Dark Shadows without lighting after 1.19.30.04 BDS server update

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We're tracking this issue in MCPE-39439, so this ticket is being resolved and linked as a duplicate.

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Glad to see I am not the only one having this issue. I updated my Windows sever to 1.19.30.04 and now I get hard shadows and I have to place a torch and it gets rid of the darkness/hard shadows. This was not an issue until I updated the server and it is very annoying. Here is a video of the issue I am having. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR-lLwgZ0uQ

My post was closed. Please comment and vote on the OG post so mods will know this issue is worse in the latest BDS release. Thanks! MCPE-39439

I still think this is a separate issue since it is only occurring for me with the BDS software, but not in single-player mode

After taking a closer look, I agree that this is a new issue, not a duplicate of MCPE-69037 (which should have been closed anyway) so I am reopening this report and passing it to the devs.

We don't have a mod or helper running the Linus BDS, so I can't confirm this issue myself. But looking at your screenshots, it seems clear that the lighting issue only affects blocks above dirt path. This is plausible because dirt path is slightly less than 1 block tall, so it's plausible that the bug is a failure to recalculate lighting for dirt path (and perhaps farmland) when a chunk is loaded the first time after saving the world. I will point this out to the devs.

In the comments, Hippie459MN reported having this issue on a 1.19.30 server. They didn't say it was a Linux BDS server, so I assume it was the Windows BDS server. Anyway, they linked to a YouTube video showing the problem, but later updated in the video to say that 1.19.31 fixed the issue.

Is 1.19.30 the latest Linux BDS server version? It may be you can fix this simply by updating to 1.19.31. Otherwise, a fix may have been put in Windows BDS 1.19.31 that wasn't included in the Linux server.

$ARISA_ADD_VERSION 1.19.30
→ Command was executed successfully, with 1 affected element(s) _{[Bot] Arisa}

Thank you for the response! Please note the dark shadows occur also on dirt blocks and trees, not just dirt paths. I did try the update to 1.19.31, but it did not fix the issue for me.

There's no example of a dirt block in your screenshot, and "tree" isn't a block name. Could you attach an additional screenshot showing what you mean, please?

Apologies for the delay. Here are some screen recordings: https://imgur.com/a/5mUQtN8

Very interesting! It looks like you're being simultaneously affected by 3 different bugs that were fixed in MCPE-39439 and related tickets, but obviously the fix wasn't applied to (or didn't work in) the Linux version of BDS.

Bug #1 (not fixed by torch) is caused by sky light not propagating horizontally under blocks. Placing a torch fixes it temporarily because the torch illuminates the ground nearby, but it doesn't cause the sky light to be recalculated so when you break the torch it goes dark again. Placing a block does cause sky light recalculation.

Bug #2 (fixed by torch) is caused by a failure to calculate lighting for each block in a chunk when the chunk is loaded.

Bug #3 is a little harder to be sure about. I believe it may be a variation on bug #2 that causes the game to fail to recalculate lighting for blocks in a chunk even after the chunk is loaded. That is, it started out as an example of bug #2 but after you put a torch down, lighting the block cell it was in, it didn't recalculate the lighting of the surrounding blocks as it should have.

I will bring this new information to the attention of the developers.

Thank you! It started for me after the 1.19.30.04 update along with MCPE-157192. The recent comments in MCPE-157192 mention BDS servers and realms and started after the same update.

This was also fixed for me in 1.19.40 BDS for Linux. Thank you for your help Auldrick!

Reply from [MCPE Mod] Auldrick:
You're welcome, but allow me to explain something. With millions of players, it's not practical for the bug tracker to track individual customer incidents the way a customer service site does. Instead, we're here to collect and consolidate your reports of bugs and pass them to Mojang. When Mojang fixes a bug, they notify all of us (usually) via the changelog, and that's when we normally mark a bug report as Fixed. So it's not really informative to notify us that it's fixed for you, unless you're the only person who has reported the bug. Instead, what we need is for you to let us know when it's not fixed after we mark the report Fixed. When that happens, we'll reopen the report and tell Mojang they need to keep working on it.

When multiple people have the same bug, it's possible that there are multiple independent causes. In that case, they may not all get fixed at the same time, so some people might find that it was fixed while others still have the problem. When somebody comments that it's fixed for them, the ones who aren't yet fixed might become concerned that Mojang will stop working on it (or has already stopped), even if we haven't marked it Fixed yet. They might even re-report the bug unnecessarily, thinking a new one is needed. For this reason, we would actually prefer that you not tell us when it's fixed for you (again, unless you're the only person reporting it).

Hi

Does this issue still occur after updating to 1.19.81?

This ticket will automatically reopen when you reply.

$ARISA_FIXED 1.19.40
→ Command was executed successfully, with 1 affected element(s) _{[Bot] Arisa}

Reopened and re-closed as Fixed in 1.19.40 per report originator.
There were 3 votes for this issue, but the only input from anybody else was >7 months ago, so I think it's safe to say this was fixed.