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Ancient City

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This article is about the generated structure. For the upcoming novel, see Minecraft: Journey to the Ancient City.

An ancient city is a palatial structure found in deep dark biomes at layer -51, harboring chests containing some items that cannot be found anywhere else.

Structure[]

Environment aesthetics[]

An ancient city features a very large palace with a footprint of around 220 blocks on each horizontal axis, stretching throughout a deep dark biome. The floor of the city always generates at the Y level of -51. The palace is made up of long corridors with 2-block-deep layers of gray wool on the floor, and some rugs made of blue, light blue and cyan wool or carpet floors to prevent vibrations, as well as some smaller ruins off to the side of the main corridors, which contain either one or two loot chests. The city has statues and the center features a frame resembling a warden's head, where there are reinforced deepslate blocks, which is an unobtainable material in Survival mode. Other unique blocks such as soul lanterns and candles as well as different forms of deepslate and sculk can be found here. Sculk shriekers generate much more frequently in ancient cities than in the normal deep dark biome.

Some structures resemble elements of the game. The city center bears a resemblance to early iterations of the warden's design, and other structures resemble pillager outposts and woodland mansion rooms.

Overall view[]

The following three renders are the same instance of ancient city.

  • The view from the direction of the entrance.

    The view from the direction of the entrance.

  • Another direction.

    Another direction.

  • The vertical view. The entrance is in the lower part of this picture.

    The vertical view. The entrance is in the lower part of this picture.

Redstone circuits[]

Underneath the frame at the city center lies a series of hidden basements with naturally generating redstone circuitry.

The secret entrance is located at the base of the structure, underneath the wooden bridge between the city center and the wall. There's a piston door that is controlled by a sculk sensor in the redstone circuits in the basement.

  • Basement of city_center_1.

    Basement of city_center_1.

  • Basement of city_center_2.

    Basement of city_center_2.

  • Furnace in the basement of city_center_2.

    Furnace in the basement of city_center_2.

  • Basement of city_center_3.

    Basement of city_center_3.

  • Piston door circuit in the basement of city_center_3.

    Piston door circuit in the basement of city_center_3.

For city_center_1, there is a chiseled deepslate block in front of the frame. Making a vibration around it can activate the sculk sensor and then open the piston door. There's also a pulse extender between the sculk sensor and piston door, which makes the piston door close 180 game ticks after the sculk sensor is deactivated.

The circuit in city_center_2 is similar to the former, but with a signal strength filter. Only vibrations with a frequency equal to 8 (mob interactions, projectile hits, eating, entity damage) can activate the piston door. Creating these vibrations on the path in the front of the frame in the city center activates the door.

For city_center_3, making a vibration on the path in front of the frame on the city center can activate the sculk sensor. Additionally, there's a T flip-flop between the sculk sensor and piston door. After the sculk sensor is activated, the piston door remains open until the sculk sensor is activated again.

There are three basic redstone circuits in the basement:

  • Circuit of the target block.

    Circuit of the target block.

  • Circuit of lectern block.

    Circuit of lectern block.

  • Circuit to show that some blocks can transfer a signal with a repeater while some cannot.

    Circuit to show that some blocks can transfer a signal with a repeater while some cannot.

File structure[]

All ancient city structures found below are located in the folder client.jar/data/minecraft/structures/ancient_city‌[JE only], data/structures/ancient_city‌[BE only].

Entrance[]

Center[]

Ruins[]

Walls[]

Blocks[]

Main components
Blocks unique to some structures

Loot[]

See also: Chest loot

The loot in the chests includes several useful items for exploring the ancient city, such as snowballs and the Swift Sneak enchantment, as well as items that can't be found anywhere else, such as echo shards.

In Java Edition, each ancient city chest contains items drawn from 2 pools, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest [D]		 Avg. # chests
to search [E]
5–10× 1× 5–10× 1×
Nothing[F] —1—75⁄8093.8%0.9381.1
Coal 6–15—7⁄86—46.5%6.4102.1
Bone 1–15—5⁄86—35.9%3.4882.8
Soul Torch 1–15—5⁄86—35.9%3.4882.8
Book 3–10—5⁄86—35.9%2.8342.8
Potion of Regeneration 1–3—5⁄86—35.9%0.8722.8
Enchanted Book[G] 1—5⁄86—35.9%0.4362.8
Disc Fragment (5) 1–3—4⁄86—29.8%0.6983.4
Amethyst Shard 1–15—3⁄86—23.2%2.0934.3
Glow Berries 1–15—3⁄86—23.2%2.0934.3
Sculk 4–10—3⁄86—23.2%1.8314.3
Candle 1–4—3⁄86—23.2%0.6544.3
Bottle o' Enchanting 1–3—3⁄86—23.2%0.5234.3
Sculk Sensor 1–3—3⁄86—23.2%0.5234.3
Enchanted Book[H] 1—3⁄86—23.2%0.2624.3
Enchanted Iron Leggings[I] 1—3⁄86—23.2%0.2624.3
Sculk Catalyst 1–2—2⁄86—16.1%0.2626.2
Compass 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (13) 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (cat) 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Lead 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Name Tag 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Saddle 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Damaged Enchanted Diamond Hoe[J][K] 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Diamond Horse Armor 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Diamond Leggings[J] 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Golden Apple 1–2—1⁄86—8.4%0.13111.9
Music Disc (otherside) 1—1⁄86—8.4%0.08711.9
Ward Armor Trim Smithing Template —1—4⁄805.0%0.05020.0
Silence Armor Trim Smithing Template —1—1⁄801.2%0.01380.0

In Java Edition 1.20.2, each ancient city chest contains items drawn from 2 pools, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest [D]		 Avg. # chests
to search [E]
5–10× 1× 5–10× 1×
Nothing[F] —1—71⁄8088.8%0.8871.1
Coal 6–15—7⁄86—46.5%6.4102.1
Bone 1–15—5⁄86—35.9%3.4882.8
Soul Torch 1–15—5⁄86—35.9%3.4882.8
Book 3–10—5⁄86—35.9%2.8342.8
Potion of Regeneration 1–3—5⁄86—35.9%0.8722.8
Enchanted Book[G] 1—5⁄86—35.9%0.4362.8
Disc Fragment (5) 1–3—4⁄86—29.8%0.6983.4
Amethyst Shard 1–15—3⁄86—23.2%2.0934.3
Glow Berries 1–15—3⁄86—23.2%2.0934.3
Sculk 4–10—3⁄86—23.2%1.8314.3
Candle 1–4—3⁄86—23.2%0.6544.3
Bottle o' Enchanting 1–3—3⁄86—23.2%0.5234.3
Sculk Sensor 1–3—3⁄86—23.2%0.5234.3
Enchanted Book[H] 1—3⁄86—23.2%0.2624.3
Enchanted Iron Leggings[I] 1—3⁄86—23.2%0.2624.3
Sculk Catalyst 1–2—2⁄86—16.1%0.2626.2
Compass 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (13) 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (cat) 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Lead 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Name Tag 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Saddle 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Damaged Enchanted Diamond Hoe[J][K] 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Diamond Horse Armor 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Diamond Leggings[J] 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Golden Apple 1–2—1⁄86—8.4%0.13111.9
Music Disc (otherside) 1—1⁄86—8.4%0.08711.9
Enchanted Book[L] —1—4⁄805.0%0.05020.0
Ward Armor Trim Smithing Template —1—4⁄805.0%0.05020.0
Silence Armor Trim Smithing Template —1—1⁄801.2%0.01380.0

In Bedrock Edition, each ancient city chest contains items drawn from 2 pools, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest [D]		 Avg. # chests
to search [E]
5–10× 1× 5–10× 1×
Nothing[F] —1—75⁄8093.8%0.9381.1
Coal 6–15—7⁄86—46.5%6.4102.1
Bone 1–15—5⁄86—35.9%3.4882.8
Soul Torch 1–15—5⁄86—35.9%3.4882.8
Book 3–10—5⁄86—35.9%2.8342.8
Potion of Regeneration 1–3—5⁄86—35.9%0.8722.8
Enchanted Book[G] 1—5⁄86—35.9%0.4362.8
Disc Fragment (5) 1–3—4⁄86—29.8%0.6983.4
Amethyst Shard 1–15—3⁄86—23.2%2.0934.3
Glow Berries 1–15—3⁄86—23.2%2.0934.3
Sculk 4–10—3⁄86—23.2%1.8314.3
Candle 1–4—3⁄86—23.2%0.6544.3
Bottle o' Enchanting 1–3—3⁄86—23.2%0.5234.3
Sculk Sensor 1–3—3⁄86—23.2%0.5234.3
Enchanted Book[H] 1—3⁄86—23.2%0.2624.3
Enchanted Iron Leggings[I] 1—3⁄86—23.2%0.2624.3
Sculk Catalyst 1–2—2⁄86—16.1%0.2626.2
Compass 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (13) 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (cat) 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Lead 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Name Tag 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Saddle 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Damaged Enchanted Diamond Hoe[J][K] 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Diamond Horse Armor 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Diamond Leggings[J] 1—2⁄86—16.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Golden Apple 1–2—1⁄86—8.4%0.13111.9
Music Disc (otherside) 1—1⁄86—8.4%0.08711.9
Ward Armor Trim Smithing Template —1—4⁄805.0%0.05020.0
Silence Armor Trim Smithing Template —1—1⁄801.2%0.01380.0
  1. ↑ a b c The size of stacks (or for unstackable items, number) of this item on any given roll.
  2. ↑ a b c The weight of this item relative to other items in the pool.
  3. ↑ a b c The odds of finding any of this item in a single chest.
  4. ↑ a b c The number of items expected per chest, averaged over a large number of chests.
  5. ↑ a b c The average number of chests the player should expect to search to find any of this item.
  6. ↑ a b c 'Nothing' does not refer to the chance of an empty chest. Instead, it refers to the chance that the random loot generator does not add any loot on a single roll.
  7. ↑ a b c All enchantments are equally probable, including treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, and Swift Sneak), and any level of the enchantment is equally probable.
  8. ↑ a b c Enchanted with a random level of Swift Sneak.
  9. ↑ a b c Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-20 to level-39 enchantment would be on an enchantment table that had no cap at level 30, and that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, and Swift Sneak), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-30 to level-50 enchantment would be on an enchantment table that had no cap at level 30, and that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, and Swift Sneak), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.
  11. ↑ a b c The item has between 80% and 100% of its total durability.
  12. ↑ Enchanted with Mending.

In Java Edition, each ancient city ice box chest contains 4–10 item stacks, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest [D]		 Avg. # chests
to search [E]
Snowball 2–64⁄997.0%12.4441.0
Packed Ice 2–62⁄980.5%6.2221.2
Baked Potato 1–101⁄954.9%4.2781.8
Golden Carrot 1–101⁄954.9%4.2781.8
Suspicious Stew[F] 2–61⁄954.9%3.1111.8

In Bedrock Edition, each ancient city ice box chest contains 4–10 item stacks, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest [D]		 Avg. # chests
to search [E]
Snowball 2–64⁄997.0%12.4441.0
Packed Ice 2–62⁄980.5%6.2221.2
Baked Potato 1–101⁄954.9%4.2781.8
Golden Carrot 1–101⁄954.9%4.2781.8
Suspicious Stew[F] 2–61⁄954.9%3.1111.8
  1. ↑ a b The size of stacks (or for unstackable items, number) of this item on any given roll.
  2. ↑ a b The weight of this item relative to other items in the pool.
  3. ↑ a b The odds of finding any of this item in a single chest.
  4. ↑ a b The number of items expected per chest, averaged over a large number of chests.
  5. ↑ a b The average number of chests the player should expect to search to find any of this item.
  6. ↑ a b The stew grants one of the following effects: 5-7 seconds of Blindness, or 7-10 seconds of Night Vision.


History[]

October 16, 2021Ancient cities are revealed at Minecraft Live 2021.
Java Edition
1.19Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1Added ancient cities.
22w11aAncient cities are not added yet in this non-experimental snapshot.
22w13aRe-added ancient cities and revamped with new structures, improvements to already existing structures and an updated loot table.
22w14aUpdated the loot table once again with echo shards, and replaced the golden carrot in city_center_2 with a golden apple.
Removed the following structures (and variants thereof) as they were duplicates of other structures:
  • small_portal_statue
  • intact_horizontal_wall_stairs_upward
  • top_piece
  • bottom_piece
1.20
(Experimental)		23w04aWard armor trims are now found in ancient city chests.
23w05aIncreased the chance of ward armor trims from 4.7% to 5%.
1.2023w12aSilence armor trims are now found in ancient city chests.
Upcoming Java Edition
Villager Trade Rebalance
(Experimental)		1.20.2 Pre-release 1Mending enchanted books now have a higher chance of generating in ancient city chest loot.
Bedrock Edition
Wild Update
(Experimental)		beta 1.18.30.32Added ancient cities behind the "Wild Update" experimental toggle. Currently, it has outdated structure types and loots.
1.19.0beta 1.19.0.20Ancient cities are now available without enabling experimental gameplay.
beta 1.19.0.26Ancient cities were revamped with new structures, improvements to already existing structures and an updated loot table to match Java Edition.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

  • The ancient cities were inspired by Mayan and Roman ruins. In some concept art, Narrator revealed that the loot in ancient cities was originally going to be stored within jar-shaped pots, screaming vases, and stone chests.[1]
  • The intention of the ancient cities was to capture a feeling of something that feels like it was once bustling with life, but is now vacant and lifeless.[2]

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

  • An ancient city intersecting with a lush cave.

    An ancient city intersecting with a lush cave.

  • An underwater ancient city.

    An underwater ancient city.

  • Ancient city center.

    Ancient city center.

  • Ancient city piston door.

    Ancient city piston door.

  • Ancient city redstone.

    Ancient city redstone.

  • A corner in an ancient city.

    A corner in an ancient city.

  • A path in an ancient city.

    A path in an ancient city.

  • The center of an ancient city.

    The center of an ancient city.

  • Candles in an ancient city.

    Candles in an ancient city.

  • Warden in an ancient city.

    Warden in an ancient city.

Odd generation[]

  • An ancient city generated in an aquifer.

    An ancient city generated in an aquifer.

  • Same city, different angle.

    Same city, different angle.

Development images[]

Concept artwork[]

  • Concept artwork for the ancient city's center.

    Concept artwork for the ancient city's center.

  • Concept artwork for the ancient city.

    Concept artwork for the ancient city.

  • Ancient city "atmosphere" concept artwork.

    Ancient city "atmosphere" concept artwork.

  • Pots, vases, and stone chests concept art for the ancient cities.

    Pots, vases, and stone chests concept art for the ancient cities.

  • Ditto.

    Ditto.

  • Concept artwork showing the "lifelessness" of the ancient city.

    Concept artwork showing the "lifelessness" of the ancient city.

  • Ruin layout concept art.

    Ruin layout concept art.

  • Ancient city gameplay concept art.

    Ancient city gameplay concept art.

  • More ancient city gameplay concept art.

    More ancient city gameplay concept art.

  • Ancient city blocks concept art.

    Ancient city blocks concept art.

  • Ancient city walls concept art.

    Ancient city walls concept art.

  • Stone chest concept art. These would have generated within the ancient cities.

    Stone chest concept art. These would have generated within the ancient cities.

In other media[]

  • Artwork of the Warden in a city.

    Artwork of the Warden in a city.

  • Sunny and Efe exploring an ancient city.

    Sunny and Efe exploring an ancient city.

  • An ancient city as it appears in the Wild Update trailer.[3]

    An ancient city as it appears in the Wild Update trailer.[3]

  • The Ancient City as it appears in the announcement trailer for Minecraft Live 2023.

    The Ancient City as it appears in the announcement trailer for Minecraft Live 2023.

  • Pixel art of the Warden chasing Alex while she carries the Silence armor trim.

    Pixel art of the Warden chasing Alex while she carries the Silence armor trim.

  • An Ancient City as it appears in an advertisement for Minecraft Crocs.[4]

    An Ancient City as it appears in an advertisement for Minecraft Crocs.[4]

See also[]

Notes[]


References[]

  1. ↑ "The Secrets of Minecraft's Deep Dark @ 1:07" – Minecraft on YouTube, June 24, 2022
  2. ↑ "The Secrets of Minecraft's Deep Dark @ 1:21" – Minecraft on YouTube, June 24, 2022
  3. ↑ https://youtu.be/chuRE9nxLT4
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/e1AJo7jU5MI

Environment 

View at: Template:Environment/content [edit]

Generated structures, features and terrain features 

View at: Template:Generated structures/content [edit]
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