The Holiday Update polishes the UI and includes new mobs, items, blocks and status effects. Players will find the Elytra in The End, Minecraft's third and final dimension. The End itself will be updated with End Cities, End Ships, Chorus Plants, Chorus Flowers and Purpur blocks, among other features. There are also new enemies, including Shulkers, which hide near Purpur blocks and fire homing missiles at encroaching players. The Dragon's Breath ingredient allows players to create Lingering Potions -- just throw one of these suckers on the ground to leave some status effects behind for enemies or friends to find.

Developer Mojang is giving players a sneak peak at the update today, meaning there will be more surprise features when it actually goes live in late December. The Holiday Update is free for anyone who owns Minecraft: Console Edition. The Windows 10 and Pocket editions of Minecraft recently saw updates that brought those versions nearly on par with the original Java version as well. Plus, Minecraft is scheduled to hit Apple TV before the end of the year. Happy holidays, indeed.