The Redstone Update refers to Java Edition 1.5, a major Minecraft update released on March 13, 2013. This update introduced a variety of redstone-related blocks, new decorative blocks, items, and gameplay improvements, along with optimizations for the lighting engine and a new scoreboard system.
Key Features
New Blocks
- Activator Rail – Crafted from 6 iron ingots, 2 sticks, and 1 redstone torch. Stops item flow in minecarts with hoppers and activates minecarts with TNT.
- Block of Redstone – Crafted from 9 redstone dust, acts as a redstone power source.
- Daylight Detector – Crafted with 3 wooden slabs, 3 glass, and 3 Nether quartz; outputs a redstone signal based on sunlight intensity.
- Dropper – Crafted with 7 cobblestones and 1 redstone dust; ejects items and transfers them to containers.
- Hopper – Crafted with 5 iron ingots and a chest; collects items from above and deposits them into containers.
- Redstone Comparator – Crafted with 3 redstone torches, 3 stone, and 1 Nether quartz; compares or measures redstone signals.
- Trapped Chest – Crafted with a chest and a tripwire hook; emits a redstone signal when opened.
- Weighted Pressure Plates – Light (activates fully at 60 items) and Heavy (activates fully at 600 items).
- Quartz Blocks – Decorative blocks including Block of Quartz, Quartz Stairs, Quartz Slab, Quartz Pillar, and Chiseled Quartz Block.
New Items
- Nether Quartz – Obtained from mining Nether Quartz Ore, used in crafting redstone comparators, daylight sensors, and quartz blocks.
- Nether Brick – Crafted by smelting netherrack; used to make Nether brick blocks.
New Non-Mob Entities
- Minecart with Hopper – Collects items from above when moving.
- Minecart with TNT – Explodes when activated by a powered activator rail.
- Minecart with Spawner – Spawns mobs while moving (obtainable only through NBT editing).
Other Additions
- Realms – Mojang subscription service for hosting private servers, initially offered to a limited number of players.
- Scoreboard System – Tracks player objectives like health, kills, and achievements.
- New Commands –
/testfor,/effect, and/scoreboard.
Notable Gameplay Changes
- Improved Lighting – Optimized lighting engine and subtle visual changes.
- Bone Meal Changes – Plants grow in stages instead of instantly.
- Efficiency Enchantment Tweaks – Only affects mining speed of the specific block type.
- Inventory Management – Enhanced features for item organization.
- Redstone Signal Updates – Brewing stands, chests, dispensers, detector rails, and jukeboxes now emit signals when a comparator is placed adjacent.
- Mob Adjustments – Skeleton shooting mechanics improved; slime spawn rate in swamps depends on moon phase.
- Nether Brick Crafting Added – Players can craft Nether bricks.
Further Revisions
- 1.5.1 – Added the ability to combine enchanted books, allowed hoppers to remove empty buckets from furnaces, and fixed performance issues.
- 1.5.2 – Addressed bugs, crashes, and additional performance optimizations.
Development & Release
- Announced at MINECON 2012 during the Future Updates and Future of Mod API talks.
- Development began after 1.4.6, with 16 snapshots (13w01a to 13w10b) released.
- Pre-release was delayed to March 7, 2013, before the official launch on March 13, 2013.
Videos & Trailers
Official promotional videos and fan-created trailers were shared on Mojang’s blog and YouTube, highlighting the major features of the update.