Minecraft Abandoned Camps, Straw Beds and Cushions: The Complete Guide

Minecraft's Wilderness Bound game drop, released on September 15, 2026 as Java Edition 26.3 and Bedrock Edition 26.50, turned the Overworld's wild places into a reason to pack up and go exploring. Its three headline additions — Abandoned Camps, Straw Beds, and Cushions — work together as a complete camping system, letting players rest, regroup, and decorate a basecamp without ever placing a permanent bed. Here's exactly how each piece works, straight from Mojang's own release notes.

1. What Wilderness Bound Added to Minecraft

Mojang announced the official name for its third 2026 game drop on its own blog, confirming it would "set off" on September 15. According to the studio's release article, the update was built around a simple idea: "you'll sleep under the stars, seek out abandoned camps, and ultimately take on the great outdoors with all its beauty and obstacles." The drop shipped simultaneously on Java Edition (26.3) and Bedrock Edition (26.50), so the features below work the same way regardless of platform.

2. The Dappled Forest: Where Camps Generate

The new content is anchored to the dappled forest, an autumn-themed biome Mojang describes as "full of tall poplar trees in fiery colors, so you can't miss it." Once inside, the studio's own guidance is to "scout the unfamiliar terrain, parkour across the many shelf mushrooms, and investigate abandoned camps for clues about those who came before." Official preview patch notes also confirm abandoned camps generate beyond the dappled forest itself — the Minecraft Preview 26.40.30 notes specifically list the camp structure generating in the Pale Garden and Flower Forest biomes as well, alongside ongoing fixes to how the structure places its surrounding trees.

3. Abandoned Camps: What You'll Find

An abandoned camp is a small, naturally generating campsite — the remains of a previous expedition. Mojang's release notes frame it as a half-ruined shelter players can either investigate or move into: "Gather poplar wood and craft your camp from the ground up, then bring in the expanded concrete and wool sets to make it your own. Whether you're building a simple shelter or a full basecamp, remember that a successful camp is measured not in blocks, but in reasons to stay." In other words, the camps aren't just loot sites — they double as a starting point for a player-built shelter, since Wilderness Bound shipped alongside an expanded wool and concrete block set for exactly that kind of furnishing.

4. Straw Beds: How to Craft and Use Them

Straw Beds are Wilderness Bound's answer to resting without committing to a permanent spawn point. Mojang's own feature notes are direct about the trade-off: "With the new straw beds, you can skip the night without resetting your spawn point – all you need are three hay bales!" The official Minecraft Preview 26.40.30 patch notes add the exact crafting yield and the catch:

• A Straw Bed is crafted using 3 Hay Bales, and the recipe yields 4 Straw Beds at once.
• Sleeping in one lets you skip the night without changing your spawn point, unlike a normal bed.
• It's single-use: the patch notes warn players not to "count on it still being intact the next day," and Mojang confirms the bed is destroyed after one use.
• Straw Beds also generate naturally inside Abandoned Camps, so you don't always need to craft your own before setting out.

Because a Straw Bed never resets your spawn point, it's best treated as a disposable tool for long expeditions — something to carry a stack of hay bales for, rather than a permanent fixture at your main base.

5. Cushions: Crafting, Colors and Placement Rules

Cushions are the update's furniture piece, meant for the "campfire stories" Mojang's announcement promised players would gather around. The official release notes give the simplest path to one: "Find a cushion in an abandoned camp or craft one using 3 wool slabs of the same color." The Minecraft Preview 26.40.30 patch notes go further into how the block behaves once placed:

• Cushions craft from 3 Wool Slabs of the same color, and because wool comes in all 16 Minecraft dye colors, so do Cushions.
• A Cushion can be placed on any flat surface and is purely decorative — you place it, then interact with it to sit down.
• It always aligns horizontally to the block grid, but sits vertically on top of whatever surface supports it.
• Cushions cannot be pushed or moved once placed, and they break if the block supporting them is removed.
• They have no collision and can overlap with other objects in the world — just not with other Cushions.

Mojang's suggested use is social: place a row of them around a campfire inside a camp and use them as seating while the group plans the next leg of the trip.

6. Building a Basecamp with Poplar Wood, Wool and Concrete

Wilderness Bound's camping loop is designed to feed into actual building. The dappled forest's signature material is poplar wood, a full wood set Mojang pairs with the update's "expanded concrete and wool sets" for decorating a camp. The official notes also mention smaller but useful fixes to that construction kit — for example, the Minecraft Preview 26.40.30 patch notes list recipes being added for Wool Stairs and Wool Slabs that had been missing, plus a fix for a crash related to Concrete Powder converting into Concrete. Combined, poplar wood for structure and the wool/concrete sets for color make it realistic to turn a half-ruined abandoned camp into a proper basecamp rather than building from scratch every time.

7. Quick Tips Recap

• Head to a dappled forest to find the densest concentration of Abandoned Camps, and keep an eye out for them in Pale Garden and Flower Forest biomes too.
• Carry hay bales — 3 Hay Bales = 4 Straw Beds — so you're never stuck without a way to skip the night on the trail.
• Remember a Straw Bed is single-use and never changes your spawn point; it's a tool for the road, not a home base.
• Craft Cushions from 3 matching Wool Slabs for instant seating in any of the 16 wool colors, or just loot one from a camp.
• Use poplar wood plus the expanded wool and concrete stair/slab sets to turn an abandoned camp into a lasting basecamp.

8. Official Resources

• Mojang's official Wilderness Bound announcement
• Minecraft Preview 26.40.30 patch notes (Straw Bed and Cushion crafting details)
• Official Minecraft store and editions

For more on what else shipped in this game drop, see our full Wilderness Bound update breakdown, or get the full crafting list in our guide to every poplar wood block. Curious what else Mojang revealed this year? Catch up with our recap of everything announced at Minecraft Live 2026, and browse our full game walkthrough archive for more guides like this one.