To get this update, you have to opt in inside your library:
Necesse -> Properties -> Betas -> Select 0.21.x in dropdown.
This update changes how you get and manage your settlers completely. They will no longer arrive by themselves (except the elder), and you will have to go recruit them. This was a feature that took quite a lot of changes and is the beginning of making settlements more engaging and useful. They still don't do much besides trading, but that will soon change.
The early game has gotten a bunch of balance changes that will give new players an easier time to get started. The early weapons has gotten a damage boost and some of the harder cave mobs are now more rare and will now only spawn once you have progressed a bit.
Other added features includes critical hits and stats, new hairstyles and skin tones, more trinkets, a bunch of texture updates and tweaks.
See the full changelog below
Changelog
Additions:
Added quick fullscreen toggle using F11.
Added shadow to dropped items.
Added small animation to dropped coin items.
Added a bunch of dedicated server parameters. Use -help to show available commands.
Added the ability to rename saves in the load menu.
Added critical hits, you start by having 0% crit chance, can be increased in various ways.
Added crit chance to some enchantments.
Added crit chance to some armor pieces and set bonuses.
Added 4 new hairstyles.
Added 10 less human-like skin tones.
Added Noble Horseshoe trinket, obtained from island ruin chests.
Added Ice Javelin item, obtained from snow cave chests.
Added Frozen Heart trinket, obtained from snow cave chests.
Added Frozen Soul trinket, crafted in advanced workstation.
Added fish shadow when it's about to be hooked.
Added the ability to rename settlers.
Added the ability to move settlers to different settlements.
Changes/misc:
Reworked settler management completely. You now have to recruit all your settlers.
Optimized game load time by about 200%.
Made summons target mobs that are close to the player no matter light level.
Crates broken in deep caves will now drop a bit better items.
Floating text like damage and item pickups now have a bit fancier animation.
Made elder settler more powerful and attack mobs outside his house.
Increased damage of many weapons, especially in early game.
Some of the harder early game mobs will now only spawn once you have progressed a bit.
Updated a bunch of hairstyles.
Updated all gun textures to match the style of the game better.
Updated a bunch of item textures.
Reduced Banner of Speed bonus.
Reduced speed of bullets slightly.
Made bullet trails a bit more vibrant and visible.
Increased knockback of all guns.
Reduced knockback resistance of mummies.
Rebalanced shotgun, now sold by gunsmith after Void Wizard.
Calming rose can now be found in snow cave chests.
Item rarity colors are now more vibrant and easier to read.
Optimized server initial loading of island biomes and settlements.
Made you able to open crafting guide and pouches from toolbar while having closed inventory.
Talking to settlers now resembles a dialogue much more.
Reduced the number of settlement quests you have to do each tier.
Cave Moles can now be hit even when underground.
Did a bunch of minor balance changes all around the game.
Fixes:
Fixed issue with running mod never being reset.
Fixed some rendering crashes caused by concurrency errors.
Fixed input and item hint characters being offset.
Fixed attack direction being wrong when attacking close to the player.
Fixed some slow projectiles not being smooth in their movement.
Fixed loading sometimes getting stuck on lighting update.
Fixes mob sometimes getting stuck trying to walk into something they can't.
Fixed auto opening and closing doors sometimes swapping their state.
And a bunch of other smaller changes and fixes.