1.11

Minecraft 1.11, the Exploration Update, added woodland mansions, the illager mobs that guard them, and portable shulker box storage. It was released on November 14, 2016 as one of the game's numbered feature updates.

At its heart, 1.11 is rewarding players who venture far from spawn. The standout addition is Woodland Mansions defended by Evokers and Vindicators, plus shulker boxes. Introduced exploration maps that point players toward newly generated structures.

This page breaks 1.11 down into 9 headline features, 2 notable gameplay or technical changes and 2 documented fixes, and a plain-language summary of why the update matters. Java Edition is the original PC version of Minecraft, available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The most talked-about part of the Exploration Update update is Woodland Mansions defended by Evokers and Vindicators, plus shulker boxes.

In full, 1.11 adds Woodland Mansions, vindicators and Evokers (Illagers), vexes summoned by Evokers, llamas with caravan mechanics, Shulker Boxes for portable storage, observer block, totems of Undying, and Exploration Maps from Cartographer villagers, with several further additions listed on the right. Together these are what make Exploration Update worth updating to, and each appears in the Major Features list on this page.

Beyond new content, 1.11 reworks how parts of the game behave. The notable changes include Entity IDs changed to namespaced format and brewing stand requires Blaze Powder as fuel. Adjustments of this kind reshape day-to-day play for existing worlds as much as new ones.

On the bug-fixing side, 1.11 resolves fixed hopper item transfer bugs and fixed several chunk loading issues. Fixes like these remove long-standing frustrations without altering how the game is meant to be played.

To play Minecraft 1.11 on Java Edition, open the official Minecraft Launcher, select the Java Edition tab, and use the version dropdown beside the Play button to choose 1.11. As a full release it appears in the standard release list by default.

Before updating an existing world to 1.11, it is good practice to copy the save folder first. Worlds from 1.10 upgrade in place, but newly generated chunks will use 1.11's world generation while older chunks keep their original terrain.