Minecraft 26.4 Snapshot 1 Adds Server Query IDs

Mojang released Minecraft 26.4 Snapshot 1 on 22 September 2026, marking the first test build of the 26.4 update. The snapshot shifts technical defaults across the graphics engine and introduces notable network protocol capabilities for hosts, including connection filtering via query parameters in the handshake stage.

Network Protocol and Handshake Changes

Mojang reworked how servers and clients exchange metadata prior to login, affecting connection handling across any public Minecraft server list.

Extended Serverbound Intention Packets

The minecraft:intention packet now supports additional parameters inside its host field. Instead of holding solely a domain name, clients can append URI query strings using a ? character followed by ampersand-separated key-value pairs, using standard URI percent-encoding rules. Keys beginning with an underscore are reserved for vanilla use.

Players can input these parameters directly inside the Server Address input field. Formatting an address as <id>@<host> automatically converts the string into <host>?_id=<id>. When DNS SRV records resolve to a target host differing from the typed domain, the packet transmits the resolved domain as the primary host while storing the typed domain and original port within an _o origin property. The field size limit expands to 1024 characters. Because the minecraft:intent packet remains unencrypted, Mojang states that hosts should not use these properties for security-sensitive purposes.

Additionally, the minecraft:transfer packet introduces a properties string map, passing arbitrary key-value pairs forward into the host field when transferring a player between instances. Clients also send an empty minecraft:mod_list packet during the configuration stage, reserving client-side mod tracking for modding frameworks.

Dedicated Server Configuration Options

Administrators gain three new settings within server.properties to manage connectivity, status queries, and ping protocols.

Connection ID Filtering

The new allowed-connection-ids property accepts a comma-separated list of IDs. When populated, the server checks incoming minecraft:intent packets for a matching _id property. Any handshake lacking a listed ID is rejected across both status queries and login attempts, preventing unauthorized users from querying server latency or logging in.

Contact Details and Legacy Status Toggles

Hosts can set status-contact-details to any plain-text string. If configured, this text appears under the contact property inside the minecraft:status_response JSON payload, providing a direct contact method for server owners. Furthermore, enable-legacy-status defaults to true and controls pre-1.7 status and ping handling. Disabling it shuts off legacy status responses while modern status pings remain active, provided enable-status is true.

World Generation and Pack Formats

The Data Pack format advances to 122.0, while the Resource Pack version increments to 98.0.

Worlds generated before Caves and Cliffs now create underground Sulfur Caves when upgraded, backed by the new #generated_in_below_zero_retrogen biome tag. Within multi-noise biome sources, biome entries can no longer overlap across identical noise parameters with matching offsets. In addition, the /fillbiome command now modifies biomes with block-level accuracy rather than chunk-section approximations.

Placed features are now strictly validated to select coordinate positions inside a 3x3 chunk bounds area. For feature placement definitions, straight_trunk_placer introduces an optional trunk_width parameter defaulting to 1.0, and the cuboid placement modifier now calculates xz_size and y_size based on exact dimensions rather than adding an implicit single block.

Host Upgrades, Configs, and Compatibility

Running Minecraft 26.4 Snapshot 1 requires updating server binaries and reviewing network configs. Servers using custom reverse proxies or routing layers must accommodate handshake strings containing query arguments up to 1024 characters long. If you use SRV records, audit downstream packet parsing to handle the new _o origin property.

Data packs from earlier versions will fail loading if noise settings still rely on the removed default_block field, which now defaults to air, or if fixed_placement lists contain empty arrays. Pack creators must define stone layers using material rules instead.

Client Display and Visual Changes

For players, the graphics API setting default now behaves identically to the "Prefer Vulkan" profile, progressing the engine overhaul seen when Minecraft 26.2 Snapshot 8 altered graphics defaults. The client no longer reverts graphics backends automatically after a startup crash.

Order-independent transparency shaders have shifted away from wavelet mathematics to depth bin accumulation, changing shader defines like OIT_NUMBER_OF_DEPTH_BINS in custom resource packs. In gameplay, players can now plant red and brown mushrooms on any solid surface regardless of ambient light level, though spreading still demands light levels under 13.