Music

This article is missing information about records and legacy console battle, glide, and tumble mini game music.

Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

It has been suggested that this page be split. ^[discuss^]

If this split may potentially be controversial, do not split until a consensus has been reached.

Minecraft contains many music tracks, which play at various points in game, including the main menu, in Creative mode, in the Nether, in the End, and during the credits. In the mobile and Fire TV versions of Bedrock Edition, music is classified as free DLC, downloaded from the Marketplace.

Playing

Music tracks can play at various points during gameplay. Some types of music are triggered by events, while others play randomly while certain criteria are met. The song "Alpha" always plays instantly during the credits, and the song "Boss" always plays instantly while the player is in the End if the ender dragon is undefeated or resummoned. Both of these tracks start playing in place of any already playing music. If the player is in the End and the ender dragon has been defeated, the normal End track plays 5 to 20 minutes after any currently playing tracks are finished.

If the player is underwater in an ocean or river biome, random underwater tracks play randomly 10 to 20 minutes after any currently playing tracks are finished.^[1]

If none of the previous criteria are met, but the player is in the Nether, a random general Nether track or a Nether biome-specific track plays, except warped forests, which don't have any music. If the player is not in the Nether and is currently in Creative mode, a random track plays (Creative only on Bedrock). If the player is not in Creative but is currently playing (i.e., not on the menu screen), a random general track plays. These tracks all play 10 to 20 minutes after any currently playing tracks are finished.

If the player is on the menu screen, a random menu track starts playing after 1 to 30 seconds.

Menu music stops playing in Java Edition when the player leaves the main menu and stops playing in Bedrock Edition when a loading screen finishes. Game music stops playing when the player quits the world. When the game is paused in Java Edition, game music also pauses and resumes when the player exits the pause menu. in Bedrock Edition, this is not the case because the game does not pause.

List

Overworld music

These music tracks are played when the player is in the Overworld.

Overworld Tracks
Filename in Minecraft	Sound events	Gameplay	Soundtrack Title	Soundtrack	Track preview
calm1.ogg	`music.game`, `music.creative`‌^{[JE only]}	Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Minecraft"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 8
calm2.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Clark"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 14
calm3.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Sweden"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 18
creative1.ogg		Creative mode	"Biome Fest"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 8
creative2.ogg		Creative mode	"Blind Spots"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 4
creative3.ogg		Creative mode	"Haunt Muskie"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 10
creative4.ogg		Creative mode	"Aria Math"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 13
creative5.ogg		Creative mode	"Dreiton"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 18
creative6.ogg		Creative mode	"Taswell"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 16
hal1.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Subwoofer Lullaby"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 3
hal2.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Living Mice"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 5
hal3.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Haggstrom"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 7
hal4.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Danny"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 21
nuance1.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Key"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 1
nuance2.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Oxygène"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 9
piano1.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Dry Hands"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 12
piano2.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Wet Hands"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 13
piano3.ogg		Creative‌^{[JE only]} and Survival	"Mice on Venus"	Minecraft - Volume Alpha No. 11

Underwater music

These music tracks can be heard while the player's head is submerged in water in any river or ocean biome.

Underwater Tracks
Filename in Minecraft	Sound events	Gameplay	Soundtrack Title	Soundtrack	Track preview
axolotl.ogg	`music.under_water`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.water`‌^{[BE only]}	Underwater	"Axolotl"	—
dragon_fish.ogg		Underwater	"Dragon Fish"	—
shuniji.ogg		Underwater	"Shuniji"	—

Nether music

These music tracks play while the player is in the Nether.

Nether Tracks
Filename in Minecraft	Sound events	Gameplay	Soundtrack Title	Soundtrack	Track preview
nether1.ogg	`music.nether.basalt_deltas`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.nether.nether_wastes`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.nether.soul_sand_valley`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.nether.crimson_forest`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.nether`‌^{[BE only]}	The Nether	"Concrete Halls"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 7
nether2.ogg		The Nether	"Dead Voxel"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 3
nether3.ogg		The Nether	"Warmth"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 11
nether4.ogg		The Nether	"Ballad of the Cats"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 15
rubedo.ogg	`music.nether.nether_wastes`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.nether_wastes`‌^{[BE only]}	Nether Wastes	"Rubedo"	Minecraft: Nether Update (Original Game Soundtrack) No. 2	File:Rubedo.ogg
chrysopoeia.ogg	`music.nether.crimson_forest`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.crimson_forest`‌^{[BE only]}	Crimson Forest	"Chrysopoeia"	Minecraft: Nether Update (Original Game Soundtrack) No. 1	File:Chrysopoeia.ogg
so_below.ogg	`music.nether.basalt_deltas`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.nether.soul_sand_valley`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.soulsand_valley`‌^{[BE only]}	Basalt Deltas‌^{[JE only]} and Soul Sand Valley	"So Below"	Minecraft: Nether Update (Original Game Soundtrack) No. 3	File:So below.ogg

End music

These music tracks play while the player is in the End.

End Tracks
Filename in Minecraft	Sound events	Gameplay	Soundtrack Title	Soundtrack	Track preview
boss.ogg	`music.dragon`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.endboss`‌^{[BE only]}	Ender Dragon battle	"Boss"	—
end.ogg	`music.end`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.end`‌^{[BE only]}	The End	"The End"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 19

Extras

These music tracks play in the menu screen and during the End Poem specifically.

Unclassified Tracks
Filename in Minecraft	Sound events	Gameplay	Soundtrack Title	Soundtrack	Track preview
menu1.ogg	`music.menu`	Main menu	"Mutation"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 9
menu2.ogg		Main menu	"Moog City 2"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 6
menu3.ogg		Main menu	"Beginning 2"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 17
menu4.ogg		Main menu	"Floating Trees"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 12
credits.ogg	`music.credits`,‌^{[JE only]} `music.game.credits`‌^{[BE only]}	End Poem	"Alpha"	Minecraft - Volume Beta No. 2

Composers

All music in Minecraft was originally composed by C418. However, as the game got more popular (specifically starting with the Update Aquatic, according to Mojang^[2]), others started to produce music and soundtracks for the game. Nether Update tracks (including Pigstep) were composed by Lena Raine, and Samuel Åberg composed many recent ambient sounds. Some of the mash-up packs created by 4J Studios and certain songs that play during Minigames on Legacy Console Edition include music by Gareth Coker. The soundtracks for Minecraft Story Mode and Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two were composed by Antimo & Welles. Music in Minecraft Earth is written by Shauny Jang, and music in Minecraft Dungeons was made by Peter Hont, Johan Johnson, and Samuel Åberg.^[2]

History

Java Edition Classic
0.0.14a_08					Music was tested. "calm1.ogg", "calm2.ogg", and "calm3.ogg" were the only music available and would play as ambience music tracks.
0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST					Music was released to the public for the first time.
Java Edition Indev
?					The player can now hear music only within a short distance from the spot the player was in when the track started, possibly due to a bug. In most instances, the music was heard loudest near the Indev House, and got quieter the farther the player went from the house.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1					Music now no longer plays.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.14					Music now plays once again.
v1.0.14					The music bug from Indev is fixed. Music now plays everywhere in the world.
v1.1.1					Added sliders allowing the player to change the volume of in-game music.
v1.1.1					Added the "calm4.ogg" file.
v1.1.2					Removed the "calm4.ogg" file.
v1.2.0		?			Added "hal1.ogg", "hal2.ogg", "hal3.ogg", "hal4.ogg", "nuance1.ogg", "nuance2.ogg", "piano1.ogg", "piano2.ogg", and "piano3.ogg".
v1.2.1					Music now plays in multiplayer.
Java Edition
1.6.1		13w24a			Music can now be altered using a resource pack.
1.6.1		13w24a			Music is now stored in `assets/music`
1.7.2		13w36a			The volume of jukeboxes and other music can now be adjusted independently.
		13w42a			Music is now stored in `assets/sounds/music`.
		13w43a			Music played by jukeboxes now loops.
		1.7			Music now pauses when pausing the game.
2013 Music Update					Added tracks "boss.ogg", "creative1.ogg", "creative2.ogg", "creative3.ogg", "creative4.ogg", "creative5.ogg", "creative6.ogg", "credits.ogg", "end.ogg", "menu1.ogg", "menu2.ogg", "menu3.ogg", "menu4.ogg", "nether1.ogg", "nether2.ogg", "nether3.ogg", and "nether4.ogg".
1.8		?			Music files are now stored as an indexed hash, rather than stored directly in the `.minecraft` folder.
1.12		pre6			"credits.ogg" now plays properly during the End Poem and credits.
1.13		pre1			Added tracks "shuniji.ogg", "dragon_fish.ogg", and "axolotl.ogg".
1.16		20w15a			Added tracks "rubedo.ogg", "chrysopoeia.ogg" and "so_below.ogg".
1.16		20w17a			Music no longer stops abruptly when switching gamemodes or going underwater.^[3]
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Added downloadable vanilla in-game music, which contains "boss.ogg", "calm1.ogg", "calm2.ogg", "calm3.ogg", "creative1.ogg", "creative2.ogg", "creative3.ogg", "creative4.ogg", "creative5.ogg", "creative6.ogg", "credits.ogg", "end.ogg", "hal1.ogg", "hal2.ogg", "hal3.ogg", "hal4.ogg", "menu1.ogg", "menu2.ogg", "menu3.ogg", "menu4.ogg", "nether1.ogg", "nether2.ogg", "nether3.ogg", "nether4.ogg", "nuance1.ogg", "nuance2.ogg", "piano1.ogg", "piano2.ogg", and "piano3.ogg" tracks.
Bedrock Edition
1.12.0		beta 1.12.0.2			Music now still plays if the keyboard is being used.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.57			Added tracks "shunji.ogg", "dragon_fish.ogg", "axolotl.ogg", "chrysopoeia.ogg", "rubedo.ogg" and "so_below.ogg".
1.16.100		beta 1.16.100.51			Music no longer stops abruptly when switching gamemodes or going underwater.^[1]
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added "calm1.ogg", "calm2.ogg", "calm3.ogg", "hal1.ogg", "hal2.ogg", "hal3.ogg", "hal4.ogg", "nuance1.ogg", "nuance2.ogg", "piano1.ogg", "piano2.ogg", and "piano3.ogg" as ambiance music tracks.
					Added sliders to change the volume of in game music.
					Added the "calm4.ogg" file.
TU9					Added tracks "end.ogg", "nether1.ogg", and "nether2.ogg"
TU13					Added tracks "nether3.ogg" and "nether4.ogg"
TU24		1.07			Added tracks "boss.ogg", "creative1.ogg", "creative2.ogg", "creative3.ogg", "creative4.ogg", "creative5.ogg", "creative6.ogg", "credits.ogg", "menu1.ogg", "menu2.ogg", "menu3.ogg", and "menu4.ogg"
TU36	CU25	1.28	Patch 7		Added Battle minigame tracks.
TU41	CU30	1.33	Patch 11		Added Tumble minigame tracks.
TU51	CU41	1.44	Patch 20	1.0.3	Added Glide minigame tracks.

Trivia

The End track is "Calm1" echoed and samples from the original Minecraft - Volume Alpha distorted.^[4]
"calm3.ogg", or "Sweden", is a Passacaglia, with a changing melody over a repeated bass line.
On April Fools' Day 2014, Mojang played a bunch of villager themed pranks on the players, including temporarily replacing the track "hal1.ogg", or "Subwoofer Lullaby", with a version that had a villager singing along, as well as temporarily replacing all the menu songs with the villagers singing the Game Of Thrones theme song. This was reverted on April 2, 2014.
hal3.ogg (Haggstrom) is in septuple time (precisely 7/4 time).
The word "Shuniji" (しゅにじ, 主虹) means "primary rainbow" in Japanese.
According to C418, the track "Mice on Venus" (game filename is piano3.ogg) was originally a short piano solo, but was then changed later in Minecraft's development and an addendum was added, which made the track that we have currently.^[5]
The title of the track "So Below" is a reference to "As above, so below"^[6], a phrase heavily associated with Hermeticism that is derived from a passage from the Emerald Tablet of Thoth^[7]. The Emerald Tablet is widely associated with the secrets of creating the philosopher's stone. The choice to use the "so below" part of the phrase was meant to be evocative of the underworldly nature of the Nether.
The word Rubedo is Latin for "redness". The term was adopted by alchemists to refer to the final stage of creating the philosopher's stone.^[8]^[9] It is also likely associated with the red-colored environment of the Nether.
The word Chrysopoeia (χρυσοποιία) is an alchemical term that describes the creation of the philosopher's stone, or the transmutation of a given object into gold.^[10]^[11]
In Bedrock Edition, due to the fact that the river biome is considered plains, underwater music might also play in plains and flat biomes, provided that the pool is big enough and has underwater blocks (for example, corals).^{[needs in-game testing]}
The Warped Forest is the only biome in the game devoid of music. However, in Java Edition, a sound event (music.nether.warped_forest, empty by default) exists nonetheless.