Complete changelog:

• Maybe: A long[8] requested feature[9]
• A hidden feature[10]
  • Screenshot[11]  
• The radius value in selectors is now based on the block center[12]
  • A radius of 0 works for exact block positions
• NBT data in commands can now use block/item names in place of numerical ids[13]
  • Old ids still work, but are being phased out slowly[14]
• Skins and capes are now distributed through servers[15]
  • Skins server outages will occur less frequently and have less impact[16]
  • Server-altered skins/capes are not possible[17] – only signed URLs[18] are stored server-side
  • Skin changes will no longer require client restarting, at worst re-logging will update the skin for everybody[19]
  • Duplicate skins no longer need to be downloaded twice[20]
  • Server traffic will barely be affected[21]
• Maybe: Improved the attribute system to implement a buff system accessible with commands[22]
• /tp can[23] now be used to change players’ rotation
  • Relative changes also supported[24]
  • Example[25] : /tp @a ~ ~ ~ ~180 ~
• Villagers will now become witches when struck by lightning[26]
• Village roads will now generate with cobblestone underneath[27]
• Maybe: Each[28] world (main, nether, end) will now[29] run on its own thread[30]
  • Purpose: Improving performance[31] , not slowing down other worlds when one world is particularly busy[32]
  • First tests indicate massive performance increase[33] when ticking worlds
• Fixed some bugs
  • Fixed chicken jockeys causing lag and clogging up the mob cap – The chickens no longer lay eggs and despawn with their riders

   

Mojang said on their website:

Update: 14w03b has been released to fix some bugs & crashes:

• [Bug MC-44990] – Iron Bars, Regular Glass Panes and Cauldrons aren’t transparent.
• [Bug MC-44993] – Custom player heads are messed up
• [Bug MC-45004] – Placing clay pots crashes game
• [Bug MC-45014] – Realms invited player skins are messed up
• [Bug MC-45018] – Be killed makes your character lose his/her hat
• [Bug MC-45026] – Hopper: java.lang.NullPointerException: Rendering screen

Snapshot time! We’ve fixed a whole bunch of bugs introduced in last weeks snapshots, introduced a few new commands and tweaked a few things that needed tweaking.

Notable additions for mapmakers:

• /tp now supports rotation arguments
• Player selectors (@p, @e, etc) now support cubic areas. For example: @e[x=0,y=0,z=0,dx=10,dy=10,dz=10] gets all entities between 0,0,0 and 10,10,10
• Added /clone command to copy large areas to other areas
• Added a /fill command to fill a large area with a block

To get snapshots, open your launcher and press the “New Profile” button. Call it “snapshots” and check the box saying “Enable experimental development snapshots” and save. To switch to the normal version, you can select it in the dropdown at the bottom left corner of the launcher.

Cross-platform server jar: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/versions/14w03b/minecraft_server.14w03b.jar

Report bugs here:

• Minecraft issue tracker!

// The Minecraft and Minecraft Realms teams