The Anti-Copyright Update That Saved Blox Fruits
Update 9 dropped on December 25, 2019 — Christmas Day — and it came with a name that left players confused: the Anti-Copyright Update. Most people logging in that morning expected seasonal content, gift cosmetics, or some festive event. What they got instead was a thorough overhaul of the game's names, visual elements, and intellectual property footprint. In hindsight, it was one of the most important updates in Blox Fruits history for reasons that had nothing to do with flashy new content.
Blox Fruits had been building directly on One Piece's lore since the beginning — island names, fruit names, and mechanics were clearly derived from the manga. That kind of direct reference carries real legal risk for a Roblox game. The devs responded by renaming a large number of islands and Devil Fruits to distance the game from its source material. Without Update 9, Blox Fruits could have been taken down entirely.
What Got Renamed and Why It Mattered
The renaming effort was not cosmetic window-dressing — it was extensive. Multiple Sea islands received new names, and several fruits and mechanics that had obvious One Piece parallels were adjusted. Long-time players who had memorized the map had to relearn geography overnight.
This was disorienting at first, but the upside was permanent: a game on Roblox that handles intellectual property risk carefully can keep operating indefinitely. Blox Fruits is still one of the most-played games on the platform years later, and Update 9 played a meaningful role in securing that longevity. The short-term confusion was a small price for long-term survival.
Level Cap: 1000 to 1100
Update 9 also raised the maximum level from 1000 to 1100. A hundred extra levels sounds incremental, but at the time the push to max level already represented dozens of hours of grinding. The expanded cap gave high-level players a new endgame target and opened territory for future content to slot into above the old ceiling.
For players who had just hit 1000, it was welcome motivation to keep grinding. For those still working their way up, it stretched the finish line a little further. Either way, it signaled that the developers had genuine plans for the game's endgame — a positive sign that early on in Blox Fruits' lifespan, when players were still assessing whether this game was worth a long-term investment.
The Dough Fruit Arrives
Perhaps the most consequential addition in Update 9 was not a rename or a number — it was the Dough fruit. A Mythical Elemental-type Devil Fruit costing 2,800,000 Beli or 2,400 Robux, Dough entered the game in this update and has never left the competitive meta since.
As an Elemental fruit, unawakened Dough already grants passive immunity to non-Haki attacks, making it relatively safe to use in PvP even before awakening. Its core moves — including a ground-slapping shockwave and a rapid slashing projectile with strong hitbox coverage — offered a style of play that felt distinctly different from anything available before Update 9. Once awakening mechanics were added to the game in later updates, Dough's combo-cancel potential turned it into arguably the best PvP fruit in the entire game.
The fact that Dough launched in an update primarily remembered for renaming things is a bit ironic. Most players at the time were focused on the copyright changes; meanwhile, a fruit that would reshape competitive play for years was quietly entering the game. If you play Blox Fruits today and see someone running a Dough combo build, trace that lineage back to December 25, 2019.
True Triple Katana: A New Sword Enters the Game
Update 9 also introduced the True Triple Katana, a Mythical-tier sword purchasable from the Mysterious Man NPC for 2,000,000 Beli. This was a significant weapon addition — at Mythical rarity with a high Beli price, it established a new tier of gear above what the standard sword dealers offered. Players who could afford it gained access to a genuinely powerful swordplay option.
The arrival of the True Triple Katana is directly why Dark Blade received a minor buff in this same update. The Dark Blade is a Robux gamepass sword (1,200 Robux), and the developers did not want a purchasable in-game weapon outperforming it across the board. The slight buff kept Dark Blade ahead in the hierarchy while still making True Triple Katana a competitive option for dedicated players willing to save up the Beli.
Ability Rebalances at a Glance
| Ability | Change in Update 9 |
|---|---|
| Full Body Phoenix | Disabled at 33% energy/health (was 25%) |
| Ice V move | Increased cooldown + reduced hitbox size |
| Dark Blade | Minor buff to stay above True Triple Katana |
| Water Body | Nerfed |
| Heavenly Blood | Nerfed |
| Agility | Nerfed |
| Legendary Sword Dealer | Spawn rate slightly increased |
Full Body Phoenix — the transformation passive on the Phoenix fruit, a Legendary Beast-type costing 1,800,000 Beli — now shuts off at 33% energy or health instead of the previous 25% threshold. In practice this made sustained Phoenix builds harder to maintain, because the window where the transformation remained active got significantly smaller. Players who relied on Full Body Phoenix for extended PvP fights had to adapt their playstyle or pair the fruit with energy management strategies.
Ice's V move had been a dominant force in competitive play for several updates. Increasing its cooldown and reducing the hitbox did not eliminate it as a threat, but it stopped the move from functioning as an automatic win condition in close-range engagements. Ice (an Uncommon Elemental fruit costing 350,000 Beli) remained viable; the nerf just required more careful timing.
Water Body, Heavenly Blood, and Agility all received nerfs as well. These three passives had been tilting fights in favor of specific builds, and trimming them brought more variety into the meta. If you were running an Agility-focused kit or leaning on Heavenly Blood — the healing passive available to the Angel race at V3 — for survivability, Update 9 forced a rethink of your approach.
Bounty and Honor Adjustments
Several bounty and honor buffs were reduced in this update. The exact values were not published in official patch notes, but the practical effect was that climbing the bounty leaderboard became slightly slower. Honor gain from certain activities was trimmed similarly. Neither change was dramatic on its own, but together they modestly lengthened the grind for status-focused players and reduced the rate at which the leaderboards shifted.
Why Update 9 Still Matters
You cannot fully appreciate Blox Fruits without understanding Update 9. The game you play today exists partly because the developers made hard, unpopular decisions in December 2019 — stripping out the most direct One Piece references and rebuilding the game's identity on safer legal ground.
The Dough fruit has been a defining force in competitive play since the day it launched. True Triple Katana established a new tier of swordplay in the endgame. The ability nerfs reshaped the meta in ways that echoed through future updates. And the level cap expansion started the pattern of gradual endgame growth that continued through every major update afterward.
Update 9 is not a flashy patch. There is no dramatic world event or sweeping new island to explore. But almost every system in the modern game traces something back to choices made here on Christmas Day 2019.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was added in Blox Fruits Update 9?
Update 9 added the Dough fruit (Mythical Elemental, 2,800,000 Beli or 2,400 Robux), the True Triple Katana (Mythical sword from the Mysterious Man NPC for 2,000,000 Beli), raised the level cap from 1000 to 1100, and rebalanced several abilities and passive skills.
Why is Update 9 called the Anti-Copyright Update?
The developers renamed a large number of islands and fruits that had direct parallels to One Piece, reducing the game's legal exposure. Without these changes, Blox Fruits risked being removed from Roblox entirely.
Was the Dough fruit added in Update 9?
Yes. Dough is a Mythical Elemental fruit that first became available in Update 9, costing 2,800,000 Beli or 2,400 Robux. It is widely considered one of the best PvP fruits in the entire game.
What happened to Phoenix in Update 9?
Full Body Phoenix was changed so it disables at 33% energy or health instead of the previous 25%, making the transformation harder to maintain in longer fights.
What is the True Triple Katana?
The True Triple Katana is a Mythical-rarity sword introduced in Update 9. It costs 2,000,000 Beli and is purchased from the Mysterious Man NPC. Dark Blade received a buff in the same update to remain stronger than it.
Should new players worry about the renaming from Update 9?
Not at all. If you started playing Blox Fruits after December 2019, you have only ever known the post-Update 9 island and fruit names. The renaming is only confusing when reading old guides or videos that use the original One Piece-adjacent names.