Overview
No Minecraft release has divided its players like the Combat Update, and the argument is still live a decade later. The attack cooldown is the reason: swinging before the bar refills produces a weak hit, so combat became a question of timing rather than of how fast you can click. Players who had spent years building muscle memory around click speed experienced it as their skill being deleted, and a substantial part of the PvP community never moved past 1.8 because of it. Whatever side you take, the update gave survival players far more than it took. Shields replaced sword blocking with something that actually stops damage, the off-hand slot made carrying a torch or a map alongside a weapon possible, and tipped and spectral arrows gave bows a toolkit. Away from combat, 1.9 opened the End properly: end gateways lead out to islands covered in end cities, shulkers guard them, and an end ship holds the Elytra, which changed traversal more permanently than anything else in the game. The dragon also became respawnable with end crystals, turning a one-time boss into a repeatable fight.
It reshaped melee around timing, gave players shields and an off-hand slot, and opened the outer End so that end cities, shulker shells and elytra exist at all. Mending and Frost Walker arrived here too, as did lingering potions and tipped arrows.
The most divisive update the game has had. Attack cooldowns rewarded timing over click speed and split the community into pre-1.9 and post-1.9 PvP camps that still exist. Beyond combat it opened the End properly: gateways lead to outer islands covered in end cities, and the elytra found aboard end ships changed traversal permanently. Shields and the off-hand slot reshaped survival loadouts for good.
How to get it
Java Edition 1.9 was released on 29 February 2016 and reached 1.9.4 within 3 months. Many PvP servers deliberately stayed on 1.8 because of the attack cooldown, so both numbers are still seen in multiplayer listings.
Tips
- Wait for the attack bar to refill before swinging; a hit at 50% charge does roughly half damage for the same effort.
- Put a shield in the off-hand slot rather than a torch — it blocks all blockable damage from the forward 180 degrees.
- Elytra are found only in the item frame aboard an end ship, so the dragon has to die before you can ever fly.
- Place 4 end crystals around the exit portal to respawn the dragon, which also generates another end gateway.
Version notes
Released 29 February 2016. Added attack cooldown, dual wielding, shields, elytra, end cities, end ships, shulkers, end gateways, chorus fruit, purpur, tipped and spectral arrows, lingering potions, Frost Walker and Mending.
What it added
- Attack cooldown and sweeping attacks, ending click-spam combat
- Dual wielding with a functional off-hand slot
- Shields, replacing blocking with a sword
- Elytra, found only in end ships
- End cities, end ships, shulkers and the outer End islands
- The ender dragon can be respawned with end crystals
- Chorus fruit, purpur blocks, end rods and end gateways
- Tipped arrows, spectral arrows, lingering potions, Frost Walker and Mending
Properties
Minecraft 1.9 was released on February 29, 2016 as a major release. It added 1 mobs, 7 blocks and items the site documents, and 4 generated structures.
- New blocks and items
- 7
- New structures
- 4
New mobs
Shulker arrived in this release.
New blocks and items
Purpur Block, End Rod, Chorus Flower, Chorus Plant, End Stone Bricks, Frosted Ice and 1 more were added, and each has its own page with the recipe, the drops and the break times.
New structures
Igloo, End City, End Ship, and End Gateway first generated in 1.9.
- Igloo — A small snow dome containing a bed, a crafting table, a furnace and a redstone torch on the floor.
- End City — A tower complex of purpur blocks and end stone bricks on the outer End islands, reachable only through an end gateway after killing the dragon.
- End Ship — A flying purpur galleon that generates alongside roughly one in four end cities, hovering in the air with no bridge to it, so reaching it means building out or using an ender pearl.
- End Gateway — A small bedrock frame around a magenta beacon of light, created above the central island each time the ender dragon is killed, up to twenty of them.
Where it sits in the release line
1.9 sits 19 of 28 in the release list this site covers, with 1.10 after it and 1.8 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 1.10 | Frostburn Update | June 8, 2016 | Major release |
 | Minecraft 1.9 ← | Combat Update | February 29, 2016 | Major release |
 | Minecraft 1.8 | Bountiful Update | September 2, 2014 | Major release |
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
Why do some servers still run 1.8?
Because 1.9 introduced the attack cooldown, which changed melee from click speed to timing. A large part of the competitive PvP community preferred the older system and stayed there.
What does the off-hand slot hold?
Anything, but in practice a shield, a torch, a map or arrows. It was added in 1.9 along with dual wielding and is one of the update's least controversial changes.
Can the ender dragon be fought more than once?
Yes, from this version on. Placing four end crystals around the exit portal respawns her, and each defeat also produces a new end gateway.
What did Minecraft 1.9 add?
Attack cooldown and sweeping attacks, ending click-spam combat Dual wielding with a functional off-hand slot Shields, replacing blocking with a sword
When was Minecraft 1.9 released?
Java Edition 1.9 was released on February 29, 2016. Bedrock dates for the same content often differ by days or weeks.