You can no longer place blocks with your offhand when your main hand has a block that can't be placed

If I'm understanding this like you mean it, this is working as intended.

Previously, if I held dirt in my right hand and a torch in my left inside a 1x1x2 hole, then I could still place the torch. If I hold a torch and a pickaxe, however, I can place the torch. I didn't see this in the version history... was this previously not intended? 😞

@unknown, source?

@unknown, nevermind, sorry. The comment above describes the problem more detailed with the exception of standing in a 1x1x2 hole. In this case, it should be able to place the torch. I overlooked the fact that the block couldn't be placed.

THIS IS INTENDED. When you are in a narrow space, you place the torch because you can't place any more dirt. Also, when you right click with a pickaxe, it doesn't do anything, so it automatically switches to the torch, which you can right click. To prove this, don't use your left hand. Then, see how, in a 1x1x2 hole, you can't place the dirt. You can also just hold a pickaxe and see how you can't do anything. So, to answer your question, this has always been intended since dual wield came out in 1.9.

Also, if you can't place it in your left hand, that means that it couldn't be placed anyway (i.e. two swords, or two blocks in a 1x1xY space, Y being an unknown number). Unless this is a bug, of course. I can't tell right now because this report is too vague.

Yes, that's true. The feature is intended, it not working isn't. What I understand from this report, is that exactly this mechanic doesn't work anymore.

Yes, and it did work in 1.12.2, hence this is probably not intended.

I don't believe that this is working as intended because it was working this way in 1.12.2 but not in the 1.13 snapshots. You are able to place a torch if one is in your left hand if you have any other item (or no item) in your right hand but if there is a block in your right hand, you cannot place the torch with your left hand. Some people, including myself, have used this as a feature and does not make sense to have taken it away.

Still affects pre10.

There are many odd quirks introduced by this bug, not counting the clear inconsistencies with 1.12.2, that don't really fix anything about gameplay, making me feel the WAI status needs revisiting.

e.g. Bone Meal in offhand and Seeds in main hand:

Can place seeds on farmland but the bone meal is not used if right click is held. Swapping held items makes it work.

The change in item usage mechanics based on the success or failure of the usage of the held item in the main hand adds an uncertainty of what right clicking will do for a certain situation, which, compared to the more predictable old mechanics, I feel counts this as a valid, existing, bug.

The change in item usage mechanics based on the success or failure of the usage of the held item in the main hand adds an uncertainty of what right clicking will do for a certain situation

I don't personally see how that's the case @Virtuoel. The old behavior made enough sense if you knew how it worked, but otherwise which hand would activate could change dynamically based on extreme edge case situations. Easy enough if you knew the specifics, but not good for new players and definitely not "more predictable". Now the only explanation is "if your main hand has a right click mechanic, it will try to use it, and if not, it will try to use the offhand". It straight up wasn't that simple before because the action was context-sensitive. Not as easy to explain.

"if your main hand has a right click mechanic, it will try to use it, and if not, it will try to use the offhand"

The thing is, @Simba, this isn't the case across all items. e.g. Food in mainhand and blocks in offhand while hunger is full. The food has a right click action but fails, but the block in the offhand is still placed. Same happens when with using a hoe on something like stone with a block in the offhand.

If the new mechanic had some consistency I'd be more accepting of it, but the current situation also has several edge cases that are not easy to determine when the offhand is used or not.

How can this work as intended. I built a nether wart & cocoa bean farm based on the 1.12 mechanic by holding each of them on both main and off hands and it's not working anymore.I feel pretty upset. Hours of hardwork "fixed" by Mojang.

I also experienced this issue. I was building on my house and had food in my offhand and a solid block in my mainhand and I wanted to eat, but it did not work, when I tried placing a block inside me to eat. But when I was not looking at any block while holding the solid block I could eat without any issue. I don't understand why this is marked as works as intended.