Minecraft's massive Caves and Cliffs update was so excessive that it had to be split into two parts.

This update will come as part of the 1.18 patch and will introduce plenty of new content as well as quality of life improvements for the game.

With a lot of world changes on the cards, there's a lot to take in and get excited about as we apporach the release date.

Here's what we know about the Caves and Cliffs Part 2 update.

Caves and Cliffs Part Two will arrive on the 30th November 2021!

The Caves & Cliffs Update: Part II will be available on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Windows 10, and Windows 11 – and Java Edition on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Changes in 21W41A include the following:

• Changes
  • The main menu backdrop now shows a Caves & Cliffs: Part II scene
  • Badlands mineshafts generate higher up
  • Geodes now only generate up to height 30 and their rarity has been adjusted to match 1.17 levels
  • The angle at which sprinting against a block does not break your sprint has been increased a bit
• Technical Changes
  • Changed the prioritization order of the chunk rendering pipeline
    • Unrendered chunk holes in the world should not appear anymore while flying fast with a high render distance
  • Server classes are now signed
  • New random number generator for Overworld generation

You can find the full big fixes here.

The first half of the update introduced a number of new items to the game including several new blocks, tools, and even axolotls.

Part II gives the mountains and caves that you know and love a makeover. Updated terrain generation, higher peaks, more elaborate cave systems – even the ore veins are larger!

This update also brings CANDLES for everyone. You may have noticed that a few items were missing from the list of new stuff, namely archeology, bundles, and goat horns. These features have been put on hold, they have not been cancelled. While they won’t be in the Wild Update, they are going to come to Minecraft in the future when they're able to add them in the best possible way.

A new version of the Caves and Cliffs beta is now available - 1.18. pre-release 4.

Changes

• Pre-Release 3
  • Starting server.jar with an empty bundlerMainClass will now just validate and extract files, then exit
• Pre-Release 2
  • Minecraft now uses Java version 17. If you are using a default setup the Launcher will download and install the correct version. If you are using a custom Java setup or a third-party launcher, you will need to ensure that your Java installation is version 17 or above.
• Pre-Release 1
  • Amplified and Large biome worlds have been adapted to the new terrain and are now once again available in the Create World screen
  • Removed world types “Caves” and “Floating islands” from the world creation screen
  • The transition between new and old terrain is less “cliffy”
  • Will surface height blend? Yes
  • Will biomes blend? Yes
  • Will caves blend? Your mileage may vary

Fixed Bugs

• Pre-release 4
  • MC-241774 - Crash when going nether portals or creating a single biome world with nether biomes // java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index 0 out of bounds for length 0
  • MC-241775 - Crash when going through end portals or creating a single biome world with end biomes // java.lang.NegativeArraySizeException: -5
  • MC-241778 - Game crashes or freeze when loading and upgrading the 1.17.1 version of the Superflat world // java.util.concurrent.CompletionException: z: Biome decoration
• Pre-release 3
  • MC-109260 - Full-width punctuation characters are rendered incorrectly
  • MC-185263 - Non full chunks in cache memory “semi-leak”
  • MC-223840 - Lava blocks from “Lava Aquifers” don’t get updated when a cave cuts through underneath them
  • MC-231818 - You can no longer use the up or down arrow to navigate between servers in the multiplayer menu
  • MC-236740 - Server-side lag spike sometimes occurs when attempting to locate a buried treasure or opening/breaking a chest containing a map
  • MC-236764 - Lighting lags behind world generation
  • MC-239397 - Lava pockets generate in icebergs
  • MC-239610 - Severe world corruption due to 1.18 snapshots failing to deserialize chunks that 1.17 loads fine
  • MC-239682 - Out of memory crash: World generation exhausts Java heap space
  • MC-239950 - Feature placement doesn’t check for biomes, causing unnecessary lag
  • MC-240229 - Rain and snow fall on the same blocks in a certain height range
  • MC-240483 - Foxes that spawn in grove biomes aren’t the snowy variant
  • MC-240589 - Game froze for several minutes and then crashed while flying around and loading chunks
  • MC-241245 - Generated Deepslate overwrites ore veins (mainly Iron ore veins)
  • MC-241255 - Gigantic Performance Drop after a couple of minutes
  • MC-241352 - Directory structure is not consistent between server and client
• Pre-release 2
  
  • MC-32813 - Floating water / lava above caves / cave carver doesn’t update water
  • MC-206303 - Minecarts have old textures on the bottom
  • MC-217038 - Large dripstone structures can be generated outside the caves
  • MC-217056 - Some high-speed particles lag/freeze the game
  • MC-220061 - Painting back texture is mirrored
  • MC-223917 - Goats on fire do not attempt to pathfind towards water
  • MC-226689 - Albert Pastore’s name is grey and improperly indented in the credits
  • MC-227163 - Credits say ‘‘IT Manager’’ instead of ‘‘IT Managers’’
  • MC-227204 - “Explore, dream, discover” quote no longer appears after new credits
  • MC-227206 - Random names in the new credits use curly quotes/apostrophes
  • MC-227231 - Steven Silvester’s name is misspelt in the credits
  • MC-227239 - In the credits, Elizabeth Batson’s company name is improperly capitalized
  • MC-227329 - The usage and punctuation of “Inc” is still inconsistent in the credits
  • MC-231782 - Missing “(” in Frank Criscione credit
  • MC-236756 - Biome-exclusive mob spawn rates are reduced
  • MC-236858 - Seeds that spawn you in the middle of the ocean cause lag
  • MC-237608 - Server address shown when connection fails during server startup
  • MC-238049 - Passive mobs (cows, pigs, sheep, chickens) sometimes do not spawn
  • MC-238076 - UpgradeData in chunk is not migrated to new world height
  • MC-238375 - Crash and/or data corruption upon attempting to save a world with a world border center over 30 million blocks
  • MC-238587 - Sprinting while flying into a block causes the screen to rapidly zoom in and out
  • MC-239397 - Lava pockets generate in icebergs
  • MC-239423 - Kumi Tanioka isn’t under “Music composed by” in the credits
  • MC-239856 - Upgrading old worlds causes vines to have the wrong block state
  • MC-239857 - Fences, iron bars, and glass panes often use an incorrect block state after conversion
  • MC-239884 - Water from old chunks don’t properly propagate into new chunks
  • MC-239899 - Connected redstone does not properly upgrade from older versions
  • MC-240030 - Holes in worlds created in Alpha and Infdev below y=0 after conversion
  • MC-240494 - Duplicated mineshafts with new cave generation
  • MC-240507 - Mob Spawning in structures fails in pre-1.18 generated monuments/swamp huts/outposts
  • MC-240570 - Biomes in old chunks are not copied to new caves below Y=0 when chunks are extended
  • MC-240610 - “Allow Server Listings” option doesn’t save its last setting
  • MC-240783 - Powder snow does not reduce or negate fall damage
  • MC-241111 - Some Mojang employees are not mentioned in the credits
  • MC-241194 - Crash: java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke “ddm.a(cao, cps, java.util.Random, gh)” because the return value of “java.util.function.Supplier.get()” is null
  • MC-241199 - Double chests have incorrect block states after upgrading old worlds
  • MC-241208 - Powered buttons, pressure plates, and tripwire hooks remain powered forever after upgrading old worlds
  • MC-241234 - Fossils get cut off at chunk borders
  • MC-241413 - Floating water generates around ravines

You can download the update here.