14 DAY TRIAL // A new version of the open world crafting game Minecraft has been made available for download, with bug fixes, a few updates for Realms, preparations for the character renaming feature, and more. Players are told to note that Minecraft 1.7.6 is not compatible with 1.7.5 (or earlier) servers.
On the Mojang blog, the development team reveals that “This version contains some bugfixes, a few updates to make Realms even better than it already is and prepares Minecraft for the renaming feature that will eventually allow you to rename your player.”
Mojang is sad to inform players that the renaming feature is not yet available, “but this is an important step towards it.”
Internal handling of player skins has been improved, “to make use of our new, improved skin servers,” and Mojang asks players to note that Minecraft 1.7.6 is not compatible with 1.7.5 servers, or earlier versions.
Gamers are instructed to update their servers to 1.7.6, which will pave the way for your Minecraft installation to accept a major upcoming update (Minecraft 1.8). Another important note is then laid out:
“Servers should automatically update all player profiles to the new format, but please make sure that you are in the correct server mode (online mode/offline mode) when you start the 1.7.6 server for the first time, because profiles are not compatible between these two server modes.”
Gamers can find out more about the 1.7.6 update in the frequently asked questions section.
There’s more. As some of you may have already heard, the popular cryptographic software OpenSSL was recently declared vulnerable to hacker attacks because of a flaw codenamed “Heartbleed.”
Mojang tells Minecraft fans that “This weakness could potentially be exploited to steal information, such as login information, that normally would be protected by encryption. This software is used by roughly two thirds of the internet so a lot of services were or are at risk of being affected.”
When it caught wind of the flaw, the game developer quickly shut down all of its systems and “made sure that all of our services that use SSL no longer had this vulnerability before bringing them back online. We also updated all of our SSL certificates.”
On the players’ end, everyone needs to change their Minecraft account password. Mojanng explains the situation on its blog, so head on over there for the full scoop. Use the supplied links to download Minecraft 1.7.6 for Mac / Minecraft 1.7.6 for Windows / Minecraft 1.7.6 for Linux.