Caves & Cliffs

Template:Infobox

“	Go underwater to team up with the axolotl and meet the glow squid. Tread carefully on higher ground because the goats might ram you!	„
	— minecraft.net on Caves & Cliffs: Part I

“	Explore bigger mountains, caves, and biomes along with an increased world height and updated terrain generation in the Caves & Cliffs Update.	„
	— minecraft.net on Caves & Cliffs: Part II

Caves & Cliffs is the name of two major themed updates for Java and Bedrock editions. The first part was released as Java Edition 1.17 and Bedrock Edition 1.17.0 on June 8, 2021,^[1] which focused on blocks and mobs. The second part was released as Java Edition 1.18 and Bedrock Edition 1.18.0^[2] on November 30, 2021,^[3] and brought revamped overworld generation, including new caves and mountains.

Caves & Cliffs was announced in Minecraft Live 2020,^[4] and on April 14, 2021, Mojang Studios announced that the update would be split into two portions due to the amount and complexity of content, as well as team health.^[5] It was later announced in Minecraft Live 2021 that the Deep Dark portion, as well as certain items, of the Caves & Cliffs update would be delayed until The Wild Update to improve quality.

On Java Edition, Part I started development with snapshot 20w45a, which was released on November 4, 2020. The first pre-release for Caves & Cliffs: Part I was released on May 27, 2021, and the first release candidate on June 4, 2021. Part II started development with 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1, which was released on July 13, 2021, followed by the first pre-release on November 11, 2021, and the first release candidate on November 25, 2021.

On Bedrock Edition, Part I started development with beta 1.16.200.52, which was released on October 28, 2020. Most of the Part I features were behind experimental gameplay toggle until the Part I release and were not included in the full 1.16.200, 1.16.210, and 1.16.220 release.^[6][7] In Part II, development continued with beta 1.17.30.23, which was released on August 25, 2021. In 1.17.10, released on July 13, 2021, non-beta users were able to test out most of early Part II features behind experimental gameplay.^[8]

Both Java and Bedrock editions received Caves & Cliffs: Part I on June 8, 2021, and Caves & Cliffs: Part II on November 30, 2021.^[9]

Additionally, features from Caves & Cliffs: Part I, were released for Minecraft Education in 1.17.30 on November 2, 2021. Part II features were released in 1.18.32 on August 9, 2022.

For China Edition, Caves & Cliffs: Part I was released on January 21, 2022, and Part II on August 26, 2022.

Notable features

Blocks

Amethyst Buds and Amethyst Cluster

• Grow on any side of budding amethyst blocks over time.
• Breaking a fully developed amethyst cluster with a non-Silk Touch pickaxe drops 4 amethyst shards.
  • These can be crafted into spyglasses and tinted glass.

Azalea

• Has variants of bushes and trees with either no blossoms or pink blossoms called flowering azalea.
• Can be found in the lush caves biome.
  • Can be obtained from azalea leaves.

Azalea Leaves

• Part of a new tree (azalea tree), marking the location of a lush cave.
• Has variants with either no blossoms or pink blossoms called flowering azalea leaves.
• Drop azaleas when broken, similarly to other leaf blocks dropping saplings.

Big dripleaf

• A plant that can be stood upon briefly.
• If a player or mob stands on top of the plant for two seconds (40 ticks), the plant tilts and the player or mob falls through the plant.
• Can be placed on any solid block and water.
• Can have bone meal applied to grow taller.
• Can be used for new parkour projects and obstacle courses.

Block of amethyst

• Can be crafted with four amethyst shards.
• Naturally generates in amethyst geodes.
• Makes a tinkling sound when placed or walked on.
• Can be mined in amethyst geode by an iron pickaxe or better.

Budding amethyst

• When it receives a random tick, it has a 20% chance to generate or grow an amethyst bud on one of its sides.
• Relatively rare, generates only in amethyst geodes.
• Only obtainable in Creative Mode.

Calcite

• Spawns between smooth basalt and blocks of amethyst, much like real-life geodes.
• Can also generate in stony peaks.

Candles and cakes with candles

• A light source with a light level of 3.
• Up to four can be placed in a single block, similar to sea pickles. If 1 more candle is placed in a block, it increases the light level by 3, making a max light level of 12.
• Can be lit with a flint and steel, fire charge, an arrow fired from a flame-enchanted bow, or a fire charge shot by a dispenser if it hits the candle.
• Have variants for uncolored and all 16 colors.
  • Uncolored candle is crafted with 1 string and 1 honeycomb.
  • Colored candle is crafted using one of the 16 dyes and one uncolored candle.
• Right-clicking a candle on an uneaten cake makes a "birthday cake", which can have a single candle placed on it.
  • Example:
  • If the cake is eaten, the candle pops off.

Cauldron

• Can be filled with lava in Java Edition, which was previously a Bedrock Edition exclusive.
• Can be filled from the snowfall in mountains creating powder snow, which can be collected using buckets.

Cave vines

• Grow on the bottom side of a block.
• Grow in lush caves.
• Can be planted using glow berries.
• Produce edible glow berries, which are a light source.
• Using bone meal on a cave vine produces glow berries (similar to sweet berry bushes) instead of growing the vine itself, unlike other vines.
  • Can be extended downward using glow berries, and has an age mechanic, similar to kelp, such that every time it ages it has a chance to grow glow berries.

Cobbled deepslate

• Takes slightly longer to mine than normal cobblestone.
• Mining deepslate without Silk Touch drops cobbled deepslate, similar to stone dropping cobblestone.
• Can be crafted or cut into several variants (see Cobbled Deepslate#Stonecutting for more information).

Copper Block and variants

• Copper blocks are used for crafting and storage.
  • Made with nine copper ingots.
• The stonecutter can be used to craft the different copper block variants.
  • Only cut copper can be used to make stairs and slabs.
    • Example:
    • Made with four copper blocks.
    • Cannot be turned back into regular copper blocks or copper ingots.
• Develops a patina of pale green copper carbonate over multiple stages, exposed, weathered, and oxidized.
  • Honeycombs can be used to make waxed copper, which does not progress beyond the patina stage it has at the time. The wax can be scraped off with an axe, but it does not drop the honeycomb.
  • Axes can be used to undo the oxidisation stages one at a time.

Copper ore

• New ore that is found underground.
• Drops Raw Copper when broken, like other metal ores.
• Generates in blobs between layers 0 and 96, as well as in ore veins above layer 0.
• Can be smelted into copper ingots, which can be used to craft copper blocks, lightning rods, and spyglasses.

Deepslate

• Can be found below Y = 0.
• Generates as base stone below Y = 0, gradually replacing stone.
• Takes twice as long to mine than normal stone.
• Drops cobbled deepslate when mined without the Silk Touch enchantment.

Deepslate Ores

• Generates when an ore is generated in deepslate. (below Y = 0).
• Functionally similar to their normal ore variants but take 1.5x the time to mine.
• Ores that generate with deepslate variants include iron, gold, lapis lazuli, diamond, and redstone.

Dripstone block

• Spawn in dripstone caves.
• Can be used to grow pointed dripstone.
• Can be crafted from four pointed dripstones.

Glow lichen

• A decorative block.
• Can be waterlogged.
• Looks similar to vines.
• Emits a light level of 7.
• Spreads to a random nearby block in a cross formation when bone meal is applied.
• Generates in caves.

Hanging roots

• Decorative block.
• Part of the new azalea trees.
• When applying bone meal to rooted dirt, the root grows at the bottom of the block.
  • Can also be obtained by using a hoe on rooted dirt.

Lightning rod

• Crafted with 3 copper ingots.
• Redirects lightning strikes within a 128 block‌^{[JE only]}/64 block‌^{[BE only]} radius to the top of the rod, which can prevent flammable structures from catching fire during thunderstorms.
• Emits a redstone signal when struck by lightning, with the exception of when it gets struck by lightning from a channeling trident in a thunderstorm, in which it emits nothing.
• Can be oriented in different directions depending on the players orientation.

Block of Raw Iron, Block of Raw Gold, and Block of Raw Copper

• Crafted from 9 raw iron, raw gold or raw copper.
• The block of raw iron and the block of raw copper generates in Ore veins.

Moss block

• An opaque block that appears grassy on all sides.
  • Using bone meal can cause it to grow grass, tall grass, moss carpets and both types of azalea bushes on it and in its vicinity.
  • Bone meal can also cause it to grow over (expand) and convert stone surfaces, sand, dirt, etc. but not grass surfaces.
• Breaks when pushed by a piston.

Moss carpet

• Same texture as the moss block, but one pixel thick like a carpet.
• Can occupy the same block with grass.

Pointed dripstone

• Come in two forms, stalactites and stalagmites.
  • Stalactites hang from the ceiling and drip water or lava, based on what is above them. The stalactites drip water naturally without a source block above it, but these drips do not fill a cauldron.
    • Placing a cauldron under a stalactite slowly fills the cauldron with water or lava depending on the source block above them (enables renewable lava).
    • If the block on which a stalactite hangs is broken, the stalactite falls, causing damage to players and mobs directly underneath. They do not take any damage if they are airborne.
  • Stalagmites are found on the floor of the cave and deal damage if landed on.
  • The damage inflicted of pointed dripstone is directly proportional to the height from which the stalactite or player/mob falls from.

Powder snow

• Similar to snow, but entities fall through it. The fall is similar to the effect of cobwebs, but faster.
• If the player does not have any leather armor equipped and they walk or fall in, they start to freeze and take damage.
  • Freezing lowers the player's FOV (field of view), turns the health bar blue, and puts a frosty vignette on their screen.
  • Any leather armor prevents freezing.
    • Wearing leather boots allows the player to walk on top of powder snow and make it function like scaffolding.
  • Most mobs can also take freezing damage. Polar bears, strays, and snow golems are immune to freezing.
• Certain mobs have unique properties with powder snow.
  • Skeletons convert into strays after staying inside of powder snow for too long.
  • Goats avoid and jump across powder snow.
  • Foxes, rabbits, endermites, and silverfish can walk on top of powder snow.
  • Shulkers and vexes are unaffected by powder snow.
• "Snowier snow" was announced to be part of the Mountains biome in the biome vote at MINECON Live 2019, a joke teaser for powder snow.^[10]
• Cauldrons slowly fill up with powder snow when they are placed in a snowing biome.

Rooted dirt

• Part of the Azalea plant.
• Resembles a dirt block, but with the roots of the azalea tree intertwined.
• The first roots that exist in Minecraft.
• Leads player to the Lush Caves biome.
• When bonemealed, hanging roots grow on the bottom block.

Small dripleaf

• Appears highly varied in models.
• Can be placed only in water or on clay, which counts as a 'moist' block.
• Bone meal can be applied to turn it into Big Dripleaf.
• Can be sold by the Wandering Trader.

Smooth basalt

• Spawns as an outer covering of amethyst geodes on the outer side of calcite, similar to real-life geodes.
• Very similar in texture to calcite but different in color.
• Can be obtained by smelting basalt in a furnace.

Spore blossom

• Can be placed on ceilings.
• Sends particles downward when opened.
• Creates ambient particle effects, similar to the nether biomes, but non-biome dependent, however, its natural generation is dependent of the Lush Caves.

Tinted glass

• A type of glass that does not allow light to pass through.
• Crafted with a glass block in the middle and 4 amethyst shards in a cross shape.
• Drops itself when broken, even without Silk Touch, unlike glass.

Tuff

• Decorative block.
• Generates below y = 0 in the form of patches.

Items

Amethyst shard

• Drops from amethyst clusters.
• Used to make spyglasses and tinted glass.

Bucket of axolotl

• Obtained by using a water bucket on an axolotl, similar to fish.

Copper ingot

• Sometimes dropped by drowned.
• Created by smelting raw copper.
• Can be used to craft copper blocks, lightning rods, and spyglasses.

Glow berries

• Grow from cave vines.
• Can be eaten.
• Used as a light source.
• Loved by foxes as much as sweet berries.
  • Foxes can pick and eat glow berries from the vine similar to sweet berry bushes.

Glow ink sac

• Drops from glow squid.
• Used to make glow item frames and glowing signs.

Powder snow bucket

• Using a bucket on powder snow creates a powder snow bucket.
• Powder snow buckets can be used to place powder snow.
• Powder snow buckets can also be filled from cauldrons filled with powder snow.

Raw iron, raw gold, and raw copper

• Iron and gold ores now drop 1 raw iron and raw gold, as well as copper ore dropping 2-3 raw copper when mined instead of dropping themselves.
• Can be smelted into their ingot variants.
• The Fortune Enchantment works on iron and gold to drop more raw iron or raw gold.

Spawn eggs

• Spawn eggs for the new mobs are added.
  • The axolotl spawn egg.
  • The glow squid spawn egg.
  • The goat spawn egg.

Spyglass

• Crafted from an amethyst shard and 2 copper ingots.
• When used while held, it allows the player to see far away objects through a small square.
  • By pressing F1, the player can zoom in the whole screen; avoiding the border that is normally presented when using.
  • Switching to third person view while using the spyglass shows the player holding up the spyglass to where the eyes would be.

Music Disc

• Added a new music disc from Lena Raine titled "otherside".
  • Can be found on rare occasions in stronghold altar chests and in dungeon chests.
  • Has a blue and green color to the ring area of the disc.

Mobs

Axolotl

• Based on the critically endangered Mexican salamander with the same name in real life.
• Spawns in bodies of water within lush caves.
• The first amphibian added to Minecraft.
• Can be caught in a bucket like fish.
• Comes in four common varieties, lucy (pink), wild (brown), gold, and cyan, and a rare blue variety, which has a ¹⁄₁₂₀₀ (~0.08334%) chance of spawning. This fraction is based on the fact that there are about 1200 axolotls left in the wild.^[11]
• Has a 1/3 chance to play dead when damaged, receiving Regeneration I for 10 seconds, recovering 4.
  • This regeneration ability is likely based on how real axolotls can regrow lost limbs.
• Preys on fish, glow squid and squid, and attacks drowned and guardians (doesn't include elder guardians) if tempted with tropical fish by a player, dealing 2.
• Prioritizes hostile mobs over fish.

Glow squid

• Based on the mob of the same name in Minecraft Earth.
• Underwater mob that behaves like a regular squid.
• Can spawn in underground water sources.
• Is attacked by axolotls without provocation.
• Drops glow ink sacs when killed.
• Does not affect the light level, but appears as if lit up. Glows in the same way that magma cube cores, vexes, blazes and the eyes of spiders, drowned, and endermen do.
• Stops glowing for a short time and swims away quickly after taking damage.
• Winner of the mob vote from Minecraft Live 2020, defeating the moobloom, based on the mob from Minecraft Earth, and the iceologer, based on the mob from the Creeping Winter DLC from Minecraft Dungeons.
• Does not emit light.

Goat

• Spawns in mountain biomes.
• Can jump up to 10 blocks high.
• Attacks nearby mobs and players by charging and knocking them a considerable distance.
• Mobs attacked by goats don’t attack back.
  • Doesn't attack ghasts or other goats.
• Takes 10 less fall damage.
• Avoids powder snow by jumping over it.
• Can be bred with wheat, which produces a baby goat.
• Drops one goat horn when ramming into a block. Goat horns do not regrow.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
• Has a 2% chance of spawning as a screaming goat, with different sounds.
• Screaming goats use their ramming attack more often than normal goats.
• Drops nothing upon death.

Non-mob entities

Glow item frames

• A variant of the Item Frame that is made using a glow ink sac.
• Appears to glow but does not give any actual light.

World generation

Amethyst geodes

• An underground cave-like feature.
• Contains smooth basalt, calcite, blocks of amethyst, budding amethyst, and the amethyst clusters they generate.

File:Ore veins.jpeg

Ore veins

• Large, rare, snake-like ore formations.
• Copper ore veins mixed with granite generate above Y=0.
• Iron ore veins mixed with tuff generate below Y=0.

Mountains

• Height dependent generation.
• Revamped, featuring some new small spruce trees on the slopes and ice and packed ice above the peaks.
• Contain goats, rabbits, snow blocks, snow layers and powder snow.
• Iron ore, emerald ore and coal ore are found in abundance.
  • Emerald ore no longer generates in veins of only one.
• Can generate up to Y = 260.
• New sub biomes. Jagged Peaks, Frozen Peaks, Snowy Slopes, Stony Peaks, Grove, and Meadow.

Caves

• Completely overhauled.
• Now stretch down to Y = -59.
• The cavern now generates in 2 layers of different stone bases depending on the depth.
  • Cavern layer above Y = 0 is made up of regular stone.
  • Stone transitions to deepslate from Y = 0 to Y = -7.
  • Deepslate now completely replaces stone from Y = -8 to bedrock.
• Biomes inside of caves introduced.
• Contain aquifers, bodies of water or lava with different heights, independent of sea level (Y=63).
• Improved old caves to blend in with the new generations of caves better.^[12]
• New noise caves, coming in 2 forms, cheese and spaghetti.
  • Cheese caves have large stone towers stretching from the bottom of the cave to the top.
    • Very large, often large enough to fly with an elytra.
    • Abundant with aquifers and ores.
  • Spaghetti caves are long, thin caves that have small aquifers and are more similar to original caves.

Mineshafts

• For support, in the air, can generate with log pillars below or chains on fence posts above.

Strongholds

• Try to generate fully encased in stone at low y-levels.

Biomes

Dripstone Caves

• Contains pointed dripstone and dripstone blocks.
• Generates larger blobs of copper ore.

Lush Caves

• Contain cave plants and moss.
• Moss covers the ceilings and floors.
• Clay pools generate inside.

Mountains

• 6 new sub-biomes added and pillager outposts can generate in all of these biomes:
  • Meadow
    • Similar to the plains biome but with a colder grass color.
    • Contains most flowers and lone oak and birch trees.
    • Generates in plateaus and small mountains next to plains biomes.
    • Village also can generate in this biome.
  • Grove
    • Covered in snow, snow blocks, dirt and powder snow, and is filled with spruce trees.
    • Rabbits, foxes and wolves spawn in this biome.
    • Generates in the slopes of a mountain when next to a forested biome.
  • Snowy slopes
    • Covered in snow, snow blocks and powder snow.
    • Goats and rabbits spawn in this biome.
    • Igloos also can generate in this biome.
  • Jagged peaks
    • One of three mountain peak biomes that only generate if the mountain is high enough.
    • Generates in taller, jagged, and pointy peaks.
    • Covered in snow, snow blocks and stone.
    • Only goats spawn in this biome.
  • Frozen peaks
    • Generates in smoother and usually smaller peaks, but sometimes can generate in taller, jagged, and pointy peaks.
    • Covered in snow and snow blocks with large patches packed ice and small blobs of ice.
    • Only goats spawn in this biome.
  • Stony peaks
    • Generates in mountain peaks in regions with warmer biomes such as savannas and jungles to avoid temperature clashes.
    • It's mostly covered by stone with strips of calcite.
    • It doesn't generate snowy slopes or groves in the lower areas of the mountain.
    • The only mob that spawn in this biome is the glow squid.

Gameplay

Vibrations

• Currently unused.
• An action can cause vibrations in the air, which can be picked up by sculk sensors.
• Can be caused by player and mob movements, blocks being placed or broken, containers opening, projectiles being fired and landing, blocks like pistons moving, buttons, levers and pressure plates activating, and blocks activating. Vibrations are not caused by ambient weather such as rain or snow. ^[13]

General

Terrain

File:1.18 Stone Layers.jpeg

• Terrain generation is now independent from biomes, with biomes adapting to whatever terrain they happen to generate throughout.^[14]
  • This allows for natural variation in the terrain of any individual biome, both in terms of shape and elevation.
    • For example, forests and deserts could form up on a hill without needing a special biome just for that purpose.
  • This additionally allows for smoother transitions between biomes.
• Terrain is now smoother and more extreme.

Height limit

• Has been increased to 384 blocks, expanding 64 blocks up and 64 blocks down, with 320 being the limit upward and -64 being the limit downward.

Ores

• Most of the overworld ores have been retextured and touched up mainly for accessibility reasons. These also apply to the new deepslate ores.
  • This is a great help for color blind people that have difficulties distinguishing a certain ore of similar texture from another.
  • Diamond ore is an exception to this for being the "iconic" ore of the game, making Minecraft developers want to keep the classic feel of it.
• Ore distribution has been changed for more strategic mining.
  • Certain ores are more common at certain depths, and some may generate in lower quantities or not generate at that level at all.

Upgrading old worlds

• The biomes and terrain from old and new chunks now seamlessly blend, preventing the hard cut borders from before. Any player-made structures in these chunks may either be intact, buried, or deteriorated.
• The old bedrock layer between Y=0 and Y=4 in old chunks gets replaced with deepslate.
  • A new bedrock layer is placed between Y=-64 and Y=-60.

Further revisions

Java Edition

1.17

• 1.17.1 made changes to some game mechanics and fixes bugs.

1.18

• 1.18.1 made minor changes to fog and fixes bugs.
• 1.18.2 added the /placefeature command, made a lot changes to tags and custom world generation, and fixes bugs.

Bedrock Edition

1.17

• 1.17.1 was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch to fix a bug in which players weren't able to connect to any server.
• 1.17.2 was released to fix bugs related to world generation.
• 1.17.10 added candles, brought additional parity with Java Edition, experimental features for 1.18.0, and fixed bugs.
• 1.17.11 was released to fix some critical bugs.
• 1.17.30 was released to bring additional parity with Java Edition, new features behind the experimental toggle, and fixed bugs.
• 1.17.32 was released to fix some critical bugs after the release of 1.17.30.
• 1.17.33 was released exclusively on Amazon Fire devices to fix a bug in which players weren't able to launch the game.
• 1.17.34 was released to fix a bug in which owned content did not appear in the inventory after redeeming a retail code.
• 1.17.40 was released to fix bugs and add more features behind the experimental toggle.
• 1.17.41 was released to fix some critical bugs after the release of 1.17.40.

1.18

• 1.18.1 and 1.18.2 were released to fix some critical bugs after the release of 1.18.0.
• 1.18.10 was released to bring more parity with Java Edition and fix bugs.
• 1.18.11 was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch to fix bugs.
• 1.18.12 was released to fix bugs.
• 1.18.30 was released to add new Create New World UI, more parity with Java Edition such as 64-bit seeds, hunger changes, and fixes bugs.
• 1.18.31 was released to add the Spectator mode experimental toggle and fix bugs.
• 1.18.32 was released exclusively on Android, Fire OS, and Nintendo Switch to improve game performance.
• 1.18.33 was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch to fix bugs.

Videos

Trailer

A trailer for Part I was released on June 8, 2021.

Caves & Cliffs Update: Part I - Official Trailer (view on YouTube)

A trailer for Part II was released on November 30, 2021.

Minecraft Caves & Cliffs Update: Part II - Official Trailer (view on YouTube)

Showcases

Videos made by slicedlime:

Java Edition

1.17

What's New in Minecraft 1.17 - The Caves and Cliffs Update Part I? (view on YouTube)

Technical News in Minecraft Java Edition 1.17 - The Caves & Cliffs Update Part I (view on YouTube)

Custom World Changes in Minecraft Java Edition 1.17 (view on YouTube)

1.18

What's New in Minecraft 1.18 - The Caves & Cliffs Update Part II? (view on YouTube)

Where Are The Diamonds? Ore Distribution in Minecraft 1.18 - The Caves & Cliffs Update (view on YouTube)

Texture Updates in Minecraft 1.18 - The Caves & Cliffs Update (view on YouTube)

Technical News in Minecraft 1.18 (view on YouTube)

Other

Caves, Cliffs & Other Updates: How We Make Minecraft - Episode 5 (view on YouTube)

The Secrets of Minecraft: Caves & Cliffs Part I (view on YouTube)

Dev Diaries: World Generation (view on YouTube)

Dev Diaries: Caves & Cliffs Mobs (view on YouTube)

Dev Diaries: Community Collaborations (view on YouTube)

Caves & Cliffs Special: Blocks (view on YouTube)

Caves & Cliffs Special: Mobs (view on YouTube)

Minecraft 1.18 - But what happens to my old world? (view on YouTube)

Minecraft 1.18 - Candles cancel creeper parties?! (view on YouTube)

Soundtrack

Videos uploaded to Lena Raine – Topic and Various Artists - Topic by Ingrooves

Lena Raine - "Stand Tall" (view on YouTube)

Plays in snowy slopes, jagged peaks, frozen peaks, stony peaks, and the title screen.

Lena Raine - "Left to Bloom" (view on YouTube)

Plays in meadows, lush caves, and the title screen.

Lena Raine - "Ancestry" (view on YouTube)

Not present in the game at the time of the album's release.

Lena Raine - "Wending" (view on YouTube)

Plays in groves, jagged peaks, stony peaks, dripstone caves, and the title screen.

Lena Raine - "Infinite Amethyst" (view on YouTube)

Plays in groves, dripstone caves, and the title screen.

Lena Raine - "One More Day" (view on YouTube)

Plays in meadows, snowy slopes, lush caves, and the title screen.

Lena Raine - "otherside" (view on YouTube)

The fourteenth music disc added to the game, obtained from stronghold and dungeon chests.

Kumi Tanioka - "Floating Dream" (view on YouTube)

Plays in jagged peaks and lush caves.

Kumi Tanioka - "Comforting Memories" (view on YouTube)

Plays in groves.

Kumi Tanioka - "An Ordinary Day" (view on YouTube)

Plays in snowy slopes, dripstone caves, and lush caves.

Trivia

• Mojang Studios employees explored real caves to research for the update. This helped give inspiration and ideas for the update, including for the noodle caves (previously called mesh caves).^[15][16]
  • Henrik Kniberg also recalled memories of past visits to caves around the world.^[17]
• The art style of the concept art for Caves & Cliffs was inspired by the concept art of the Adventure Time episode Diamonds and Lemons, which was a crossover with Minecraft.^[18]
• Archaeology and Bundles were originally planned to be added in this update, but were delayed to a later version when the update was split.^[19]
  • The deep dark biome, sculk blocks, the warden, and goat horns were also originally planned for this update, but have now been postponed to release alongside The Wild Update.

Trailer trivia

• At the 0:24 mark of the Caves & Cliffs: Part I trailer, the Capricornus constellation can be spotted in the sky, which represents the sea-goat and is the Latin name for goat horn.
• In the same trailer at 0:30, a Necromancer laugh from Minecraft Dungeons can be heard.

Gallery

• 

  Caves & Cliffs release logo

• 

  Caves & Cliffs: Part I artwork

• 

  Caves & Cliffs: Part II artwork

• 

  The logo used at Minecraft Live 2020, which uses the former "Minecraft" logo.

Screenshots of the Caves & Cliffs update from Minecraft Live 2020 and other sources:

• LushCaves 1.16.220.52.jpeg

  A view of the lush caves.

• 

  Big dripleaves.

• 

  A player boating inside of a spaghetti cave, showcasing a subterranean water feature.

• 

  A path of glow lichen in a cave.

• 

  A large underground lake in a cheese cave.

• 

  One of the very few pictures of a mesh cave.

• 

  In an image from a developer, a likely prototype for calcite strips can be seen.

• 

  The full image.

• 

  A view of the dripstone caves.

• 

  Multiple goats, showcasing jump height.

• 

  Inside of an amethyst geode.

• 

  A copper roof house with weathered copper.

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  Light striking a lightning rod.

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  Multiple axolotl in a lush cave.

• 

  An axolotl army attacking an elder guardian.

• 

  Lush Caves.

• 

  A leaked screenshot showing "waterlogged-rail" in the title.

Concept artwork

• 

  Lush caves and its vegetation.

• 

  Lush caves.

• 

  Lush caves at night.

• 

  Dripstone caves and pointed dripstone.

• 

  Flooded caves.

• 

  Axolotl and the warden.

• 

  "Cutie in a Bucket" - concept art of axolotl.

• 

  School of axolotls.

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  "Scale of Cuteness". Concept art of the axolotl, goat, and the warden.

• 

  Concept art of underground crystals, which was later reiterated into the amethyst geode.

• 

  Ditto.

Artwork

• 

  Goat and Powder Snow

• 

  Copper Ore and Copper Block

• 

  Amethyst and Spyglass

• 

  Axolotl

Comparison artwork

• 

  New cave generation

• 

  Changes to ore distribution and introduction of ore veins

• 

  Aquifers providing local water levels

• 

  Changes to world height from Y=-64 up to Y=320

• 

  3D biome distribution

• 

  Biomes now adapting to any type of terrain generations

• 

  World blending between old and new chunks

• 

  Mob spawning changes

References

External links

• Caves and Cliffs Update | Minecraft

Named updates
Java Edition	Seecret Updates (2010) Halloween Update (2010) Adventure Update (2011) Pretty Scary Update (2012) Redstone Update (2013) Horse Update (2013) The Update that Changed the World (2013) Bountiful Update (2014) Combat Update (2016) Frostburn Update (2016) Exploration Update (2016) World of Color Update (2017)
Bedrock Edition	Overworld Update (2016) Friendly Update (2016) Boss Update (2016) Ender Update (2016) Discovery Update (2017) Better Together Update (2017)
Multi-edition	Update Aquatic (2018) Texture Update (2019) Village & Pillage (2019) Buzzy Bees (2019) Nether Update (2020) Caves & Cliffs (2021) The Wild Update (2022) Trails & Tales (2023) Armored Paws (2024) Tricky Trials (2024)
Minecraft Education	Chemistry Update (2018) Code Builder Update (2018) Spring Release (2019) Back to School Update (2019) Library Update (2019) Chromebook Release (2020) Learn to Code Update (2020) Camps & Clubs (2021) GOAT Update (2021) Mobile, Multiplayer & More (2022)