Minecraft is ever-growing and ever-changing, and that is very apparent in the latest Minecraft Java Edition Snapshot. The prior Snapshot added Grimstone into the game, but this one finalized the block’s design. The block type has since been renamed from Grimstone to the less ominous name Deepslate.
Deepslate comes in all of the same varieties but also offers the first Overworld alternate ore block in the game. There are Deepslate variants of five out of seven of the Overworld Ores: Diamond, Gold, Redstone, Lapis Lazuli, and Iron. There is no variant for Copper or Emerald because neither of those ores generates below y=0, where Deepslate spawns.
Some other changes include a new type of block called Smooth Basalt, created via smelting Basalt and Slime and Honey blocks moving to the Redstone tab in Creative. Below you can find the full patch notes.
Changes in 21w08a
- Tweaked cave sizes further
- Canyon and cave carvers now apply below y=0
- Cracks can now be found carved into the ground
- Grimstone has been changed into Deepslate
- Added Deepslate ores
- The distribution of ores has been further tweaked
- Andesite no longer generates under y=0
- Tuff now sometimes generates under y=0
- The Tuff layer of amethyst geodes has been replaced with now a new type of stone called Smooth Basalt
- Smooth Basalt is now obtained from smelting Basalt
- Another round of tweaking has been done to the new textures of ores and Blackstone
- Emerald and Lapis Lazuli ore textures have had some touch-ups
- Mineshafts now once again generate in the open air in caves
- Particles now appear in the air around spore blossoms
- Slime Blocks and Honey Blocks have been moved to the Redstone tab of the creative inventory
Deepslate
- Grimstone is now called Deepslate
- Deepslate now has a top texture, and a new block called Cobbled Deepslate drops from Deepslate
- The cobbled variant is the same but without the top texture, and is used to craft all Deepslate variants instead
- Deepslate now has a unique set of sounds! Very crunchy indeed
Deepslate ores
- Added Deepslate versions of Iron, Gold, Lapis, Redstone, and Diamond ores that generate wherever those ores replace Deepslate
- Twice as tough to mine as normal ores
Fixed bugs in 21w08a
- MC-213926 – Rooted dirt footstep sounds are considerably quieter than normal dirt footstep sounds
- MC-214782 – Geodes can generate floating in caves
- MC-214843 – Old style caves don’t generate past Y=0
