Overview
The Pretty Scary Update, released as 1.4.2, gave the game a second boss and, more importantly, a reason to want one. The wither is summoned deliberately from soul sand and three wither skeleton skulls, and it drops a nether star — the single ingredient of a Beacon, which projects Speed, Haste, Resistance, Jump Boost, Strength or Regeneration across a base permanently. That chain, from fortress to skulls to boss to beacon, is still one of the clearest mid-to-late progression arcs in the game. The anvil is the other lasting addition and arguably the more useful one: before it, an enchanted diamond pickaxe wore out and that was the end of it. Anvils introduced repair, renaming and the combining of enchantments, which is why enchanted gear became something to maintain rather than something to replace. Witches and swamp huts made swamps genuinely dangerous at night, wither skeletons made nether fortresses harder, and zombie villagers introduced the curing mechanic that a whole trading strategy now rests on. Item frames, flower pots and command blocks came along as well, the last of which map makers built an entire genre on.
A summonable second boss, the beacon and its permanent status effects, anvils for repairing and renaming enchanted gear, witches and swamp huts, zombie villagers and curing, item frames for display and command blocks for map making.
The Pretty Scary Update gave the game a boss you could summon deliberately, and a reason to want one: the beacon, which projects permanent status effects across a base. Anvils solved the long-standing problem of enchanted gear wearing out, introducing repair, renaming and enchantment combining in one block. Witches and the wither made the Nether and swamps meaningfully more dangerous.
How to get it
Java Edition 1.4.2 was released on 25 October 2012 as the first stable build of the Pretty Scary Update, reaching 1.4.7 by the end of the year. The wither, beacons and anvils have all been present in every release since.
Tips
- A wither skeleton drops its skull about 2.5% of the time, so 3 skulls is an afternoon in a fortress rather than a quick errand.
- Summon the wither underground in a sealed box; it breaks blocks and will demolish a surface base very quickly.
- Anvil repairs get more expensive each time until the item shows Too Expensive — combine books early rather than late.
- A full beacon pyramid needs 164 blocks, which is 1,476 ingots, so plan the mineral supply before starting the build.
Version notes
Released 25 October 2012. Added the wither, wither skeletons and their skulls, beacons, anvils, witches, swamp huts, bats, zombie villagers, item frames, flower pots and command blocks.
What it added
- The wither, the game's second boss, summoned from soul sand and three skulls
- Beacons, built from a nether star and a pyramid of mineral blocks
- Wither skeletons and wither skeleton skulls in nether fortresses
- Witches and swamp huts
- Anvils for repairing, renaming and combining enchantments
- Item frames and flower pots
- Bats and zombie villagers
- Command blocks and the carrot on a stick
Properties
Minecraft 1.4.2 was released on October 25, 2012 as a major release. It added 5 mobs, 5 blocks and items the site documents, and 1 generated structures.
- New blocks and items
- 5
- New structures
- 1
New mobs
Wither, Wither Skeleton, Witch, Bat, and Zombie Villager arrived in this release.
New blocks and items
Beacon, Anvil, Item Frame, Flower Pot, and Command Block were added, and each has its own page with the recipe, the drops and the break times.
New structures
Swamp Hut (Witch Hut) first generated in 1.4.2.
- Swamp Hut (Witch Hut) — A small stilted shack of spruce planks standing over swamp water, registered internally as the swamp hut and known to everyone as the witch hut.
Where it sits in the release line
1.4.2 sits 24 of 28 in the release list this site covers, with 1.5 after it and 1.3.1 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 1.5 | Redstone Update | March 13, 2013 | Major release |
 | Minecraft 1.4.2 ← | Pretty Scary Update | October 25, 2012 | Major release |
 | Minecraft 1.3.1 | Adventure Update follow-up | August 1, 2012 | Major release |
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you summon the wither?
Place four soul sand in a T shape and put three wither skeleton skulls along the top. It builds and detonates immediately, so do it somewhere you do not mind losing.
What does a beacon do?
It projects a status effect — Speed, Haste, Resistance, Jump Boost or Strength, plus Regeneration at full size — across a radius that grows with the pyramid beneath it, from 20 to 50 blocks.
Why do anvils become too expensive?
Each repair or combine adds a prior work penalty that doubles. Once the cost exceeds 39 levels the anvil refuses, which is why the order of combining enchantments matters.
What did Minecraft 1.4.2 add?
The wither, the game's second boss, summoned from soul sand and three skulls Beacons, built from a nether star and a pyramid of mineral blocks Wither skeletons and wither skeleton skulls in nether fortresses
When was Minecraft 1.4.2 released?
Java Edition 1.4.2 was released on October 25, 2012. Bedrock dates for the same content often differ by days or weeks.