5.0.1

• Add handling for some movement related enchantments in 1.20.5->1.21. This requires ViaVersion to be placed on a Paper server (also for efficiency to properly work)
• Fixed entity effect colors for world particles in 1.20.3->1.20.5
• Improve item comparison in some cases when the item tag was empty in 1.20.3<->1.20.5 (by Camotoy, AJ-Ferguson)
• Fixed handling of the hardcore/not set gamemodes in 1.8->1.9 (by LeonTG, EnZaXD)
• Backup original book pages for creative mode clients in 1.8->1.9 (by EnZaXD)

If you want to get larger version updates early, consider supporting me via https://viaversion.com/donate. See the previous update notes for more info.

5.0.0

1.21 client support!

Java 17 requirement

• See https://docs.papermc.io/misc/java-install on how to update your Java version
• Even Minecraft 1.8 is mostly able to run on Java 17, although for a better experience you should use a fork that fixes smaller issues
• Some older versions require the Paper.IgnoreJavaVersion system property to be set (-DPaper.IgnoreJavaVersion=true as a startup flag), but run perfectly fine using Java 17
• If all else fails, use the Java 8 compatibility builds we provide at risk of not receiving support for issues it could cause - you should not make yourself depend on these too much, they will generally only be updated on releases

Other important changes

The main ViaVersion jar no longer supports Bungee and Sponge, they have been moved to separate plugins. Sponge has seen almost no usage and the current Bungee platform is pretty broken due to missing injection points, + Bungee has generally been unusable for weeks after every recent Minecraft update.

• Bungee/Waterfall is no longer available
• Sponge support has been moved to: https://modrinth.com/plugin/viasponge
  • ViaVersion (and other Via plugins if wanted) need to be put into config/viaversion/ for ViaSponge to load them
• ProtocolSupport compatibility has been moved to an addon, since PS has been dead for a while and VR+VB are generally more usable across versions now

The config option checkforupdates has been changed to check-for-updates; you will need to toggle the new value manually if you had toggled the old one.

API changes

• Type instances are now held in Types to prevent classloading issues
• Packet sending/receiving related methods are no longer spammed with throws Exception
• Packet type names, among others, have changed to reflect vanilla names
  • For automated mass-replacement of such renames and package changes (mostly for platforms implementing ViaVersion), see https://gist.github.com/kennytv/5bc5bd6efb4c0a07e8a2020f2f2131b7
• Removed a number of deprecated methods

Fixes and other changes

• Added handle-invalid-item-count config option to gracefully handle items with invalid stack sizes in 1.20.3->1.20.5 (by EnZaXD)
• Added viaversion player <*/playername> subcommand to view protocol info of a specific player (by EnZaXD)
• Ignore invalid chunk entities in 1.20.3->1.20.5
• Fixed issues with thrown projectiles for 1.20.5 clients on 1.19 servers and older
• Fixed various issues due to missing tags (by RK_01)
• Fixed various block entity tags in 1.20.3->1.20.5 (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed conversion of firework tags without explosions in 1.20.3->120.5 (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed positionless lodestone tracker conversion (by EnZaXD and Pantera07)
• Fixed painting items with specific variant tags in 1.20.3->1.20.5
• Fixed villager trade handling when they contain empty items in 1.20.3->1.20.5
• Fixed various issues in show_item conversion in 1.20.3->1.20.5 (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed items with custom names not being italic sometimes in 1.12.2->1.13 (by EnZaXD)
• Changed logs/warnings to include the relevant version (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed book signing in 1.8->1.9 (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed block place sounds playing twice in 1.8->1.9 (by EnZaXD)
• Small fixes to edge cases in data parsing in various versions (by EnZaXD)
• Backup negative item amounts in 1.10->1.11 for creative mode clients (by EnZaXD)
• Changed viaversion displayleaks subcommand to be able to set detection level (by EnZaXD)

... and more

If you want to get larger version updates early, consider supporting me via https://viaversion.com/donate. See the previous update notes for more info.

4.10.2

Remember, the release for 1.21 will require Java 17!

• Fixed entity effect particle and tipped arrow colors in 1.20.4->1.20.5 (by EnZaXD and kennytv)
• Fixed block entity data in items if the id was missing (by EnZaXD and kennytv)
• Fixed incoming 1.20.5 banner handling
• Fixed incoming 1.20.5 player head handling

If you want to get larger version updates early, consider supporting me via https://viaversion.com/donate. See the previous update notes for more info.

4.10.1

Most of these are bugfixes for 1.20.5 protocol handling

• Various fixes to show_item hover event handling
• Fixed click container button handling (by Gerrygames)
• Fixed block protocols/versions disconnect screen
• Fixed handling of bad registry data (by EnZaXD)
• Pass through invalid command argument types instead of erroring
• Fixed death message handling in 1.8->1.9 (by EnZaXD)
• Changed container type mapping of legacy smithing from a furnace to an anvil in 1.19->1.20 (by Pantera07)
• Paper servers now skip jar remapping of ViaVersion

If you want to get larger version updates on Minecraft releases early, consider supporting me via https://viaversion.com/donate. See the previous update notes for more info.

4.10.0

1.20.5 client support; this one of the largest updates network-content wise, so expect rough edges. I'd also like to thank the wave of sponsors as well as the people that showed understanding for the 3 day delay. If it weren't for the sponsors, this update wouldn't have been even close to being usable already.

Important: The ViaVersion update for 1.21 will require Java 17 or above

• See https://docs.papermc.io/misc/java-install on how to update your Java version
• While we will still offer additional magical jars for Java 8 compatibility on releases for the foreseeable future, you should still make sure your server can run on Java 17 by then
• Even 1.8 servers can run Java 17. Most 1.8 server forks will also have proper support for it
• Some versions have an arbitrary/unnecessary Java version check from Spigot that prevent startup:
  • For 1.16 and 1.17, use Paper's -DPaper.IgnoreJavaVersion=true startup flag
  • For 1.13 to 1.15, use any updated fork that just removes it. An unsafe (!) way of skipping Spigot's check is by using -Djava.class.version=<supported Java class version>

Fixes to previously added version support

• Added a large number of sanity checks to NBT reading to prevent errors from bad data
• Fixed Entity sound handling in some >1.19 protocols
• Fixed text components that are too long kicking 1.20.3 clients
• Fixed handling of null json entries in text components in 1.20->1.20.2
• Fixed 1.15->1.16 item attribute uuids
• Fixed various issues with text component handling in old protocols (by EnZaXD and RK_01)
• Fixed 1.12->1.13 enderman held block handling
• Fixed lots of text component translation issues in 1.8->1.9 (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed an issue with non-lowercase sounds in 1.8->1.9 (by EnZaXD)
• Ignore errors in custom payload reading in older protocols as per vanilla behaviour (by EnZaXD)
• Fixed an error when creating dumps on Sponge (by EnZaXD)

Also thanks to EnZaXD for lots of aid with 1.20.5, as well as RK_01, DrexHD, and Gerrygames for additional fixes!

If you want to get larger version updates early, consider supporting me via https://viaversion.com/donate. See the previous update notes for more info.

4.9.3

Important release schedule change

Starting 1.20.5, ViaVersion and ViaBackwards will only be released a day/a few days or so after a Minecraft update unless the protocol changes of the update were trivial. If you want early-access, usually days or even weeks before the final release, you can subscribe to either:

• GitHub Sponsors (preferred option. Use the /verify command on this Discord after), or alternatively
• Patreon (see the highest tier and make sure to link Patreon to your Discord account under Settings->Connections)
  This also includes access to a private repository with the code, which will be pushed to the public repository after the given delay on a Minecraft update.

At the same time however, bug fix patches will be released more regularly, always immediately public, and more of the low-priority issues will be tackled.

Due to the insane pace Mojang has been adding more and more complex technical features since 1.19/1.20, updating ViaVersion and making sure it works well enough has become a lot more time-consuming. Without some extra incentive, I can't really justify putting increasing amounts of free time into these updates, no matter how much I enjoy doing them.

Changes

• Added sanity checks to item reading across all versions
• Fixed written books in 1.20.2->1.20.3
• Fixed 1.20->1.20.2 tag handling
• Fixed exceptions during client leave on older servers
• Fixed various component conversion issues in multiple versions
• Fixed issues with skins and permanent loading screens on Velocity (by Aeltumn)

Note: Via* on BungeeCord does not work properly at the moment, we recommend using our plugins either on the backend servers or on Velocity instead.

4.9.2

• Re-sending same resource pack will no longer result in it being downloaded again in 1.20.2->1.20.3
• Fixed issues with component conversion in 1.20.2->1.20.3
• Reverted a change from the previous update that could cause plugin messages to be send to the server too early in the login process in 1.20->1.20.2
• Fixed tags conversion in 1.20.2->1.20.3
• Fixed map data reading across versions

4.9.1

Includes changelogs from 4.9.0 (this patch fixes an issue with resource pack status handling)

1.20.3 client support

• Various fixes to configuration phase handling in 1.20.2->1.20
• Improve handling of 1.8 block placements inside the client entity (Pablete1234)
• Various small validation changes in legacy version handling (by RaphiMC)
• Fix startup error on 1.20.2 Spigot servers (by frengor)
• Cleanup command registration (by FlorianMichael)
• Rebranded included nbt library (now ViaNBT)

4.9.0

1.20.3 client support

• Various fixes to configuration phase handling in 1.20.2->1.20
• Improve handling of 1.8 block placements inside the client entity (Pablete1234)
• Various small validation changes in legacy version handling (by RaphiMC)
• Fix startup error on 1.20.2 Spigot servers (by frengor)
• Cleanup command registration (by FlorianMichael)
• Rebranded included nbt library (now ViaNBT)

4.8.1

• Fixes to configuration state handling
• Fixed 1.20->1.20.2 custom potion effects
• Fixed the client's skin layers being disabled on proxied server switches
• Fixed signs not displaying properly for 1.20+ clients on some older versions (by riku6460)