Minecraft 26.2 Pre-Release 4: dragon vs. geysers and 13 fixed bugs

On June 4, 2026, the fourth pre-release for version 26.2 was released. It does not bring major gameplay changes, but the updates here are precise and noticeable. The developers continue polishing mechanics, interface elements, and rendering performance. Here is what changed.

The dragon is not afraid of geysers

One of the most visible changes affects the ender dragon. It now completely ignores geyser effects — which makes sense, since the game’s final boss should not be launched into the air by natural fountains in a ridiculous way. To make this work, the game received a new entity tag: #not_affected_by_geysers. The ender dragon is the first entry, and the list will likely grow later.

The sulfur cube got a little meaner

The sulfur cube received a small but important fix: the Knockback enchantment now affects it even while it is absorbing a block. Previously, the mob was effectively immune to knockback during that phase. It is a minor change, but it makes fights with this creature a bit fairer — and a bit more dangerous.

Multiplayer is now clearer

The shared play menu received several adjustments. First, the «Multiplayer Options» item has returned to its classic name — Open to LAN. Second, the «Game Mode» and «Allow Commands» settings are now grouped under a separate heading, «Settings for Other Players», and apply only to guests. The world host is no longer affected by them. For the host, these settings were moved to the World Options section, where they are kept separate from other-player settings. It is a small but long-needed step toward clearer session management.

Particles got smarter

This pre-release noticeably improves the particle rendering system. When the game is overloaded with particles, it no longer removes particles that are already in flight. Instead, it randomly chooses which ones to render and which ones to skip. That makes the visual result less harsh and less “jerky” under heavy load.

In addition, the particle_render_stats entry on the debug screen now shows a group breakdown: single quads (SQ), non-rendered particles (NR), Elder Guardian effects (EG), and item pickup effects (IP). Useful for anyone working on optimization or mod creation.

The data pack format was also updated — the version is now 107.1.

13 bugs — gone

This pre-release fixes 13 bugs. The most notable include:

• A crossbow with Multishot 32+ no longer crashes the game — a critical issue, especially painful for hardcore players using enchanted weapons.
• The block breaking animation has been fixed — it now displays correctly again when breaking most mob heads.
• Z-fighting in the breaking animation on the Vulkan backend (and sometimes OpenGL) no longer occurs.
• Visual particle glitches with multiple geysers have been fixed.
• Key conflicts when using debug combinations no longer trigger other assigned hotkeys. Separately, switching game mode via F3+F4 no longer retriggers on F4.
• Fullscreen mode on Windows no longer makes the window and screenshots one pixel taller than they should be.
• The «Friends Screen» button works again when assigned to a mouse button.

Nothing was removed — but some things were cleaned up

This pre-release did not remove any major mechanics or content. Some changes may look like rollbacks: the return of the «Open to LAN» name, and the reworked host/guest logic. But this is not a step backward — it is a clarification of a system that previously worked in a less obvious way.

Minecraft 26.2 Pre-Release 4 is a small but polished update. It puts things in order ahead of the final release. You can test it right now through the launcher by enabling snapshots in the «Installations» section. Just do not forget to back up your world first.