1.21.6

Minecraft 1.21.6 added the Happy Ghast, a rideable ghast you raise yourself from a Dried Ghast block, along with a harness in every dye colour so several players can ride one. It was released on June 17, 2025 as a follow-up to the release before it.

At its heart, 1.21.6 is a flying drop built around one new mob. The standout addition is the Happy Ghast, its harness in all sixteen colours, and the Dried Ghast block. Snapshots 25w15a onward, the drop that followed Spring to Life.

This page breaks 1.21.6 down into 3 headline features, 1 notable gameplay or technical change, 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 Chase the Skies update is the Happy Ghast, its harness in all sixteen colours, and the Dried Ghast block.

In full, 1.21.6 adds Happy Ghast, a tameable flying mount that carries more than one player, Dried Ghast block, which turns into a Happy Ghast after it has been in water long enough, and harness in all sixteen colours, plus the plain Harness. Together these are what make Chase the Skies worth updating to, and each appears in the Major Features list on this page.

Beyond new content, 1.21.6 reworks how parts of the game behave. The notable changes include protocol 771, data pack 80, resource pack 63. Changes like these are typical of a point release, which refines an existing update rather than replacing it.

To play Minecraft 1.21.6 on Java Edition, open the official Minecraft Launcher, select the Java Edition tab, and use the version dropdown beside the Play button to choose 1.21.6. As a point release it sits in the release list alongside the other stable builds.

Before updating an existing world to 1.21.6, it is good practice to copy the save folder first. Worlds from 1.21.5 upgrade in place, but newly generated chunks will use 1.21.6's world generation while older chunks keep their original terrain.