requires more powerful hardware to run

To access these experimental features:

1. Enable the experimental toggle when creating or modifying your world
2. For Vibrant Visuals, go to Settings > Video > Graphics Mode

Final Thoughts

The Minecraft 1.21.80 update brings a mix of quality-of-life improvements, visual enhancements, and experimental features that hint at even bigger changes coming soon. While some features like Vibrant Visuals are still in development, they represent what might become the standard Minecraft experience in future updates.

Whether you're excited about the plant overhaul, the new flat world options, or the experimental Happy Gas mob, this update offers something for every type of Minecraft player. Just remember that experimental features might change before their full release!

Are you playing the new update already? Which feature are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below!