In 1.21.50.24 preview, the field "ambient_occlusion_exponent" was introduced to blocks.json. This field is a replacement for the broken "brightness_gamma" field (see MCPE-167836).

However, this new field does not work properly with light sources. This means the "ambient_occlusion_exponent" values configured for crying obsidian and the respawn anchor in vanilla are not displayed in-game.

As an example, I have created a sample resource pack (attached below) which sets the following "ambient_occlusion_exponent" values:

• dirt: 1.0 (default)
• coarse_dirt: 100.0 (extremely dark)
• dirt_with_roots: 0.0 (no shading at all)
• sea_lantern: 1.0 (default)
• glowstone: 100.0 (extemely dark)
• shroomlight: 0.0 (no shading at all)

While the field is functional on dirt, it does not work on light sources:

Ambient Occlusion Exponent Resource Pack:

Vanilla:

This is definitely unintentional, as Crying Obsidian and Respawn Anchor have "ambient_occlusion_exponent" values of 2.0 configured. These do not apply in-game because of this bug.

Expected Result

Setting an "ambient_occlusion_exponent" value above 0 on any block, including light sources, in blocks.json will darken the block's face dimming and increase the amount of ambient occlusion.

Observed Result

Setting an "ambient_occlusion_exponent" value above 0 on light sources has no effect.