Minecraft 1.1

Overview

As the first update after Minecraft formally left beta, 1.1 had nothing to prove and did not try to. It is a cleanup release, and its contents read like a list of small corrections — beaches generating more naturally along coastlines, bows becoming enchantable, a large expansion of the game's translations. Two additions outlived the rest. Spawn eggs gave creative mode a way to place any mob directly, which sounds minor until you consider that every showcase build, every mob-testing setup and every adventure map since has depended on being able to put a mob exactly where it belongs. The superflat world type arrived in the same release and became the default canvas for redstone basics, build practice and command-block experimentation, because a flat world with nothing in it is exactly what you want when you are designing rather than surviving. The third change people still notice is the Golden Apple recipe, which moved from gold blocks to Gold Ingots and turned the item from an unreachable curiosity into something a survival player might actually craft after a decent mining trip.

Spawn eggs for creative building and map making, the superflat world type as a blank canvas for redstone and testing, enchantable bows, more natural beaches, and a golden apple recipe cheap enough to use in survival.

A modest cleanup release, the first after the game formally left beta. Its most lasting additions were spawn eggs and the superflat world type, both of which became foundational for creative building and map making. The golden apple recipe change made the item genuinely craftable in survival for the first time rather than a novelty.

How to get it

Java Edition 1.1 was released on 12 January 2012, less than 2 months after the 1.0 launch. It is a small maintenance release and everything in it is present in every later version, so there is no practical reason to run it directly.

Tips

• The golden apple recipe changed from 8 gold blocks to 8 gold ingots here, which is a 9-fold reduction in cost.
• Superflat worlds are still the standard testing environment for redstone, because a flat world removes every variable but yours.
• Bows became enchantable here, which is when Power and its siblings first became reachable — see the complete enchanting guide.
• Spawn eggs are creative-only in vanilla, so a survival player still needs the mob to come to them.

Version notes

Released 12 January 2012, the first update after the 1.0 launch. Added spawn eggs, the superflat world type and enchantable bows, changed the golden apple recipe, and expanded localisation substantially.

What it added

• Spawn eggs for most mobs in creative mode
• Bows became enchantable
• Superflat world type
• Beaches generating more naturally along coastlines
• Golden apple recipe changed to use gold ingots instead of blocks
• Large language and localisation expansion

Properties

Minecraft 1.1 was released on January 12, 2012 as a major release. It added 0 mobs, 0 blocks and items the site documents, and 0 generated structures.

Where it sits in the release line

1.1 sits 27 of 28 in the release list this site covers, with 1.2.1 after it and 1.0.0 before.

Worlds always upgrade forwards and never downgrade: a world opened in a newer version cannot be opened in an older one again, so back it up before the first launch on a new release.

	Version	Name	Released	Type
	Minecraft 1.2.1	Jungle Update	March 1, 2012	Major release
	Minecraft 1.1 ←	First post-release update	January 12, 2012	Major release
	Minecraft 1.0.0	Adventure Update (full release)	November 18, 2011	Major release

• Minecraft 1.2.1 — Jungle Update
• Minecraft 1.0.0 — Adventure Update (full release)

Guides and tools that cover this

• GuidesYour First Day in Minecraft: A Survival Checklist→
• GuidesHow the Minecraft Crafting System Works→

Frequently asked questions