Watch out, Minecraft's new lava-proof horse armor has a serious design flaw, and you can probably guess what it is

In a case that will bring back anyone's memory of their beloved Minecraft pet getting too close to a Creeper or vanishing down a ravine, one player has potentially saved the lives of a million blocky broncos by discovering that the new lava-proof horse armor in the sandbox game may not be as immune to the red stuff as Mojang claims.

Earlier this month, Mojang put out a blog post announcing Minecraft's new fancy Netherite Horse Armor, which will arrive in the full game with the Mounts of Mayhem release date. It's available on both Java and Bedrock beta builds right now, and the educated Minecraft player (I beat the Ender Dragon once, I'll have you know) can tell you that the main allure of anything Netherite-related is its immunity to lava.

That means disposing of it is a bit of a nightmare, yes, but the point here is that a horse drabbed in its new Netherite duds should be able to surf through a volcano or whisk you through a body of the red stuff found deep underground. You know, where the good loot is? In fact, the blog post alluded to this very clear line of reasoning: "As we all know, Netherite is not only great for protection, but it is also very, very cool. Just ask the lava it can withstand!" Yeah, about that…

Well, someone did. And, as it turns out, Mojang's claims could make them liable for crimes against horsemanity that I'd personally love to see play out in a Minecraft roleplay court of law with dozens of grieving cowboys.

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Reddit user '_cetera_' posted a quick 14-second clip shortly after the update went live, demonstrating how the new Netherite Horse Armor is the only Netherite item tossed into a lava pit that isn't immediately sucked back into their body when they plunge into that very same glowing pit of molten death. Stand down, PETA, they didn't chuck a horse in there for testing purposes. But you can imagine the sight-and probably the smell. What a waste of good glue.

And you can imagine the sort of player feedback on Reddit right now. "Literally unplayable" is a reach, but we get it. "Game's gone" is another fair reaction. There's also a tag for a subreddit seemingly devoted to riffing on our equestrian friends.

But calm down, dear reader. As is the point with any Minecraft Snapshot, a bug has been found, and a bug report has been made. How long it might take to fix is anyone's guess, but I hope we never forget the time Mojang flaunted fireproof horse armor that was, in fact, not very fireproof at all.

We even put the intrepid tester's claims to the test. In Creative mode, of course. We don't have all day to find those fancy materials. As it turns out, flammable Netherite Horse Armor is a Java quirk. Your Bedrock besties are safe.

But the blunder does have me hoping for an April Fool's snapshot that has the Netherite Horse Armor cause spontaneous combustion. You know, just to rub lava into the leather? Surprise!

And if you want to test this for yourself, hop on the latest Java Minecraft Snapshot and combine Diamond Horse Armor with a Netherite Ingot and a Netherite upgrade smithing template. Then it's time to go for a dunk. Maybe get some friends together and set up one of those carnival-style dunk tanks if you really want to put on a show.