The Monumental Minecraft PE 1.0.0 "Ender Update" – A Detailed Look
For passionate Minecraft Pocket Edition (PE) players, the 1.0.0 update released on December 19, 2016 was a true watershed moment. Now over 6 years old, this iconic "Ender Update" marked PE‘s official full launch and transition out of beta development. Let‘s relive one of the most monumental moments in Minecraft‘s mobile history!
A Years-in-the-Making Milestone
Minecraft PE first launched in beta back in August 2011. After over 5 years and 100+ beta versions, update 1.0.0 finally achieved the stability and content parity needed for a full release. Developer Mojang could have rushed it, but instead gave the team ample time to polish and enhance the user experience. Their patience paid off with a rock-solid mobile platform that still serves over 230 million players to this day!
PE‘s install base is now nearly 3X as big as the original Java edition on PC. The lessons Mojang learned optimizing for mobile continue to guide development, making update 1.0.0 one of their most pivotal accomplishments.
Say Hello to The End
The stellar headliner feature of the 1.0.0 Ender Update was The End dimension. This eerie realm with separate islands floating in the void delivered PC-quality end-game content to mobile for the first time.
Highlights of what The End offers:
- Ender Dragon boss battle – PE finally had its first true epic boss fight
- End Cities with elytra wings
- Challenging endermen mobs and floating shulkers
- End gateways to teleport between islands
- 27 new achievements tied to End gameplay unlocks
This expansive new dimension fleshed out Minecraft PE‘s end-game tremendously. Gearing up toactivate an End portal and defeat the Mythic Ender Dragon gave players an exciting long-term goal after getting established in the Overworld and Nether.
The Ender Update essentially added a fun challenging "final level" full of new wonders to explore. This drew in more core gamers to complement the creative builders who already loved Minecraft‘s sandbox freedom. Mojang struck gaming gold by blending that creative freedom with enhanced quest-driven progression.
More Mobs, Blocks, Biomes and Gear
On top of the 4 mainland End mobs, update 1.0.0 also brought husks, strays, and…drumroll… polar bears! These preliminarily neutral mobs spawning in icy biomes presented fresh survival challenges.
Over 10 new enchantments enhanced bows, armor, tools, and weaponry. New brewing ingredients enabled helpful splash potions too. Combined with new blocks like grass paths and bone blocks, players gained more aesthetic flexibility when building.
Update 1.0.0‘s world generation improvements filled realms with more realistic mountains, valleys, and ponds. Lofty builds finally had suitably epic natural backdrops!
All this new content delivered on Mojang‘s "infinite possibilities" promise in spades. Let‘s quantify how expansive the Ender Update really was.
| mob | types | biomes | added | blocks added | gear/equipment added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 5+ | 27 | achievements | 10+ enchantments |
Just look at those numbers!
Settling Into Its Stride at Last
The Minecraft PE 1.0.0 update ended a long beta journey and triggered massive user growth. Some may feel nostalgia for the old buggy early versions, but crossing that 1.0 threshold cemented Pocket Edition‘s relevance. It entered its stride as Mojang‘s primary development focus going forward.
Though we didn‘t know it at the time, update 1.0.0 also portended the coming Bedrock codebase unification across mobile, Windows 10, console editions. By proving PE could power complete Minecraft experiences, Mojang paved the way to making their life easier supporting one modern shared codebase.
For hardcore creative builders and intrepid survivalists alike, Minecraft PE 1.0.0 represented a dream fully realized mobile port. Raising the ceiling on world height and adding a resplendent end-game dimension clinched it as one of Minecraft‘s greatest updates ever. Thank you to Mojang for the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this masterpiece 6 years ago!
What fond memories do you have from Minecraft PE‘s 1.0.0 launch? Share in the comments below!
