Pretty Scary Update

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]