Minecraft Preview 26.70.20: Jukebox Playlists, Brittle Ice and Frostbite Changes Explained

Mojang pushed a new Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Preview build, version 26.70.20, on October 13, 2026, and it adds two genuinely new things to test rather than just bug fixes: Jukebox Playlists, a way to queue up multiple Music Discs automatically, and Brittle Ice, a fragile new block that turns the Ice Caves biome into a more dangerous place to explore. Both are part of the still-unnamed Drop 4 of 2026, the winter-themed update Mojang first showed off at Minecraft Live in September.

Here's exactly what changed in this build, how the new features work, and how to try them yourself before the full release.

1. What Is Minecraft Preview 26.70.20?

Preview builds are Mojang's public test branch for Bedrock Edition, separate from the stable game. They let players try upcoming features early and report bugs before a change ships to everyone. 26.70.20 is the latest build in that pipeline, and it continues testing for Drop 4 of 2026, the update that was first opened for testing in Bedrock Preview and Beta 26.60.29 back on September 30.

As Mojang put it in the patch notes: "More features from the upcoming game drop are ready for testing! Create your own Minecraft music mix with the new jukebox playlists... But watch where you're dancing, the brittle ice blocks are fragile and crack when you step on them." That line sums up the two headline additions in this build, and it's worth unpacking both in detail.

2. Jukebox Playlists: How the New DJ System Works

Jukebox Playlists are the biggest new feature in 26.70.20. Previously, a Jukebox could only play one Music Disc at a time, and you had to swap discs manually when a track ended. The new system automates that.

How to set one up

• Place a single Chest, Trapped Chest, or any Copper Chest variant directly above a Jukebox block.
• Fill the container with Music Discs. Any slot can hold a disc; other items and empty slots are simply skipped.
• Discs play in slot order, looping back to the first disc once the last one finishes.
• When a track ends, the Jukebox automatically swaps in the next disc from the chest.
• If the chest has no discs left, the Jukebox just repeats whichever disc is currently loaded.
• Ejecting the disc that's currently playing skips straight to the next available track in the chest.

It's a small change on paper, but it fixes one of the longest-standing annoyances in Minecraft building: anyone who has tried to make an in-game jukebox room or music hall knows how tedious manually cycling discs can be. This turns a single Jukebox into something closer to a real playlist player, which should make it far more practical to use in builds, servers and Realms worlds alike.

On the technical side, Mojang also added a new minecraft:jukebox_playlist_source block component for creators, which marks a block as a Music Disc source for a Jukebox placed directly beneath it, as long as it's a compatible single container.

3. Brittle Ice: The New Hazard in Ice Caves

The second major addition is Brittle Ice, a new ice variant built specifically for the Ice Caves biome that Mojang previewed back in September. Unlike Mojang's other guide on the biome itself, this build focuses purely on how the new block behaves.

What Brittle Ice does

• It's fragile: standing on it causes it to crack.
• After three cracks, it breaks entirely — unlike regular or Frosted Ice, it does not melt on its own.
• It generates naturally in Ice Caves, or wherever water flows next to a Blue Ice block.
• Cracking releases small ice particles, and breaking it from the final crack stage triggers a Block Destroy vibration (useful for Sculk Sensors); the first crack stage emits a Block Change vibration instead.

The danger comes from where it spawns. This build adds Crevasses that generate throughout the Ice Cave biome, with Brittle Ice forming over the surface and water pools sitting at the bottom. In practice, that means a patch of ice that looks safe to walk across can actually be concealing a narrow, winding ravine underneath — step on it too long and you'll crack straight through.

Mojang's own advice in the patch notes is blunt: bring a bucket, since there's no guarantee a crevasse has water waiting at the bottom to break your fall. This build also fixed a visual bug where an Icicle's base would flicker (or "z-fight") with the block underneath it when viewed from a distance, so the hazard should at least be easier to actually see while exploring.

4. Frostbite Mob Changes

The Frostbite, the ice-themed mob variant added earlier in testing, also got a few behavior tweaks in 26.70.20:

• Frostbites can now pick up Spears, but they won't use a Spear's charge attack with it.
• They can walk across Brittle Ice without breaking it, unlike the player.
• New sound events were added for the mob's transformation states: one plays when a Zombie converts into a Frostbite, and another when a Frostbite converts back into a Zombie.

Separately, this build also fixed two tooltip bugs tied to the Freezing status effect: it was incorrectly showing a numbered rank (like Freezing II) and was mislabeled as a positive effect rather than a negative one. Both are now corrected, so the effect reads properly when it's applied to the player.

5. Nether Spawning Rebalancing (Experimental)

Tucked under the Experimental Features toggle, this build adds a Nether Spawning Rebalancing option. It reduces overall mob density in the Nether and adjusts how mobs spawn around Nether Fortresses, bringing Bedrock's spawn behavior closer in line with Java Edition's. It's tied to the long-standing tracked issue MCPE-65762 and is opt-in only — it won't affect existing worlds unless a player turns the experiment on manually from the world creation screen.

6. Other Fixes Worth Knowing

Outside of the winter-themed changes, 26.70.20 also carries a long list of general bug fixes. A few of the more notable ones:

• Tripwire Hooks and empty Dispensers/Droppers once again play their sounds correctly (MCPE-243329, MCPE-243328).
• A crash that could occur on PlayStation 5 when the game loads a large number of textures at once has been fixed.
• Zombies, Husks and Zombie Villagers can no longer equip Wolf, Horse or Nautilus armor by mistake (MCPE-233468).
• Custom-named Sea Pickle and Candle item stacks now correctly keep their custom name after being placed (MCPE-117741).
• Marketplace content can now be purchased as a gift for friends.
• A screen freeze that happened momentarily while recording video has been resolved (MCPE-227725).

The full changelog also includes a batch of script API updates for creators, including the release of @minecraft/server version 2.12.0 and a new 2.13.0-beta release, alongside stricter schema validation for several entity components.

7. How to Try Jukebox Playlists and Brittle Ice Yourself

Preview builds are opt-in and run separately from the main game, so they're safe to install alongside your normal copy of Minecraft. To get access:

• On Windows, search the Microsoft Store for "Minecraft Preview" and install it as its own app, separate from the regular game.
• On Xbox and mobile platforms, Mojang runs the same test branch through the Xbox Insider Hub and the Google Play / App Store beta programs respectively.
• Worlds created in Preview are kept separate from your main worlds by default, but Mojang still warns that testing builds can occasionally corrupt save data, so back up anything you care about before experimenting.

Bugs can be reported at bugs.mojang.com, and general feedback on the new features goes to feedback.minecraft.net — both links are pointed to directly in Mojang's own patch notes for this build.

8. What's Next for the Winter Drop

Drop 4 of 2026 still doesn't have an official name or release date from Mojang. It was revealed at Minecraft Live in September and has been in active testing since Preview and Beta 26.60.29 at the end of that month, with 26.70.20 marking the point where Jukebox Playlists and Brittle Ice entered the test cycle. Expect more Preview and Snapshot builds to follow as Mojang keeps layering in features and fixes before the drop reaches the stable release of both Bedrock and Java Edition.

For a closer look at the biome and mobs this drop first introduced, see our breakdown of the Ice Caves preview, Frostbite mob and Freezing effect. The drop itself was first shown off alongside several other reveals at Minecraft Live 2026's September showcase. And if you're weighing whether to play on Nintendo's newest console, our guide to pre-ordering Minecraft for Nintendo Switch 2 covers pricing and the upgrade path in full.

Quick Recap

• Minecraft Preview 26.70.20 released October 13, 2026, for Bedrock Edition.
• Jukebox Playlists let a chest placed above a Jukebox automatically queue and loop Music Discs.
• Brittle Ice is a new fragile block that cracks and breaks after three hits, and can hide Crevasses underneath it.
• Frostbites can now carry Spears and cross Brittle Ice safely; Freezing effect tooltips were fixed.
• An experimental Nether Spawning Rebalancing option brings Bedrock's Nether mob density closer to Java Edition.
• Access it through the separate Minecraft Preview app, Xbox Insider Hub, or your platform's beta program — and back up your worlds first.

Official Resources

• Minecraft Preview 26.70.20 patch notes — Mojang Studios
• Everything you can test from the upcoming game drop — Mojang Studios
• Minecraft Feedback site
• Minecraft Bug Tracker