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 that different areas with varying heights, temperatures, humidity ratings and foliage colors are created.

Before the Halloween Update, when a map was generated it had either a Snowy or Grassy theme. But after the update, a single world includes all themes in a logical fashion determined from the biomes graph.

Biome Types
Biome types may be easily distinguished by the differentiating grass and leaf colors in conjunction with the kind of blocks present, like cacti in deserts and pine trees in the taiga. They are pseudo-randomized based on given seeds.

There are nine biomes in Minecraft 1.1.

Forest


A biome with many trees, occasional hills and a fair amount of tall grass. Oak and birch trees can be found in this biome. (See Tree for more details with trees in Minecraft.)

Desert


A barren biome consisting mostly of sand, large dunes, dead bushes and cacti. No rain occurs in this biome. Sugar Cane can be found sometimes next to pools of water. It has been told (but not been proven) that more hostile mobs like Zombies and Skeletons spawn in the desert than in any other biome. NPC Villages will spawn commonly, and Desert Wells are found exclusively in this biome.

Plains


A relatively flat biome with rolling hills and a large amount of tall grass (more than in any other type of land). The occasional tree does exist, although more in clusters. Gullies and water holes are commonly found in plains. NPC villages commonly spawn in this biome.

Swamp


A flat biome containing swamp-like trees often covered with vines, and many shallow pools of clay, sand and dirt. The water, grass, leaves, vines and the whole biome in general is much darker. The water has floating lily pads in it. Mushrooms and stalks of sugar cane are quite common in swamps, and trees can sometimes spawn in the water in this biome. A player should be very careful if exploring this biome with a boat, since crashing into lily pads can very easily destroy the boat.

From Beta 1.8 to Minecraft 1.0, due to the very dark water and grass in this biome, there was a drastic color shift from the grass and water on the borders with other biomes. From 1.1 onwards, the transition has been made less abrupt.

Tundra


A relatively flat biome covered in snow. It does not rain in this biome - it snows instead. Lakes and rivers are frozen over, and trees are scarce. Hills are formed, but are more mountainous. Sugar cane does spawn in this biome, but it tends to quickly get uprooted when chunks load because of the ice that spreads over open water sources. Tundra biomes are often significantly larger than other biomes in the area. Recently, oak trees in the Tundra were changed to pine trees.

Taiga


A biome with many pine/spruce trees and dull grey-blue grass. Snowfall occurs in this biome, forming snow and ice. Hills occur frequently, and Wolves are found on this biome more commonly than others.

Mountain


A highly mountainous biome with dull grey-blue grass and a few oak trees. Prior to this update, mountains were found everywhere, but they now are uncommon outside of this biome. Cliffs, peaks, valleys, waterfalls, spectacular overhangs, and many other structures are formed, creating many outstanding views for players to admire. More underground cave systems are present here than any other biome.

Falling is a significant risk, as there are many ledges and sudden drops, often not visible, and the drops can be large enough to cause severe or fatal fall damage.

Ocean


A very large, flat open biome made entirely of water, with underwater reliefs such as small mountains and plains and usually includes sand and clay at its bottom. Ocean biomes can go down to 30 blocks deep and the occasional island may exist, as a small version of other biome types. Entrances to underground ravines can be also found at the bottom of the ocean, as well as Abandoned Mine Shafts (whose upper parts are mostly flooded due to the proximity of the ocean). Oceans can be over 25,000 blocks wide.

Mushroom Biome


This rare biome consists of flat landscapes and high hills, has mycelium instead of grass as its common surface block, and tends to appear as islands far from the spawn of a map and any significant landmass. It is the only biome where huge mushrooms can spawn naturally, and where mushrooms can grow in full sunlight.

No mobs other than Mooshrooms (including hostile mobs at night) spawn in this biome. This includes caves, abandoned mines, etc... below mushroom biomes, meaning exploring underground is relatively safe. Monster Spawners will still spawn mobs, however, and caution should still be taken when exploring (as sometimes "fingers" of other biomes project into mushroom biomes).

Contrary to popular belief, trees can be grown in this biome, but not next to mycelium, which will take over the dirt square from the sapling and un-plant the sapling. A player can create a mycelium-free zone with cobblestone and grow a tree in the middle of it on freshly placed dirt. A player is also able to place saplings on mycelium and use bonemeal on the sapling to grow it. Otherwise, it is advised to collect wood (and saplings) before settling here.

As of 1.1.0 player made structures in this biome are not exempt from the "no mob spawn" rule: All terrain within the biome will not spawn hostile or passive mobs, even if created by the player.

Jungle


A biome added in 1.2.1. It consists of tall trees that are two blocks wide along with many small ones. The landscape is lush green, and quite hilly, with many small lakes of water. Because of these hills, it is possible for a tree to reach the "building limit" (fixed as of snapshot 12w06a - the building limit has now been effectively tripled above ground) (See Altitude for more details). This is the only biome containing ferns since their removal in Beta, and the jungle trees. Jungles will only generate in chunks generated after 1.2.1. Leaf "bushes" covers most of the forest floor. There are large amounts of vines that can be climbed (if the vines are directly attached to any block behind it), allowing the player to reach higher areas of the jungle easily.

As of Snapshot 12w04a, Ocelots were added and spawn only in jungles.

Technical Biomes
Technical biomes are found alongside or within their bigger counterparts. They are not considered as "true" biomes, but more of as part of the terrain itself. However, these technical biomes serve to be important in the Minecraft world, as they make the land and water look more appealing.

There are seven known technical biomes.

River


A biome that consists of water blocks that form in a curvy pattern like rivers. Rivers cut through terrain or separate the main biomes. They attempt to join up with ocean on the other side, but will sometimes loop around to the same area of ocean. They have no current. Rivers have also been known to be a reliable source of clay. Although a technical biome, they are referred as biomes in the code.

Beach


Generated on the shores of almost any body of water, beaches are composed of sand. Beaches penetrate the landscape, removing the original blocks and placing in sand blocks.

For the history of beaches, check out the main page of beaches.

Mushroom Shore


Mushroom shores represents the flat shore area of the Mushroom Biome.

Frozen Ocean


Found near snowy biomes, frozen oceans contain ice on the top layer of water.

Mountain Edge


Acts as a fringe between mountains and most other biomes.

Hills


Hills are generated within certain biomes: Forest, Taiga, Desert, Jungle, and Tundra. Each separate area of hill biome spawns one hill in the shape of the area. Tundra biomes spawn mountains instead of hills.

Basin


Basins are made mostly of stone, but also of other blocks, such as spots of dirt. In geology it would have come from increased erosion because they are unstable, tectonic areas. There is a large misconception in the community that these are errors, however they are an intended feature, and referred to as shields in the source code.

History
Biomes were added in Alpha 1.2.0, also known as the Halloween Update. In Beta 1.8, biomes got an overhaul, removing some biomes and others replaced with nine fractal-based biomes - some old, some new.

Difficulty
It can be difficult to play and gather sufficient resources if one starts in the middle of a biome with no trees, such as deserts, tundras, and especially oceans.

There have been multiple reports of players spawning on tiny islands in the middle of a vast ocean with no trees for several Minecraft days in any direction. It appears that these desert islands generate in the Ocean biome, where animals cannot spawn (on the water); sometimes the island spawns with no trees so players have to delete the world and start again, swim great distances to a landmass, or search for nearby underwater openings into abandoned mineshafts to acquire wood. Of course, this is no problem if the player uses Creative Mode.