Exploration Update

The Exploration Update is the name for Java Edition 1.11, a major update released on November 14, 2016.[1] The official name for the update, the Exploration Update, was revealed on September 24, 2016, during the Opening Ceremony at MINECON 2016.[2] During the "Casual Chat with Jens" panel at MINECON, he suggested that the name "Expedition Update" was more suitable to the theme of the update compared to the "Exploration Update".[3]

The main features of the update were announced on the second day of MINECON 2016, during "The Minecraft 1.11 Change Log" on September 25, 2016.[4] However, snapshots for the update initially began around two months prior to the reveal of the main features, with the features being added in a snapshot just a few days after MINECON.

Mojang released the first (and only) pre-release for the Exploration Update on November 8, 2016.