Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack

The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack is an official data pack that was released periodically by Mojang Studios from April 2021 to May 2021.^[1] It contains several experimental and work-in-progress features, most of which were eventually released in Java Edition 1.18. Its first release coincided with the announcement that Caves & Cliffs would be split into two major updates.^[2][3] The data pack was eventually superseded by experimental snapshots as changes that are too large for a data pack were introduced.^[4]

Features[]

Items

• Bundles can be crafted once again.

General

• The height limit has been expanded 64 blocks up and 64 blocks down to a total of 384 blocks, with Y=319 being the limit upward and Y=-64 being the limit downward.

World generation

• Deepslate blobs no longer generate above Y=0.
• Diorite, granite, and andesite blobs are larger and more spherical, but less common.
• Underground generation has been extended 64 blocks down to go along with the downward height expansion.
  • Deepslate makes up a majority of the expanded area, with the stone above gradually transitioning to it from Y=-1 to Y=-7 until it is completely replaced by deepslate at Y=-8.
    • Certain types of ores and structures still generate in the deepslate layer, as well as tuff.
    • Dirt, gravel, diorite, granite, and andesite do not generate in this layer.
  • Lava replaces air below Y=-53 instead of below Y=11.
  • The bedrock layer has been moved down to Y=-64.
• Fossils are able to generate at any height instead of just between Y=40 and Y=49.
  • Fossils below Y=0 generate with deepslate diamond ore instead of coal ore.
• Caves have been completely overhauled.
  • Now stretch down to Y=-59.
  • New noise caves, coming in three forms: cheese, spaghetti, and noodle.
    • Cheese caves have large stone columns stretching from the bottom of the cave to the top.
      • Very large, often large enough to fly through with elytra.
      • Abundant with springs, aquifers, and ores.
    • Spaghetti caves are long, thin caves that have small aquifers and are more similar to original caves.
    • Noodle caves are thinner, squigglier, and more claustrophobic variants of spaghetti caves.
  • Contain aquifers, bodies of water with different heights, independent of sea level (Y=63).
    • Only used below Y=31, meaning any noise caves between Y=31 and Y=63 are flooded with water.
    • Aquifers below Y=0 sometimes generate with lava instead of water.
  • The original carvers still exist with their generation slightly tweaked to add more variation and to better blend in with noise caves.
  • New crevice carvers, which are deep, long cracks in the ground that are thinner and straighter than canyons.
• Ore veins, long and rare formations of ore and rock, have been introduced.

• Changed the generation of all ores, making them have a spread value like lapis lazuli ore. Some still retain a linear generation alongside a spread generation.
  • Copper ore generates between Y=0 and Y=96, and uses spread like all other ores. It peaks at Y=48.
  • Emerald ore generates above Y=32 as a spread, peaking at Y=256 and decreasing in quantity as the altitude decreases.
  • Coal ore attempts to generate twice: once, evenly between an altitude of Y=136 and Y=256; and as a spread, peaking at an altitude of Y=96 and generating between an altitude of Y=0 and Y=192.
  • Iron ore attempts to generate three times: once as a spread peaking at an altitude of Y=256, generating above Y=128; another as a spread peaking at Y=16 and generating with a minimum height of Y=-24 and a maximum height of Y=57, and a smaller one spreading evenly between the altitudes of Y=-64 and Y=64.
  • Gold ore generates between the altitudes of Y=-64 and Y=32, peaking at Y=-16. The extra gold that generates in the badlands biome was left untouched.
  • Lapis lazuli ore attempts to generate twice: once, as a spread between the altitudes of Y=32 and Y=-32, peaking at an altitude of 0; and evenly between the altitudes of Y=64 and Y=-64, generating buried like ancient debris.
  • Redstone ore attempts to generate twice: once, evenly between an altitude of Y=15 and Y=-64; and as a spread, peaking at an altitude of -64 and generating below an altitude of Y=-32.
  • Diamond ore generates below Y=16 as a spread, peaking at Y=-64 and decreasing in quantity as the altitude increases.

History[]

Java Edition
1.17		April 14, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack was first publicly made available to coincide with the release of 21w15a.
					The data pack currently contains all the world generation changes from 21w06a to 21w14a that were reverted in this snapshot.
		April 21, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 21w16a.
					Ore veins have been added.
					Aquifers below Y=0 are sometimes filled with lava instead of water.
		April 28, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 21w17a.
					Noodle caves have been added.
					Ore veins are now slightly smaller, rarer, more clumpy, and have a chance to contain a raw metal block.
		May 5, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 21w18a.
					Carvers can generate below Y=0 in ocean biomes.
					Noodle caves no longer generate above Y=30.
					The minimum size of noodle caves and carvers has been increased.
					Deepslate blobs no longer generate above Y=0.
					Ore veins are slightly rarer and smaller on average, and raw metal blocks are more likely to be found in them.
					Copper ore generation has been slightly reduced.
					Smaller iron ore blobs can additionally be found between Y=-32 and Y=64.
					Larger iron ore blobs are now slightly less common.
		May 12, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 21w19a.
					Bundles and candles still have a crafting recipe after they were both made hidden in the base game. However, they are unavailable in the creative inventory.
		May 19, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 21w20a.
		May 27, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 1.17 Pre-release 1.
					Candles are no longer unhidden by the data pack, as they were made unhidden in the base game.
		May 31, 2021			The Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack has been updated for 1.17 Pre-release 2.

References[]

See also[]

• Tutorials/Installing a data pack
• Java Edition 1.18 experimental snapshots

Data packs
Components	Advancements Functions Item modifiers Loot tables Predicates Recipes Structure templates Tags World generation Dimensions Dimension types World presets Density functions Biomes Carvers Features Structures
Data packs	Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack
Tutorials	Installing a data pack Creating a data pack