Protocol History

Provided below is a changelog of the server protocol starting on 2010-08-20. The wiki history feature may also be used to investigate changes.

2012-10-xx

• 1.4.1
• Protocol version is now 47
• Entity metadata format updated: type 5 (slot type) now terminates after item_id if it's less than zero.
• Changed packet: 0x04 time update - added 'time of day' field
• Changed packet: 0x15 spawn dropped item - updated to use slot format
• Changed packet: 0x3D particle or sound effect - add new boolean field that forces the sound-effect to play from close range
• (sort of) Changed packet: 0x66 click window - "right click?" field changed from bool to byte
• Changed packet: 0xcc locale and view distance - added boolean "show cape?" field.
• Changed packet: 0xFE server list ping - extra field added; response format slightly expanded to include protocol version.

2012-08-01

• 1.3.1
• Protocol version is now 39

• Fishing floats, spawned by a 0x17 packet do now use the extra fields
• All items (except the empty hand) now send enchantment data

• Added packet: 0x37 Block breaking animation
• Added packet: 0x38 Map Chunk Bulk
• Added packet: 0x3E Name Sound Effect
• Added packet: 0xCB Tab-complete
• Added packet: 0xCC Locale and View Distance
• Added packet: 0xCD Client Statuses used for Login Request and Respawn (1 byte payload)
• Added packet: 0xFC Encryption Key Response
• Added packet: 0xFD Encryption Key Request

• Changed packet: 0x01 Login Request
• Changed packet: 0x02 Handshake
• Changed packet: 0x09 Respawn
• Changed packet: 0x0F Player Block Placement
• Changed packet: 0x14 Spawn named entity
• Changed packet: 0x35 Block Change
• Changed packet: 0xCA Player Abilities

• Removed packet: 0x32 Map Column Allocation

2012-03-22

• 1.2.4
• Protocol version is now 29
• New packet: 0xCA player abilities

2012-03-01

• 1.2.2
• Protocol version is now 28
• New packet: 0x23 entity head look
• New packet: 0x84 update tile entity
• 0x02 handshake when sent C->S now additionally contains the hostname/port the client is connecting to
• 0x01 login request: map seed (long) parameter removed and dimension changed from byte to int
• 0x09 respawn has the same changes (dimension changed from byte to int and seed removed)
• 0x18 mob spawn has a new byte field: head yaw
• 0x33 map chunks packet was completely changed to use the new 16x16x16 chunk format
• 0x34 multi block change has a new format also

2012-01-12

• 1.1
• Protocol version is now 23
• New packet: 0xFA Plugin message
• 0x01 login request has a new string field: level-type (DEFAULT or SUPERFLAT)
• 0x09 respawn has the same change
• Packet removed: 0x1B stance update (had been unused for some time)

2011-11-13

• 1.0rc2
• Protocol version is not changed
• Client gives invalid server key when authentication hash is 8 bytes and the first byte is > 0x80
• Bow has extra metadata as slot item.

2011-11-11

• Beta 1.9 pre6.
• Protocol version is now 22
• NewState: Reason 4 = Enter scrolling text mode after slaying the dragon.
• New entity: EnderCrystal (Spawned using the Add Object/Vehicle (0x17) packet with type 51)

2011-10-27

• Beta 1.9 pre5.
• Protocol version is now 21
• Packet 0x6B (Create Inventory) changed: uses Slot datatype.

2011-10-13

• Beta 1.9 pre4.
• Protocol version is now 20
• Packet 0x2B (Experience) changed: now (float, short, short)
• New packet 0x6C (Enchant item) added: (byte, byte)
• Flint and steel no longer enchantable (see 1.9pre3 changes). Might be others, too.
• Notchian server now features an RCON server (server class: o.java)
• Notchian server now features "G4S" server [1]

2011-9-29

• Beta 1.9 pre2.
• Protocol version is now 19
• Four packets changed:
  • 0x0F player block placement
  • 0x66 window click
  • 0x67 set slot
  • 0x68 window items
• The change affects the "slot" datatype. This type consists of at least a short (item_id). If this id isn't -1, a byte (count) and a short (uses) follow.
• From 1.9pre2 onward, additional data is sent but only for certain item_ids. This means the protocol is no longer context free. The additional data is at least a short. If this short isn't -1, a byte[] array follows, containing gzipped NBT data
• The format of the NBT is as follows

 COMPOUND
   LIST: 'ench'
     SHORT: 'id'
     SHORT: 'lvl'
   END
 END

• So far only this format, with 'id' and 'lvl' set to 2 and 1 respectively, has been seen.

2011-9-22

• Beta 1.9 pre1.
• Protocol version is now 18

2011-9-14

• Beta 1.8 release.
• Protocol version is now 17

2011-9-13

• Beta 1.8 pre2-release.
• Protocol version is now 16
• Packet 0x01 (Login) changed (added byte, world height now unsigned)
• Packet 0x09 (Respawn) changed (added byte)
• Packet 0x64 (Open Window) changed (Window title changed from string8 to string16)
• New packet 0x1a (Experience Orb) added
• Assumedly 0x17 (Add Object/Vehicle) is no longer used for exp orbs.

2011-9-10

• Beta 1.8 pre-release.
• Protocol version is now 15
• Packet 0x00 (Keep Alive) changed (added keep-alive id)
• Packet 0x01 (Login) changed (added server mode, height limit, and an unknown field)
• Packet 0x08 (Health) changed (added food bar and food saturation)
• Packet 0x09 (Respawn) changed (added map seed, server mode, height limit)
• Packet 0x13 (Entity Action) has new values for starting/stopping sprinting.
• Packet 0x46 (New/invalid state) changed (added game mode reason, and a game mode byte)
• New packet 0x29 (Entity Effect) added
• New packet 0x2a (Remove Entity Effect) added
• New packet 0x2b (Experience update) added
• New packet 0x6b (Creative item get) added
• New packet 0xc9 (Player list item) added
• New packet 0xfe (Server list ping) added
• New values for 0x13 (Entity Action): start sprinting, stop sprinting
• New value for 0x17 (Add Object/Vehicle): experience orb

2011-6-30

• Beta 1.7 released.
• Protocol version number is now 14
• No new packets
• Packet 0x36 (Block Action) is now used for pistons too.

2011-5-26

• Beta 1.6 released.
• Protocol increase by 2: 13
• Packet 0x09 (Respawn) changed (added world byte)
• Packet 0x17 (Add Object) changed.
• Packet 0x3d (Sound effect) added
• Packet 0x83 (Map Data) added

2011-4-19

• Beta 1.5 released.
• Some packet info at https://gist.github.com/929803
• Packet 0x01 (Login Request) changed (removed second string)
• Packet 0x66 (Window Click) changed (added bool for shift)
• Added two new packets: 0x47 (Thunderbolt) and 0xC8 (Increment Statistic) (classes eq and nj, respectively)
• Protocol version number is now 11
• All of the strings are now UCS-2, except for Open window (0x64), which is still UTF-8

2011-3-31

• Beta 1.4 released.
• New packet 0x46.
• Protocol version number is now 10
• TODO: The protocol itself does not seem to have changed much, but what about possible data values and stuff like that?

2011-2-22

• Beta 1.3 released.
• New packets 0x11, 0x1B: Some information at https://gist.github.com/841590
• Protocol number is now 9 (updated)

2011-1-13

• Beta 1.2 released.
• More packet changes (pastebin): 0x05, 0x0F, 0x13, 0x15, 0x18, 0x19, 0x28, 0x36, 0x66, 0x67.

2010-12-20

• Notch released Beta on time! Amazing! Refactored the page to be slightly smaller and easier to navigate.
• A whole host of packet changes. 0x05, 0x08, 0x10, 0x64, 0x65, 0x66, 0x67, 0x68, 0x69, 0x6a, and 0x82. Packets 0x11 and 0x3b removed.

2010-12-01

• Protocol version changed to 6
• Packet 0x12 (Animation) got a lot more new values
• Packet 0x26 changed, now indicates entity damage, death and explosion (for creepers, TNT not tested)
• Packet 0x3B now being sent from client
• Packet 0x3C added
• (need info on other changes)

2010-11-24

• Protocol version changed to 5
• Packet 0x07 (Use Entity) got a new field (byte)
• Packet 0x08 (Update Health) added
• Packet 0x09 (Respawn) added
• Packet 0x12 (Animation) started getting non-boolean values for the Animation field
• Packet 0x26 (Entity Death) added

2010-11-10

• Protocol version changed to 4
• Packet 0x01 (login request) changed
• Packet 0x07 (Use Entity?) added
• Packet 0x1C (Entity Velocity?) added
• Packet 0x27 (Attach Entity?) added

2010-10-31

• Protocol version changed to 3
• Packet 0x01 (login request) changed

2010-09-10

• Protocol version changed to 2
• Packets 0x05, 0x06, 0x3B added
• Server-side inventory (no verification)
• Vanilla adds experimental monsters (only damaged by fire)

2010-08-20

• Protocol version reset from 14 to 1
• Packet 0x04 (time update) added