A river biome.
A river is a common biome. Rivers can serve as borders between various other biomes, and usually lead to oceans, although they can also form loops.
Description[]
Rivers are thin, lengthy biomes that frequently generate across the world. They typically serve as a division between two different biomes, but can also split a single biome in two. They are filled with water up to sea level, though rivers may run dry in certain areas due to higher than usual elevation. Saddle valleys in mountains can generate rivers, but often too high so that there's not any water. Rivers can vary a lot in width and depth, in generally flat areas rivers are usually around 10 blocks deep but in mountainous regions rivers can reach over 30 blocks in depth which is comparable to deep oceans. Sometimes rivers can also generate as lakes with small islands.
Exposed grass in rivers takes on a bluish-green hue and oak trees can rarely generate along with spare grass. Riverbeds consist of dirt, sand, gravel, and clay, and are one of the few places where clay generates, alongside lakes, swamp marshes, ocean hilltops, and lush caves. Sugar cane occasionally generates on the riverbank. Salmon and squid may spawn here.
Variants[]
There are two different river biomes.
River[]
The standard river variant. This is a very common biome in the game. The grass color is turquoise green, similar to the meadow and birch forest biomes. Vegetation is sparse, with occasional oak trees. Seagrass generates atop the riverbed.
Neither passive nor hostile[BE only] mobs (except drowned) spawn within river biomes themselves, but frequently wander into them from the surrounding biomes if they can spawn there. Drowned can spawn underwater, as can salmon and squid.
The following mobs are naturally spawned here：
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄615 | 4 |
| Drowned | 100⁄615 | 1 |
| Skeleton | 100⁄615 | 4 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄615 | 4 |
| Spider | 100⁄615 | 4 |
| Zombie | 95⁄615 | 4 |
| Enderman | 10⁄615 | 1–4 |
| Witch | 5⁄615 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄615 | 1 |
| Water ambient category | ||
| Salmon | 1 | 1–5 |
| Water creature category | ||
| Squid | 1 | 1–4 |
| Ambient category | ||
| Bat | 1 | 8 |
| Underground water creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 1 | 4–6 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Drowned | 1 | 2–4 |
| Creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 10⁄18 | 2–4 |
| Squid | 8⁄18 | 2–4 |
| Water creature category | ||
| Salmon | 1 | 3–5 |
Frozen River[]
Frozen Rivers replace regular rivers in regions with snowy biomes. As the name implies, the top layer of water is entirely frozen. Seagrass does not generate on the riverbed. While sugar cane can generate alongside a frozen riverbank, it often quickly uproots itself after generation due to the water being frozen. Oak trees and grass can still generate here if this biome generates on land.
The following mobs are naturally spawned here：
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄516 | 4 |
| Skeleton | 100⁄516 | 4 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄516 | 4 |
| Spider | 100⁄516 | 4 |
| Zombie | 95⁄516 | 4 |
| Enderman | 10⁄516 | 1–4 |
| Witch | 5⁄516 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄516 | 1 |
| Drowned | 1⁄516 | 1 |
| Water ambient category | ||
| Salmon | 1 | 1–5 |
| Water creature category | ||
| Squid | 1 | 1–4 |
| Ambient category | ||
| Bat | 1 | 8 |
| Underground water creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 1 | 4–6 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄225 | 1 |
| Stray | 96⁄225 | 1–2 |
| Skeleton | 24⁄225 | 1–2 |
| Drowned | 5⁄225 | 2–4 |
| Creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 10⁄23 | 2–4 |
| Squid | 8⁄23 | 2–4 |
| Rabbit | 4⁄23 | 2–3 |
| Polar Bear | 1⁄23 | 1–2 |
| Water creature category | ||
| Salmon | 1 | 3–5 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| River | river | biome.minecraft.river |
| Frozen River | frozen_river | biome.minecraft.frozen_river |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| [No displayed name] | river | 7 |
| [No displayed name] | frozen_river | 11 |
History[]
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 18, 2011 | Notch tweeted a screenshot of a revamped river biome. | ||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Added rivers as a separate biome. Previously, were generated as part of the terrain generation algorithm. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease | Added frozen river. | |||
| 1.13 | 18w08b | Added salmon, which spawn in rivers. | |||
| 18w11a | Added drowned, which spawn in rivers. | ||||
| 18w14a | Seagrass now generates in rivers. | ||||
| 18w16a | The ID of frozen river has been changed from FrozenRiver to Frozen River. | ||||
| 1.13.1 | 18w31a | Squid now spawn only in oceans and rivers, making them slightly more common in rivers, as there are fewer places elsewhere for them to spawn. | |||
| 1.18 | experimental snapshot 4 | River biomes are less likely to form a steep, dry river gorge in mountainous terrain. Instead, they either carve a fjord through it, or they raise the terrain to form a valley. | |||
| Rivers that go through swamps tend to be more shallow. | |||||
| experimental snapshot 5 | Rivers are less likely to be super deep or get choked off in flat areas. | ||||
| Rivers tend to get shallow and merge with swamps instead of carving through them. | |||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.1.0 | Added biomes, including rivers. | ||||
| v0.13.0 | build 1 | Added rabbits, which can spawn in frozen rivers. | |||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | Added strays, which spawn in frozen river biomes. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Added polar bears, which can spawn in frozen rivers. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.13.8 | Added drowned, which spawn in river biomes. | |||
| beta 1.2.14.2 | Added salmon, which spawn in rivers. | ||||
| Rivers now generate with seagrass. | |||||
| 1.13.0 | beta 1.13.0.9 | Squid can now spawn in rivers. | |||
The first image of a river released by Notch.
Issues[]
Issues relating to "River" or "Frozen River" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- Both types of rivers override ravines at or close to the surface level, causing the ravine to be abruptly cut off by a wall of stone. However, if the ravine is long enough, it may continue on the other side of the river.
- Ravines can generate underground in river biomes without being cut off.
Gallery[]
A river near two forests.
A narrow river.
A frozen river in a cold biome.
Rivers splitting and cutting through a taiga.
A river running through a desert.
A river running between a forest and windswept hills, with a sunset in the background.
A river in Java Edition 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1.
A river that failed to generate properly due to a nearby mountain.
A circular river surrounding a small plains biome.
A river running through a swamp.
A big river.
A river buffet world.
A frozen river buffet world.
A river connected to a large lake in a jungle.
A big river flowing past a village.
A big river flowing past a village.
A river in a Cherry Grove.
Traveling by boat through a river.
A river flowing through a dark forest.
See also[]
External Links[]
- Around the Block: River – Minecraft.net on October 22, 2020