Minecraft finally lets players sit down after 17 years — cushions are already breaking the game

Mojang has added sitting to Minecraft — a feature players have been requesting for 17 years. The new craftable cushion lets players park themselves anywhere, and it's already live in the latest preview build, version 26.40.30. The full update, which also includes straw beds and a new biome, is expected to roll out to all players this fall.

Cushions are crafted from wool slabs and come in 16 colors. They can be placed on any flat surface. Producer Gustav Höglund confirmed the addition in a video, saying the feature gives players a "straightforward" way to sit down — something previously only possible by climbing into a boat, minecart, or riding an animal. Straw beds, crafted from hay bales, let players sleep through the night without resetting their spawn point, which is a meaningful change for survival play. Höglund added he won't even try to predict what players will do with cushions: "I think the cushion opens up so many new possibilities for building."

He was right not to guess. Within hours of the preview dropping, the Minecraft community had already engineered whoopee cushions — hiding note blocks under redstone-powered pressure plates covered by cushions — and figured out how to chain cushions into fast-travel routes that reportedly outpace sailing. Someone built a rideable Yoshi. "Minecarts crying in the corner as they realise even a line of cushions can be faster," one player wrote on Reddit. The reaction to the sitting announcement itself was equally enthusiastic: "The ability to sit down without mods feels MASSIVE," one fan commented on YouTube, while another compared their excitement to a hypothetical End biome drop.

The cushion news lands during a turbulent stretch for Mojang's parent company. Xbox recently restructured, and Mojang — along with Candy Crush studio King — will now report directly to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who has described both as Xbox's largest units by monthly active players. Minecraft studio head Helen Chiang has been promoted to COO at Xbox. Sharma previously said Minecraft had been "massively underinvested" in, which is a striking claim given the game has sold hundreds of millions of copies, spawned multiple spinoffs, and backed a film that grossed close to a billion dollars. Minecraft Dungeons 2 launches in September, and a second Minecraft Movie is set for 2027.