Java Edition unused features

Since the beginning of Minecraft's development, there have been a number of features added to the game that have no actual use in Survival or in Creative. Some of these features are leftover from removed features, or simply placeholders for new features.

Note: that this page documents only unused features that are currently in the game. See Java Edition removed features for features previously in the game that are no longer available.

Blocks[]

Unobtainable block states[]

Block	State	Effect
Decorated Pot	cracked: true	As of now, there is no difference between a pot with this set to true and a normal pot.
Piston Head	short: true	Piston heads which have this set to true appear shorter by 4 pixels. This state is presumably only used for the extension/retraction animation, and cannot be obtained as a block itself.
TNT	unstable: true	Breaking TNT which has this set to true will do the same thing as lighting it, eventually causing an explosion.

Unobtainable block state combinations[]

Certain blocks have certain combinations of block states that cannot be encountered in usual Survival gameplay, and instead require using commands, the debug stick, a debug world, or certain glitches, many version-specific. Some may also be able to be created via update suppression methods, or be able to be created in older game versions and updated forwards. As these are impossible to encounter, mapmakers may be able to use some of them as blank slates and remodel these using model files for custom blocks as these will not be able to be encountered in any gameplay. Note, however, that these states are generally fragile.

Block	Combination		Effect
Bamboo	age: 0	leaves: large
		stage: 1
	stage: 1	leaves: none, small
Calibrated Sculk Sensor Sculk Sensor	power: 0 sculk_sensor_phase: active
	power:1-15	sculk_sensor_phase: cooldown
		sculk_sensor_phase: inactive
Campfire Soul Campfire	lit: true waterlogged: true
Candle	lit: true waterlogged: true		The graphics setting must be Fabulous! in order to see the emitted flame particles.
Chorus Plant	north: false east: false south: false west: false down: false
Glow Lichen Sculk Vein	north: false east: false south: false west: false up: false down: false
Hanging Signs	attached: false rotation: 1; 2; 3; 5; 6; 7; 9; 10; 11; 13; 14; 15
Iron Door Iron Trapdoor	open ≠ powered		In normal gameplay, open and powered are always simultaneously either true or false, and never mismatched.
Mangrove Propagule	age: 0-3hanging: false
	stage: 1hanging: true
Pitcher Crop	half: upper age: 0; 1; 2
Redstone Wire	any side: side / up remaining sides: false		In Java Edition 1.15, redstone wire will still stretch all the way to the side opposite its attachment, despite there being valid different block states which only have and visually show one attachment. Interestingly, they were even given distinct models in 20w18a, yet still never made available in Survival.
Scaffolding	bottom: falsedistance: 1-7
	bottom: truedistance: 0
Slabs	type: double waterlogged: true
Tripwire	disarmed: true powered: false
	attached: true no opposite sides: true
Tripwire Hook	attached: false powered: true
Vines	north: false east: false south: false west: false up: false
Walls	up: false	all sides: none	Most of these allow the inside of the wall to be seen, which can be seen through completely.
		any side: tall/low remaining sides: none
		two neighboring sides: tall/low remaining sides: none
		three sides: tall/low remaining side: none
		any side: tall any other side: low

Unobtainable fluid states[]

Block	State	Effect
Water Lava	falling: true	Both non-flowing water and lava have a fluid state named falling, which is always false.

Unobtainable fluid state combinations[]

Block	Combination	Effect
Flowing Water Flowing Lava	falling: false level: 8	Both water and lava created from a corresponding block above have the fluid state falling set to true and level set to 8, while without block above, the fluid state has falling set to false and level set to 1 through 7, making the combinations of falling set to false and level set to 8, and falling set to true and level set to 1 through 7 unobtainable.
	falling: true level:1-7

Entities[]

Giant[]

Giants are an unused mob added in Indev. They appear to be a giant zombie. Giants have no movement AI, therefore they are unable to walk around. They cannot spawn naturally because the game requires the light level to be both greater than 11 and less than 8 and those conditions cannot be met in vanilla. This makes them impossible to appear through monster spawners.

Giants can be summoned only by using the /summon giant command.

During the 2020 April Fools' snapshot, the giant is able to naturally spawn on occasion in custom dimensions.

The Killer Bunny[]

The killer bunny is a variant of the rabbit that is hostile toward all players and tamed wolves. Its fur is pure white with blood-red eyes that are horizontal, compared to a normal rabbit's vertical eyes.

If the killer bunny finds any player within a 16-block radius, it hops quickly toward the player, much faster than a normal rabbit. It moves in a style similar to that of a spider. Once it closes in, it lunges at the player, dealing a fair amount of damage. If the player strikes at the killer bunny, it runs away for a brief moment, then returns to lunging at the player. Killer rabbits are also immune to the Thorns enchantment.

If it cannot find a player, the killer bunny actively seeks out and attacks any wolves as well, including tamed wolves. These wolves, in turn, turn hostile and attack the killer bunny, leading to a vicious fight.

On peaceful difficulty, the killer bunny does not despawn, despite its hostile nature. It still attacks wolves (both tamed and untamed).

The killer bunny can be spawned only with the /summon rabbit ~ ~ ~ {RabbitType:99} command.

Zombie Horse[]

Zombie horses are a variant of horses that were added in Java Edition 1.6.1, along with normal and skeleton horses. There is a zombie horse spawn egg available only in creative mode, but they remain unused in survival.

In addition to spawn eggs, zombie horses can be spawned with the /summon zombie_horse command.

Illusioner[]

The illusioner is an unused illager that was added in Java Edition 1.12. Like other illagers, they attack players, villagers, wandering traders and iron golems within a 12 blocks range. It attacks with its spells, and with its bow.

The illusioner has two spells: a spell that blinds its opponent, and a spell that summons duplicates and makes the illusioner invisible.

The illusioner has a face that is just like the face of an evoker, formerly of a vindicator.

Illusioners can be spawned only with the /summon illusioner command.

Minecart with Monster Spawner[]

Minecart with monster spawner is a combination of a minecart and a monster spawner.

Minecarts with monster spawners cannot be obtained as an item in the inventory, and can only be placed using the /summon command.

The monster spawner inside the minecart acts the same way as normal monster spawners, and the mob being spawned can be changed with /data modify.

When killed, minecarts with monster spawners drop 1 minecart.

Unused paintings[]

In v0.5.0 alpha, with the addition of paintings to Pocket Edition, four unused 32×32 paintings were present in kz.png which remained unused. They were also added to Java Edition in snapshot 22w16a. They cannot be placed by default, but can be summoned by commands (such as /summon painting ~ ~ ~ {variant:"water"}) or through a datapack.

According to Helen Zbihlyj^[1], these paintings were originally added "as part of a Pocket Edition promo map" (no footage found) which was planned to be a part of Pocket Edition promotion at MINECON 2012 or 2013 and have never been used in game. The artist of these paintings remains unknown.

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Potions[]

The uncraftable potion is a potion added in the Java Edition 1.9 snapshot 15w44b with no effect that is unobtainable in survival without cheats as of 1.17. It is also available in splash potion and lingering potion forms, as well as for tipped arrows. It serves as a placeholder for potions that have missing or invalid potion-effect tags, which default to this.

It can be obtained using the following command: /give @p minecraft:potion{Potion:"minecraft:empty"}.

Icon	Name	DV
	Uncraftable Potion	373
	Uncraftable Splash Potion	438
	Uncraftable Lingering Potion	440
	Uncraftable Tipped Arrow	441

There are also potions that cannot be brewed, and give the player status effects not intended to be received by potions; e.g. Wither, Nausea. Again, these can be obtained only through custom potions.

Status effects[]

Various status effects remain unused in the game. They can be obtained using /effect or potion NBT data, but have no way of being obtained other than that.

Luck[]

Luck increases the chance of high-quality loot. Luck can be obtained from potion of luck, splash potion of luck, lingering potion of luck or arrow of luck, which cannot be obtained in survival.

From snapshot 19w13a to 1.14 Pre-Release 1, the arrows of luck could be obtained from fletcher villagers when the player has the Hero of the Village status effect.

Bad Luck[]

Bad Luck is the opposite of Luck; it reduces the chances of high-quality loot. Bad Luck cannot be obtained from potions, even in creative mode.

Health Boost[]

In Java Edition 1.6.1 snapshot 13w23b, the health boost status effect was added. It boosted the player's hearts for a temporary time. It could be obtained from eating a golden apple. Later, in snapshot 13w24b, golden apples gave the player absorption instead of a health boost, but the effect was still left in the game.

In Java Edition 1.9 and Java Edition 1.14, developers gave the Health Boost effect a new texture, despite the fact that it is still not in use.

Sounds[]

Audio loops[]

Loops were unused sounds, found in the game files, and were possibly meant for when the player is in a specific type of location (i.e., in forests, caves, the ocean and beside a waterfall).

They were found in .minecraft/resources/sound/loops/, and could be converted to reveal four loops, of birds chirping, cave chimes, ocean and waterfall noises. They were removed at an unknown time.

Loop	Track
Birds Chirping
Cave Chimes
Ocean
Waterfall

Others[]

Others	Track
Ghast affectionate scream
Classic Hurt
Breath
Wolf Howl 1
Wolf Howl 2

Silverfish Walking Sounds	Track
Step1
Step2
Step3
Step4

Some of these sounds are still usable by running:

• /playsound minecraft:entity.ghast.scream master @a for the "Ghast affectionate scream" sound.^[2]
• /playsound minecraft:entity.player.breath master @a for the "Breath" sound.^[3]
• /playsound minecraft:entity.wolf.howl master @a for the "Wolf Howl" sounds.^[4]
• /playsound minecraft:entity.silverfish.step master @a for the "Silverfish walking" sounds.^[5]

Curiously, the "affectionate scream" can be heard in the Nether Update Official Trailer at 1:03 – 1:04.

Resources[]

Various resources located in the game's assets files that remain unused.

Purple arrow[]

Purple arrows were shot by skeletons in Survival Test and acted the same as regular arrows, but could not be picked up. The purple arrow used a texture on the same sheet as the normal arrows, but the texture is not currently in use.

In Java Edition 1.9, a new texture was added for arrows, causing the original arrow texture, including the purple arrows to be entirely unused.^[6]

Villager speech bubble[]

The villager speech bubble is an image that was added along with the villager.png file in the jar when the trading system was added. It showed a trade, where raw chicken could be sold to villagers for another raw chicken. Both raw chickens have the old raw chicken texture. During an interview about villagers, Jeb offered a possible explanation: "We did some experiments with thought bubbles, but it didn't look good. So in the end, after I'd been lead on Minecraft for a year, we just decided to add an interface instead." ^[7]

The texture has been partially overwritten by the selection arrows.

Minecart texture[]

The texture from the minecart model is rarely visible. The texture appears to be dirt, which is an artifact of when the minecart used to act as a portable chest. The "dirt" level used to raise when items were put into it. The texture still appears inside minecarts, but it's blocked by a different texture.

Villager, Vindicator, evoker, and witch hood[]

Evokers, vindicators and witches are hostile mobs based off the villagers, and they have an unused hood texture.

The evoker hood can be seen in the Mojang article "Meet the Evoker" and the witch hood can be seen in 18w50a.

Prior to the 1.14 Village and Pillage update, the villagers also had unused hood textures.

Footprint particle[]

Despite the particle itself being removed in the snapshot 17w47a, the texture for the 'footprint' particle still exists within the game's jar file.^[6] But the texture file has been removed since snapshot 21w13a.

The footstep particle was introduced, but never used in-game. It was removed in snapshot 17w47a, as part of The Flattening. They were later added as an easter egg item in the 20w14∞ April Fools snapshot with the resource location minecraft:footprint. It could be obtained in the "missing" dimension or using the /give command. The particle itself was readded in 22w13oneblockatatime which is spawned when the player walks around.

Zombie pigmen, guardian and armor stand[]

The old texture for zombie pigmen used to contain the text "THX XAPHOBIA" on an unused section of the texture. The texture for the guardian contains the text "jeb_", which is Jens Bergensten's nickname. The armor stand's texture also contains the text "Searge", which is Michael Stoyke's nickname.

Banner parts[]

banner_base and banner_overlay item textures exist but are unused, meaning it was once going to use an item model instead of the original entity model.

Old zombie villager texture[]

Old texture from 12w32a snapshot still exists in "textures/entity/zombie" directory but it's unused.^[6]

Map icons[]

Some extra icons for maps. The white and green arrows are the only ones used normally, though the colored arrows are used for multiplayer in Bedrock Edition.

Selected and Unselected[]

Squares labeled "SEL" and "UN SEL" (likely "SELECTED" and "UNSELECTED") can be found in "textures\gui\container\creative_inventory\tabs.png". Purpose unknown, though they could possibly be used as a template for the selected tabs and unselected tabs with the rest of tabs.png.

Skeleton melee attack[]

Skeletons normally wield bows, but if one were to spawn in a skeleton with a sword, the skeleton can use it like a normal weapon. A similar case happens with wither skeletons, in which one spawned with a bow can use it as intended, except the arrow is always on fire, even without lava or enchantments.

Alex skin[]

When the opacity of all pixels is set to 100%, unused textures are visible. The texture features Alex with glasses. It also features what appears to be the texture of Steve's arms implying that the Steve skin was used as a template for the Alex skin.

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References[]