A beach biome.
Beaches are common coastal biomes that serve as transition biomes from the mainland to an ocean. There are three variants of beach biome.
Description[]
Beaches generate on the coast. Beaches do not always surround land biomes, allowing them to border the ocean. Beaches sometimes can also generate bordering rivers or be completely landlocked.
Beaches don't have many resources of their own. Buried treasure often generates buried under most beaches, and shipwrecks occasionally generate on beaches. Turtles may spawn on regular beaches, and along with rabbits in snowy beaches in Bedrock Edition, they are the only passive mobs that can spawn in beach biomes, although other passive mobs can wander into beaches from surrounding biomes. Drowned often spawn in the water surrounding beaches. Ocean ruins generated in the ocean nearby may spread onto beaches, causing some ruins to form on land.
Variants[]
There are a total of three different beach biomes in the biome family.
Beach[]
The standard beach-type biome variant, Beaches are composed of mostly sand, with some gravel, dirt, and clay patches under the water, similarly to rivers. Like the sand in deserts, sandstone generates underneath it. Beach terrain is usually a smooth descent into the water, though it can vary in steepness and width. Turtles can spawn here, as can buried treasure and shipwrecks.
The following mobs are naturally spawned here：
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Skeleton | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Spider | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Zombie | 95⁄515 | 4 |
| Enderman | 10⁄515 | 1–4 |
| Witch | 5⁄515 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄515 | 1 |
| Ambient category | ||
| Bat | 1 | 8 |
| Creature category | ||
| Turtle | 1 | 2–5 |
| Underground water creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 1 | 4–6 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Spider | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Zombie | 95⁄495 | 2–4 |
| Skeleton | 80⁄495 | 1–2 |
| Enderman | 10⁄495 | 1–2 |
| Witch | 5⁄495 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄495 | 2–4 |
| Creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 10⁄18 | 2–4 |
| Turtle | 8⁄18 | 2–6 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
Stony Shore[]
The stony shore variant replaces normal beaches in areas with mountainous terrain at low erosion values. They are made entirely of stone, with long strips of gravel. They are usually a steep drop into the water below. Stony shores may generate at high enough elevations to have snow on their peaks (above Y=120±8), even when bordering warm biomes.[1] Water and lava springs frequently generate on the sides of stony shores. In Bedrock Edition, buried treasure can sometimes generate at high altitudes, and can even generate at Y=90; In Java Edition, it doesn't generate here.[2]
The steep drops into the ocean below makes this variant dangerous, especially if the player is unaware of their surroundings.
The following mobs are naturally spawned here：
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Underground water creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 1 | 4–6 |
| Ambient category | ||
| Bat | 1 | 8 |
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Skeleton | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Spider | 100⁄515 | 4 |
| Zombie | 95⁄515 | 4 |
| Enderman | 10⁄515 | 1–4 |
| Witch | 5⁄515 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄515 | 1 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Spider | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Zombie | 95⁄495 | 2–4 |
| Skeleton | 80⁄495 | 1–2 |
| Enderman | 10⁄495 | 1–2 |
| Witch | 5⁄495 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄495 | 2–4 |
| Creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 1 | 2–4 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
Snowy Beach[]
The snowy beach variant often generates around snowy plains, snowy taiga, or any of their variants. Snowy beaches are the same to regular beaches terrain-wise, being made mostly of sand, though their landscape is covered entirely in snow layers. The water surrounding snowy beaches freezes into ice due to the cold temperatures and these beaches often lead to frozen oceans.
Turtles cannot spawn here, but in Bedrock Edition rabbits can. Shipwrecks and buried treasure may still generate in this variant.
Snowy beaches have the same mob spawning chances as stony shores in Java Edition.
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Creeper | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Spider | 100⁄495 | 1 |
| Zombie | 95⁄495 | 2–4 |
| Skeleton | 80⁄495 | 1–2 |
| Enderman | 10⁄495 | 1–2 |
| Witch | 5⁄495 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄495 | 2–4 |
| Creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 10⁄14 | 2–4 |
| Rabbit | 4⁄14 | 2–3 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Beach | beach | biome.minecraft.beach |
| Stony Shore | stony_shore | biome.minecraft.stony_shore |
| Snowy Beach | snowy_beach | biome.minecraft.snowy_beach |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| [No displayed name] | beach | 16 |
| [No displayed name] | stone_beach | 25 |
| [No displayed name] | cold_beach | 26 |
History[]
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0.14a | Added beaches. They generated in sand and gravel variants and were considered structures as true biomes did not yet exist. | ||||
| They generated as variably sized plains near sea level, often bordering water. Beaches were also significantly more spacious compared to their modern counterparts. | |||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Removed sand and gravel beaches due to changes to the world generation algorithm. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.1 | 12w01a | Re-added beaches as proper biomes. | |||
| 1.2.1 | 12w07a | The generation of beaches has been greatly improved. | |||
| 1.13 | 18w07a | Turtles added, which spawn in beaches. | |||
| 18w19a | Renamed Stone Beach to Stone Shore. | ||||
| Renamed Cold Beach to Snowy Beach | |||||
| pre5 | Changed the ID beaches to beach. | ||||
Changed the ID stone_beach to stone_shore. | |||||
Changed the ID cold_beach to snowy_beach. | |||||
| 1.18 | experimental snapshot 2 | Beaches are now generally wider. | |||
| Beaches no longer generate in some areas to provide more variation. | |||||
| experimental snapshot 3 | Beaches are more likely to appear on flat coastlines rather than hilly areas. | ||||
| Stone shores are less common. | |||||
| experimental snapshot 4 | Strips of andesite, diorite, granite, and gravel sometimes generate in stone shores. | ||||
| 21w37a | The strips of gravel are now wider. | ||||
| Strips of andesite, diorite, and granite no longer generate in stone shores.[3] | |||||
| 21w40a | "Stone Shore" has been renamed to "Stony Shore". | ||||
The ID stone_shore has been changed to stony_shore. | |||||
| 21w42a | Beaches are no longer created when a desert borders an ocean.[4] | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.1.0 | Added sand and gravel beaches. | ||||
| v0.9.0 | build 1 | Removed big beaches and replaced them with smaller ones. | |||
| Gravel beaches have been removed. | |||||
| v0.13.0 | build 1 | Added rabbits, which spawn in snowy beaches. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Added shipwrecks, which generate in beaches and snowy beaches. | |||
| Added buried treasure, which generates in beaches. | |||||
| 1.5.0 | beta 1.5.0.4 | Added turtles, which spawn in beaches. | |||
| 1.17.30 | beta 1.17.30.23 | Beaches are now generally wider, behind experimental gameplay toggle. | |||
| 1.17.40 | beta 1.17.40.21 | Strips of gravel sometimes generate in stone shores. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added beaches.[verify] |
| TU5 | Removed beaches as part of a biome overhaul. | ||||
| TU9 | Re-added beaches. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Beach", "Snowy Beach", or "Stony Shore" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery[]
First image of a stone shore.
A beach island with a small jungle on top.
A beach with a lake (technically, a small ocean biome) in it.
Turtles with turtle eggs on a beach.
The desert-like landscape of a buffet beach world.
A buffet stony shore world. The terrain is made almost entirely of stone and its variants, with only occasional dirt patches.
A buffet snowy beach world, resembling a frozen desert.
A sandy beach with multiple windswept gravelly hills as seen in the view.
Beach in Java Edition Beta 1.7.3, which is much smoother than it's modern counterpart.
Gravel Beach in Java Edition Beta 1.7.3.
Beach in Java Edition 1.18 experimental snapshot 2, which is much wider and smoother.
Beach reaching up the hillside.
A beach that generated completely landlocked.
Beach in the middle of the forest.
A shore with small beaches.
A shore with medium beaches.
A shore with large beaches.
A ring-shaped stone shore biome.
A large bay surrounded by tall stone cliffs.
A cove beneath a large rock outcrop.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ MC-240697 — It snows in the stony shore biomes from Y = 118 and above
- ↑ MC-127290
- ↑ MC-236816 — "Granite, andesite and gravel strips no longer generate in stony peaks, as well as diorite, granite and andesite strips for stone shores" — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ MC-238582 — "Beaches generate between desert and ocean" — resolved as "Fixed".
External Links[]
- Around the Block: Beach – Minecraft.net on January 29, 2022
- Around the Block: Snowy Beach – Minecraft.net on May 12, 2021
- Around the Block: Stony Shore – Minecraft.net on July 7, 2022