Hytale Releases Brand-New Update That You Can Download…

Hytale has released its big Update 2, with players able to jump into the fun right now and enjoy a bunch of new content. The new Hytale update includes tons of new customization options, a new item that allows players to cast a necromancy spell on skeletal minions, and more.

Hytale's journey to release was incredibly turbulent. The game began life as a Minecraft server in 2015 before being developed for a full release. After years in development, it was canceled by Riot Games in mid-2025, before original Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme purchased the game back from the studio. It was launched into early access on January 13, 2026, and immediately found a massive audience. Hytale has already secured the funding for the next few years of development thanks to its initial success, but developer Hypixel Studios isn't resting on its laurels. It has already released two big updates, not even two weeks after its initial release, with plenty more to come in the coming months.

Hytale May Never Get Minecraft's Best Feature, But I'm Not Convinced It Needs It

Hytale’s future plans center around expanding its RPG systems instead of adding Minecraft’s deepest mechanic, and I’m totally fine with that.

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By Richard Warren

Hytale's Update 2 patch notes were revealed a few days ago, and the update has officially gone live in-game. Players now have access to a bunch of new customization options, including the choice to hide armor visibility at any time. This has been one of the most requested Hytale features, and Hypixel Studios hasn't wasted any time in adding it to the game. There's also a new grimoire drop that allows players to raise skeletal minions from bone piles, adding an element of necromancy to the game. The new item only has a chance to drop from the large Praetorian Skeleton, and according to Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme, is "related to the future magic system we will be working on in a future update." There are tons of small additions and quality-of-life changes, including a bunch of notable adjustments to how farming works in the game. Players should expect to see plenty more of these adjustments in future updates as Hypixel figures out the right balance for Hytale's gameplay.

There is one patch note here that might go unnoticed but might have huge implications going forward. "WorldGen V2 has been prepared for public documentation to help modders." With its roots as a Minecraft server, Hytale has been dubbed "by modders, for modders" by developer Hypixel. It has certainly lived up to that so far, with some pretty ridiculous Hytale mods already released after less than two weeks. Given the game's strong early momentum, there's no indication that modders are going anywhere anytime soon. It's very cool to see that Hypixel is preparing official documentation that should help modders further get to grips with the game under the hood. While it may not seem like much right now, in the long run, this could massively impact the quality of Hytale mods in the future.

The future of Hytale is just getting started, and players can look forward to the continuous improvements for a very long time to come. In the more immediate future, Hypixel Studios has already confirmed that Update 3 will enter pre-release next week, while also claiming that production is ramping up with several updates being worked on at the same time. Hytale has lived up to all expectations so far, and it will be exciting to see how it develops throughout the rest of 2026.

Hytale Update 2 Patch Notes

Cosmetics & Customization

New Avatar customization options have been added for everyone.
Bandit Mask + Side Knot (Variant)
Blindfold + Thick (Variant)
Bandage Blindfold + Thick, Left Eye, Right Eye (Variants)
Vampire Mouth
Cute Mouth
Orc Mouth
Added white color to fantasy cotton cosmetic colors
Updated visuals for the following haircuts:
Single Side Pigtail
Hair Stick Bun
Simple Bobcut
Fighter Buns
Smart Elven
Windswept
Added new armor slot visibility toggles next to equipped armor, accessible directly in the character panel.
Server hosts can disable/enable this feature to enforce rules for PvP/Immersion purposes.
Improved animations for capes when the player is running.

Gameplay & Balance

A new item was added that allows the user to raise skeletal minions from nearby bone piles.
Has a chance to drop from the large Praetorian Skeleton.
Adamantite now requires a Thorium or Cobalt pickaxe to be mined.
Mining and pickaxe progression has been adjusted.
Lower tier pickaxes now deal much less damage to higher tier ore blocks.
Upgrading to a higher quality pickaxe significantly reduces the amount of hits required.
Buffed Polar Bears.
More decorative light recipes have been added to the furniture bench.
The following NPCs will now drop Medium Hide instead of Light Hide:
Bison
Boar
Cow
Horse
Warthog
The Magma Toad has been adjusted.
Tongue damage has been significantly reduced.
It now alternates between its Tongue attack and a new ability: Headbutt
Petals are now craftable in the furniture bench under Textiles category.
This makes them renewable as Yellow Petals can be farmed from growing Sunflower Seeds.
All crafting requirements used to make different colored Petals are renewable resources.
Lighter variants for each Cloth Block can now be crafted using a combination of Petals.

World Generation

WorldGen V2 has been prepared for public documentation to help modders.
New Default_Flat & Default_Void templates have been added using World Gen V2.
The Creative Hub Portal now spawns with World Gen V2 flat worldgen.
Results in clear weather and limited fog, but only works in new creative worlds.
Major refactor of ore placement in all zones. -You will need to explore new chunks for old worlds to see this change.
Results in more ores, especially in Devastated Lands undergrounds.

Farming

Eternal crops no longer break from accidental weapon damage.
Increased tilled soil lifetime.
Now lasts longer between 1.2 to 1.5 days.
Fixed soil decay under fully grown crops.
You can now hold torches in your offhand while using the Hoe and Seeds.
Breaking fully grown Eternal crops will drop their Seeds back.
Harvested crops can now be placed on the ground when crouching.
Recipe requirement costs have been adjusted for Hoes.
Hoes now unlock at different farming bench tiers.
Copper is now Tier 2 instead of Tier 4.
Iron is now Tier 4 instead of Tier 8.
Thorium has been added at Tier 6.

UI / UX

Improved the editor block tooltip descriptions.
Tooltips will now display the name of colors when hovering over color options in the Avatar Customization menu.
Made improvements to the visibility of the hotbar active-slot by increasing contrast and adding a diamond indicator.
This makes it easier to see the hotbar active-slot, when in brighter environments like the Howling Sands.
The categories of Memories are now sorted alphabetically when being viewed via "The Heart Of Orbis".
Scripted Brush QoL improvements.
Added missing entries to filters, and removed invalid blocks from filters.
Fixed various bugs in existing scripted brushes.
Added decoration and cave brushes.
Removed redundant scripted brushes.
Updated the JumpIfBlockType node to use a single offset instead of a list of offsets.
Inventory interaction updates.
Better double click handling, you can now click faster.
Shift + Clicking on armor will now directly equip it if no armor is currently equipped in the respective slot.
QERT shortcut keybinds have been added for the inventory "quick actions" (put all, pull all, quickstack and sort).
Shortcuts now display in the tooltip when hovering over "quick action" buttons such as "Sort Items By Type (T)".
An "FPS counter overlay" option has been added to the settings menu.
This can be found under General > User Interface.
The current FPS will be displayed in the top right corner of the game when this is enabled.
Made various improvements to player markers.
Player markers now display on the compass.
Removed "Player: " prefix from the player markers on the map.
Player names will always render on the map.
Added toggle buttons for map/compass visibility in the maps player list.
Players at different heights will have a different icon (up/down indicators) in the compass.
Added Ophidiophobia accessibility mode.
This can be found under Gameplay > Accessibility.
Turns Snake models into Hatworms.

Audio & Visual Effects

Added all missing basic Rex sounds.
Updated the bones item drag/drop inventory sound.
Fixed a bug in a Howling Sands cave track.
Updated all food particle tints.

Bug Fixes, Tech & Stability

Introduced a server auto-update system, including configuration options and new commands for update management.
Added a new UpdateModule core plugin and integrated it into the server boot process, allowing the server to check for and apply updates, notify players, and handle staged updates.
Introduced UpdateConfig in HytaleServerConfig with fields for enabling updates, check intervals, notification preferences, patchline selection, backup options, and auto-apply modes. Includes serialization support and getter/setter methods.
Added a new shutdown reason ShutdownReason.UPDATE to indicate when the server should restart to apply a staged update.
Added new /update commands and detailed server messages for checking, downloading, applying, and managing updates, including player notifications and auto-apply warnings.
Updated the release workflow to include launcher scripts (start.sh, start.bat).
Made improvements to rendering shadows to fix various issues.
Fixed middle click "pick block" when the hotbar is full in creative mode.
Now when middle clicking a block in creative mode when the inventory is full, it will replace the current slot with the newly picked item.
The Asset Editor will now display documentation in tooltips.
Fixed issues with Mantling detection which resulted in many unintended behaviours.
Implemented a fix to persist cleared keybinds across sessions.
Made some adjustments to improve weather transitions to reduce jarring visuals.
More improvements will be made in future updates.
Fixed an issue when using teleporters to avoid accidental collisions by applying an offset.
Rail carts now consume correctly and place properly.
Bed respawning in unloaded chunks has been fixed.
Fixes an issue where the collision checks always failed if there were no loaded chunks.
Major server stability, validation, ECS, localization and timeout improvements.
Refilling containers now targets the closest block of water rather than requiring you to aim at a block behind/under water.
Fixed some types of items displaying oversized placement previews.
Fixed an issue with the Berserker haircut texture tiling.
Fixed glasses textures from inheriting the cosmetic colour on their lens highlights.
Added permissions for world map teleporting.
Prevents players from sending packets to the server and teleporting anywhere they want without Op.
Emerald Wilds dungeon and other environments have been fixed. - You might hear new soundtracks!
Fixed sending player marker updates while map isn't open.
Fixed player markers flickering when hovered on the map.
Other players names are more readable when zoomed in on the map.