Caves & Cliffs



Caves & Cliffs is the name for an upcoming major update that will be released mid-2021 for most versions of Minecraft, likely to be Java Edition 1.17 and Bedrock Edition 1.17.0. It was announced in Minecraft Live 2020. It will include new cave and mountains features, and may include the glow squid, a mob that was voted for during the second Minecraft mob vote.

Planned additions
Please note that the names of many features are currently placeholders.

Blocks

 * Azalea Leaves.png Blooming Azalea Leaves.png
 * Part of a new exclusive tree, marking the location of the lush caves.
 * Has variants with either no blossoms, pink blossoms, or purple blossoms


 * Azalea Roots.png
 * Part of the Azalea tree.
 * Resembles a dirt block, but with the roots of the azalea tree intertwined.
 * Probably is the source of all the life in lush caves.
 * May be a new variant of the dirt block.


 * Amethyst geode block.png
 * Generates amethyst crystals on top surface, in a given time.
 * Unobtainable in survival.
 * Extremely rare, only generates in amethyst geode structures.


 * Amethyst crystal cross.png
 * Grows on top of geode blocks over time.
 * Can be generated upside down.
 * Breaks to produce a crystal shard item.
 * These can be crafted into telescopes.


 * Copper Ore.png
 * New ore, found underground.
 * Drops itself when broken, like other metal ores.
 * Spawns in new large ore veins.
 * Can be used to craft a lightning rod or a telescope.


 * Block of Copper.png
 * Block of Copper Age 1.png Block of Copper Age 2.png Block of Copper Age 3.png Develops a patina of pale green copper carbonate over multiple stages, which might be sped up by weather such as rain.
 * Based on a demo clip from Minecraft Live 2020, the time it takes to age fully is about 16 Minecraft days, although the clip may not have shown the officially planned time span.
 * Can be made to stay a certain state.


 * Copper Stairs.png
 * Copper Stairs Age 1.png Copper Stairs Age 2.png Copper Stairs Age 3.png Develops a patina of pale green copper carbonate over multiple stages, which might be sped up by weather such as rain.
 * Based on a demo clip from Minecraft Live 2020, the time it takes to age fully is about 16 Minecraft days, although the clip may not have shown the officially planned time span.
 * Can be made to stay a certain state.


 * Copper Slab.png
 * Copper Slab Age 1.png Copper Slab Age 2.png Copper Slab Age 3.png Develops a patina of pale green copper carbonate over multiple stages, which might be sped up by weather such as rain.
 * Based on a demo clip from Minecraft Live 2020, the time it takes to age fully is about 16 Minecraft days, although the clip may not have shown the officially planned time span.
 * Can be made to stay a certain state.


 * Restoring clay pots.png
 * Ceramic Shards can be incorporated into an unfired pot.
 * Can be fired by lighting fire under the pot.
 * Pot can fit up to 8 Ceramic Shards.
 * painted clay pot.png
 * Created by firing a clay pot.
 * Upon firing, any placed Ceramic Shards become permanently incorporated.
 * Also upon firing, the colour of the clay pot changes from whitish-blue to brown.


 * New Vine.png New Vine 2.png
 * Light source.
 * Grows edible glow berries.


 * Spore Blossom.png
 * Sends particles downward when opened.


 * Dripleaf Plant.png
 * A plant that can be used for platforming.
 * If the player stands on top of the plant for a period of time, the player falls through the plant.


 * Baby dripleaf plants.png Small Dripleaf Plant
 * Appear highly varied in models.


 * Unidentified foliage object.png Moss Block
 * An opaque block that appears grassy on all sides.


 * Foliage carpet.png Moss Blanket
 * Same texture as the moss block, but one pixel thick.


 * Roots bloody roots.png Azalea Roots Below.png
 * Seen in the distance of a lush caves biome behind a spore blossom.
 * Can also be seen hanging beneath the dirt variant that spawns below the Azalea tree, possibly just a decorative feature of this block.


 * Baby azalea tree.png Baby blooming azalea tree.png Azalea Sapling
 * Has variants with either no blossoms, pink blossoms or purple blossoms


 * Sculk Block.png
 * Generates in the mysterious new cave biome, referred to as the "deep dark" temporarily.


 * Sculk Something.png
 * Generates in the deep dark caves.


 * Sculk Growth.png
 * Generates in the deep dark cave biome.
 * Generates in a layer on top of blocks, similar to snow.
 * Some have parts that are transparent, allowing the player to see the block it is on top of.


 * Sculk Sensor.gif
 * Generates in the deep dark cave biome.
 * Can be used for wireless redstone.
 * Senses block placement, footsteps, and projectiles.
 * Wool can occlude its ability to sense.
 * Can be used with a piston to create a wireless redstone clock.
 * Particle of the Vibration.gif Emits particles when it hears a sound nearby.


 * Stalagmites.png
 * Can be found on the floor of the new dripstone caves.
 * Deals damage when landed on.


 * Stalactites.png
 * Can be found on the ceiling of the new dripstone caves.
 * Can fall, but unlike sand or gravel, breaks apart on impact.
 * Drips water, which can fill cauldrons placed under it.


 * Unknown speleothem block.png Dripstone
 * Appears to be made of the same materials as stalactites and stalagmites but as a full cube.


 * Lightning Rod.png


 * Crafted with copper.
 * Redirects nearby lightning strikes to the top of the rod, which can prevent flammable structures from catching on fire during thunderstorms.


 * Powder Snow
 * Similar to snow, but entities fall through it, similar to traps or the "snowier snow" announced when the Mountains won the 2019 biome vote.
 * This is how regular snow layer blocks worked in old versions of Minecraft, but it was changed because it created accidental booby-traps when lava ponds generated at the right height to cut out the ground but not the snow.


 * Unidentified Stalagmite Torches.png White candles.png Candles
 * A light source.
 * Can be up to four in a block, similar to sea pickles.
 * Black and white texture variants.
 * Emits fire particles.
 * Visible in the deep dark biomes, though it may spawn in other areas of the game as well.


 * Unnamed Stone.png Darkstone
 * Can be found around the deep dark cave biome walls.
 * Can be found in large groups.


 * UnknownWhiteStoneBlock.png Limestone
 * Similar to diorite, but with a smoother texture.
 * Found underground surrounding the outsides of geode formations.


 * Clay or not.png Cave Sand
 * Found in lush caves.


 * Unnamed Underwater Stone Block.jpeg Seastone
 * Seen in a Twitter post highlighting underwater geodes.
 * Might be found in any oceans, or only found near underwater geodes.

Items

 * Drops from Amethyst Crystals.
 * Used to make telescopes.
 * Used to make telescopes.


 * Axolotl Bucket JE1.png
 * Obtained by using a water bucket on an axolotl, similar to fish.
 * Had no name in the Minecraft Live 2020 demo, showing its translation string "item.minecraft.axolotl_bucket".


 * Brush.png
 * Used to sweep away debris from archaeological items.
 * Sweeps debris off archaeological items one layer at a time. If interrupted, the block it was being used on will simply disappear, and will not yield custom block heights.
 * Also comes in a blue-green variant: Brush 2.png
 * This may imply a connection to copper, as both the variant and normal brushes have corresponding colors to the blocks shown.


 * Bundle.png Bundle full.png
 * Can contain one cumulative stack of any variety of item types.
 * Stack sizes are sustained. For example, a bundle containing 32 blocks with a stack size of 64 could only hold an additional 8 ender pearls, as the stack size of an ender pearl is 16; the half-stack of ender pearls added to the half-stack of blocks is calculated as one full stack. Unstackable items like minecarts remain unstackable.
 * Items are added by dragging bundle to an item.
 * Tooltip shows icons of contained items.
 * Items drop to inventory when right clicked.


 * Blue Ceramic Shard.png Orange Ceramic Shard.png Ceramic Shard 1.png Ceramic Shard 2.png Ceramic Shard 3.png
 * Obtained with a brush at archeological sites.
 * Come in different colors and different designs, each depicting a different picture, such as an ender dragon, Alex, a skeleton, a tree and a vindicator.
 * Can be placed/customized on clay pots.
 * Currently using placeholder art, according to Jasper Boerstra.


 * [unofficial concept]
 * Used to craft the Block of Copper
 * Used to craft the Lightning Rod


 * Can be eaten.
 * Used as a light source.
 * Used as a light source.


 * Telescope.png
 * Crafted from amethyst shards and copper.
 * When held, allows the player to see far away through a small ellipse.


 * Spawn Eggs
 * Spawn eggs for the new mobs will likely be added.
 * Warden Spawn Egg.png The Warden is the only known mob with a spawn egg visually confirmed.

Mobs

 * Axolotl.png


 * Based on the Mexican salamander with the same name in real life.
 * Found in bodies of water within lush caves biomes.
 * Will be the first ever amphibian added to Minecraft.
 * Can be caught in a bucket like with fish.
 * Can be tamed by capturing it in a bucket.
 * Come in different colors (leucistic, yellow, green, brown, and purple/pink).
 * Plays dead when damaged, receiving Regeneration. Appears to turn invisible or teleport after this, although the latter may be just a bug or a glitch.
 * This regeneration ability is likely based on how real axolotls can regrow lost limbs.
 * Attacks drowned, guardians, elder guardians and fish.
 * Sometimes can give Regeneration to the player who tamed it.


 * Glow Squid.png [unofficial concept]


 * Originates from Minecraft Earth.
 * Glows in the same way that magma cube cores, blazes and the eyes of spiders, drowned, vexes and endermen do.
 * Lives in flooded caves.


 * Goat.png
 * Spawns in mountains biomes.
 * Can jump very high to avoid obstacles, about 5 blocks tall.
 * Attacks nearby animals by charging and knocking them a considerable distance.
 * There is a baby variant, suggesting a way to breed them.


 * Warden.png
 * Spawns in the new deep dark biome.
 * It is the first blind mob.
 * When sensing movement, it moves towards the source of the movement.
 * When attacked, it heads towards the player.
 * Seems to follow the same rules as the sculk sensor when detecting noise.
 * Does not detect players that are sneaking.
 * Incredibly strong (at most damage), bringing players wearing full netherite armour to  health points.
 * Gets stronger when attacked more; stronger with less health.
 * Has at least health points.
 * At least as fast as the player's walking speed.
 * Seems to move faster when attacked.
 * Becomes aggravated when attacked, and at a certain point, will follow the player continuously regardless of any other distractions.
 * Seems to have some knockback resistance.
 * Likely spawns in relation to the hut seen in the clip (now called the warden’s dungeon).
 * Throwing any projectile, i.e a snowball, near the Warden will cause the mob to head to the location of where the projectile was thrown, due to the projectile itself creating movement and noise, therefore distracting the warden.
 * The Warden's chest has a glowing core that appears to brighten and dim in tandem with the ambient lighting of the deep dark cave biome.
 * Will possibly attack other mobs.
 * Is over 3 blocks tall, making it one of the tallest mobs in the game, exceeding the iron golem and enderman.

World generation

 * A tiny underground cave-like feature.
 * Contains geode blocks and the amethyst crystals they generate.
 * Twinkle-like sounds can be heard near amethyst crystals, which is currently a placeholder when it was showcased, and not the final version.
 * It is currently unknown as to what causes the sounds.
 * It is currently unknown as to what causes the sounds.


 * Archaeological excavation
 * A new structure where archeological items and ceramic shards can be found.


 * New biome at the "deepest depths of the world".
 * Wardens can spawn here.
 * Contains candles.
 * Contains sculk blocks, a new block which responds to sound.
 * Contains Darkstone blocks.
 * Contains Darkstone blocks.


 * A massive cave biome containing vast quantities of stalactites and stalagmites.
 * A massive cave biome containing vast quantities of stalactites and stalagmites.


 * Generate below azalea trees.
 * Contain glow berries.
 * Can spawn axolotls.
 * Can spawn axolotls.


 * Mesh caves
 * Seems to be possibly a large tunnel-like cave.
 * Not much is known about this biome yet, but it was confirmed on Twitter by Henrik Kniberg.


 * General
 * More extreme and smooth terrain.

Gameplay

 * The player can find items and blocks in gravel and dirt inside the dig site structure by using the brush.
 * Possible items shown in the preview footage include:
 * Ceramic shards of varying color which depict different images.
 * Diamond blocks and Emerald blocks maybe not include in the list, because that was as placeholder.
 * Diamond blocks and Emerald blocks maybe not include in the list, because that was as placeholder.


 * Dimming of light
 * While in the deep dark cave biome, the ambient lighting occasionally dims temporarily, limiting the player's visibility. This serves a warning that the warden is nearby.


 * Vibrations
 * An action can cause vibrations in the air, which can be picked up by sculk sensors and wardens
 * Can be caused by walking, block placing, block breaking, doors or trapdoors opening, chests of any kind opening, pistons activating, and projectiles such as snowballs, eggs, or arrows landing.

World generation

 * Caves
 * Revamped to generate bigger, more adventurous caves.


 * Local water levels
 * A new generation aspect has been introduced, which allows for certain areas of a world to generate with a water level different than another area.
 * Allows for the generation of larger underground lakes and connections to oceans.
 * Allows for the generation of many underground waterfalls.
 * Allows for underwater entrances.


 * Mountains
 * Height dependent generation.
 * Revamped, featuring some new small spruce trees on the slopes and ice or packed ice above the peaks.
 * Contain snow blocks, powdered snow and goats.


 * Mineral veins
 * Will be revamped, possibly to balance the generation of copper.
 * Some stone will look a little different and when that stone is mined, more of the ore will be found behind it.

Trivia

 * Swedish painter was one of the main inspirations behind the design and idea of the lush caves biome, specifically Bauer's 'Oskuldens Vandring' (Innocent's Journey) painting.
 * This is the first update to add a new ore to the overworld since Java Edition 12w21a in 2012 for Java Edition 1.3.1 and Pocket Edition v0.9.0 alpha in 2014 when emerald was added.
 * This is the first update to add a real-world metal into the game since Java Edition Classic 0.0.14a in 2009, which brought both iron and gold and Pocket Edition v0.3.0 alpha in 2012 which brought iron.
 * Although the axolotl will be the first amphibian mob implemented into Minecraft, it was not the first announced one, since frogs were announced during the 2019 biome vote.
 * Despite ores being shown to emit light during the reveal of this update, this was later confirmed to be just for demonstration purposes, in order to give a much more clearer vision for viewers, and not for the final version. In the final version, caves will be much darker than shown.
 * The Telescope, a new upcoming item crafted from amethyst shards and copper, is commonly associated with the Optifine Zoom, a mod widely used by Java Edition players.

Minecraft Live 2020
Screenshots of the Caves and Cliffs Update from Minecraft Live 2020: