Altitude

Altitude is commonly expressed as a number defining the distance in layers above the base of the game environment, which is Layer zero (0). Sea level is recognized as Layer 62, and the top of the game environment is Layer 127. Specifically, the bottom face of the bottommost bedrock block is at Y coordinate 0, and the top face of the highest block that can be placed is at Y coordinate 127. The player can press F3 to see what Y coordinate the player's eye is currently at, with the player's eye located 1.6 blocks above the layer the player is standing on. For example, a player standing on a shore of an ocean will see their Y coordinate as approximately 64.6.

After Snapshot 12w07a, the new Anvil File Format has increased the maximum height. Blocks can be now be placed up to Y coordinate 256.

Natural resources and altitude
Landscape in The Overworld features are found at different altitudes, as shown in this graph:



There is also an interactive chart. Beware the logarithmic scale: a slight difference in the y coordinate means a large change in relative frequency of this block type. Some observations:
 * Looking at water, the ocean level at layer 62 is obvious. Going down, the amount decreases more quickly at layers 56 and 48, the usual depth of river and ocean biomes respectively. There are corresponding peaks in the amount of clay beneath them. (Note that clay can occasionally be generated even in high-altitude lakes.) Between layers 33 and 12, most water is falling down sub-ocean ravines, spreading out on the lava-filled bottom at layer 10 and producing most of the naturally-occuring obsidian.
 * Ores and gravel (not shown) usually occur as a fixed percentage of the amount of stone (also not shown), tapering off at the ends of their allowed range. This is why coal and iron follow parallel tracks between layers 40 and 60.
 * The one exception is lapis lazuli ore, which has a linear progression up to a peak at layers 13-14.

See the following table for a textual description of resources by altitude and tools needed to gather them.

Other naturally occurring features appear at different altitudes such as grass, wood, flowers, mushrooms, clay, cobble, sugar cane and Obsidian, but all of these features are random and must appear in conjunction with another block and the proper environment to appear.

The Nether
A similar graph, showing the distribution of blocks unique to the Nether:



History
As of Beta 1.6, solid blocks cannot be placed on layer 127. However, beds can be placed on layer 127, making it possible to place beds at the highest possible altitude. This has also been proven to work with signs, torches and other transparent blocks. In 1.7, climbing to the top layer and jumping while carrying a block in your hand will result in the block turning black for a split second. Before the Beta 1.8 Pre-release 1, the maximum height a player could reach through the use of blocks is at layer 130 (stand on a block at layer 127, jump), you could still make a TNT cannon blasting the player upwards to go many layers past the sky level. Similarly, falling into the Void will have the player go many blocks under the lowest layer in the map. In 1.8 and after (Creative mode), one can simply fly above layer 128 to a high limit. They can also descend below bedrock, and if flying, they could be flying just below layer 0 (In the nether, this can also be achieved, as well as above layer 127). If the player's height is below -64, they start to get hurt and die. As of the 1.8 Pre-Release, the player's view distance decreases in lower altitudes. Before 1.8, the sea level was 1 level higher, layer 63 instead of 62.

In Snapshot 12w07a, the maximum height was increased to 256. Also, it was found that if you fly up high enough, your character's skin will revert to the default skin.

Trivia

 * The Beta 1.6 update made it impossible for players to place blocks on the uppermost layer of the map (Y-Coord 127).
 * At extreme depths, black fog closes in.
 * Climbing up to the 127th layer and jumping with a block in your hand will cause the block to momentarily turn black.
 * Although the highest possible altitude the player can climb at normally is 131 (door glitch + jumping), a TNT cannon can blast the player many layers past the sky limit.
 * Going under Y -64 in the Void will cause the player to receive damage very quickly, killing him/her. Also, this is the only known way to die in Creative mode.
 * Beds, along with other transparent blocks (Signs, Torches) can be placed on the 127th layer. Also, if a door is placed 1 layer below the top of the map, its upper frame will pass the 127th mark.
 * By placing a water source block on layer 128 using a Water Bucket on a solid block on layer 127, then placing a lava source block on the water using a Lava Bucket, both Cobblestone and Obsidian can be created on layer 128. The opposite (placing water on lava) works as well.
 * When at the highest level of a map in Beta, the edges of the screen will fade to black, simulating thinning air.
 * Notch on his twitter posted a pic showing his experimentation with higher height limits before the Adventure Update, showing a mountain much higher than normal mountains, but this feature is not present in Minecraft 1.0. And in snapshot 12w07a, there is a new world format, "anvil," which goes to 256 blocks. [[Media:Hungerscreen.png|Link]]
 * The maximum height (coordinates) a player can reach will look something like this 6.49756847368475627364E7 and negative if you go under the void (notice the E7 at the end). Example 1 Example 2

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