Tutorials/Best biomes for homes

One of the most important things about a shelter is where it is. Here you'll learn about the biomes to build your base in and the pros and cons. Please note that this is currently under construction.

General Issues
There are some issues that are common to several biomes, offering benefits or disadvantages for any biome where they apply.

Pros

 * Flat -- relatively easy to build on, easy to fight or evade mobs.
 * Plentiful wood -- easy start for crafting and building.
 * Scenery -- Some biomes are particularly spectacular, to the point where this can be a reason in itself to build there.
 * Villages -- NPC villages can be traded with, and provide farms early on. However, they also attract zombies, and if the player stays nearby overnight, the zombies are likely to kill off the villagers (if not the player).

Cons

 * Crowded -- some biomes are simply hard to get around due to too many trees or hills.
 * Heights -- mountainous (and jungle) biomes offer greater chance of falling to one's death, and may make it more difficult to build farms or homes on the surface. Mobs may be hard to avoid, or collect in valleys.  Lavaflows may also be hazardous.  For advanced players, Ender Pearls may be helpful.
 * No/Few Animals -- some biomes do not spawn animals during worldgen. Others lack grass, so animals cannot spawn over time.
 * Scarce Stone -- some biomes have little if any stone available on the surface, making for a difficult start.
 * Scarce Wood -- some biomes have few or no trees, making for a difficult start.
 * Shaded -- where leaf cover is widespread, mobs may spawn even during the day.
 * Snowy -- in snowy biomes, sugar cane is likely to drop quickly, and the water blocks hydrating farms will freeze if not protected. However, snow and ice can be harvested.
 * Watery -- hard to get around or escape mobs, difficult to build large farms or structures. A boat can help, bridges can be built, and advanced players can use the new (1.8) Depth Strider enchantment.  However, mobs will not spawn on water.

Extreme Hills
One of the most spectacular biomes, with arches and stone cliffs. Also one of the most difficult to get around. The Extreme Hills is better for building bases in the hills, not on the hills. Large surface caves, floating mountains, and overhangs are easily found. Snow falls when over y=95, allowing for snow farms and ice farms in this biome.

Pros

 * Scenery : A wonderful cinematic world. Easily to see a Waterfall (and also "lava-fall").
 * Emerald Ore is scattered underground, providing a helpful start for future trading. There is also quite a bit of exposed coal and stone.
 * One of the better biomes to farm ice and snow. The farm must be built over y=95, but most mountains reach far beyond that height.
 * Exposed stone makes it easier for beginning players to advance into a new set of gear and building material.
 * Nice way to find lava without having to go down deep into a cavern, as lava will commonly spawn on the surface and allow you to build whatever you need with it (Cobblestone generator, Nether Portal, mob farm, etc.)

Cons

 * Heights. Falling will kill many depending on the height. The vibrant environment of the Extreme Hills makes it hard to find an existing landmark to know where your inventory's contents are. The terrain is not easy to explore to get to your items very quickly, and getting there will take a lot of hunger and food.
 * Rather hard to build with the hilly terrain.
 * Hard to find Sugar Cane due to the lack of apparent open lakes.
 * There are only few trees, which is a necessity for beginning players.
 * Monster Eggs (releasing Silverfish) are also scattered underground, which is dangerous for the unprepared.

Useful Resources
Cobblestone, Snow, Ice, Stone, Emerald, Coal

Tips

 * To avoid Silverfish, see how long it takes to mine the supposed Stone block. If it takes too long or takes the same time with any/without a tool, it is a Monster Egg. Consult the Monster Egg page for more information.
 * To obtain more wood, gathering saplings or building you house near a wooded biome (like a forest) is advised.
 * Watch for the falls. Boots enchanted with Feather Falling are strongly advised.

Swampland
The Swampland offers flat space (admittedly much of it is flooded), plenty of trees, water, and clay. Witch huts appear here, and slimes spawn on the surface. Mushrooms are fairly common, allowing for early mushroom stew. Lily pads are common and useful. Blue orchids are exclusive to swamps. The water also interferes with the spread of fire.

Pros

 * Flat surfaces
 * Slimes, which will drop slimeballs upon death. Slimeballs are used to craft sticky pistons and slime blocks, making this biome useful for redstone-knowledgeable players.
 * Witch huts will spawn witches continuously. This allows for witch farming, which brings farming of redstone, sugar, glowstone and pre-brewed potions.
 * Fire does not spread in this biome.

Cons

 * Extremely flooded. It is very hard to attempt to build anything here without reforming the landscape.
 * Depending on your equipment and skill level, the extra slimes will be relatively overwhelming.
 * If you are bringing any tamed cats, dogs and/or any other animal through the region on leads, they may become stuck under a lily pad and suffocate.

Useful Resources
Clay, wood, sugar cane, vines, mushrooms, slimeballs, lily pads, blue orchids

Tips

 * Consider building bridges out of lily pads or other blocks.
 * Do not use your boat unless there's a clear lake of water. The boat usually gets broken by lily pads in the smaller, narrower ponds and the boat has a much harder time navigating in narrow, smaller bodies.
 * A squid farm is feasible here, although the terrain makes it awkward to build large, symmetrical tanks for the squid to spawn in.

Plains
The Plains is a good biome for a player's first house. The lack of obstruction makes it fairly quick to walk or sprint around. The flat ground makes it easy to create a large house, and NPC Villages are common. Horses spawn here, allowing for even faster transportation. There is a lot of tall grass, making it easy to get seeds and start a wheat farm. This biome has many gullies and short hills. Wood is scarce, but Forests are likely nearby. If an NPC village is handy, it can provide a quick start to farming, and if needed, the houses can be mined for wood.

Pros

 * Flat landscape for easy building and traveling.
 * Plentiful Tall Grass for initial seed farms.
 * The presence of animals offers much-needed meat and resources like Leather and Wool. As compared to other "green biomes" like the Forest, the spawn rate of passive mobs is not increased, but the lack of obstruction makes them easier to find and offers more spawning areas that are usually covered with trees.
 * Villages that offer great trades and potential blacksmith loot.
 * Horses spawn exclusively here or in the Savannah. They offer great mobility and combat advantage.
 * The Sunflower Plains offer sunflowers.
 * The abundant Tall Grass can sometimes hide you from monsters (or surprise them), even when you're on the move
 * Both Water and Lava lakes spawn here, often easily identified due to the flat landscape, and can provide plentiful resources for various advanced tasks.

Cons

 * Scarce wood (although Forests nearby will take care of that).
 * Many open caves which can disrupt the flat landscape.
 * When in combat you will often find yourself swinging your sword at the Tall Grass rather than at your opponent.
 * Skeletons can shoot you down due to the lack of obstruction.
 * Tall Grass can clutter your Inventory with seeds, and can be annoying to clear out in the case of building a large structure.
 * Players and animals can accidentally fall into the few Lava lakes, and die within seconds.

Useful Resources
Sunflowers, Seeds, Lava.

Tips

 * Consider building your first or permanent house here, with resources you've acquired from other biomes.
 * It is recommended to not kill all the villagers or leave the vulnerable to zombies by breaking their houses for wood. Eventually, Iron Golem Farms or fully automatic Wheat Farms will all become possible through villagers, not to mention they offer renewable diamond equipment.

Cold Taiga
The Cold Taiga is a snowy, cold biome. It is place with lots of snow, ice and trees. Wolves will spawn here, and if you tame them, they will defend you, love you and protect you. Snow falls instead of rain, so snow farms are also possible. These biomes tend to lack Sugar Cane due to the water freezing, causing it to uproot. Because of this, many of YOUR water sources may freeze up too, which can be annoying. Snow on top of your shelter can annoy you, and the tall Spruce Trees may be too tall to be harvested easily, and if having fewer leaves, they may drop few saplings.

Pros

 * Plentiful wood in the tall trees.
 * Ice Farms and Snow Farms can be built here and, unlike even the Extreme Hills, do not require to be above y=95.
 * Wolves can be found and tamed here.

Cons

 * The Cold Taiga is inconvenient to farm in, because much of the irrigation water freezes into ice. Sugar Cane also cannot be farmed here due to the necessary water source being frozen over.
 * It snows a lot and that is uncontrollable, and can leave annoying snow patches on your structures.
 * It is rather hard to find Sheep here as Wolves will kill them.

Useful Resources
Snow, Ice, Wood, Ferns

Tips

 * It is advised not to build something here unless you want to let it be covered in snow.
 * Do not attack wolves as they will group up like Zombie Pigmen and possibly kill you... not to mention it being foolish to make enemies out of potential allies.
 * To mine out the tall trees, try to build staircases or pillars.

Mega Taiga
The Mega Taiga is a variant of the regular Taiga which spawns with huge trees that have few leaves but can give you a stack of wood from each. Coarse Dirt spawn here making the area look dead (or aseptic). However, there are many ferns and double ferns that may otherwise be rare and Podzol, which is a good alternative to Mycelium (since Mushrooms can be placed on it in daytime). Moss stone spawns naturally here making it so you don't need shears (for Vines) to craft it and because it is a variant of the taiga, Wolves spawn here!

Pros

 * Comes with Podzol, the only place to find it.
 * Comes with the rare Moss Stone which can be useful for aesthetic buildings.
 * Wolves can be found and tamed here.
 * Coarse Dirt can be found here (although they can also be crafted).
 * Plenty of Wood to go around, possibly more than the Forest but harder to harvest.

Cons

 * Trees have relatively few leaves (hence Saplings) and can be hard to harvest due to their height and lack of foliage to stand on.
 * Other than offering the rare Podzol, Coarse Dirt or Moss Stone blocks, there is not much that this biome offers in terms of progressing through the game.

Useful Resources
Podzol, Moss Stone, Ferns, Wood

Tips

 * The trees give off Spruce wood. Since it's possible you may have started out somewhere with Oak trees, keep in mind your inventory might be cluttered if you collect different types of wood and their plank variants.
 * Be wary of the environment. Once you cut the tree down it will not come back, as the trees spawned here are a unique shape that sapling-grown Spruce trees will not take.

Desert
The Desert is a rogue biome which many players dislike. Non-renewable Sand can be obtained in large quantities, and Cacti may otherwise be rare in other biomes. No water spawns here, which poses a problem if spawned deep within these biomes. Also, no passive mobs spawn here with the chunk generation, and no grass means no animal spawn after. No trees spawn here, either. But many advanced players like this biome for its deserted landscape and desired Sandstone. Though not the best biome for the beginner, it is still a nice biome to live in after you've got your initial house set up somewhere else.

Pros

 * Desert Temples spawn here.
 * Flat terrain makes it harder for monsters or enemy players to sneak up on you.
 * Flat terrain also means that building is easier.
 * Desert villages spawn here.
 * No rain (which some players find useless but to add lag).
 * Lots of natural Cacti and natural Dead Bushes.
 * Lots of Sand means you can get lots of Sandstone, TNT and Glass. Sand is quite rare in other biomes.

Cons

 * Little water (except in Desert M, a variant of desert) which means the inability to perform many game tasks, especially no farming.
 * No Grass, which means no Flower Farming, Animal Farming, Crop Farming, etc.
 * No passive animals spawn here when you first come, and lack of Grass means they won't spawn later, either.
 * No trees or reliable way to naturally get Wood.
 * Sand can suffocate you while mining near the surface.
 * Like the Plains, you can get shot down by Skeletons due to the lack of foliage shielding its shots.

Useful Resources
Sand, Cacti, Dead Bushes, Sandstone, Sugar Cane

Tips

 * Spawning in a Desert is a rough time. For newer players, it is recommended to get a new world or accept the great challenge to come.
 * Coming to the Desert to mass-collect the sand in bulk is great if you need sand.
 * If you find a Desert and expect to need Sand in the future, set up a base in somewhere more habitable and come back later.

Mushroom Island
The Mushroom Island is very rare, it is rarely connected to the "mainland" in any way. So why is it so great? Because no monsters naturally spawn here, no matter where you are. Dungeons and Abandoned Mineshafts still will, however. It is completely safe for new players, and still great for experienced players. The one mob that does spawn there, Mooshrooms, can be sheared for red mushrooms or "milked" with a bowl to get mushroom stew, so it is an infinite food source! Finding one can be an amazing feat that many challenged players wish to do. The Mycelium is useful for growing mushrooms, and this is one of the two biomes with Huge Mushrooms (the other being Roofed Forests). It is not the greatest biome ever due to its lack of mob spawning, meaning that Mob Farms are not possible within these biomes. This also means that String, Rotten Flesh, Gunpowder, Bones and all good mob drops are unavailable in your reach. Trees also don't spawn here, meaning that wood is unavailable. Since Mushroom Islands are rare, search for the mainland, get wood and saplings, and immediately come back.

Pros

 * Mycelium, which functions like Podzol.
 * Mooshrooms spawn here, and give a reliable infinite food source.
 * Huge Mushrooms, both types, spawn here, allowing for more mushroom collecting and using the Mushroom Block as a building material.
 * No hostile mobs on land spawn, which means an overall safer experience.

Cons

 * No natural light-based mob spawning means creating a mob farm without a Spawner is impossible. This means drops such as Bones (which speed up crop growth), String (which craft Bows) cannot be gained here. You also will not be able to gain XP from hostile mobs
 * No Wood. No Wood means no first set of tools or Crafting Table or anything crafted with Cobblestone or Wood. No Wood also means no Bowls, and that negates the effect of Mushroom Stew.
 * Rarely connected to any other land, and if you spawned here for the first time, you will have a very hard time going to the mainland due to your hunger going down from swimming. You can use a Boat to travel the ocean, but you need Wood to craft that.

Useful Resources
Mycelium, Mushrooms, Mushroom Stew

Tips

 * Like the Desert, come back here after venturing to the mainland so you can have Wood to start your gameplay with.

Forest
The Forest is a good place for the beginner because it gives a lot of wood, but it doesn't have enough space between tree to build anything too big without cutting down a few. After getting a lot of wood, an advanced player may move out of the forest to a more convenient biome to build large houses or castles in. Note that for the beginning player, this is an extremely dangerous biome. The trees hide mobs and make it hard to avoid Creepers. Skeletons can snipe you down, leaving you mercilessly trying to run up to them but be shot. And because you probably don't have any String, you won't be able to fight back with a Bow.

Pros

 * Lots of wood, which is a resource both new and experienced players require, able to craft nearly every item or an item to unlock another item in the game.
 * High frequency of hills makes for a good scenery.
 * Though normal houses may be hard to build, a treehouse is always a good solution.
 * The density and low height of tree tops can provide a useful alternative mode of travel, especially at night, since spiders cannot climb past the leaves and other harmful mobs cannot find many ways to follow you - especially since they cannot jump over small gaps between trees. Just don't fall down!

Cons

 * Very inconvenient to build in.
 * Can be rather hard to find anything as there are trees blocking your view.
 * The frequent amount of trees and their randomness makes it hard to recognize one section of the forest from another, which can be bad for searching for items or remembering coordinates.
 * Mobs are prevalent here. Skeletons can shoot you from around-the-corner, Creepers can sneak up from you from behind trees, and undead mobs have plenty of shade to hide in.
 * Hard to run through due to the high amount of trees blocking your path.
 * The above con also means that horseriding here is near impossible. In a game mode where you must respect your health as much as possible, this will be almost like a landmine, as suffocation in the trees is very likely and hard to avoid without carefully travelling at speeds lower than simply sprinting without the horse.
 * Fire and Lightning strikes are an issue here.

Useful Resources
Wood, Flowers

Tips

 * Consider making this your resource base.
 * Be wary of fires. It's way worse here than in every other biome except for maybe the Jungle.

Mesa
The Mesa is beautiful, and boasts a lot of Hardened Clay. While only a select few variants have some useful trees to start out with, you'll want to come back here to enjoy the scenery. When not enjoying the scenery which allows many structures that look here and no where else, you can mine out the Hardened Clay for other projects. Like the Desert or Mushroom Island, start out somewhere else and return here when ready.

Pros

 * Hardened Clay and Stained Hardened Clay can be mined out here for future projects.
 * Scenery is great for building here in the natural plateau.
 * The only place where Red Sand can be found, which is useful for Red Sandstone, Glass or TNT.
 * Plenty of Cactus.

Cons

 * Not much surface-level or near-surface-level Stone.
 * It is rather hard to find Wood here, and while the Mesa F can have Oak Trees, relying on the chances of spawning there is not efficient.
 * Lack of passive mobs and therefore meats and their other products.

Useful Resources
Hardened Clay, Stained Hardened Clay, Dead Bushes, Red Sand, Red Sandstone, Cactus

Tips

 * Make sure to collect the Saplings from the trees in the Mesa F biome! You want to make sure you will never run out of trees or their saplings.
 * Use a Mineshaft to get down somewhere you can get Stone and ore.

Pros
Great source of ice and snow, these biomes are relatively rare (similarly to the mesa biomes) but are very nice to look at. Also, the hardened ice can be used for spawn areas for mob grinders.

Cons
No trees can spawn in them making it neither a resource area nor a living/project area because of the freezing ice.

A very interesting biome with its random giant spires of packed ice, and is very beautiful like the Mesa, but also like the Mesa, lacks resources. However if near a biome with more resources you could build an interesting base there. This biome is also good for building homes that are more for show than for function. The taller ice spikes can be made into a tower with some work, although, inside, it will be little more than a spiral staircase with a room on top. The smaller ones can also be chopped up and used to make an igloo. Practically though, this biome is not good for much. Also, this biome has two MAJOR problems:

1. No wood naturally spawns in the Ice Plains biome. This is a horrible place for a beginner to build a house because there is no wood, meaning the only way you can successfully live in the biome is if there is a biome with wood nearby that you can harvest wood from.

2. The Ice Plains biome is HORRIBLE for farms. Because the biome is so cold, water will freeze unless protected. This means that you cannot simply make an outside farm, as the water will freeze. This means that you will have to go through extra work to build your farm inside your house or underground. Also, since a farm would most likely have to be underground, no natural sunlight would be there to boost the crops's growth, meaning that you would have to go through extra trouble to get torches.

Useful Resources
Packed ice is a non-renewable resource exclusive to this biome. It is useful for making fast item or mob conveyers as, like normal ice, it is slippery and increases the speed of entities when being pushed by a water current. However, packed ice does not melt when exposed to a light source, nor does it become a water source block when broken.

Pros
Abundant supply of ink sacs, also no mobs (other than squids, and occasionally guardians) and ocean monuments spawn

Cons
Lack of land for building houses, also hard to get around without a boat or boots with depth strider enchantment and the danger of guardians

Useful Resources
Water, ink sacs

Not the best place for living, advanced players may find it useful for Guardian farming.

Pros
Loads of wood, Jungle Temples that have loads of loot in them (they can serve as houses, too), and Ocelots.

Cons
Limited space for building due to the thick tree foliage, fall damage is easy if you fall off a tree, very hard to navigate through, causes lag with far lower settings than in other biomes

Useful Resources
Jungle Wood, Vines, Melons, Loot from Jungle Temple, Cocoa Beans from Pods, and Ocelots

Although the Jungle may not be the best place to start for new players, there is a lot of wood to cut down, as jungle trees are the biggest trees of Minecraft. Also, if you can avoid the traps, the Jungle Temples have loads of good loot to take. The only problem is that the leaves are everywhere, and it's extremely hard to navigate, so it can be confusing. Just don't forget the Vines can be used more even than Swamps to avoid depleting Hunger - or suffering from a long Drop - as much as usual. And mind the Mobs which can Spawn on horizontal surfaces of Trees.

Pros
Trees are rather abundant and horses can spawn, which provides fast transport, Villages may spawn (Even better if they have a blacksmith)

Cons
Lack of water from rain makes farms slightly harder to make. Passive mobs (Sheep, Cows etc.) do rarely spawn!

Useful Resources
Acacia and Oak Trees, Horses, NPC Villages, Double Tall Grass for Seeds, all other Passive Mobs

This is a no Rain version after Grassland, with Plateaus for greater - higher - range of building. Abundant Trees are never quite as thick as anywhere else, with less Vegetation than a Swamp, to obscure vision. Yet since they still come in 2 varieties, it's a wide open similar situation to Forests. In fact, the highest elevations in MC are to be found here, and may in that way tax Laggier C's. But such Mountainous views to others could be well worth it. The diversity of views possible offer flat, semi terraced, and sheer vistas.

Pros
Lots of wood, large mushrooms, and if you are on the "roof" of the forest, safety (mobs don't spawn on the leaf blocks)

Cons
Can be difficult to navigate, and leaves block out most of the sky, allowing undead mobs to be active throughout the day. Usually dark enough on the forest floor to spawn even more monsters, making it dangerous

Useful Resources
Dark Oak wood, Mushrooms

This is the only place that Dark Oak trees naturally spawn. Beginning players can chop a single tree down for more than half a stack of wood, plus saplings and the occasional apple. If you have villagers with the coal trade and are using a version older than 1.8, these biomes can become emerald mines due to all the Charcoal you can make. This biome suffers of the same navigation issues as a regular forest, plus all the monsters that'll be hanging out under the trees during the daytime; this makes the roofed forest a dangerous place to live.