Minecraft 26.2 Pre-Release 6 fixes Hardcore spectator behavior
Mojang released Minecraft 26.2 Pre-Release 6 on June 11. This is a narrow Java Edition test build focused on spectator behavior after death in Hardcore worlds.
The fix prevents respawning as a spectator from disabling the spectators_generate_chunks game rule. That matters for servers and Hardcore saves where observing should not alter chunk generation.
As usual, this pre-release should be tested through the Minecraft Launcher on a backup world. It is not a content release with new mobs or items.