Best Features in Minecraft Java 1.21.6 Update

1. Happy Ghast and Ghastling Mob

• You can now find the Dried Ghast block in Nether Fossil structures, made with 1 Soul Sand and 8 Ghast Tears. Soak it in water, and after about 20 minutes of cool sounds and particles, it turns into a Ghastling. Take that little guy to the Overworld, raise it, and you’ll get a Happy Ghast you can ride.
• Riding a Happy Ghast lets you fly around the Overworld, making it super easy to check out far-off places or build in the sky. Raising a Ghastling feels like caring for a pet, which is a neat twist.

2. Craftable Saddles and Harness

• You can now craft saddles using 3 Leather and 1 Iron Ingot, and the recipe unlocks when you grab some Leather. There’s also a new harness with old-school goggles, made with 3 Leather, 2 Glass Blocks, and 1 Wool Block, for riding Happy Ghasts. You can use Shears to take saddles, Horse Armor, Harnesses, or Carpets off mobs (except Ravagers), and it makes specific vibration sounds.
• Crafting saddles means no more hunting for them in chests, so taming horses or flying Ghasts is way easier. The harness looks cool and fits the flying theme perfectly.

3. Player Locator Bar

• A new HUD thing called the Player Locator Bar shows up like a compass, with dots pointing to where other players are on servers or realms.
• This makes finding your buddies on big servers a breeze, so you can team up or meet up without constant chatting or third-party apps.

4. Vibrant Visuals and Fog Improvements

• The update adds better fog effects that match stuff like lava, water, or the environment, plus clouds that stretch all the way to the horizon.
• These changes make the world look amazing, especially when you’re flying around on a Happy Ghast or building high up. The clouds make the sky feel huge and immersive.

5. Pause Screen Additions and Custom Dialogs

• The Pause Screen now has a minecraft:pause_screen_additions dialog tag, replacing the old “Server Links” button. You can set up custom dialogs with one or more options, linking to specific screens or quick actions with keybinds. If nothing’s set, you’ll see “Send Feedback” and “Report Bugs” buttons.
• This gives servers and modders more control to tweak menus, making multiplayer smoother and more tailored to how you play.

6. Lead Overhaul

• Leads are now cheaper to craft, though the exact recipe isn’t spelled out. This builds on the lodestone crafting tweak from 1.21.5.
• Cheaper leads make it easier to wrangle mobs like camels or other animals, which is super handy for farming or moving stuff around.

7. New Music and Advancements

• You’ll hear new music tracks and get new advancements tied to the Chase the Skies theme, probably connected to Ghasts and flying.
• The music makes exploring feel more epic, especially in the air, and the advancements give you goals to chase while messing with the new stuff.

8. Technical Improvements for Data Packs and Resource Packs

• Shaders got an update (core shaders and post-processing now use uniform blocks), profile textures load better, and dialogs work better for modding. Overriding core shaders is still not officially supported but doable for resource pack pros.
• These changes let modders and pack creators do more with visuals and gameplay, keeping the community’s creations fresh and compatible.

Notable Bug Fixes

Fixed problems like Happy Ghasts getting stuck in blocks when you hop off, the Player Locator Bar showing wrong spots after respawning, and some redstone and item display glitches, making everything run smoother.