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Biome preview

Minecraft contains different biomes which can be traveled to.

A biome is a region in a world with distinct geographical features, flora, temperatures, humidities, and sky, water, fog, grass and foliage colors. Biomes separate every generated world into different environments, such as forests, deserts and taigas.

The biome of a location is determined during world generation rather than current environment. Even if the player completely changes all the blocks in a large area to imitate the terrain of other biomes, the biomes in this area will not be affected. However, in Java Edition, the /fillbiome command can change the biome in an area.

Biomes can be located using the /locate biome command.

List of biomes[]

Biome types[]

In Java Edition, there are 64 different biome types: 53 for the Overworld, 5 for the Nether, and 5 for the End, plus one used only for a superflat preset. In Bedrock Edition there are 86 biome types: 53 for the Overworld, 5 for the Nether, 1 for the End, and 27 unused.

On this page, for convenience of description and reading, the biomes in Overworld are divided into 8 categories, which are not official. While in each category, biomes may be further divided into some sub-categories. Biomes in a sub-categories are placed in one page, such as plains and sunflower plains, and are described as variants on this wiki.

Overworld[]

Offland biomes[]

These biomes are used for the generation of oceans and mushroom fields. They are large, open biomes made entirely of water going up to y=63, with underwater relief on the sea floor, such as small mountains and plains, usually including gravel. Squid and fish spawn frequently in the water.

These biomes are further divided into three categories: Oceans, Deep Oceans, and Mushroom Fields.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Ocean

The basic Ocean biome. Like its colder variants, its floor is made up of gravel. Sea grass, kelp, cod and salmon‌[Bedrock Edition only] can spawn here.

Ocean

Ocean


Deep Ocean

A variant of the Ocean biome. In Deep Ocean biomes, the ocean can exceed 30 blocks in depth, making it twice as deep as the normal ocean. The ground is mainly covered with gravel. Ocean monuments generate in deep oceans, meaning guardian and elder guardian can spawn here. Underwater ravines often generate here, with the top layer of lava being replaced by magma blocks that create bubble columns.

Deep Ocean

Deep Ocean


Warm Ocean

A variant of the Ocean biome, with light teal water at the surface. Like the Lukewarm Ocean, it has a floor made of sand, and like all oceans, it is populated with seagrass. Unlike other ocean biomes, Warm Oceans allow for the generation of coral reefs and sea pickles. Kelp cannot spawn here. It is the only ocean biome that does not have a deep variant.

Warm Ocean

Warm Ocean


Lukewarm Ocean

A variant of the Ocean biome, with light blue water at the surface. Its floor is made of sand with the occasional dirt or clay, kelp and seagrass spawn here. Unlike the Warm Ocean biome, cod and salmon‌[BE only] can spawn here. Coral cannot spawn here.

Lukewarm Ocean

Lukewarm Ocean


Deep Lukewarm Ocean

Similar to the Lukewarm Ocean biome, but twice as deep. Because they are a Deep Ocean variant, they can generate ocean monuments, resulting in the spawning of guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges.

Deep Lukewarm Ocean

Deep Lukewarm Ocean


Cold Ocean

A variant of the Ocean biome, with dark blue water at the surface. Like the standard Ocean and Frozen Ocean biomes, its floor is made up of gravel, though occasional patches of dirt can be found. Salmon are able to spawn in Cold Ocean biomes.

Cold Ocean

Cold Ocean


Deep Cold Ocean

Similar to the Cold Ocean biome, but twice as deep. Like other Deep Oceans, ocean monuments are able to generate here, which contain guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges.

Deep Cold Ocean

Deep Cold Ocean


Frozen Ocean

A variant of the Ocean biome with dark indigo water at the surface. Like the Cold Ocean, it has a gravel seabed and squids swimming about. However, the water's surface is frequently broken up by patches of ice and large icebergs, consisting of packed ice and, occasionally, blue ice. Strays and polar bears can spawn here, but dolphins do not.

Frozen Ocean

Frozen Ocean


Deep Frozen Ocean

Like the frozen ocean biome, the only fish that spawn here are salmon and cod,‌[BE only] and the floor consists of gravel. The frozen deep ocean biome also contains ocean monuments and a deeper floor than normal oceans, like other deep oceans. Frequent floating icebergs with blue ice generate here. Polar bears, rabbits, and strays can also spawn here, but dolphins do not.

Deep Frozen Ocean

Deep Frozen Ocean


Mushroom Fields

This rare biome consists of a mostly flat island and has mycelium instead of grass as its surface. However, any grass placed appears in a bright green color, even brighter than in the jungle. Mushroom fields are always adjacent to a deep ocean and are isolated from other biomes, and they are typically a few hundred blocks wide. It is one of the few biomes where huge mushrooms can generate naturally, and where mushrooms can grow in full sunlight.

No mobs other than mooshrooms spawn naturally in this biome, including the usual night-time hostile mobs. This also applies to caves, mineshafts, and other dark structures, meaning exploring underground is safe. However, monster spawners still spawn mobs, wandering traders along with their llamas can spawn, raids can still spawn illagers, the player can still breed animals and spawn mobs using spawn eggs, and insomnia still attracts phantoms.

Mushroom Fields

Mushroom Fields

Highland biomes[]

Highland biomes are biomes with high Y-level, rugged terrain, and snow-covered peaks appear above the snow line.

These biomes are further divided into two categories: Mountains and Windswept Hills.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Jagged Peaks

One of the three biomes that generate in the peaks of a mountain. This biome is found in taller and more jagged and pointy peaks that often pass the clouds and can peak at y=256. It is covered by a single layer of snow blocks with stone underneath often exposing ores such as coal, iron and emerald, and just like the snowy slopes, stone cliffs can generate in some sides of the mountain. Only goats spawn in this biome.

Jagged Peaks

Jagged Peaks


Frozen Peaks

The frozen peaks are covered by snow blocks and packed ice with occasional small blobs of ice. This biome usually generates in smoother and less jagged mountains compared to the jagged peaks biome. Only goats can spawn in this biome.

Snow Capped Peaks

Frozen Peaks


Stony Peaks

The stony peaks are a warmer variation of peak biomes that generates in warmer regions to avoid temperature clashes. It is mainly covered by stone with large strips of calcite and exposed ores. No passive mobs spawn in this biome, and there's no snow.

Stony Peaks 1

Stony Peaks


Meadow

The meadow is an elevated grassy biome found in plateaus near mountain ranges. It is filled with patches of flowers and turquoise-green grass and tall grass. All small flowers generate except Blue orchids, tulips, lilies of the valley or wither roses. Rarely, a lone oak or birch tree can generate and always has a bee nest. Both pillager outposts and plains villages can generate in this biome. Sheep, donkeys and rabbits are the only passive mobs that spawn in this biome.

Mountain Meadows

Meadows


Cherry Grove

Cherry groves are grasslands with a lot of grass, tall grass and, besides the traditional dandelions and poppies flowers, there are pink petals. The main environmental feature of the cherry grove are cherry trees identified by their striking pink color. Their leaves drop petal particles. The cherry trees may generate densely enough create a cover of leaves. The cherry grove biome is good for surviving. The sparseness of trees can help the player not to get lost while collecting a great abundance of resources.

Cherry Grove

Cherry Grove


Grove

The grove creates a forest of spruce trees beneath the mountain peaks when near a forested biome. It is quite reminiscent of the snowy taiga but the surface is covered with snow layers, snow blocks, dirt and a lot of powder snow instead of grass blocks. Rabbits, wolves and foxes can spawn in this biome.

Mountain Grove

Grove


Snowy Slopes

The snowy slopes generate on beneath the mountain peaks and are covered multiple layers of snow blocks and powder snow, with some sides also having stone cliffs. Goats spawn in this biome alongside rabbits. This is the only mountain biome where igloos can generate, making it one of the three biomes where igloos naturally generate.

Snowy Slopes 1

Snowy Slopes

Windswept Hills

A highland biome with some steep hilltops. Cliffs, peaks, valleys, waterfalls, overhangs, floating islands, caverns and many other terrain features exist here, offering outstanding views. This is one of the few biomes where llamas can spawn naturally. Snowfall also occurs above certain heights up the mountain, thus creating snow layers on the top of the hills. Falling is a significant risk, as there are many steep ledges large enough to cause severe fall damage or even death. Windswept hills are one of a few biomes where emerald ore and infested stone can be found naturally. In Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education, trees cannot generate here.

Mountains

Windswept Hills

Windswept Gravelly Hills

The windswept gravelly hills are mostly covered in gravel with occasional patches of grass and stone blocks. Due to the low amount of grass, the population of spruce and oak trees in this biome is sparse.

Gravelly Mountains

Windswept Gravelly Hills

Windswept Forest

This biome is found when the windswept hills are located next to forested biomes. It doesn't generate stone patches so the floor is entirely covered by grass, and there are more spruce and oak trees in this biome, forming small forests with a lower tree density than the taiga biome.

Wooded Mountains

Windswept Forest

Woodland biomes[]

Woodland biomes are rich in plants, with trees, flowers and grasses constituting the flora on the surface. It is one of the ideal birthplaces where plenty of wood resources are available, but the dense vegetation makes it dangerous to move around the forest at night because the trees block the view.

These biomes are further divided into 7 categories: Forests, Taiga, Old Growth Taigas, Snowy Taiga, Birch Forests, Dark Forest, and Jungles.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Forest

A common biome with many oak and birch trees and a fair amount of tall grass, mushrooms and flowers. This is one of the most preferred biomes to start out in, due to the abundance of wood. Like in taigas, wolves are found.

Forest

Forest


Flower Forest

This forest variant has fewer trees, but more than makes up for it - it is almost overflowing with nearly every type of flower and tall plant in the game, several of which grow only in this biome. Therefore, this biome is optimal for harvesting and farming dyes. Wolves do not spawn in the flower forest, although rabbits spawn occasionally.

Flower Forest

Flower Forest



Taiga

A biome covered by a forest of spruce trees. Ferns, large ferns and berry bushes grow commonly on the forest floor. One can find packs of wolves here, along with small groups of foxes or rabbits. Villages may generate in this biome; the houses in these villages are built of spruce wood. Pillager outposts may also generate in this biome.

Taiga

Taiga

Old Growth Pine Taiga

The Old Growth Pine Taiga is a biome composed of spruce trees (despite it being called a pine taiga since there is no pine in the game), much like the standard Taiga biome. However, some trees are 2×2 thick and taller than normal, akin to large jungle trees. Mossy cobblestone boulders appear frequently, mushrooms are common, and podzol can be found on the forest floor. There are also patches of coarse dirt that do not grow grass, with some dead bushes. Wolves and foxes may also spawn here, as they do in normal Taiga biomes. Rabbits may also spawn here in Java Edition.

Giant Tree Taiga

Old Growth Pine Taiga

Old Growth Spruce Taiga

At first glance, this biome may look almost exactly the same as its pine tree counterpart. However, the most striking feature of this biome is its giant spruce trees, which are essentially a scaled-up version of regular spruce trees. One can easily differentiate this from an old growth pine taiga by observing how the leaves almost completely cover the tree trunks, whereas in pine ones, leaves tend to cover only the top.

Giant Spruce Taiga

Old Growth Spruce Taiga


Snowy Taiga

Much like the regular Taiga, the Snowy Taiga has large expanses of spruce trees, ferns, and their taller variants, generate here commonly, although grass can still be found. It is one of the few places where wolves and foxes spawn naturally. One may also find an igloo nestled between the trees from a more or less flat terrain, making it one of the three biomes where igloos naturally generate. Villages‌[BE only] and outposts‌[BE only] may also generate here. Villages use the same architecture as taiga villages but the villagers wear snowy biome outfits.

Snowy Taiga

Snowy Taiga



Birch Forest

A forest where the grass is aqua and only birch trees generate. Unlike in the regular Forest, no wolves spawn in this forest.

Birch Forest

Birch Forest


Old Growth Birch Forest

Birch trees grow much taller than usual in this uncommon variant of the Birch Forest biome. Whereas normal birch trees grow up to 7 blocks tall, these trees usually are 11 blocks in height. This makes deforestation a much more difficult task, although it provides the player with far more resources.

Tall Birch Forest

Old Growth Birch Forest


Dark Forest

This biome is mainly composed of dark oak trees, a mostly closed roof of leaves, and occasional large mushrooms. Trees in this forest are so packed together, that it's dark enough for hostile mobs to spawn, even during the day. On rare occasions, a woodland mansion may spawn, making the dark forest the only biome in which woodland mansions can be found.

Dark Forest

Dark Forest


Jungle

A dense forested biome. It features ferns and large jungle trees that can reach up to 31 blocks tall with 2×2 thick trunks. Oak trees are also common though. The landscape is lush green, leaves cover much of the forest floor—these "bush trees" have single-blocks of jungle wood for trunks, surrounded by oak or jungle leaves. Vines are found alongside most blocks and may cover the surface of caves. Ocelots, pyramids, melons, cocoa, pandas and parrots exclusively generate in this biome. Melons generate in patches, similar to pumpkins, but are common.

Jungle

Jungle


Sparse Jungle

In stark contrast to the wild and overgrown vegetation of the jungle biomes, the sparse jungle consists of a few small and isolated jungle trees, with patches of melons here and there. The terrain in which this biome can generate is often flat, with some small rises in elevation. All mobs that spawn in the jungle, including parrots, ocelots, and pandas‌[Bedrock Edition only], also spawn in the sparse jungle.

Jungle Edge

Sparse Jungle


Bamboo Jungle

The terrain in this biome is covered by grass with some patches of podzol. Unlike the normal Jungle, bushes still generate but do not cover the floor. Additionally, large jungle trees can generate only here, along with large or balloon oak trees. The density of trees in this biome is much less compared to jungle edge, but massive amounts of bamboo shoots generate covering this biome. Jungle exclusive mobs such as ocelots and parrots can spawn in here, pandas have a higher spawn rate than in regular jungle. Jungle pyramids can also generate.‌[Java Edition only]

Bamboo Jungle

Bamboo Jungle

Wetland biomes[]

Wetland biomes contains rivers, swamps and beaches. They have a large amount of water resources. Rivers separate other biomes; beaches generate as a transition between the ocean and land.

Biome name Description Screenshot

River

A biome that consists of water blocks that form an elongated, curving shape similar to a real river. Unlike real rivers, however, they have no current. Rivers cut through terrain or separate the main biomes. They attempt to join up with Ocean biomes, but sometimes loop around to the same area of ocean. Rarely, they can have no connection to an ocean, instead of forming a loop. The grass has a dull aqua tone, much like the ocean, and trace amounts of oak trees tend to generate there as well. Rivers are also a reliable source of clay. These biomes are good for fishing, but drowned can spawn at night. In Bedrock Edition, mobs other than salmon, squid and drowned cannot spawn in this biome, even underground, except in a monster spawner.

River

River


Frozen River

A river with a layer of ice covering its surface. It generates when a river goes through snowy biomes. Salmon spawn underwater while rabbits and polar bears spawn on ice. At night, Drowned can spawn below the ice with Strays on the surface. In Bedrock Edition, no other hostile mobs can spawn here, even underground, except in a monster spawner.

Frozen River

Frozen River


Swamp

A biome characterized by a mix of flat areas around sea level and shallow pools of green water with floating lily pads. Clay, sand, and dirt are commonly found at the bottom of these pools. Trees are covered with vines and can be found growing out from the water. Mushrooms and sugar canes are abundant, and blue orchids grow exclusively here. Frogs of the temperate variant can spawn here as well. Swamp Huts with a black cat and a witch generate exclusively in swamps. Slimes also spawn naturally at night, most commonly on full moons. Some zombies may end up underwater, which can transform them into drowned, making this an especially dangerous biome at night. Temperature varies within the biome, causing foliage and grass colors to vary. In Bedrock Edition, huge mushrooms also spawn in this biome. Visibility is also lower than other biomes when the player is underwater.

Swamp

Swamp

Swamp BE

Swamp in Bedrock Edition


Mangrove Swamp

A biome characterized by a dense foliage, featuring plenty of mangrove trees which vary a lot in height. The floor is mainly composed of mud blocks with occasional grass patches. The grass has the same color as the normal swamp but leaves and vines have a unique light green tint and the water is teal rather than gray. Frogs often spawn in this biome and all frogs spawned here are warm frogs. Slimes also spawn naturally at night, most commonly on full moons. Just like in the swamp, some zombies may end up underwater, which can transform them into drowned, making this an especially dangerous biome at night, as well as visibility being lower than other biomes when the player is underwater.

Mangrove Swamp

Mangrove Swamp


Beach

Generated where oceans meet other biomes, beaches are primarily composed of sand. Beaches penetrate the landscape, removing the original blocks and placing in sand blocks. These are also useful for fishing. Passive mobs other than turtles do not spawn on beaches.

Beach

Beach


Snowy Beach

Like a regular beach, one can find plenty of sand in this biome and buried treasure can be found underground in this snowy beach. However, sand is covered in a layer of snow. Snowy beaches are found when a snowy biome borders a frozen ocean biome. No passive mobs other than rabbits ‌[Bedrock Edition only] spawn in this biome.

Snowy Beach

Snowy Beach

Stony Shore

True to its name, this stone-covered biome often appears where mountains meet the ocean. Depending on the height of the nearby land, Stony Shores may generate as medium slopes or huge cliffs, its tops tall enough to be covered by snow even when near warmer biomes.[1] No passive mobs spawn here. Buried treasure can generate here‌[BE only]. Strips of gravel can sometimes be found here.

Stone Shore

Stony Shore

Flatland biomes[]

These biomes have a flat terrain and a wide view. Trees spawn less here, while lakes are more common here.

These biomes are further divided into two categories: Plains and Snowy Plains.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Plains

A flat and grassy biome with rolling hills and few oak trees. Villages are common. Cave openings, lava lakes and waterfalls are easily identifiable due to the flat unobstructed terrain. Farm mobs are easily found in Plains biomes; this biome and its variants are also of the few biomes where horses spawn naturally. Pillager outposts may also be generated.

Plains

Plains


Sunflower Plains

A fairly uncommon variation of the plains, this biome is the only place where sunflowers naturally generate, hence the name. They grow in abundance, making yellow dye a widely available resource.

Sunflower Plains

Sunflower Plains


Snowy Plains

An expansive biome with a huge amount of snow layers. Sugar cane can generate in this biome, but can become uprooted when chunks load as the water sources freeze to ice. There are few spruce trees in this biome. No animal mobs other than rabbits and polar bears are able to spawn, however, it is one of the few biomes where strays appear, a hostile mob similar to skeletons, except they shoot arrows of slowness. In Bedrock Edition, this biome doesn't spawn monsters other than strays and skeletons, but monster spawners can still spawn monsters. Due to the biome's size and scarcity of wood and animals, initial survival becomes difficult in comparison to other biomes. This is one of the three biomes where igloos naturally generate. Villages and pillager outposts may also generate here.

Snowy Plains

Snowy Plains


Ice Spikes

A rare variation of the Snowy Plains biome that features large spikes and glaciers of packed ice. Usually, the spikes are 10 to 20 blocks tall, but some long, thin spikes can reach over 50 blocks in height. The floor in this biome is entirely covered in snow blocks instead of grass, and ice patchs made of packed ice can generate on it. Like the regular snowy plains, no animal mobs other than rabbits and polar bears are able to spawn and strays appear at night.

Ice Spikes

Ice Spikes

Arid-land biomes[]

In these biomes, it neither rains nor snows at all, but the sky still turns overcast during inclement weather. The surface is covered with sparse vegetation.

These biomes are further divided into three categories: Deserts, Savannas, and Badlands.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Desert

A barren and inhospitable biome consisting mostly of sand dunes, dead bushes, and cacti. Sandstone, and sometimes fossils, are found underneath the sand. The only passive mobs that spawn naturally in deserts are gold/creamy rabbits, their coloring well-camouflaged against the sand. At night, husks usually spawn in the place of normal zombies; the lack of visual obstruction makes hostile mobs highly visible. Sugar cane can be found if the desert is next to a river biome. Desert villages, desert wells, and desert pyramids are found exclusively in this biome. Pillager outposts can also generate here.

Desert

Desert


Savanna

A relatively flat and dry biome with a dull-brown grass color and acacia trees scattered around the biome, though oak trees may generate now and then. Tall grass covers the landscape. Villages can generate in this biome, constructed of acacia wood, with some colored terracotta. Pillager outposts can also generate here. Armadillos, horses and llamas[BE only] can naturally spawn here.

Savanna

Savanna


Savanna Plateau

Savanna plateau biomes generate when a savanna biome generates at high altitudes and near mountains. It is mostly indistinguishable from the standard savanna with the main differences being the fact that llamas can spawn and villages and pillager outposts can't generate.

Savanna Plateau

Savanna Plateau

Windswept Savanna

Unlike the mostly flat and calm terrain of the savanna biome, this uncommon variant generates in chaotic terrain covered in gigantic mountains covered in coarse dirt and some patch of stone. The mountains in the windswept savanna biome are extremely steep, jutting out at 90-degree angles, making it almost impossible to climb. Ocean-like lakes also generate here. On top of that, they can reach heights comparable to the mountain peak biomes - they can rise above the clouds. Massive waterfalls and lavafalls are quite common here. The unforgiving terrain means villages and outposts do not generate in this biome. Surprisingly, llamas can naturally spawn here‌[Bedrock Edition only].

Shattered Savanna

Windswept Savanna


Badlands

An uncommon biome where large mounds of terracotta and stained terracotta generate. Red sand also generates here instead of regular sand, with occasional cacti and dead bushes. This biome is usually found alongside desert biomes and it can generate in mountainous terrain. The only passive mobs which spawn in this biome are armadillos. Mineshafts generate at a higher altitude than normal - occasionally a player may come across a mineshaft jutting out of the Badlands. Gold ore also occurs more frequently, because additional blobs can generate within badlands up to y=256. The composition of this biome is useful when other sources of terracotta and gold are scarce.


Badlands

Badlands

Wooded Badlands

The wooded badlands has layers of coarse dirt and forests of oak trees that generate atop the badlands in humid areas. The color of the grass and leaves is a dull green-brown hue, giving it a dried and dead appearance. These trees are a rare source of wood when living in the otherwise barren and lifeless badlands.

Wooded Badlands Plateau

Wooded Badlands


Eroded Badlands

This rare variant generates unique terrain features that are similar to the structures in Utah's Bryce Canyon. Tall and narrow spires of colorful terracotta rise out of the floor of the canyon, which like all other badlands variants, is covered in red sand.

Eroded Badlands

Eroded Badlands

Cave biomes[]

These biomes generates inside caves in the Overworld. They're mostly found underground but can sometimes leak out of cave entrances.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Deep Dark

A dimly lit cave biome that generates deep underground mostly within the deepslate layer. It is largely sculk blocks 1 block thick upon all surfaces, with frequent sculk sensors and occasional sculk shriekers of which the latter can directly summon the warden (or multiple wardens). An ancient city is a large structure which can generate here, including a warden-like city Center generated structure (and valuable chests with unique loot, including a high chance of finding enchanted golden apples, which are widely considered to be the rarest item in the game). As with mushroom fields, no other hostile mobs spawn here. While breaking sculk blocks, which can even be generated via mobs dying near a sculk catalyst, can be a good source of experience, the very high chance of instant death from a nearly unkillable warden (with a ranged attack) means that this is the most dangerous place in the Overworld to attempt this method for leveling-up.

Deep Dark

Deep Dark


Dripstone Caves

These are caves filled with dripstone blocks and pointed dripstone both hanging as stalactites and growing from the ground as stalagmites and small water wells of 1 × 1 in the ground. Large dripstone cluster structures generate occasionally inside these caves. Copper ore blobs found in this biome are much bigger compared to other biomes. Drowned are able to spawn in aquifers.

Dripstone Caves

Dripstone Caves


Lush Caves

Lush caves are often found underground below azalea trees. As the name suggests, these caves are lush and covered by moss, moss carpets, grass and azalea bushes on the floors. On the ceiling, vines and cave vines with glow berries grow down and light up the caves, and spore blossoms grow from the ceiling and spore particles. There are also shallow lakes with clay where dripleaf plants grow out of them and axolotls spawn, making this the only biome where they can spawn. Tropical fish can also spawn inside the aquifers in a lush cave. Azalea trees spawn above ground when there are lush caves underneath.

Lush Caves

Lush Caves

Void biomes[]

Biome name Description Screenshot

The Void[Java Edition only]

Can be accessed only through Buffet world selection or The Void superflat preset. In a Buffet world, the landscape consists of stone, as well as water and bedrock depending on the generator type. In The Void superflat preset, the world is empty except for a single structure: a 33×33 stone platform with a single block of cobblestone in the center. No mobs (passive or hostile) can spawn without spawn eggs, monster spawners, or commands. It doesn't rain in this biome.

The Void

The Void

The Nether[]

The Nether is considered a different dimension. It is a hellish place; all biomes in this dimension are dry and it is not possible to place water in these biomes; ice can still be placed, though it does not turn into water upon melting.

Biome name Description Screenshot

Nether Wastes

The nether wastes is a massive cave that carves through the majority of the dimension. The main terrain consists of netherrack, with glowstone clusters growing and lava leaking from the ceiling and gravel and soul sand lining its shores. It is the most barren Nether biome, but also the easiest to traverse as there is largely no terrain that could possibly block your path. The only real threats would be the monsters, the fire-breathing ghasts, the piglins and their undead versions, the powerful magma cubes, and the rare enderman.

Nether

Nether Wastes


Soul Sand Valley

The soul sand valley is a large grotto that is extensive and cuts through the Nether's usual terrain. Notable features of the biome are exposed nether fossils in various shapes and sizes, large amounts of lava, blue fog, large spires made of basalt, soul fire, and the occasional nether fortress or Bastion remnant. The biome itself consists of soul sand, basalt and soul soil. This biome is extremely dangerous to traverse due to the combination of Ghasts and Skeletons spawning here and soul sand slowing down the player's movement speed, making it easy for a player to get overwhelmed by projectile attacks. In addition, igniting soul sand or soul soil (especially since Ghast fireballs start fires near impact point) can create soul fire, which does more damage/second than regular fire if players get caught in it. It is recommended to avoid this biome unless players have sufficient equipment/strategies to navigate the terrain. The Soul Speed enchantment is especially helpful for traveling through this biome.

Soul Sand Valley

Soul Sand Valley


Crimson Forest

The Crimson Forest is a “red” crimson-themed biome, with warped and crimson fungus as well as huge crimson fungus scattered around the environment.

There are huge fungus structures that contain weeping vines hanging off them and may also have a few blocks of shroomlight. The floor of the biome is covered in crimson nylium, with crimson roots growing. Occasional patches of netherrack and red nether wart blocks are found scattered throughout the biome. In the ceiling, apart from glowstone clusters, there are sparse nether wart block stalactites with vines growing.

Piglins, zombified piglins and hoglins naturally spawn in this biome. As long as players equip at least one piece of gold armor, piglins should not cause any trouble. Hoglins can also be repelled by staying close to warped fungus. However, without these countermeasures, this biome can be fairly hostile to navigate. Nevertheless, the abundance of hoglins in this biome makes it a great source of food in the Nether, and the high population of piglins makes this biome an ideal location to barter with them.

Crimson Forest

Crimson Forest


Warped Forest

The huge fungus structures may have a few blocks of shroomlight scattered around them. The floor of the biome is covered in warped nylium, with warped roots and nether sprouts growing. Occasional patches of raw netherrack and warped wart blocks can be found scattered throughout the biome.

Apart from striders, endermen are the only mobs that spawn in this biome, making the warped forest an ideal location to collect ender pearls to access the End. This biome is also a relatively safe place to reside in the Nether, due to the fact that no hostile mobs spawn here. However, do note that other hostile mobs can still spawn from bastion remnants that generate here, as well as from nether fortresses that have cut into a warped forest after generating in another biome.

Warped Forest

Warped Forest


Basalt Deltas

A gray biome, the basalt deltas are said to be the remnant of ancient volcanic eruptions. The ground consists of basalt and blackstone blocks, with small patches of netherrack and pools of lava. The shape of the terrain is chaotic and uneven, making it somewhat difficult to traverse and build on. Unlike the other biomes in the Nether, bastion remnants do not generate in basalt deltas. When this biome borders a lava ocean, clusters of basalt form near the coast.

Magma cubes have a high spawn rate in this biome, making the basalt deltas the best place to farm magma cream. This biome also contains a much higher abundance of blackstone compared to other Nether biomes.

BasaltDeltas

Basalt Deltas

The End[]

The End is considered a different dimension.

Biome name Description Screenshot

The End

This biome is used to generate the circle of radius 1000 centered at the 0,0 coordinates in the End. The End central island is generated at the center of this circle, and it's surrounded by a complete vacuum all the way to the edge of the biome. Most of the End features are exclusive to that island, including the ender dragon, the obsidian pillars, the end crystals, the 5x5 spawn platform, the exit portal and the 20 central end gateways. Large amounts of endermen spawn in this biome. It does not rain or snow in this biome unlike the other low-temperature biomes. The outer islands in the End can be accessed using end gateways after the ender dragon has been defeated. If the biome is used for a superflat world, the sky appears nearly black and an ender dragon spawns at the 0,0 coordinates in the Overworld. Only endermen spawn at night.

The End

The End


Small End Islands

Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the empty expanse between the larger islands, populated by the smaller, circular islands.

Small End Islands

Small End Islands


End Midlands

Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the gradual slope from the hilltops of each island down to the cliffs around the edge. End cities generate here, but chorus trees do not.

End Midlands

End Midlands


End Highlands

Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the hilltops of each island, and is the only biome in the End where both chorus trees and end cities generate.

End Highlands

End Highlands


End Barrens

Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the outer rims of each island, with steep cliffs below the edge. Neither end cities nor chorus trees generate in this biome.

End Barrens

End Barrens

Unused biomes[]

Information icon
This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition. 
Main article: Unused features
Main article: Biome/Before 1.18

These biomes don't generate in default worlds. They have been completely removed from the game in Java Edition.

Biome name Features Description Screenshot

Legacy Frozen Ocean

Polar Bears, Salmon, Cod, Strays, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Seagrass, kelp, Snowy Rabbits, Ice, shipwrecks

Similar to the Frozen Ocean biome, but without icebergs, it is completely flat. Because they are a Frozen Ocean variant, they can spawn polar bears and strays, but not dolphins. Unlike the regular frozen ocean, polar bears, drowned, squid, salmon, cod, rabbits, skeletons, and strays are the only mobs that spawn here. Kelp also generates here. This biome doesn't generate naturally from Pocket Edition Alpha 0.9.0 onward. When Bedrock Edition 1.4.0 introduced the new frozen ocean, this biome was not removed or replaced by the new frozen ocean, although the id name changed from frozen_ocean to legacy_frozen_ocean.
Legacy Frozen Ocean

Legacy Frozen Ocean


Desert Lakes

Sand, Cacti, Water, Sugar Canes, Gold Rabbits, Desert well, Fossils, Husk

In this biome, patches of water are more common, and the terrain is slightly more rough. Although desert wells can be found, desert pyramids, villages, and outposts do not generate in this biome.
Desert Lakes

Desert Lakes


Mountain Edge

Grass, Dirt, Stone, Llamas, Emerald ore, Infested stone, Spruce trees, Oak trees, Snow

Similar to the sparse jungle biome, the mountain edge used to generate exclusively at the edge of windswept hills biomes in order to smooth the transition between biomes. This biome has lots of trees, similar to windswept forests. While the terrain is lower and gentler in nature, some areas may reach high enough to be covered by snow. This biome doesn't generate naturally from Pocket Edition v0.9.0 alpha and Java Edition 1.7.2 onward.
Mountain Edge

Mountain Edge


Deep Warm Ocean

Dolphins, Pufferfish, Tropical fishes, Warm underwater ruins, Sand, Seagrass, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwrecks

Similar to the Warm Ocean biome, but without coral reefs or sea pickles, and twice as deep. Because they are a deep ocean variant, they can generate ocean monuments, resulting in the spawning of guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges.
Deep Warm Ocean

Deep Warm Ocean


Hills
Hills are generated within certain biomes (including some of their variants) and are referred in the F3 menu with Hills added to their name (except Snowy Mountains).

This includes: Wooded Hills, Taiga Hills, Snowy Taiga Hills, Jungle Hills, Desert Hills, Birch Forest Hills, Tall Birch Hills, Giant Tree Taiga Hills, Giant Spruce Taiga Hills, Snowy Mountains, and Bamboo Jungle Hills.

Most hills are gentle rolling slopes on which the usual biome terrain generates, with some sharper cliffs here and there. Snowy Mountains have a lower chance of spawning passive mobs during world generation than other biomes (7% versus 10%).

Giant Spruce Taiga Hills are a special case. In Java Edition, the game code sets the values setBaseHeight and setHeightVariation to define a "hilly" biome, but uses the same values as for its non-hill variant (giant spruce taiga), meaning there is absolutely no terrain difference between the two biomes. In Bedrock Edition, this biome generates as a hillier version of the giant spruce taiga, but uses the same trees as the giant tree taiga hills (with leaves only at the top), resulting in the differences between these biomes being non-terrain aspects like water color and temperature.

Giant Tree Taiga Hills

Giant Tree Taiga Hills

Desert Hills

Desert Hills

Jungle Hills

Jungle Hills

Snowy Mountains

Snowy Mountains


Badlands Plateau
Badlands plateaus generate as actual biomes within Badlands biomes, and are flattened at the top, much like real-life plateaus. They come to rest at an elevation of about 20 to 30 blocks above sea level. One may discover the entrance to a mineshaft within the tall slopes of a Badlands Plateau.
Badlands Plateau

Badlands Plateau


Modified Plateaus
Two rare variants of the plateau biomes, which are variants themselves. However, neither of these biomes closely resemble their counterparts.

Compared to the average Badlands Plateau, the Modified Badlands Plateau features more variable terrain and smaller plateaus, as if a larger plateau was weathered down over time. It is the second-rarest biome in the game, after the Modified Jungle Edge.

The terrain of the Shattered Savanna Plateau biome is much less tame than its normal counterpart. It features incredibly large and steep mountains that jut out of the terrain, similar to the Shattered Savanna biome, albeit slightly smaller and gentler in comparison. In Bedrock Edition, shattered savanna plateaus are considered a temperate/lush biome, making foliage a vibrant green color and allowing rain to occur in them.[2]

Modified Badlands Plateau

Modified Badlands Plateau

Shattered Savanna Plateau

Shattered Savanna Plateau


Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau

Oak trees, Dead Bushes, Coarse Dirt, Dirt, Terracotta

This biome features grass and oak trees on top of plateaus, much like its counterpart. However, the plateaus that generate here are generally smaller, allowing far less foliage to generate. The terrain is more erratic, and can be compared to that of the similar Modified Badlands Plateau biome, having an old and eroded appearance. Eroded badlands generate instead of desert alongside this biome.
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau

Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau


Mushroom Field Shore

Mushrooms, Huge Mushrooms, Mycelium, Mooshrooms, Buried Treasure, Shipwreck

Mushroom Field Shores represent the transition between mushroom fields and the ocean, forming long strips between the biomes as a "beach", hence the name. However, it does not generate if the ocean biome is a Deep Ocean. This biome also generates when a river meets a Mushroom Fields biome, similar to what Frozen Rivers do in Snowy Plains. The terrain of this biome is much more flat and shallow than the main Mushroom Fields biome, though it contains many of the same features, such as a mycelium surface layer, huge mushrooms, and lack of hostile mobs, but shipwrecks and buried treasure can generate here.
Mushroom Field Shore

Mushroom Field Shore

Removed biomes[]

These biomes no longer exist in current versions of the game.

Biome name Features Description Screenshot

Tundra

Snow, Grass Block, Ice

Snowy, barren terrain with few trees. The occasional trees do exist, although rarely. Ice can be found over water. Snow is common weather in tundras. It generates when the temperature is below 50% and the downfall is less than 20%.
Tundra

Tundra


Rain Forest

Grass Block, Grass, Oak trees, Birch trees

Rainforests are wet biomes with many trees, which have a 1 in 3 chance of being big, instead of 1 in 10 like all other biomes. They generate only oak trees and have a large amount of tall grass and ferns. A biome is classified as a rainforest if the temperature is greater than 97% and the downfall is more than 90%. This could be the biome with some of the most cliffs and hills because the world generator reduces height variation at lower downfalls.
Rainforest

Rainforest


Seasonal Forest

Grass Block, Grass, Oak trees

Seasonal Forests spawn with a temperature of 97% or greater, and a downfall value between 45% and 90%. They are commonly found between forest and rain forests, and near plains biomes. They are identical to forests, except they have fewer trees and can spawn only oak trees. They have a little bit of tall grass.
SeasonalForest

Seasonal Forest


Ice Desert

Sand, Snow, Ices

An unused biome before Beta 1.8 that was in the code but never implemented into the temperature/downfall table and thus did not actually generate. It was a biome of sand with snow on top of it and had snowfall and ice (the player can create something similar using the buffet world option and choosing the snowy beach biome).
Ice desert

Ice Desert Biome


Shrubland

Grass Block, Oak trees, Birch trees

A biome with few trees and no tall grass. It is identical to the savanna biome. It is one of the smallest biomes in the game. It can generate if the temperature is between 50% and 97%, and the downfall value is below 35%. It is too small to generate a forest.
Shrubland

Shrubland

Joke biomes[]

Gear (item)
This article is a work in progress. 
Please help in the expansion or creation of this article by expanding or improving it. The talk page may contain suggestions.

These biomes can only appear in joke snapshots of the game.

Biome name Features Description Screenshot

_generated:id

Between
End Ships Grid of End Ships. Generates in the fleet dimension. There is no elytra as loot. Chests generate, but contain only a book titled "orders"
Between

A between biome generated in a buffet world.


Biome For Player With No Time For Nonsense
Generates as Snowy Taiga, but all ores are mineral blocks or redstone components
Biome For Player With No Time For Nonsense

Biome For Player With No Time For Nonsense, generated in the busy dimension. You can see a redstone block in the mountain.


The Moon
Moon Cow, Lunar Base, Cheese Generates flat terrain with craters. The only mob that spawns here is the moon cow. There is also the Lunar Base, the only feature in the moon.
Moon 1

The moon


Shapes
Terracotta, Glazed Terracotta, Concrete, Concrete Powder, Wool, Carpet, Stained Glass, Stained Glass Pane Generates Spheres, Cubes, Ocathedra, etc. of various colors and materials
Shapes biome

Shapes biome

Tint[]

Plants[]

Biome grass and foliage colors are selected from two 256×256 colormap images: grass.png and foliage.png under assets/minecraft/textures/colormap[JE only] or textures/colormap[BE only]. The grass.png colormap sets the colors for grass block, ferns in flower pots, grass, tall grass, sugar canes, stems of pink petals. Meanwhile, the foliage.png colormap sets the colors for vines and tree leaves of oak, jungle, acacia, dark oak, and mangrove. Only the colors in the lower-left halfs of both images are used, even though the upper-right side of foliage.png is colored.

The adjusted temperature and adjusted downfall values (recognized as AdjTemp and AdjDownfall in the following, respectively) are used when determining the biome color to select from the colormap. They are computed as follows:

AdjTemp = clamp( Temperature, 0.0, 1.0 )

AdjDownfall = clamp( Downfall, 0.0, 1.0 ) * AdjTemp.

"clamp" limits the range of the temperature and downfall to 0.0—1.0. The clamped downfall value is then multiplied by the adjusted temperature value, bringing its value to be inside the lower left triangle. Treating the bottom-right corner of the colormap as AdjTemp = 0.0 and AdjDownfall = 0.0, the adjusted temperature increases to 1.0 along the X-axis, and the adjusted downfall increases to 1.0 along the Y-axis.

Special plant tints[]

In the following cases, the plants are not tinted exactly according to the colormap. In Java Edition, severals of them are specified in biome Jsons in vanilla data pack.

Swamps

In Swamp and Mangrove Swamp, the color for grass blocks, ferns in flower pots, grass, sugar canes, and the stems of pink petals is based on a noise on XZ plane. When the value of this noise is less than -0.1, it uses the color
 #4c763c
. Otherwise using
 #6a7039
. The color for vines and leaves of oaks, jungles, acacias, dark oaks and mangroves is
 #6a7039
in Swamp and
 #8db127
in Mangrove Swamp, which are not affected by the colormap.

Dark Forest

In Dark Forest, the color for grass blocks, ferns in flower pots, grass, sugar canes, and the stems of pink petals is the result of the bitwise AND between the color in the colormap and
 #fefefe
, and then averaging with
 #28340a
. In vanilla, that is
 #507a32
.

Badlands

In Badland, Wooded Badland, and Erosion Badland, the color for grass blocks, ferns in flower pots, grass, sugar canes, and the stems of pink petals is
 #90814d
. The color for vines and leaves of oaks, jungles, acacias, dark oaks and mangroves is
 #9e814d
. Both are not affected by the colormap.

Cherry Grove

The color for plants in the Cherry Grove is always
 #b6db61
, which is not affected by the colormap.

Other leaves

The color for spruce leaves is
 #619961
and the color for birch leaves is
 #80a755
. Both are not affected by the biome.

Environment[]

The color of the sky in Overworld changes according to the basic temperature value of the biome. The basic temperature is first modified as T = clamp( Temperature / 3 , -1.0, 1.0 ). Then the triple is the sky color.

In addition, the colors of water, underwater fog and fog in a biome are defined in the vanilla data pack‌[JE only] or vanilla resource packs‌[BE only].

See the List of biome climates for these colors.

Transition[]

When plants or water are at the borders between or among biomes, the color is affected by the biome of the surrounding blocks at the same Y-level. The range of the block involved in the calculation is determined by the biome blend radius in options. Takes the plant color or water color of the biomes within a square centered on this block and with the side length being the biome blend radius, and calculates their average value to get the final color for this block.

The sky color ‌[JE only] and the fog color use the color processed by Gaussian blur from colors of the biomes at each block in the range of 5×5×5 centered on the block the camera is in.

Climate[]

A biome has three climate attributes: temperature, downfall, and precipitation.

Temperature[]

Each biome has a base temperature value (see the List of biome climates), but the actual temperature value at each location in the biome is also affected by the height of the location. Locations with Y≤80 use the base temperature as actual temperature. At Y=81, the actual temperature value randomly fluctuates up and down by -0.00875 — +0.01125 from the base temperature based on a noise on the XZ plane, and at Y≥81 the actual temperature decreases by 0.00125 (1800) every block up.

In Java Edition, specially, in Frozen Ocean and Deep Frozen Ocean, it is also affected by another noise on XZ plane. In some regions according to the noise, the base temperature value is always regarded as 0.2. The actual temperature values for these regions are also calculated on this basis. This is detectable in Frozen Ocean, as its base temperature is low enough to freeze or snow, so that only these regions do not freeze or snow at sea level.

Downfall[]

The downfall value is a number between 0.0 and 1.0 (see the List of biome climates). When the downfall value is greater than 0.85, the biome is marked as humid, which is related only to the random extinction of fire. This value doesn't affect the weather.

Precipitation[]

The precipitation value can be "true" or "false". If the precipitation of the biome is false, no rain or snow occur. Otherwise, a location is rainable when its temperature value is greater than 0.15, and snowable otherwise.

So, if the base temperature is not greater than 0.15, it's snowable at any Y level. And if greater than 0.15, it can snow above a certain Y level, which are listed below:

Biomes Minimum height for snowfall
Windswept Hills
Windswept Gravelly Hills
Windswept Forest
Stony Shore[1]
Dripstone Caves[BE only][3]
Some regions of Frozen Ocean and Deep Frozen Ocean
120±8
Old Growth Spruce Taiga
Taiga
160±8
Old Growth Pine Taiga
Meadow[BE only]
Cherry Grove[BE only]
200±8
Others Out of world

Snow accumulation[]

In Java Edition, the maximum snow accumulation layer can be set by snowAccumulationHeight game rules. In Bedrock Edition, the maximun snow layer is based on the snow accumulation value of the biome. The value is a array of 2 numbers, representing the minimum and maximum snow heights, with 0.0 being no snow and 1.0 being the full height of one block.

List of biome climates[]

Overworld[]

Biomes Base temperature Downfall Precipitation Snow Accumulation‌[BE only] Grass color Leaf color Sky color Fog color
The Void[JE only] 0.5 0.5 FALSE N/A
 #8eb971

 #71a74d

 #7ba4ff

 #c0d8ff
[JE only]

 #abd2ff
[BE only]
Warm Ocean TRUE 0.0-0.125
Lukewarm Ocean
Deep Lukewarm Ocean
Ocean
Deep Ocean
Cold Ocean
Deep Cold Ocean
River
Deep Frozen Ocean 0.5‌[JE only] 0.5 0.125-0.25
 #8eb971
[JE only]

 #71a74d
[JE only]

 #7ba4ff
[JE only]
0.0‌[BE only]
 #80b497
[BE only]

 #60a17b
[BE only]

 #7fa1ff
[BE only]
Lush Caves 0.5‌[JE only] 0.5‌[JE only] 0.0-0.125
 #8eb971
[JE only]

 #71a74d
[JE only]

 #7ba4ff
[JE only]
0.9‌[BE only] 0.0‌[BE only]
 #b9b75b
[BE only]

 #a6a432
[BE only]

 #77a8ff
[BE only]
Plains 0.8 0.4
 #91bd59

 #77ab2f

 #78a7ff
Beach
Sunflower Plains
Deep Dark
Dripstone Caves 0.8‌[JE only] 0.4‌[JE only]
 #91bd59
[JE only]

 #77ab2f
[JE only]

 #78a7ff
[JE only]
0.2‌[BE only] 0.0‌[BE only]
 #8db58a
[BE only]

 #70a26c
[BE only]

 #7da2ff
[BE only]
Frozen River 0.0 0.5 0.125-0.25
 #80b497

 #60a17b

 #7fa1ff
Frozen Ocean
Snowy Plains 0.25-1.0
Ice Spikes 0.5‌[JE only] 0.5-1.5
1.0‌[BE only]
Grove -0.2 0.8 0.125-0.25
 #81a0ff
Frozen Peaks -0.7 0.9
 #859dff
Jagged Peaks
Snowy Slopes -0.3 0.9 0.125-0.5
 #829fff
Snowy Taiga -0.5 0.4
 #839eff
Snowy Beach 0.05 0.3 0.125-0.25
 #83b593

 #64a278

 #7fa1ff
Meadow 0.5‌[JE only] 0.8 0.0-0.125
 #83bb6d
[JE only]

 #63a948
[JE only]

 #7ba4ff
[JE only]
0.3‌[BE only]
 #86b87f
[BE only]

 #68a55f
[BE only]

 #7ca3ff
[BE only]
Cherry Grove 0.5‌[JE only]
 #b6db61

 #b6db61

 #7ba4ff
[JE only]
0.3‌[BE only]
 #7ca3ff
[BE only]
Desert 2.0 0.0 FALSE
 #bfb755

 #aea42a

 #6eb1ff
Savanna 2.0‌[JE only]
 #6eb1ff
[JE only]
Savanna Plateau
Savanna 1.2‌[BE only]
 #75aaff
[BE only]
Savanna Plateau 1.0‌[BE only]
 #76a8ff
[BE only]
Windswept Savanna 2.0 0.0
 #bfb755

 #aea42a

 #6eb1ff
[JE only]

 #76a9ff
[BE only]
Badlands 2.0 0.0
 #90814d

 #9e814d

 #6eb1ff
Wooded Badlands
Eroded Badlands
Forest 0.7 0.8 TRUE
 #79c05a

 #59ae30

 #79a6ff
Flower Forest
Dark Forest
 #507a32
Birch Forest 0.6 0.6
 #88bb67

 #6ba941

 #7aa5ff
Old Growth Birch Forest
Old Growth Pine Taiga 0.3 0.8
 #86b87f

 #68a55f

 #7ca3ff
Old Growth Spruce Taiga 0.25 0.8
 #86b783

 #68a464

 #7da3ff
Taiga
Windswept Gravelly Hills 0.2 0.3
 #8ab689

 #6da36b

 #7da2ff
Windswept Forest
Windswept Hills 0.0-0.25
Stony Shore
Jungle 0.95 0.9 0.0-0.125
 #59c93c

 #30bb0b

 #77a8ff
Bamboo Jungle
Sparse Jungle 0.8
 #64c73f

 #3eb80f
Mushroom Fields 0.9 1.0
 #55c93f

 #2bbb0f
Stony Peaks 1.0 0.3
 #9abe4b

 #82ac1e

 #76a8ff
Mangrove Swamp 0.8 0.9
 #6a7039


 #4c763c

 #6a7039

 #78a7ff
Swamp 0.9‌[JE only]
 #8db127
0.5‌[BE only]
Biome Water color in Bedrock Edition Water fog color in Bedrock Edition Water color in Java Edition Water fog color in Java Edition
Swamp
 #617b64

 #232317

 #4c6559

 #4c6559
Mangrove Swamp
 #3a7a6a

 #4d7a60

 #3a7a6a

 #4d7a60
Warm Ocean
 #02b0e5

 #0289d5

 #43d5ee

 #041f33
Lukewarm Ocean
 #0d96db

 #0a74c4

 #45adf2

 #041633
Deep Lukewarm Ocean
 #0e72b9
Cold Ocean
 #2080c9

 #14559b

 #3d57d6

 #050533
Deep Cold Ocean
 #185390
Snowy Beach
 #1463a5

 #1463a5
Snowy Taiga
 #205e83

 #205e83
Frozen Ocean
 #2570b5

 #174985

 #3938c9
Deep Frozen Ocean
 #1a4879
Frozen River
 #185390

 #185390
Meadow
 #44aff5

 #44aff5

 #0e4ecf
Cherry Grove
 #5db7ef

 #5db7ef

 #5db7ef
Ocean
 #1787d4

 #1165b0

 #3f76e4
Deep Ocean
 #1463a5
River
 #0084ff

 #0084ff
Beach
 #157cab

 #157cab
Stony Shore
 #0d67bb

 #0d67bb
Snowy Plains
Ice Spikes

 #14559b

 #14559b
Taiga
 #287082

 #287082
Old Growth Pine Taiga
Old Growth Spruce Taiga

 #2d6d77

 #2d6d77
Dark Forest
 #3b6cd1

 #3b6cd1
Flower Forest
 #20a3cc

 #20a3cc
Forest
 #1e97f2

 #1e97f2
Birch Forest
 #0677ce

 #0677ce
Old Growth Birch Forest
 #0a74c4

 #0a74c4
Bamboo Jungle
Jungle

 #14a2c5

 #14a2c5
Sparse Jungle
 #0d8ae3

 #0d8ae3
Savanna
 #2c8b9c

 #2c8b9c
Windswept Savanna
Savanna Plateau

 #2590a8

 #2590a8
Desert
 #32a598

 #32a598
Badlands
 #4e7f81

 #4e7f81
Eroded Badlands
 #497f99

 #497f99
Mushroom Fields
 #8a8997

 #8a8997
Wooded Badlands
 #55809e

 #55809e
Windswept Forest
Windswept Gravelly Hills

 #0e63ab

 #0e63ab
Windswept Hills
 #007bf7

 #007bf7
Dripstone Caves
Deep Dark
Lush Caves
Frozen Peaks
Jagged Peaks
Stony Peaks
Plains
Sunflower Plains
Grove
Snowy Slopes

 #44aff5

 #44aff5
The Void[JE only] N/A N/A

The Nether[]

Biome Base temperature Downfall Precipitation Grass color Leaf color Sky color Water color Water fog color Fog color
Nether Wastes 2.0 0.0 FALSE
 #bfb755

 #aea42a

 #6eb1ff

 #3f76e4
[JE only]

 #905957
[BE only]

 #050533
[JE only]

 #905957
[BE only]

 #330808
Warped Forest
 #1a051a
Crimson Forest
 #330303
Soul Sand Valley
 #1b4745
Basalt Deltas
 #3f76e4

 #050533
[JE only]

 #423e42
[BE only]

 #685f70

The End[]

Biome Base temperature Downfall Precipitation Grass color Leaf color Sky color Water color Water fog color Fog color
The End
End Highlands[JE only]
End Midlands[JE only]
Small End Islands[JE only]
End Barrens[JE only]
0.5 0.5 FALSE
 #8eb971

 #71a74d

 #000000

 #3f76e4
[JE only]

 #62529e
[BE only]

 #050533
[JE only]

 #62529e
[BE only]

 #a080a0
[JE only]

 #0b080c
[BE only]

Generation[]

Overworld[]

Biome and density functions

Biomes and density functions

Overworld biome generation is based on 6 parameters: Temperature, Humidity (aka. Vegetation), Continentalness (aka. Continents), Erosion, Weirdness (aka. Ridges) and Depth, which are calculated with 6 density functions. They respectively correspond to T, V, C, E, W and D in the "NoiseRouter" line of debug screen[Java Edition only]. Except "depth", the other 5 parameters are based on only horizontal coordinates.

Thinking of them as a six-dimensional space, in the space a lot of intervals are defined for biomes, as described in the tables below. If the six parameters at a location fall into an interval, the corresponding biome is generated. If the six parameters at a location do not fall into a defined biome interval in these tables, it uses the closest biome interval to the 6D parameter point, in order to form a transition between biomes.

Temperature[]

The temperature parameter is a noise parameter used only in biome generation and do not affect terrain generation.

The range of temperature is about from -2.31 to +2.31. But biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

Temperature values from -1 to +1 are divided into 5 levels. The corresponding ranges from level 0 to level 4 are: -1~-0.45, -0.45~-0.15, -0.15~0.2, 0.2~0.55, 0.55~1. The level at a horizontal location can be found at the "T" in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Temperature values less than -1 are displayed as level 0; higher than +1 are displayed as ?.

Note that the temperature parameter is not the temperature of a biome, but they roughly correspond each other, e.g. if a location's temperature parameter is level 0, the base temperature of the biome here is usually low enough or the terrain is high enough, that the surface is covered in snow and ice.

Humidity[]

The humidity (also known as vegetation) parameter is a noise parameter used only in biome generation and do not affect terrain generation.

The range of humidity is about from -1.76 to +1.76. But biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

Humidity values from -1 to +1 are also divided into 5 levels. The corresponding ranges from level 0 to level 4 are: -1~-0.35, -0.35~-0.1, -0.1~0.1, 0.1~0.3, 0.3~1. The level at a horizontal location can be found at the "H" in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Values less than -1 are displayed as level 0; higher than +1 are displayed as ?.

Continentalness[]

The continentalness (also known as continents) parameter is used to decide between ocean/beach/land biomes. It affects the terrain height during terrain generation. The larger the continentalness, the higher the average terrain height. And when the continentality is extremely low, the terrain height also becomes higher, in order to generate mushroom fields in the center of the ocean.

The range of continentalness is about from -3.80 to +3.80 . Biome intervals are defined only from -1.2 to +1.0.

If the continentalness of a location is between -1.2~-1.05, the mushroom fields biome is generated; when it is between -1.05~-0.455, deep ocean biomes are generated; when -0.455~-0.19, ocean biomes are generated; when -0.19~1.0, inland biomes are generated. For inland biomes, continentalness values are further subdivided into 4 types: coast (-0.19~-0.11), near-inland (-0.11~0.03), mid-inland (0.03~0.3) and far-inland (0.3~1.0). The level at a horizontal location can be found at the "C" in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Values less than -1.2 are displayed as Mushroom fields; higher than +1.0 are displayed as Far inland.

Erosion[]

The erosion parameters mainly affect inland terrain during terrain generation. The higher the erosion at a location, the lower the terrain height and the flatter the terrain.

The range of erosion is about from -2.52 to +2.52. Biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

Erosion values from -1 to +1 are divided into 7 levels. The corresponding intervals from level 0 to level 6 are: -1~-0.78, -0.78~-0.375, -0.375~-0.2225, -0.2225~0.05, 0.05~0.45, 0.45~0.55, 0.55~1. The level at a horizontal location can be found at the "E" in the "Biome builder" line of the debug screen. Values less than -1 are displayed as level 0; higher than +1 are displayed as ?.

Weirdness[]

The weirdness (also known as ridges) parameter affects whether to generate a weirder biome or not. If the weirdness value is greater than 0, the generated biome becomes weirder. For example, using the variant of the Jungle biome — Bamboo Jungle; not using beach biomes when on the coast.

The range of weirdness is about from -2.97 to +2.97,but biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

The PV ("peaks and valleys", aka. "ridges folded") value is calculated through the formula , which is also shown at the "PV" in the "NoiseRouter" line of the debug screen.

When the weirdness value is between -1.0 and 1.0, the PV values are divided into 5 levels:

  • If the PV is -1.0~-0.85, the PV level is "Valleys";
  • If -0.85~-0.6, "Low Slice";
  • If -0.6~0.2, "Mid Slice";
  • If 0.2~0.7, "High Slice";
  • If 0.7~1, "Peaks".

Not that the PV value is defined no matter what the weirdness is, but these 5 PV levels are defined only when weirdness is between -1.0 and 1.0. The level at a horizontal location can be found at the "PV" in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Though the five PV levels are defined only when weirdness is between -1.0 and 1.0, the PV level is always displayed even when weirdness is out of ±1.0, and PV values less than -1.0 are displayed as Valleys. So, when weirdness is not between -1.0~1.0, the PV level in the "Biome builder" line often doesn't match the biome here.

Both weirdness and PV affect the terrain height during terrain generation, especially the PV value has a more significant impact on the terrain height inland. The higher the PV value, the higher the terrain. Usually, at places with low continentalness or high erosion, when the PV level is "Valleys", the terrain is low enough to generate rivers. At high terrain, negative weirdness values lead to taller and more jagged and point peaks. When the erosion level is approximately 5, positive weirdness values result in weird inland terrain that is shattered and extremely precipitous and craggy. Since the weirdness value controls both whether the biome is a weird variant and whether the valley is generated, a biome and its variants often not appear on the same bank of a river.

Depth[]

Unlike other five parameters, depth is not based on a single noise. Depth corresponds approximately to the terrain height. It is roughly 0 when at surface, and increases by 1128 (0.0078125) for every 1 block down. The depth parameter affects whether a surface biome or a cave biome is placed. The table below lists the depth values for surface biomes and cave biomes.

Depth Biomes
D=0 Surface biomes
D=0.2~0.9 Dripstone Caves(Continentalness=0.8~1; Humidity=-1.0~1.0)
Lush Caves(Continentalness=-1.0~1.0; Humidity=0.7~1)
See also [4]
D=1 Surface biomes
D=1.1 Deep Dark(E=0,1)

Non-inland surface biomes[]

The generation of non-inland biomes has nothing to do with humidity, erosion and weirdness. The following table lists the relation between non-inland surface biomes and continentalness and temperature.

Temperature Oceans Deep oceans Mushroom fields
T=0 Frozen Ocean Deep Frozen Ocean Mushroom Fields
T=1 Cold Ocean Deep Cold Ocean
T=2 Ocean Deep Ocean
T=3 Lukewarm Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean
T=4 Warm Ocean

Inland surface biomes[]

The following table lists the relation between inland surface biomes and continentalness. erosion, and PV.

PV Erosion Coast Near-inland Mid-inland Far-inland
Valleys E=0~1 Frozen River(T=0)
River(T>0)
Frozen River(T=0)
River(T>0)
Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=2~5 Frozen River(T=0)
River(T>0)
E=6 Frozen River(T=0)
Swamp(T=1,2)
Mangrove Swamp(T=3,4)
Low Slice E=0~1 Stony Shore Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
Snowy Slopes(T=0; H=0,1)
Grove(T=0; H=2,3,4)
Middle biomes(0<T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=2 Middle biomes Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=3 Beach biomes
E=4 Middle biomes
E=5 Beach biomes(W<0)
Middle biomes(W>0; T=0,1 OR H=4)
Windswept Savanna(W>0; T=2,3,4; H=0,1,2,3)
Middle biomes(W<0 OR T=0,1 OR H=4)
Windswept Savanna(W>0; T=2,3,4; H=0,1,2,3)
E=6 Beach biomes Middle biomes(T=0)
Swamp(T=1,2)
Mangrove Swamp(T=3,4)
Mid Slice E=0 Stony Shore Snowy Slopes(T<3; H=0,1)
Grove(T<3; H=2,3,4)
Plateau biomes(T=3,4)
E=1 Snowy Slopes(T=0; H=0,1)
Grove(T=0; H=2,3,4)
Middle biomes(0<T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
Snowy Slopes(T=0; H=0,1)
Grove(T=0; H=2,3,4)
Plateau biomes(T>0)
E=2 Middle biomes Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
Plateau biomes
E=3 Middle biomes Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=4 Beach biomes(W<0)
Middle biomes(W>0)
Middle biomes
E=5 Beach biomes(W<0)
Middle biomes(W>0; T=0,1 OR H=4)
Windswept Savanna(W>0; T=2,3,4; H=0,1,2,3)
Middle biomes(W<0 OR T=0,1 OR H=4)
Windswept Savanna(W>0; T=2,3,4; H=0,1,2,3)
Shattered biomes
E=6 Beach biomes(W<0)
Middle biomes(W>0)
Middle biomes(T=0)
Swamp(T=1,2)
Mangrove Swamp(T=3,4)
High Slice E=0 Middle biomes Snowy Slopes(T<3; H=0,1)
Grove(T<3; H=2,3,4)
Plateau biomes(T=3,4)
Jagged Peaks(T=0,1,2; W<0)
Frozen Peaks(T=0,1,2; W>0)
Stony Peaks(T=3)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=1 Snowy Slopes(T=0; H=0,1)
Grove(T=0; H=2,3,4)
Middle biomes(0<T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
Snowy Slopes(T<3; H=0,1)
Grove(T<3; H=2,3,4)
Plateau biomes(T=3,4)
E=2 Middle biomes Plateau biomes Plateau biomes
E=3 Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=4 Middle biomes
E=5 Middle biomes(W<0 OR T=0,1 OR H=4)
Windswept Savanna(W>0; T=2,3,4; H=0,1,2,3)
Shattered biomes
E=6 Middle biomes
Peaks E=0 Jagged Peaks(T=0,1,2; W<0)
Frozen Peaks(T=0,1,2; W>0)
Stony Peaks(T=3)
Badland biomes(T=4)
Jagged Peaks(T=0,1,2; W<0)
Frozen Peaks(T=0,1,2; W>0)
Stony Peaks(T=3)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=1 Snowy Slopes(T=0; H=0,1)
Grove(T=0; H=2,3,4)
Middle biomes(0<T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=2 Middle biomes Plateau biomes Plateau biomes
E=3 Middle biomes(T<4)
Badland biomes(T=4)
E=4 Middle biomes
E=5 Shattered biomes(W<0 OR T=0,1 OR H=4)
Windswept Savanna(W>0; T=2,3,4; H=0,1,2,3)
Shattered biomes
E=6 Middle biomes

In which, the specific biome generation of beach biomes, badland biomes, middle biomes, plateau biomes, and shattered biomes is determined by the temperature, humidity and weirdness values.

Beach biomes generates in the low terrain along the coast, and the specific biome generation is only related to the temperature value.

Temperature Biomes
T=0 Snowy Beach
T=1,2,3 Beach
T=4 Desert

Badland biomes usually generate inland with low erosion value, and can also generate along the coast with high terrain and low erosion. The specific biome generation is related to humidity and weirdness.

Humidity Biomes
H=0,1 Badlands(W<0)
Eroded Badlands(W>0)
H=2 Badlands
H=3,4 Wooded Badlands

Middle biomes are the most extensive biomes inland, and the specific biome generation is related to temperature, humidity, and weirdness.

Humidity T=0 T=1 T=2 T=3 T=4
H=0 Snowy Plains(W<0)
Ice Spikes(W>0)
Plains Flower Forest(W<0)
Sunflower Plains(W>0)
Savanna Desert
H=1 Snowy Plains Plains
H=2 Snowy Plains(W<0)
Snowy Taiga(W>0)
Forest Forest(W<0)
Plains(W>0)
H=3

Snowy Taiga

Taiga Birch Forest(W<0)
Old Growth Birch Forest(W>0)
Jungle(W<0)
Sparse Jungle(W>0)
H=4 Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga(W<0)
Old Growth Pine Taiga(W>0)
Dark Forest Jungle(W<0)
Bamboo Jungle(W>0)

Plateau biomes generate at inland high terrain with moderate erosion. The specific biome generation is related to temperature, humidity, and weirdness.

Humidity T=0 T=1 T=2 T=3 T=4
H=0 Snowy Plains(W<0)
Ice Spikes(W>0)
Meadow(W<0)
Cherry Grove(W>0)
Meadow(W<0)
Cherry Grove(W>0)
Savanna Plateau Badlands(W<0)
Eroded Badlands(W>0)
H=1 Snowy Plains Meadow
H=2 Forest(W<0)
Meadow(W>0)
Meadow(W<0)
Forest(W>0)
Forest Badlands
H=3 Snowy Taiga Taiga(W<0)
Meadow(W>0)
Meadow(W<0)
Birch Forest(W>0)
Wooded Badlands
H=4 Old Growth Spruce Taiga(W<0)
Old Growth Pine Taiga(W>0)
Dark Forest Jungle

Shattered biomes are generated at inland places with high erosion, and the specific biome generation is related to temperature, humidity, and weirdness.

Humidity T=0~1 T=2 T=3 T=4
H=0~1 Windswept Gravelly Hills Windswept Hills Savanna Desert
H=2 Windswept Hills Forest(W<0)
Plains(W>0)
H=3 Windswept Forest Jungle(W<0)
Sparse Jungle(W>0)
H=4 Jungle(W<0)
Bamboo Jungle(W>0)

The Nether[]

The Nether uses three parameters to generate biomes: temperature, humidity, and offset. Unlike the Overworld, the Nether biome specifies biomes with points, while the Overworld uses 6D intervals.

The offset parameter isn't from density function. It is always 0 at any location in a world. This means that the parameter point of a location is always in the temperature-humidity-plane. The closer the offset (of a biome point) is to 0, the closer the point is to the T-H-plane, and the greater the advantage it has during biome generation.

Biomes Temperature Humidity Offset
Basalt Deltas -0.5 0 0.175
Crimson Forest 0.4 0 0
Nether Wastes 0 0 0
Soul Sand Valley 0 -0.5 0
Warped Forest 0 0.5 0.375

The End[]

in Java Edition, the End uses only one density function value: erosion. If the horizontal distance from the chunk origin of a chunk to the world origin is less than 1024, the locations in the chunk is The End. Otherwise, the biome is determined by erosion.

Biome Erosion

End Barrens

-0.21875~-0.0625
End Highlands 0.25~1
End Midlands -0.0625~0.25
Small End Islands -1~-0.21875

in Bedrock Edition, in the End there's only one biome: The End.

Biome IDs[]

Each type of biome has its own biome ID, shown in the following tables.

Java Edition:

Name Resource location Numeric ID
The Void the_void 0
Plains plains 1
Sunflower Plains sunflower_plains 2
Snowy Plains snowy_plains 3
Ice Spikes ice_spikes 4
Desert desert 5
Swamp swamp 6
Mangrove Swamp mangrove_swamp 7
Forest forest 8
Flower Forest flower_forest 9
Birch Forest birch_forest 10
Dark Forest dark_forest 11
Old Growth Birch Forest old_growth_birch_forest 12
Old Growth Pine Taiga old_growth_pine_taiga 13
Old Growth Spruce Taiga old_growth_spruce_taiga 14
Taiga taiga 15
Snowy Taiga snowy_taiga 16
Savanna savanna 17
Savanna Plateau savanna_plateau 18
Windswept Hills windswept_hills 19
Windswept Gravelly Hills windswept_gravelly_hills 20
Windswept Forest windswept_forest 21
Windswept Savanna windswept_savanna 22
Jungle jungle 23
Sparse Jungle sparse_jungle 24
Bamboo Jungle bamboo_jungle 25
Badlands badlands 26
Eroded Badlands eroded_badlands 27
Wooded Badlands wooded_badlands 28
Meadow meadow 29
Cherry Grove cherry_grove 30
Grove grove 31
Snowy Slopes snowy_slopes 32
Frozen Peaks frozen_peaks 33
Jagged Peaks jagged_peaks 34
Stony Peaks stony_peaks 35
River river 36
Frozen River frozen_river 37
Beach beach 38
Snowy Beach snowy_beach 39
Stony Shore stony_shore 40
Warm Ocean warm_ocean 41
Lukewarm Ocean lukewarm_ocean 42
Deep Lukewarm Ocean deep_lukewarm_ocean 43
Ocean ocean 44
Deep Ocean deep_ocean 45
Cold Ocean cold_ocean 46
Deep Cold Ocean deep_cold_ocean 47
Frozen Ocean frozen_ocean 48
Deep Frozen Ocean deep_frozen_ocean 49
Mushroom Fields mushroom_fields 50
Dripstone Caves dripstone_caves 51
Lush Caves lush_caves 52
Deep Dark deep_dark 53
Nether Wastes nether_wastes 54
Warped Forest warped_forest 55
Crimson Forest crimson_forest 56
Soul Sand Valley soul_sand_valley 57
Basalt Deltas basalt_deltas 58
The End the_end 59
End Highlands end_highlands 60
End Midlands end_midlands 61
Small End Islands small_end_islands 62
End Barrens end_barrens 63

Bedrock Edition:

Name Resource location Numeric ID
Ocean ocean 0
Legacy Frozen Ocean legacy_frozen_ocean 10
Deep Ocean deep_ocean 24
Frozen Ocean frozen_ocean 46
Deep Frozen Ocean deep_frozen_ocean 47
Cold Ocean cold_ocean 44
Deep Cold Ocean deep_cold_ocean 45
Lukewarm Ocean lukewarm_ocean 42
Deep Lukewarm Ocean deep_lukewarm_ocean 43
Warm Ocean warm_ocean 40
Deep Warm Ocean deep_warm_ocean 41
River river 7
Frozen River frozen_river 11
Beach beach 16
Stony Shore stone_beach 25
Snowy Beach cold_beach 26
Forest forest 4
Wooded Hills forest_hills 18
Flower Forest flower_forest 132
Birch Forest birch_forest 27
Birch Forest Hills birch_forest_hills 28
Old Growth Birch Forest birch_forest_mutated 155
Tall Birch Hills birch_forest_hills_mutated 156
Dark Forest roofed_forest 29
Dark Forest Hills roofed_forest_mutated 157
Jungle jungle 21
Jungle Hills jungle_hills 22
Modified Jungle jungle_mutated 149
Sparse Jungle jungle_edge 23
Modified Jungle Edge jungle_edge_mutated 151
Bamboo Jungle bamboo_jungle 48
Bamboo Jungle Hills bamboo_jungle_hills 49
Taiga taiga 5
Taiga Hills taiga_hills 19
Taiga Mountains taiga_mutated 133
Snowy Taiga cold_taiga 30
Snowy Taiga Hills cold_taiga_hills 31
Snowy Taiga Mountains cold_taiga_mutated 158
Old Growth Pine Taiga mega_taiga 32
Giant Tree Taiga Hills mega_taiga_hills 33
Old Growth Spruce Taiga redwood_taiga_mutated 160
Giant Spruce Taiga Hills redwood_taiga_hills_mutated 161
Mushroom Fields mushroom_island 14
Mushroom Field Shore mushroom_island_shore 15
Swamp swampland 6
Swamp Hills swampland_mutated 134
Savanna savanna 35
Savanna Plateau savanna_plateau 36
Windswept Savanna savanna_mutated 163
Shattered Savanna Plateau savanna_plateau_mutated 164
Plains plains 1
Sunflower Plains sunflower_plains 129
Desert desert 2
Desert Hills desert_hills 17
Desert Lakes desert_mutated 130
Snowy Plains ice_plains 12
Snowy Mountains ice_mountains 13
Ice Spikes ice_plains_spikes 140
Windswept Hills extreme_hills 3
Windswept Forest extreme_hills_plus_trees 34
Windswept Gravelly Hills extreme_hills_mutated 131
Gravelly Mountains+ extreme_hills_plus_trees_mutated 162
Mountain Edge extreme_hills_edge 20
Badlands mesa 37
Badlands Plateau mesa_plateau 39
Modified Badlands Plateau mesa_plateau_mutated 167
Wooded Badlands mesa_plateau_stone 38
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau mesa_plateau_stone_mutated 166
Eroded Badlands mesa_bryce 165
Meadow meadow 186
Grove grove 185
Snowy Slopes snowy_slopes 184
Jagged Peaks jagged_peaks 182
Frozen Peaks frozen_peaks 183
Stony Peaks stony_peaks 189
Lush Caves lush_caves 187
Dripstone Caves dripstone_caves 188
Deep Dark deep_dark 190
Mangrove Swamp mangrove_swamp 191
Nether Wastes hell 8
Crimson Forest crimson_forest 179
Warped Forest warped_forest 180
Soul Sand Valley soulsand_valley 178
Basalt Deltas basalt_deltas 181
The End the_end 9
Cherry Grove cherry_grove 192


Worldpainter Scripting Biomes tolevels:

Name Namespaced ID Numeric ID
Ocean BIOME_OCEAN 0
Deep Ocean BIOME_DEEP_OCEAN 24
Frozen Ocean BIOME_FROZEN_OCEAN 10
Deep Frozen Ocean BIOME_DEEP_FROZEN_OCEAN 50
Cold Ocean BIOME_COLD_OCEAN 46
Deep Cold Ocean BIOME_DEEP_COLD_OCEAN 49
Lukewarm Ocean BIOME_LUKEWARM_OCEAN 45
Deep Lukewarm Ocean BIOME_DEEP_LUKEWARM_OCEAN 48
Warm Ocean BIOME_WARM_OCEAN 44
Deep Warm Ocean BIOME_DEEP_WARM_OCEAN 47
River BIOME_RIVER 7
Frozen River BIOME_FROZEN_RIVER 11
Beach BIOME_BEACH 16
Stone Shore BIOME_STONE_SHORE 25
Snowy Beach BIOME_SNOWY_BEACH 26
Forest BIOME_FOREST 4
Wooded Hills BIOME_WOODED_HILLS 18
Flower Forest BIOME_FLOWER_FOREST 132
Birch Forest BIOME_BIRCH_FOREST 27
Birch Forest Hills BIOME_BIRCH_FOREST_HILLS 28
Tall Birch Forest BIOME_OLD_GROWTH_BIRCH_FOREST 155
Tall Birch Hills BIOME_BIRCH_FOREST_HILLS 156
Dark Forest BIOME_DARK_FOREST 29
Dark Forest Hills BIOME_DARK_FOREST_HILLS 157
Jungle BIOME_JUNGLE 21
Jungle Hills BIOME_JUNGLE_HILLS 22
Modified Jungle BIOME_MODIFIED_JUNGLE 149
Jungle Edge BIOME_JUNGLE_EDGE 23
Modified Jungle Edge BIOME_MODIFIED_JUNGLE_EDGE 151
Bamboo Jungle BIOME_BAMBOO_JUNGLE 168
Bamboo Jungle Hills BIOME_BAMBOO_JUNGLE_HILLS 169
Taiga BIOME_TAIGA 5
Taiga Hills BIOME_TAIGA_HILLS 19
Taiga Mountains BIOME_TAIGA_MOUNTAINS 133
Snowy Taiga BIOME_SNOWY_TAIGA 30
Snowy Taiga Hills BIOME_SNOWY_TAIGA_HILLS 31
Snowy Taiga Mountains BIOME_SNOWY_TAIGA_MOUNTAINS 158
Giant Tree Taiga BIOME_OLD_GROWTH_PINE_TAIGA 32
Giant Tree Taiga Hills BIOME_GIANT_TREE_TAIGA_HILLS 33
Giant Spruce Taiga BIOME_OLD_GROWTH_SPRUCE_TAIGA 160
Giant Spruce Taiga Hills BIOME_GIANT_SPRUCE_TAIGA_HILLS 161
Mushroom Fields BIOME_MUSHROOM_FIELDS 14
Mushroom Field Shore BIOME_MUSHROOM_FIELD_SHORE 15
Swamp BIOME_SWAMP 6
Swamp Hills BIOME_SWAMP_HILLS 134
Savanna BIOME_SAVANNA 35
Savanna Plateau BIOME_SAVANNA_PLATEAU 36
Shattered Savanna BIOME_SHATTERED_SAVANNA 163
Shattered Savanna Plateau BIOME_SHATTERED_SAVANNA_PLATEAU 164
Plains BIOME_PLAINS 1
Sunflower Plains BIOME_SUNFLOWER_PLAINS 129
Desert BIOME_DESERT 2
Desert Hills BIOME_DESERT_HILLS 17
Desert Lakes BIOME_DESERT_LAKES 130
Snowy Plains BIOME_SNOWY_PLAINS 12
Snowy Mountains BIOME_SNOWY_MOUNTAINS 13
Ice Spikes BIOME_ICE_SPIKES 140
Windswept Hills BIOME_WINDSWEPT_HILLS 3
Wooded Mountains BIOME_WOODED_MOUNTAINS 34
Gravelly Mountains BIOME_WINDSWEPT_GRAVELLY_HILLS 131
Gravelly Mountains+ BIOME_MODIFIED_GRAVELLY_MOUNTAINS 162
Mountain Edge BIOME_MOUNTAIN_EDGE 20
Badlands BIOME_BADLANDS 37
Badlands Plateau BIOME_BADLANDS_PLATEAU 39
Modified Badlands Plateau BIOME_MODIFIED_BADLANDS_PLATEAU 167
Wooded Badlands Plateau BIOME_WOODED_BADLANDS_PLATEAU 38
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau BIOME_MODIFIED_WOODED_BADLANDS_PLATEAU 166
Eroded Badlands BIOME_ERODED_BADLANDS 165
Nether Wastes BIOME_NETHER_WASTES 8
Crimson Forest BIOME_CRIMSON_FOREST 171
Warped Forest BIOME_WARPED_FOREST 172
Soul Sand Valley BIOME_SOUL_SAND_VALLEY 170
Basalt Deltas BIOME_BASALT_DELTAS 173
Dripstone Caves BIOME_DRIPSTONE_CAVES 174
Lush Caves BIOME_LUSH_CAVES 175
The End BIOME_THE_END 9
Small End Islands BIOME_SMALL_END_ISLANDS 40
End Midlands BIOME_END_MIDLANDS 41
End Highlands BIOME_END_HIGHLANDS 42
End Barrens BIOME_END_BARRENS 43
The Void BIOME_THE_VOID 127
Cherry grove BIOME_CHERRY_GROVE 246
Mangrove swamp BIOME_MANGROVE_SWAMP 247
Deep Dark BIOME_DEEP_DARK 248
Frozen Peaks BIOME_FROZEN_PEAKS 249
Grove BIOME_GROVE 250
Jagged Peaks BIOME_JAGGED_PEAKS 251
Meadow BIOME_MEADOW 252
Snowy Slopes BIOME_SNOWY_SLOPES 253
Stony Peaks BIOME_STONY_PEAKS 254


Biome colors[]

Achievements[]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Adventuring TimeDiscover 17 biomes.Visit any 17 biomes. Does not have to be in a single world.40GSilver
Sail the 7 SeasVisit all ocean biomesVisit all ocean biomes except the deep warm ocean/legacy frozen ocean (as they are unused)40GGold
Hot tourist destinationVisit all Nether biomesThe achievement can be completed if one visit biomes in different worlds.30GSilver
Sound of MusicMake the Meadows come alive with the sound of music from a jukebox.Use a music disc on a jukebox in the Meadow biome.10GBronze

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-fancy-rawHot Tourist Destinations
Explore all Nether biomes This Boat Has LegsVisit all of the 5 following biomes: The advancement is only for Nether biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for this advancement.nether/explore_nether
Advancement-fancy-rawAdventuring Time
Discover every biome Sweet DreamsVisit all of these 53 biomes: The advancement is only for Overworld biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for this advancement.adventure/adventuring_time
Advancement-plain-rawSound of Music
Make the Meadows come alive with the sound of music from a Jukebox Sweet DreamsWhile in a meadow biome, place down a jukebox and use a music disc on it.adventure/play_jukebox_in_meadows


History[]

Biome additions and changes[]

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.4Added Winter Mode. Maps now have a snowy or grassy theme randomly determined when creating the world.
v1.2.0previewAdded true biomes; they were rain forest, seasonal forest, forest, shrubland, taiga, tundra, savanna, plains, swampland, desert, and frozen desert.
World saves remained unchanged, other than a change in the hue of the grass. If the player moves into ungenerated chunks, the new biomes would generate.
Java Edition Beta
1.6Added the Sky Dimension with its own biome. It could be viewed only through the use of modifications.
1.8August 18, 2011Notch tweeted a screenshot of a revamped river biome.
September 2, 2011Notch teases a screenshot of the new desert biome.
September 3, 2011Notch teases a screenshot of the new swamp biome.
pre1Biomes got an overhaul, removing some biomes, such as the tundra and the taiga, and others replaced with nine fractal-based biomes that were a mix of the previous biomes and new biomes. See here for more details.
Java Edition
1.0.0September 14, 2011Notch mentions "snow biomes".
September 15, 2011Notch teases a screenshot of snow biomes.
Beta 1.9 PrereleaseRe-added tundra (as ice plains).
Added mushroom islands and frozen ocean.
1.112w01aAdded hills and beaches.
Smoothed color transitions between biomes – swampland grass, foliage and water smoothly transition into other biomes.
1.2.1January 18, 2012Jens Bergensten tweeted a teaser screenshot of a new jungle biome.
January 19, 2012He tweeted another jungle screenshot, showcasing the bright green foliage.
12w03aAdded the jungle biome.
12w07aThe Anvil file format was introduced and it allows for biomes to be stored in the world data. In contrast, the Region file format relies on the seed to dynamically calculate biome placement. This would cause biome placement in older worlds to change when the biome generation code was changed. With the current Anvil format, the biome data is stored along with the rest of the world data, meaning it does not change after the world is generated and can be edited by third-party map-editing tools. Furthermore, "edge" biomes allow for biomes to continue to extend beyond the edge chunks of an old world. This allows for smooth transitions in world generation after the generation code changes in an update.
1.3.1?Some sections of ice plains biomes were replaced with taiga biomes.
1.7.2August 2, 2013Jens tweeted the first image of the mesa biome. He jokingly referred to them as "disco mountains."
August 7, 2013Jens tweeted the first image of a mega taiga, unofficially dubbed the Redwood Forest. The name was changed following 1.7's release.
August 9, 2013Jens tweeted the first image of a stone beach, which was then referred to as a "cliff" biome.
13w36aMesa, mega taiga, roofed forest, birch forest, savanna, extreme hills+, deep ocean and snowless taiga biomes were added as well as variations for many of the biomes. Biomes were also separated by temperature, and snowing was added to extreme hills.
Biomes avoid getting placed next to a biome that is too different from itself, temperature-wise.
The frozen ocean and extreme hills edge biomes no longer generate naturally.
"Adventuring Time" achievement added, but it was broken until 1.8, making the goal of getting all achievements impossible in 1.7.
1.814w17aThe End's biome name is now "The End" instead of "Sky".
Adventuring Time is now available without commands. Before, the 38 biomes had to be visited without visiting any other biomes, which made the achievement unavailable because the End has to be visited for its prerequisite, The End?. The "no other biomes" restriction is now lifted.
Visiting the frozen ocean and extreme hills edge biomes, which no longer generate since 13w36a, is no longer required for Adventuring Time.
1.915w37aAdded new biome "The Void", which is used in Superflat preset "The Void".
16w02aA lot of M type biomes no longer generate due to MC-95612.
16w03aM biomes generate again, with the exception of birch forest M (which messes with a lot of other things), see MC-98995.
1.1116w43aBirch forest M biomes generate once again.
1.1318w06aThe outer islands of the End biome are now divided up into four separate biomes: The End - Floating Islands, The End - Medium island, The End - High island, and The End - Barren island.
Slightly tweaked the placements of all modified biomes.
18w08aAdded ocean variants, including warm ocean, lukewarm ocean, cold ocean, warm deep ocean, deep lukewarm ocean, deep cold ocean, and deep frozen ocean.
Frozen ocean now generates naturally again, for the first time since 13w36a.
18w08bDeep warm ocean biome no longer generates.
18w16aBiome names are now translatable.
Cleaned up several biome names, mainly by adding missing spaces and changing "Biome M" for "Mutated Biome".
18w19aNames of several biomes are changed. The exact name changes are listed here.
pre5Changed several biome IDs, mostly to comply with their names, listed here.
1.1418w43aAdded bamboo jungles.
1.1519w36aBiome information now stores Y-coordinates, allowing biomes to be changed based on height. However, this is not yet implemented.
September 28, 2019Nether biomes were shown at Minecon Live 2019.
1.1620w06aImplemented vertical biomes in the Nether.
Added soul sand valleys, crimson forests, and warped forests.
"Nether" biome has been renamed to "Nether Wastes".
Added the /locatebiome command that shows the coordinates of the nearest biomes.
20w15aAdded the basalt deltas.
20w19aTweaked biome distribution in the Nether.
1.16.220w28aExperimental Support for Custom Biomes was added.
October 3, 2020Cave biomes and new mountains were shown at Minecraft Live 2020.
1.1720w46aBiome-specific sky colors now blend more smoothly.
20w49aAdded the dripstone caves biome. Currently accessible only using the buffet world options.
21w10aAdded the lush caves biome. Currently accessible only using the buffet world options.
October 16, 2021New swamps were shown and overhauls for other biomes were hinted at Minecraft Live 2021.
1.18Experimental Snapshot 1Implemented multi-noise biome generation in the Overworld.
Biomes no longer control the terrain height.
Added the meadow, grove, snowy slopes, lofty peaks, and snowcapped peaks biomes.
Dripstone caves, lush caves, and deep warm ocean biomes can now generate naturally.
Several variant biomes no longer generate naturally. Affected biomes are listed here.
Swamp does not generate properly.
Experimental Snapshot 2Savanna plateau, eroded badlands and ice spikes can now generate naturally once again.
Swamp now generates properly.
Experimental Snapshot 3Added the stony peaks biome.
Experimental Snapshot 5Jungle edge now generates naturally once again.
21w40aNames of several biomes changed. The exact name changes are listed here.
Unused height variation sub-biomes have been removed and merged with their base counterparts. See here for more details.
Non-cave biomes no longer change with height.
Increased biome sizes to better match pre-1.18 sizes.
21w42aBeaches are no longer created when a desert borders an ocean.[5]
21w43aRemoved the deep warm ocean biome.
1.18.222w03aEroded badlands now require positive weirdness instead of negative weirdness.
22w05aTemporarily reverted changes to badlands in the previous snapshot.
1.19Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1Added the deep dark biome.
22w13aEroded badlands now require positive weirdness instead of negative weirdness.
22w14aAdded the mangrove swamp biome.
1.19.423w03aNow, whether it rains or snows are determined only by temperature. The Precipitation value of a biome can be only "true" or "false".[6]
1.20
(Experimental)
23w07aAdded the cherry grove biome.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0Added biomes, these 5 biomes include: snowy tundra, snowy taiga, plains, forest, and desert, from Java Edition Alpha v1.2.0.
v0.1.3Cacti now generates in deserts.
v0.8.0build 1The color of the sky now changes slightly depending on the biome.
v0.9.0build 1All biomes as of Java Edition 1.7.2 have been added. These include: Jungles, mesa, roofed forests, savannas, extreme hills, mushroom islands, flower forest, mega taiga, mega spruce taiga, swampland, deep ocean, and legacy frozen ocean (unused).
Worlds created before this version have had all biomes in them converted into plains.
v0.9.5Added bryce mesa, extreme hills+, and jungle M.
v0.10.0build 1Mesa biomes have gold at every elevation and can generate mineshafts on the surface.
Water in swamps is tinted dark gray.
Huge mushrooms generate in swamps.
v0.11.0build 1Added birch forest M, birch forest hills M, extreme hills M, and extreme hills+ M.
build 8Changed the default biome.
build 10Increased the amount of gravel on extreme hills M biome.
v0.12.1build 1Added the Nether biome.
build 10Leaves coloring shaders are now used only when the color for a biome actually changes.
v0.16.0?The biomes can now be viewed on maps based on the grass color.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0alpha 0.17.0.1Added End biome.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0beta 1.2.0.2Added snow covers to extreme hills.
1.4.0beta 1.2.14.2Added Warm Ocean, Lukewarm Ocean, Cold Ocean, and their deep variant, including new frozen ocean and frozen deep ocean.
Old Frozen Ocean id changed to legacy_frozen_ocean to avoid conflict with new frozen ocean names.
1.9.0beta 1.9.0.0Added Bamboo Jungle and Bamboo Jungle Hills biome.
1.16.0beta 1.16.0.51Added soul sand valleys, crimson forests, and warped forests.
beta 1.16.0.57Added basalt deltas.
1.16.220beta 1.16.220.50Added lofty peaks, snow capped peaks, snowy slopes, mountain grove and mountain meadow.
releaseNew mountain biomes have been made inaccessible in the full release.
1.17.0beta 1.17.0.50Added dripstone caves and lush caves behind experimental gameplay toggle.
1.18.30beta 1.18.30.28Added deep dark behind experimental gameplay toggle.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1Added true biomes; they were rain forest, seasonal forest, forest, shrubland, taiga, tundra, savanna, plains, swampland, desert.
TU5CU1 1.00 Patch 11.0.1Added swampland, ice plains, extreme hills and ocean biomes.
Removed rain forest, seasonal forest, savanna, shrubland and taiga.
TU7Re-added tundra (as ice plains) and added Mushroom Islands.
TU9Re-added beaches and snow in taigas, added hills.
Smoothed color transitions between biomes – swampland grass, foliage and water smoothly transition into other biomes.
TU12Added jungle biome.
TU31CU19 1.22 Patch 3Added mesa, mega taiga, roofed forest, birch forest, forest, savanna, extreme hills+, deep ocean, snowless taiga and 20 technical biomes.
TU69 1.76 Patch 38Added warm, lukewarm, and cold oceans, as well as deep ocean variants for lukewarm, cold, and frozen oceans. Frozen oceans now generate naturally again.
1.91 Added bamboo jungles.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Added biomes including, but not limited to: jungles, savannas, rivers, and the Nether.[more information needed]
1.7.10Added End biome.

April Fools biomes[]

Java Edition
20w14∞Added _generated:id, between, biome for player with no time for nonsense, and shapes biomes
23w13a or bAdded the Moon biome.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Biome" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

  • The term biome is analogous to its scientific usage: in real life, a biome is climatically and geographically defined by distinctive communities of plants, animals and soil organisms supported by similar climatic conditions. They are often referred to as ecosystems.[7][8]
  • Most biomes in the Overworld are based on real world counterparts. Dark forests or swamps parallel real world biomes except for the addition of giant mushrooms, which don't exist in reality. Biomes in the Nether and the End don't exist either.
  • It is possible for biomes to be a single block in size.[9]

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Sunrises and sunsets[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. a b MC-240697 — It snows in the stony shore biomes from Y = 118 and above
  2. MCPE-34936
  3. MCPE-142225 — Dripstone Caves biome temperature is too cold
  4. MC-262252
  5. MC-238582 — "Beaches generate between desert and ocean" — resolved as "Fixed".
  6. To fix MC-230678, MC-233893, MC-238904, MC-247836, MC-254132, and MC-255811.
  7. "Biome" on Wikipedia
  8. "biome" on Dictionary.com
  9. MC-69731 — "Random 1 block biome generating" — resolved as "Won't Fix".

Biomes 

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