Third Drop 2026

Third Drop 2026

{
    "title": "Third Drop 2026",
    "images": [
        "Dappled_Forest_2.jpg"
    ],
    "rows": [
        {
            "field": "Q3 2026",
            "label": "Release date"
        },
        {
            "field": "\n* (link to Java Edition 26.3 article, displayed as Java Edition 26.3)\n* (link to Bedrock Edition 26.50 article, displayed as Bedrock Edition 26.50)",
            "label": "Version(s)"
        },
        {
            "field": "Drop 3 of 2026",
            "label": "Preliminary<br>name(s)"
        }
    ],
    "invimages": [],
    "footer": "<div .4em\"><span [[Chaos Cubed]]</div>\n\n</div>"
}

There are guides for this update!

 

See Java Edition guides/Third Drop 2026 and Bedrock Edition guides/Third Drop 2026 for a guide to all of the new features introduced in Third Drop 2026.

The third game drop of 2026 is an upcoming, currently unnamed game drop that will release in the third quarter of 2026. It focuses on the dappled forest biome, adding poplar trees with three different colors of leaves, a new wood type, and new natural blocks. It also adds stairs and slabs for concrete and wool, cushions, and straw beds alongside a new structure, the abandoned camp. It was announced at Minecraft Live – May 2026.

Experimental features for the update were released prior to the finalized release as part of Bedrock Edition 26.40.

Concrete stairs and slabs

• Can be crafted with concrete.
  • Can also be converted from a stonecutter.
• Comes in all 16 colors of concrete.

Poplar wood set:

• Poplar sapling
  • Grows into a poplar tree.
• Poplar leaves
  • Comes in red, orange, and yellow varieties.
  • Produces falling leaf particles that match the leaf color, falling as frequently as pale oak or cherry leaf particles.

    

  • Emits ambient sounds when attached to any log and next to at least three of the same type of leaves in its four horizontal directions.
• Poplar log and stripped poplar log
• Poplar wood and stripped poplar wood
• Poplar planks
  • Poplar stairs
  • Poplar slab
  • Poplar sign
  • Poplar hanging sign
  • Poplar button
  • Poplar pressure plate
  • Poplar door
  • Poplar fence
  • Poplar fence gate
  • Poplar trapdoor
  • Poplar shelf

Red shrub

• A red bush variant found in dappled forests.

Shelf mushroom

• A mushroom variant found naturally on poplar and fallen poplar trees.
• Comes in two sizes.
  • Using bone meal on a small shelf mushroom grows it into a large one.
  • Breaking a large shelf mushroom drops two shelf mushrooms.
• Can only be placed on full sides of blocks.
• Is bouncy when fallen on by entities.
• Can be used as an ingredient for mushroom stew, suspicious stew and rabbit stew.

Straw bed

• A new type of bed which can be used to sleep through the night without changing the spawn point.
• 4 straw beds are crafted with 3 hay bales.
• Can be stacked to 16.
• It can only be used once and will be destroyed after use, despite not fully resting in it.
• When used in the Nether or the End, it will break upon use unlike regular beds.
• Generates in abandoned camps.

Wool stairs and slabs

• Can be crafted with wool.
• Comes in all 16 colors of wool.

New explorer maps

• Added abandoned camp maps that generate in the common chests of abandoned camps. There are 8 variants that lead to different biomes:
  • Bamboo jungle
  • Cherry grove
  • Birch forest
  • Dappled forest
  • Flower forest
  • Pale garden
  • Swamp
  • Windswept forest
• Added new structure maps which generate in the abandoned camp's secret chest loot:
  • Buried ancient city map
  • Buried mineshaft map
  • Desert pyramid map
  • Warm ocean ruins map

Cushion

• A decorative block-like entity that can be sat on, and can be placed on any surface.
  • Breaks when moved by pistons or when the supporting block is removed.
  • Can be collided by non-solid blocks.
• Can be stacked to 16.
• Crafted from 3 wool slabs of the respective color.
• Comes in all 16 colors of wool.
• Generates in abandoned camps.

Poplar boat

• A boat that is crafted using poplar planks.
• Poplar boat with chest

Dappled forest

• An autumn-themed forest biome which can be found near cold biomes; it consists of poplar trees, patches of coarse dirt, red shrubs, leaf litter, brown mushrooms, shelf mushrooms, and sparse spruce trees.
  • Fallen poplar trees generate more frequently than other fallen trees.
• Rabbits, foxes, and the cold variants of farm animals spawn here.

Poplar tree

• A tree that generates in dappled forests.
• Can have shelf mushrooms growing on it.
• Comes in three different colors of leaves: orange, red, and yellow. The color of the tree is randomly decided upon world generation.
• Fallen poplar trees contain brown and shelf mushrooms as well.

Abandoned camp

• A structure that generates on the surface of the Overworld in following biomes:
  • Meadow
  • Cherry Grove
  • Forest
  • Birch Forest
  • Old Growth Birch Forest
  • Flower Forest
  • Windswept Forest
  • Dappled Forest
  • Taiga
  • Snowy Taiga
  • Old Growth Spruce Taiga
  • Old Growth Pine Taiga
  • Sparse Jungle
  • Bamboo Jungle
  • Swamp
  • Savanna
  • Wooded Badlands
  • Pale Garden
• The tent consists mainly of white wool stairs, straw beds, and fences that depend on the biome.
• Its appearance and structure vary significantly depending on the biome, with variations such as containing a stone shelter or having leaves or cobwebs, a tree, a pond, or a crop farm.
• Contains loot in chests, barrels or a hidden oxidized copper chest.

Hay bale

• Changed the texture. Mainly the strap part which has been moved down by one pixel in order to better align with the straw bed.

Spruce leaves

• No longer produce falling leaf particles.

Map and Explorer map

• Changed textures.
• The player icon on locator and explorer maps has been changed to always show the direction the player is facing.
• Explorer maps are now unique items, with their own distinct textures:
  • Buried treasure map
  • Jungle explorer map
  • Ocean explorer map
  • Swamp explorer map
  • Trial explorer map
  • Woodland explorer map
  • Desert village map
  • Plains village map
  • Savanna village map
  • Snowy village map
  • Taiga village map
• Explorer maps can no longer be zoomed out using a cartography table.

Mushroom stew and Suspicious stew

• Can now be crafted with any combination of two mushrooms instead of specifically requiring one red mushroom and one brown mushroom.

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Mushroom Stew	Any Mushroom + Bowl
Suspicious Stew	Any Mushroom + Bowl + Any Small Flower

• The first Preview for this drop mentioned "the wandering trader's hidden stashes" as new features, in the description for the experiment. The second Preview changed this to "the abandoned camps".

• 
  A dappled forest
• 
  Noor in a dappled forest near a cluster of brown mushrooms
• 
  Sunny in a dappled forest making a base using poplar wood and wool stairs
• 
  Some blocks from the drop
• 
  An abandoned camp in a swamp
• 
  An abandoned camp in a cherry grove
• 
  An abandoned camp with a poplar tree and a fallen poplar tree having shelf mushrooms on it
• 
  Minecraft YouTube post of the abandoned campsite
• 
  Kai in a dappled forest next to an abandoned camp
• 
  An abandoned camp in a dappled forest
• 
  Efe in the abandoned camp
• 
  Alex sitting on a wool stairs cushion in a swamp hut
• 
  Kai and Ari sitting on cushions while Sunny and Efe are on top of a green and white tent
• 
  Noor in a dappled forest sitting on a brown cushion near a smoker
• 
  A black sheep looks out at the plains and the mountains from the dappled forest
• 
  A wandering trader with trader llama nearby an abandoned camp
• 
  Steve playing video games on a cushion and leaning
• 
  A player glowing while sitting on a cushion
• 
  Zuri and Efe sitting on rainbow concrete stairs on top of cushions
• 
  An abandoned camp next to a house having concrete stairs and slabs
• 
  A house made of concrete stairs and slabs