Overview
The Frostburn Update, released as 1.10, is themed around temperature, and its contribution is that it made your choice of biome matter after dark. Before it, a zombie was a zombie everywhere. After it, deserts spawn husks, which inflict Hunger on hit and — unlike ordinary zombies — do not burn in daylight, so a desert is dangerous at noon. Snowy biomes spawn strays, whose arrows carry Slowness, which turns a retreat into a slow walk backwards while more arrows land. Polar bears gave the tundra an animal that will kill you if you approach a cub. None of that is dramatic on a changelog, but it changed how players plan a night in an unfamiliar biome. The release also added a block that looks decorative and is not: Magma Blocks damage anything standing on them, which made them a standard component in mob farms and, once bubble columns arrived, in water elevators as well. Nether wart blocks and red nether bricks expanded the Nether palette, bone blocks introduced fossils as a structure, and structure blocks gave map makers a way to save and paste builds.
Biome-specific hostile mobs that make where you sleep matter, magma blocks for farms and water elevators, bone blocks and fossils as a renewable bone meal source, and structure blocks for anyone building maps or schematics.
A smaller update themed around temperature extremes, giving snowy and desert biomes their own mob variants for the first time. Husks and strays made biome choice matter for night survival, and polar bears gave the tundra a real predator. Magma blocks quietly became a key farm component, since they damage mobs standing on them and produce bubble columns underwater in later versions.
How to get it
Java Edition 1.10 was released on 8 June 2016, only 3 months after the Combat Update, and was followed by 1.10.2 shortly afterwards. It is a small release, so anything written for 1.10 applies to 1.10.2 without change.
Tips
- Husks do not burn in sunlight, so a desert stays dangerous through the day in a way other biomes do not.
- Strays fire arrows of Slowness, which makes fleeing worse than fighting — bring a shield to a snowy biome.
- Magma blocks damage anything standing on them, which makes them a free mob killer at the bottom of a drop shaft.
- 1 bone block crafts into 9 bone meal, so a fossil is worth far more than the same volume of skeleton farming.
Version notes
Released 8 June 2016. Added polar bears, husks, strays, magma blocks, nether wart blocks, red nether bricks, bone blocks, naturally generated fossils, structure blocks and auto-jump.
What it added
- Polar bears in snowy biomes, hostile when protecting a cub
- Husks, desert zombies that inflict Hunger and do not burn in daylight
- Strays, snowy skeletons that fire arrows of Slowness
- Magma blocks, which damage anything standing on them
- Nether wart blocks and red nether bricks
- Bone blocks and naturally generated fossils
- Structure blocks for map makers
- Auto-jump, on by default and immediately turned off by most players
Properties
Minecraft 1.10 was released on June 8, 2016 as a major release. It added 3 mobs, 5 blocks and items the site documents, and 1 generated structures.
- New blocks and items
- 5
- New structures
- 1
New mobs
Polar Bear, Husk, and Stray arrived in this release.
New blocks and items
Magma Block, Nether Wart Block, Red Nether Bricks, Bone Block, and Structure Block were added, and each has its own page with the recipe, the drops and the break times.
New structures
Fossil first generated in 1.10.
- Fossil — A buried skeleton of bone blocks shaped like a spine, rib cage or skull, occasionally with coal ore mixed in.
Where it sits in the release line
1.10 sits 18 of 28 in the release list this site covers, with 1.11 after it and 1.9 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 1.11 | Exploration Update | November 14, 2016 | Major release |
 | Minecraft 1.10 ← | Frostburn Update | June 8, 2016 | Major release |
 | Minecraft 1.9 | Combat Update | February 29, 2016 | Major release |
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a husk and a zombie?
Husks spawn in deserts, inflict Hunger when they hit you, and do not burn in daylight. Otherwise their health and damage match an ordinary zombie.
Why are magma blocks useful?
They damage entities standing on them without needing redstone, which makes them a simple killing floor for mob farms, and in later versions they generate bubble columns underwater.
Where do fossils generate?
Underground in deserts, swamps and the three badlands variants. They contain bone blocks and occasionally coal ore, and no chests or mobs.
What did Minecraft 1.10 add?
Polar bears in snowy biomes, hostile when protecting a cub Husks, desert zombies that inflict Hunger and do not burn in daylight Strays, snowy skeletons that fire arrows of Slowness
When was Minecraft 1.10 released?
Java Edition 1.10 was released on June 8, 2016. Bedrock dates for the same content often differ by days or weeks.