The first pre-release version of 1.17.1 is available for download. The pre-release introduces some improvements to the gameplay mechanics as well as fixes for several bugs.

 Changes in 1.17.1 Prerelease 1

Blue axolotls can only be obtained through breeding - Non-screaming goats now have a very rare chance of producing a screaming goat when they are bred. Status effects on goats also apply when the goat is ramming or jumping Increased the drop rate for copper ingots, from Drowned to 11 percent plus 2% for each level of looting.  Minecraft Powder snow now fills cauldrons twice as fast as before (still pretty slowly, though!) Zombie Villagers, Zombies and Drowned not be able to pick up glow ink sacs

 Technical changes in 1.17.1 Prerelease 1

If DNS is used for redirection the client will transmit the hostname that is used to connect (this will restore the pre-1.17 behaviour)

 Fixed bugs in 1.17.1 Pre-release 1

MC-123654 - Sun, moon, and/or clouds are not showing if render distance is below 4 MC-131290 - Enchantments are saved as shorts, but are loaded as and function with integer values MC-156155 - Turkish lira sign (L) appears as # in the game MC-194736 - Duplicate text mapping for U+00B7 MC-196999 - U+1FEC is wrong in Minecraft's font MC-213986 - Pistons and dispensers can be used to create ghost blocks using powder snow MC-219018 - Ghost items can be created using /item (server doesn't update client inventory correctly) MC-223350 - Loaded chunks sometimes don't render until the player moves their head slightly MC-225816 - Hanging Roots appear large when an item entity MC-226461 - Logs can be replaced with stone near lava pools MC-226948 - Withers are now affected by potion effects MC-227387 - World gen datapacks will likely crash or softlock the game MC-227435 - Lag when placing heads of non-existent players when on servers MC-227483 - root_system feature config's codec uses a wrong field MC-227520 - Overworld Fossils always generate at bedrock level MC-227557 - End portal texture appears stretched after world conversion MC-227618 - Small dripleaf is consumed without being placed when used on tall seagrass MC-227651 - Group for lapis lazuli ore smelting and blasting recipes is misspelled MC-227821 - Client crash when trying to create/edit realm immediately after deleting previous one MC-227891 - Ender pearls despawn when player logs out of a server MC-228219 - Thrown ender pearls disappear upon entering the exit end portal MC-228343 - java.lang.NullPointerException when random_selector default feature isn't found MC-228430 - Very long loading pause while booting the game ("Failed to add PDH Counter", caused by oshi) MC-228828 - Specifying the --server parameter when starting the game, causes the game to crash MC-229299 - Blue axolotls can spawn naturally