Biome



According to Wikipedia, Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems.

In Minecraft, from the Halloween Update onwards, this means different areas, with different heights, temperatures, humidity, and foliage colors.

Before the Halloween update, when a map was generated it got a 'theme', i.e. Snowy or Grassy. After this update, a single world will include all themes in a logical fashion.

Demonstration video

Pre-Update Saves
Worlds generated before the update will not be changed. However, any new chunks generated (by the player moving outside of the current world's bounds) will generate biomes, just as The Nether will be generated when you first enter it.

Biome Types
There are 11 Biome types: (Note: these names come from Notch's notes)

Rain Forest
A biome with many trees and lakes. Some trees may also have leaves extending to the ground, covering the entire trunk. Has a 33% chance branched trees, compared to the usual 10%. Has, on average, five more trees per chunk than woods.

Swamp
A biome with many small pools. Reeds are commonly found.

Seasonal Forest
Has, on average, two more trees per chunk than woods.

Forest
A biome with many trees. Has, on average, five more trees per chunk than woods.

Savanna
A biome with mostly flat terrain, almost no trees, and dull colored grass.

Woods
A biome with many trees.

Taiga
Snowy terrain with a few trees. Has, on average, five more trees per chunk than woods.

Desert
A biome consisting mostly of sand and Cacti. Has, on average, twenty less trees per chunk than woods, however, the lack of dirt means it's completely impossible.

Plains
Just like desert, only with grass in the place of sand. has, on average, twenty less trees per chunk than woods. The occasional tree does exist, though very rarely.

Tundra
Snowy, barren terrain with no trees. Has, on average, twenty less trees per chunk than woods. the occasional tree does exist, though very rarely.

The Nether
This is not an official biome, as it is not usually found in the normal world, but it does have unique geographical features, making it similar to a biome. In rare occasions, most likely due to glitches, nether biomes can be found in the normal world.

Remaining Work
Remaining work on biomes include variable elevations in certain biomes (flat elevation in desert biomes, etc.) in addition to improving the border between arctic and tropical biomes.

Snow currently does not "fall"; Meaning that once snow or ice has melted or been mined, it will not come back.

Biome Screen-shots
These screenshots were made by editing code in Minecraft's java files, creating worlds made up of only one Biome. This was done consecutively with each Biome type and their screen-shots are collated here. The original topic is on the Minecraft forum is here