Badlands

The badlands (formerly called the mesa) is a rare warm biome, typically bordered by desert, savanna and ocean biomes. It is one of the most diverse biomes in the game, having a total of six variations.

Description
The badlands biome, along with its variants, are comprised of a red sand floor and large mounds of terracotta, coming in layers of various colors. The sand and terracotta give way to red sandstone, stone, and ores a few layers down. Cacti and dead bushes dot the landscape, along with uncommon lakes. Abandoned mineshafts generate at much higher Y-levels in these biomes, oftentimes exposed to the sky, and are made of dark oak wood planks and fences rather than oak. Additionally, gold ore generates at Y-level 79 rather than 32, and at much higher rates as well, making badlands caverns an excellent source of gold.

River biomes cutting through badlands plateaus can give the appearance of a large canyon, and can pose a fall damage hazard if the player is not careful. Should badlands biomes generate freestanding, they will be surrounded by a thin desert, serving as a border. This desert border does not appear if badlands border an ocean, nor does it appear if the Eroded Badlands variant generates next to an adjacent land biome.

While the badlands biomes are rich in resources and building materials, survival may be difficult, as no passive mobs spawn in this biome. Trees are rare as well, only appearing in a few variants of the biome. Like deserts, lakes generate infrequently, limiting water sources and making farming potentially troublesome. As it is a dry biome, it never rains in the badlands, meaning lightning strikes are impossible (though rain can still fall and lightning can still strike in river biomes cutting through badlands), but the usual darkening of the sky (and hostile mob spawning during thunderstorms) still occurs during inclement weather.

The colors of specific layers (bands) of terracotta in this biome is the same in all badlands biomes found in one particular world. Colors of terracotta bands are determined using only the first 48 bits of the 64-bit world seed on Java and Legacy Console editions. The terracotta band colors repeat every 64 blocks on the Y-axis, and the Y-level of a particular band of terracotta can vary by as much as 4 blocks on the Y-axis. Variations of the Y-level of a terracotta band is done by the X-axis and doesn't use the Z-axis, meaning that if a layer of white terracotta generates at y71 at x200 and y72 at x400, it will be the same regardless of the Z coordinate. One may note chunk patterns when the terracotta banding jumps one Y-level along a particular X axis. Often, the very top layer of stained terracotta is replaced with regular terracotta; this is most clearly seen on plateaus. Additionally, if terracotta generates underwater it is replaced with orange terracotta as the top layer.

In Bedrock Edition, there are only 32-bit seeds, so badlands terracotta layers will be completely different, even if using the same seed. The same terracotta banding is found in all badlands biomes on the same world/seed. The Y-level of a particular layer of terracotta is varied at random.

Variants
Along with the regular badlands, there are five biome variants, for a total of six different badlands biomes.

Badlands Plateau
Badlands Plateau features large hills comprised of terracotta, in different-colored layers. The hills rise up about 20-30 blocks above sea level, and flatten at the top, much like real plateaus. The top of the plateau is typically covered in dead bushes. The sides of the plateau can occasionally reveal caverns and abandoned mineshafts.

Modified Badlands Plateau
Compared to the regular Badlands Plateau, Modified Badlands Plateau features smaller plateaus and somewhat harsher terrain, mimicking a larger plateau that has weathered down over time. Desert biomes will not generate as a thin edge when this variant generates alongside other biomes; eroded badlands will replace them. Modified Badlands Plateau is the second rarest biome in Minecraft, after Modified Jungle Edge.

Wooded Badlands Plateau
Wooded Badlands Plateau generates similarly to the regular Badlands Plateau, though the top layers of terrain are occasionally replaced by grass and coarse dirt, with oak trees growing. The grass and oak leaves take on a dull greenish-brown color, giving it a dead appearance. This variant is a rare source of wood in the otherwise barren badlands. The forest begins generating at roughly Y-level 82.

Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau
Similar to the Modified Badlands Plateau, the Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau has a weathered appearance and features smaller plateaus and more erratic terrain, meaning significantly fewer oak trees are able to generate at the top layers. Desert biomes will not generate as a thin edge when this variant generates alongside other biomes; eroded badlands will replace them.

Eroded Badlands
Eroded Badlands features unique formations of terracotta, coming in tall, narrow spires rising up from the red sand floor. This biome is intended to resemble Utah's famous Bryce Canyon, which features these sorts of spires (known as hoodoos) across its landscape.