Minecraft now has millions of different wolf combinations

With the arrival of Minecraft Bedrock Preview 1.20.80.21, eight new wolf types have been introduced that possess different appearances based on the biome they spawn in. While this is great on its own, players should also note the amount of customization options this provides them, as fans now have even more combinations of wolf types, collar colors, and wolf armor colors.

Over on the Minecraft subreddit, u/Stevennnin crunched the numbers, remarking that by multiplying the number of wolf types, collar colors, and wolf armor colors, there are now 2048 different combinations to consider. Throw in the three most well-known nametags and wolf tail changes based on health, and the number of combinations seemingly skyrockets to 55,296 combinations.

However, u/Stevennnin seemed to make a mistake, as multiple colors can be used to dye wolf armor, and wolf armor visibly degrades with damage, which would likely bring the total to about 59,236,925,184 combinations.

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Minecraft fans discuss the massive number of wolf customization options

You can now have 55296 different wolf combinations byu/Stevennnnin inMinecraft

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

With eight new wolf mob variants in Minecraft (at least in Bedrock previews for the moment) and the remaining original mob being moved to a new home biome, wolves have been fundamentally changed. Despite this, players agreed that the unexpected arrival of new wolf variants was a major win for the game's development, bringing more biodiversity to the sandbox title.

This change to wolf mobs reminded some Minecraft fans of how bed color combinations used to work before bed colors were officially introduced in the 1.12 update, and the user u/Equal-Requirement-61's only lament was that armor trims couldn't be applied to wolf armor like they can for player armor. Still, the addition of wolf variants has been a welcome addition to the community.

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

The good news for Minecraft fans is that wolf armor is still technically in its developmental stages before its release in version 1.20.5. The possibility of enchanting or trimming wolf armor may be something that Mojang explores in the future after the armor makes its way to the vanilla game.

Considering Mojang has introduced new mob variants for wolves (and the bogged variant of skeletons) without prior announcement, the developers may have even more surprises in store in the coming weeks and months. Even though creating every possible wolf customization combo is unrealistic, there's nothing wrong with having a high volume of options to make players' canine friends stand out.

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

Comment byu/Stevennnnin from discussion inMinecraft

Still, it's quite clear that the massive community of Minecraft players is quite happy to see more variation in their in-game worlds, even if wolf variants are still experimental and may not be available in vanilla until the 1.20.5 update. It may not wipe away all the criticisms that Mojang has received in recent months, but it's certainly a positive sign of things to come in 2024.