Minecraft wiki entry for Combat, associated text: Note: There are 2 different combat system, and even if melee combat is mostly the same about combos, there are still differences. In 1.8, vertical Knockback make so getting the most hits is important (and therefore ensure all of them are sprint-Knockback hits), whereas in 1.9 the attack cooldown and low Knockback make so getting better hits (critical hits/sprint-Knockback hits) is important. Combos are still possible in 1.9, but they are still a bit different than 1.8 combos.