Pretty Scary Update

{
 "title": "Pretty Scary Update",
 "images": [
 "Pretty Scary Update announcement.png"
 ],
 "rows": [
 {
 "field": "October 25, 2012",
 "label": "Release date"
 },
 {
 "field": "(link to Java Edition 1.4.2 article, displayed as Java Edition 1.4.2)",
 "label": "Version(s)"
 }
 ],
 "invimages": [],
 "footer": "<div style=\"display:inline-block\">\n<div style=\"display:inline-block;padding:0 .4em\"><span style=\"margin-right:-0.35em\">◄</span>◄ [[Adventure Update]]</div>\n\n</div><div style=\"display:inline-block\">\n\n<div style=\"display:inline-block;padding:0 .4em\">[[Redstone Update]] <span style=\"margin-right:-0.35em\">►</span>►</div>\n</div>"
}

The Pretty Scary Update is the name for Java Edition 1.4.2, a major update officially released on October 25, 2012.^[1] Among the main changes were a number of new mobs and variants (witches, bats, zombie villagers, wither skeletons), wearable and placeable heads, a new boss (the wither), the command block, the anvil, the beacon, new food (potatoes, carrots and pumpkin pies), carrots on sticks for controlling pigs, the Nether star, and new decoration items (such as item frames, flower pots and cobblestone walls).

The official name of the update was revealed at PAX Prime 2012 during the Minecraft panel, then later with snapshot 12w36a.^[2] Dinnerbone first revealed the 1.4 release date with snapshot 12w40a, where he stated that he was fully into the "Prepare for release" mode.^[3]

Development on the Pretty Scary Update began the week after 1.3.1, which was released on August 1, 2012. 15 development snapshots for 1.4 from 12w32a to 12w42b were released. During the development period, 1.3.2 was released. The 1.4 Pre-release was unveiled on October 19, 2012, so that modders could start preparing their mods before the launch on October 24, 2012.^[4]

Mojang found a mob suffocation bug after this was released, and was forced to delay the launch by a day. The 1.4.1 Prerelease was unveiled on October 23, 2012,^[5] and the release was pushed back a day.

Mojang then found yet another bug, and fixed "a severe memory leak in the server". This, as well as correct rendering of fences and cobblestone stairs, came in the 1.4.2 Prerelease, released on October 24, 2012.^[6] 1.4.2 was the first official release of 1.4, available through the launcher on October 25, 2012.

A bug was introduced whereby a player could not achieve the The End? achievement.

The Pretty Scary Update was originally intended to include the Modding API, however it was pushed to a later version.^[7]

Lighting bugs present in 1.3.2 were partially fixed. Dinnerbone first introduced changes in snapshots 12w39a/b. Dinnerbone tweeted to revert and push this to 1.5.^[8][9]
Other changes postponed to 1.5 include redstone changes^[10] and a rendering overhaul.^[11][12]

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  Anvils
  • Crafted using three blocks of iron and four iron ingots.
  • Any use of the anvil will gradually wear off the block.
    • Upon reaching its final stage, the anvil will break.
  • Can be used to repair tools without removing their enchantments, at the cost of levels.
  • Can also be used to combine tools and their enchantments.
  • Items can also be renamed.
  • Can also be dropped on players or mobs.
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  Beacon
  • Crafted using a nether star surrounded by five glass and three obsidian.
  • Requires a pyramid structure composed of either iron, gold, diamond, or emerald.
    • The more tiers to the pyramid, the more status effects become available.
  • When placed on top of the pyramid structure, it shoots out a beam of light.
  • Entering its GUI shows a list of status effect depending on how many pyramid tiers are available, and will activate those effects upon inserting either an iron ingot, gold ingot, diamond, or emerald.
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  Walls
  • Crafted using six cobblestone or moss stone.
  • Acts similarly to fences in that players and most mobs cannot go above them.
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  Command Block
  • Available only by using commands.
  • Will output a command when powered on by redstone.
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  Flower Pot
  • Crafted using three bricks.
  • Used to display mushrooms, saplings, grass, fern, dead bush, dandelions, and roses.
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  Wooden Button
  • Crafted using one wood plank.
  • Acts similar to stone buttons, but can be activated when hit by an arrow.
• New mob heads, all but one are unobtainable in Survival:
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    Creeper Head
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    Player Head
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    Skeleton Skull
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    Wither Skeleton Skull
    • The only mob head obtainable in Survival.
    • Obtained as rare drops from wither skeletons
    • Used to summon the wither.
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    Zombie Head

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  Carrot
  • Found in villages.
  • Can also be obtained as rare drops from zombies.
  • Is a crop that can be planted to produce more.
  • Restores 4 (👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    ) hunger and gives 4.8 hunger saturation.
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  Golden Carrot
  • Obtained by crafting a carrot surrounded by eight gold nuggets.
  • Restores 6 (👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    ) hunger and gives 14.4 hunger saturation, the most saturation in the game.
  • Can also be used to brew potion of Night Vision.
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  Carrot on a Stick
  • Crafted using a fishing rod and a carrot.
  • Used to control the movement of pigs when riding them with a saddle.
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  Nether Star
  • Obtained as a drop from withers.
  • Used to craft a beacon.
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  Potato and its 👁 Image
  baked variant
  • Found in villages.
  • Can also be obtained as rare drops from zombies.
  • Is a crop that can be planted to produce more of itself.
  • Potatoes restore 1 (👁 🍖
    ) and gives 0.6 hunger saturation.
  • Baked potatoes restore 6 (👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    ) and give 7.2 hunger saturation.
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  Poisonous Potato
  • Obtained as a rare drop from a potato crop.
  • Restores 2 (👁 🍗
    ) and gives 1.2 hunger saturation, but has a 60% chance of inflicting Poison for 5 seconds.
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  Pumpkin Pie
  • Crafting using a pumpkin, an egg, and sugar.
  • Restores 8 (👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    👁 🍗
    ) and gives 4.8 hunger saturation.
• New potions:
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    Potion of Night Vision
    • Brewed by using a golden carrot.
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    Potion of Invisibility
    • Brewed by using a fermented spider eye on a potion of Night Vision.
• Spawn eggs:
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    Bat Spawn Egg
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    Witch Spawn Egg

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  Bat
  • Ambient mob that spawns in low light levels.
  • Hangs on the ceiling and flies off when close to the player.
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  Witch
  • Spawns in witch huts.
  • Throws splash potions of Poison, Slowness, Weakness, and Instant Damage at the player.
  • Will drink a potion of Instant Health and Fire Resistance to defend itself.
  • Has 80% immunity against splash potion effects.
  • Drops sticks, glowstone dust, redstone dust, gunpowder, sugar, spider eyes, or glass bottles when killed.
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  Wither
  • A new boss mob summoned by playing four soul sand in a T-shape, and three wither skeleton skulls on top of it.
  • Upon summoning, the wither slowly charges up and is invincible. After a few seconds, the area around the wither explodes and it starts attacking players and non-undead mobs.
  • Its heads can fire wither skulls that explode upon impact.
    • When hit, players and mobs are inflicted with the Wither status effect.
  • It can also break any nearby blocks.
  • Any kills made by the wither regenerates its health.
  • At half-health, the wither will put up a shield to reflect any projectiles, meaning close combat is required to finish it off.
  • Drops a nether star when killed.
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  Wither Skeleton
  • Spawns in nether fortresses.
  • Carries a stone sword that they use to attack the player.
    • When hit, the player is inflicted with Wither status effect.
  • Drops bones, coal, a stone sword, and rarely a wither skeleton skull when killed.
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  Zombie Villager
  • A zombified version of a villager.
  • Spawns when a zombie kills a villager, with a 50% chance on Normal difficulty, and a 100% chance on Hard difficulty.
  • Can be cured by using a splash potion of Weakness and a golden apple.
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  Baby Zombie and their villager variant
  • A smaller, more miniature version of the zombie that runs faster compared to regular zombies.

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  Item Frame
  • Crafted using a piece of leather surrounded by sticks.
  • Used to display any item or blocks.

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  Witch hut
  • Found in swamps.
  • A witch can be found around the vicinity.

• New effect:
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    Wither
    • Damage is inflicted to players and mobs.
    • Unlike Poison, Wither can kill a player or mob.

• 5 new commands: /difficulty, /spawnpoint, /weather, /gamerule, and /clear.
• New command target selectors.
• New sounds for mobs, walking on blocks, placing blocks, climbing ladders, and more.

• New debug screen features.
• Superflat world is now customizable.
• Changed portal mechanics.
• New NBT tags to spawn mobs.
• Boss mobs now show their name above their health bar.
• New map mechanics.
• Villagers are now more self aware.
• Zombies and skeletons can now spawn with armor, and zombies now have a chance of turning a villager into a zombie villager, instead of the villager dying.
• Zombie pigmen now have a chance to be able to pick up items.

• 1.4.4 addressed bugs while also adding the music disc "where are we now" as "wait" and making "11" obtainable from creepers killed by skeletons for the first time.
• 1.4.5 addressed many further bugs.
• 1.4.6 was released in December, and notably introduced fireworks, enchanted books, and the Thorns enchantment.
• 1.4.7 addressed crashes and bugs introduced in 1.4.6.

A trailer by Hat Films documenting some of the Pretty Scary Update's major features was released on Mojang's official YouTube channel on October 26, 2012.

• This version was released exactly 11 years before 23w43a, which coincidentally changed the model, animations and textures of bats.

• 👁 Pretty Scary Update logo
  
  Pretty Scary Update logo
• 👁 Promotional image (released alongside the update)[13]
  
  Promotional image (released alongside the update)^[13]