Java Edition 26.2 Snapshot 8

26.2 Snapshot 8 (known as 26.2-snapshot-8 in the launcher) is the eighth and final snapshot for Java Edition 26.2, released on May 19, 2026,^[1] which makes small tweaks to existing features and makes OpenGL the default rendering backend again.

/unpublish

• Unpublishes a player's integrated server if there is one present.

Death messages

• Added "<entity> died because not just the floor is lava".
  • Appears when dying to a sulfur cube with the Hot archetype.

Beds

• Now bounce up entities falling onto them with 75% of the impact velocity instead of 66% to match Bedrock Edition.

Sulfur cube

• Sulfur cubes containing a block inside are now immune to damage from magma blocks, as well as from other sulfur cubes that contain a magma block.

Sulfur caves

• If exposed to the surface, the biome will generate with all the features of the underground sulfur caves biome instead of just grass blocks.

/publish

• The /publish command now takes an additional Boolean as its first argument to specify whether the server should be opened to online multiplayer or just local multiplayer.
  • Default: true (online multiplayer)

Damage type

• Added a new minecraft:sulfur_cube_hot damage type.

Data pack

• The pack format version is now 106.0.

Options

• "Graphics API" Video Setting
  • "Vulkan" is now marked as "Experimental".
    • Can still be used if wanted, it works well on most common systems but may reduce performance or cause instability on some other systems.
  • "Default" option will now use OpenGL behind the scenes.
  • The setting will be reset to "Default" for all players.

Tags

• Added sulfur_cube_hot to #burn_from_stepping, #bypasses_shield, #is_fire, #no_knockback, and #panic_environmental_causes damage type tags.
• Added hot_floor, and sulfur_cube_hot to #sulfur_cube_with_block_immune_to damage type tag.

Textures

• UI Sprites
  • Added friends/background_dark which is a darker variant of the friends/background panel sprite, used as the background for confirmation dialogs in the Friends UI.

22 issues fixed

From released versions before 26.2

• MC-306673 – The color of sleeping baby snow foxes' eyes is inconsistent with their adult variant.
• MC-306738 – Blocks sometimes remain visible after breaking.
• MC-306750 – The texture of snifflets contains unused pixels.
• MC-306962 – The "Take Screenshot" key bind doesn't work when set to a mouse button.
• MC-307212 – The texture of the back of gurgles' right arm has a line of miscolored pixels.
• MC-307833 – The world freezes when villagers with specific trade sets level up.

From the 26.2 development versions

• MC-307363 – Baby hoglins' mane no longer appears on both sides of the body texture.
• MC-307911 – The death message for dying to a sulfur cube with an absorbed magma block is "discovered the floor was lava".

From the previous development version

• MC-308035 – Standing signs next to blocks now have an extra dark looking face.
• MC-308047 – Friends service forbidden (403) — user may lack an active profile.
• MC-308048 – The "options.inGameNotification" string is improperly capitalized.
• MC-308058 – Sulfur cubes touching cacti spam the hurting sound.
• MC-308061 – Games published with /publish are shown as offline in the multiplayer options screen.
• MC-308073 – Text in the friends list warning screen can extend outside the window when reducing the resolution.
• MC-308102 – Non-friends can join a friends-only world if they are using the same network.
• MC-308103 – The sign editing screen no longer distinguishes between standing signs and wall signs.
• MC-308104 – The side faces of wall signs do not get culled against blocks.
• MC-308114 – The name of the debug property that simulates friend-only chat repeats the word "DEBUG_".
• MC-308145 – Cannot see own chat messages when chat is restricted to friends only by Xbox options.
• MC-308163 – Entities pushed upward by geysers take fall damage proportional to the time they have been hovering for when landing.
• MC-308168 – The skin preview in the skin reporting screen can no longer be rotated vertically.
• MC-308181 – When the Villager Trade Rebalance experiment is on, the "Bounce" music disc does not generate.