Deprecations and compatibility notes
FORMSPEC_API_VERSION is now 5
New maps are now zstd compressed to reach faster and/or more efficient compression
Switched to our own fork of the rendering engine: IrrlichtMT
Removed support for DirectX
Dropped support for obscure and undocumented file formats: pcx, ppm, psd, wal, and rgb
Modding: Missing "mod.conf" is now deprecated. Results in warnings (rubenwardy)
Add mod.conf with name = yourmodname
Modding: depends.txt and description.txt are now deprecated
Specify dependencies using "depends" and "optional_depends" in mod.conf
Specify description using "description" in mod.conf
Modding: Creating vectors like this: {x=1, y=2, z=3} is now deprecated
Use vector.new instead
Features: General
Add game name to server status string (sfan5)
Improve TTF support for pixel-style fonts (v-rob)
Joystick support for DragonRise GameCube controller (Izzette)
Add "MINETEST_MOD_PATH" environment variable (emixa-d)
Touch UI support for desktop builds (#10729) (TheBrokenRail)
Switch MapBlock compression to zstd (lhofhansl)
Joystick sensitivity for player movement (NeroBurner) + fixes (sfan5)
Gettext support on Android (Pevernow)
Make web links in chat clickable (Feature disabled by default, use setting clickable_chat_weblinks) (pecksin)
Add a key to toggle display map block boundaries (F8 by default) (grapereader)
Improved wording of various chat command outputs (Wuzzy)
Normal texture support (for minimap shading) (again) (numberZero)
Scale mouse/joystick sensitivity depending on FOV (Elias Åström)
Various DevTest game additions and improvements (Wuzzy)
Chat commands: Show the execution time if the command takes a long time (HybridDog)
Improved item placement prediction (sfan5)
Anticheat: Faraway inventory access protection (SmallJoker)
Pause animations while game is paused (numberZero)
Features: Main menu and ContentDB
Chop game background in mainmenu (appgurueu)
ContentDB: Add support for package aliases / renaming (rubenwardy)
Improved "Join Game" tab (sfan5)
Builtin function translation (Wuzzy, Zughy)
Translation support for the builtin functions (Wuzzy, snowyu) + updates (Wuzzy, see CONTRIBUTING file)
Handle modpacks containing modpacks properly (Elias Fleckenstein)
Texture pack toggle by double clicking (Yaman Qalieh)
Features: Modding
Sky API: Reset by empty arguments (Zughy)
Use a database for mod storage (internal) + CSM auto-migration (TurkeyMcMac)
Add padding[] element to formspecs (#11821) (v-rob)
Disable inventory if player's inventory formspec is blank (ROllerozxa)
Add minetest.disconnect_player (Corey Powell)
Add Lua bitop library (Lejo)
Allow for game-specific menu music (ExeVirus)
Add minetest.rmdir, minetest.cpdir and minetest.mvdir (octacian)
Add no_texture.png as fallback for unspecified textures (Wuzzy)
Add minetest.get_server_max_lag() (Wuzzy)
Split node field 'liquid_viscosity' into two: liquid_viscosity (how fast liquid flows) and move_resistance (how much it slows players) (Wuzzy)
Improved dynamic_add_media functionality (sfan5)
Add group-based tool filtering for node drops (Treer)
Add disable_settings to game.conf to get rid of "Enable Damage"/"Creative Mode"/"Host Server" checkboxes (Df458)
Add a simple PNG image encoder with Lua API + texture modifier [png (hecks)
Add bold, italic and monospace font styling for HUD text elements (sfan5)
Add wallmounted support for plantlike and plantlike_rooted nodes (Wuzzy)
Add API for mods to hook liquid transformation events (Warr1024)
Add min_y and max_y checks for Active Block Modifiers (ABM) (sfence)
Add metatables to Lua vectors (DS)
Add minetest.compare_block_status function (SmallJoker)
Add minetest.colorspec_to_colorstring (v-rob)
Put torch/signlike node on floor if paramtype2=="none" (Wuzzy)
Return ObjectRef from minetest.spawn_falling_node() (benrob0329)
Modifyable player fall damage via armor group (Wuzzy)
Add vector.to_string and vector.from_string (#10323) (DS)
Add math.round and fix vector.round (v-rob)
Degrotate support for mesh nodes (numberZero) + fixes (sfan5, Wuzzy)
lua_api.txt: Fix style selector examples (Df458)
Nested Settings are now also contained in to_table (SmallJoker)
Bugfixes
Fix Minetest logo when installed system-wide (ROllerozxa)
Cancel emerge callbacks on shutdown (TurkeyMcMac)
Free arguments of cancelled minetest.after() jobs (sfan5)
Fix damage wraparound if very high damage (Wuzzy)
Cap damage overlay duration to 1 second (Wuzzy)
Rendering fixes: Add more neighbors on mesh update (numberZero)
Don't let HTTP API pass through untrusted function (sfan5)
Fix URL escaping in content store (sfan5)
Fix find_nodes_in_area misbehaving with out-of-map coordinates (sfan5)
Minimap: gamma-correct average texture colour calculation (HybridDog)
Fix item duplication if player dies during interact callback (sfan5)
View bobbing fixes (appgurueu)
Fix player HP desync between client and server (savilli)
Rendering fixes: Order drawlist by distance to the camera (x2048)
Fix crash when .conf release field is invalid (rubenwardy)
Performance: Fix client-side performance of chat UI (DS)
Fix HUD multiline text alignment (appgurueu)
Send correct updates to clients after node metadata clear (TurkeyMcMac)
Remove redundant on_dieplayer calls (savilli)
Fix 6th line of infotext being cut off in half (Wuzzy)
Validate staticdata and object property length limits (sfan5)
Fix scaled world-aligned textures being aligned inconsistently for non-normal drawtypes (Wuzzy)
Various lua_api.txt corrections and improvements (Df458, random-geek, Wuzzy, Francisco, Zughy)
Run on_grant and on_revoke callbacks after privs change (AFCMS)
Fix base64 validation and add unittests (appgurueu)
Fix cloud fog being broken for high clouds (Wuzzy)
Attachments: various bugfixes (SmallJoker)
Rendering engine fxes and cleanups (nerzhul)
Multiple OpenGL ES fixes (sfan5)
Make edit boxes respond to string input (IME) (yw05)
cURL timeout fixes and increased default timeout (sfan5)
Fix wield image of plantlike_rooted (Wuzzy)
Fix attached-to-object sounds volume (Desour)
Fix segfault for model[] without animation speed (kilbith)
Crash fix when models fail to load (sfan5)
Access protections for per-player detached inventories (SmallJoker)
mg_name and mg_flags can no longer be set by Lua (minetest.conf) (sfan5)
Interlaced 3D mode fixes (srifqi)
Fix hud_change and hud_remove functionality after hud_add calls (savilli)
Fix number of times a tool can be used before breaking being off by a number between 1 and 32767 (Wuzzy)
Various stability fixes (server and client crashes)
Maintenance
Rendering improvements: use dedicated GPU, improve frame calculations (sfan5)
Fully remove bitmap font support (use TTF now) (sfan5)
Restore GCC 5 compatibility (JosiahWI)
Remove creative/damage info in Esc/Pause menu (Wuzzy)
Update to Android target SDK 30 (rubenwardy)
Add macOS build docs (andkerr)
Android: Use scoped app storage (rubenwardy)
Make /status message easier to read (Wuzzy)
Clean up/improve some scriptapi error handling code (sfan5)
Add hint to error message on how to build with in-tree Irrlicht (20kdc)
Optimize vector length calculations (Lean Rada)
Remove hardcoded "You died." message in chat (Wuzzy)
Remove unsupported video drivers (hecks)
Document hypertext formspec element escaping (Wuzzy)
Drop --videomodes, fullscreen_bpp and high_precision_fpu settings (sfan5)
PostgreSQL fixes and improved error messages (sfan5)
Improved liquid documentation (Wuzzy)
Improved mipmapping-related code (sfan5)
Rendering engine was changed from Irrlicht to IrrlichtMt (Minetest's fork of Irrlicht) (sfan5)
Performance: Draw items as 2D images (instead of meshes) when possible (sfan5)
Sanity check: Block & report player self-interaction (appgurueu)
Multiple font code cleanups and improvements (sfan5)
IrrlichtMt switch related fixups (kilbith. sfan5, nerzhul))
Performance improvements during media/mesh loading (sfan5)
Json is now taken from the system by default (sfan5)
Various build bot and setup changes (sfan5)
Restructured "/teleport" command (HybridDog)
Consistent Aux1 key naming (Wuzzy)
Many many internal cleanups and fixes (sfan5, others)
Minetest Game
Add “Read” and “Write” tabs to book interface when you own the book (orbea)
Allow to write books without text or title (orbea)
Make identical keys stackable (Luis Royer)
Fix creative inventory trash slot not working for player named “trash” (Montandalar)
Fix sunlight propagation for glass stair/slab (An0n3m0us)
Fix glass bottle with firefly not being placable in vessels shelf (An0n3m0us)
Other bugfixes
Translations: Esperanto (Jason Cartwright), Russian (ptah-alexs), Japanese (nogajun), German (Wuzzy), Slovak (Daretmavi), French (Olivier Dragon), Swedish (ROllerozxa), Chinese (
), Ukrainian (baytuch)