Chart lining up Y-coordinate values (left) to block layers (right).
Altitude is a measurement of vertical distance, or distance along the Y-axis.
Περιεχόμενα
Definition[]
Altitude is defined as "the height of anything above a given planetary reference plane, especially above sea level on earth."[1]
In Minecraft, altitude is commonly expressed as the number of block layers above the bottom of the game environment, which is layer zero (0). For instance, sea level is recognized as block layer 62, and clouds appear at layer 127.
Altitude may also be expressed as the bottom face of the block layer, the bottom most of which is at Y-coordinate 0, or Y=0. Sea level would appear at Y=63, and cloud level would appear at Y=128. The player can press F3 to see the Y-coordinate of the top face of the block on which they are standing, and the Y-coordinate of their eyes, which are located about 1.6 blocks above their feet. For example, a player standing at sea level will see the Y-coordinate of their eyes as approximately 64.6.
Limits[]
The maximum height.
The top of the game environment is layer 255, and the top face of the highest block that can be placed is at Y=256.
The maximum height a player can possibly reach is Y=2,147,483,647, which is the largest value of a signed integer on a 32-bit system. Beyond this limit, the game may become unresponsive or even crash. The highest achievable height in Console Edition is y=511 due to an invisible wall.
In contrast, any player who falls below the altitude of Y=-60 will receive 4 (
) damage every half second and eventually die, even in Creative mode. However, if a player is made invincible, they will continue to fall well beyond this limit, except in Pocket Edition where the player can spend lots of time below Y=0 without taking damage.
Natural resources and altitude[]
Features in the landscape of the Overworld are found at different altitudes, as shown in the graph below. There is also an interactive chart.
Note that these charts utilize the logarithmic scale, which means a slight difference in the Y-coordinate represents a large change in the relative frequency of a block type.
Some observations:
- Looking at water, the amount at layer 62 (sea level) is obvious. Moving down, the amount quickly decreases at layers 56 and 48, the usual depth of river and ocean biomes, respectively.
- There are corresponding peaks in the amount of clay beneath them.
- Between layers 33 and 12, most water is falling down sub-ocean ravines, spreading out on the lava-filled bottom at layer 10 and producing most of the naturally-occurring obsidian.
- Ores and gravel (not shown) usually occur as a fixed percentage of the amount of stone (also not shown), tapering off at the ends of their allowed generation range.
- This is why coal and iron follow parallel tracks between layers 5 and 60.
- The one exception is lapis lazuli ore, which has a linear progression up to a peak at layers 13-14.
See the following table for a textual description of resources by altitude and tools needed to gather them.
| Landscape feature | Complete layer range[note 1] | Most common layers[note 2] | Tool needed to obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal ore | 0-114 | 5-66 | Wooden pickaxe or better |
| Gravel | 1-115 | 5-56 | Non required
but faster with any shovel |
| Dirt Grass block Mycelium |
0-126 | 5-80 | Non required
but faster with any shovel |
| Sand | 2-112 | 43-63 | Non required
but faster with any shovel |
| Water | 1-111 | 48-62 | Bucket |
| Iron ore | 0-63 | 2-58 | Stone pickaxe or better |
| Gold ore | 0-31 | 4-29 | Iron pickaxe or better |
| Lapis lazuli ore | 0-30 | 11-17 | Stone pickaxe or better |
| Lava | 0-85 | 4-10 | Bucket |
| Emerald ore | 4-32 | 4-29 | Iron pickaxe or better |
| Diamond ore | 0-15 | 4-13 | Iron pickaxe or better |
| Redstone ore[note 3] | 0-15 | 4-13 | Iron pickaxe or better |
| Bedrock | 0-4 | 0-2 | Only breakable in Creative mode |
Other naturally occurring features appear at different altitudes, but all of these features are random and will only appear in conjunction with another block and the proper environment.
| Landscape feature | Requires |
|---|---|
| Grass | Dirt/grass and light |
| Sugar cane | Dirt/grass/sand and water |
| Wood | Dirt and light |
| Cactus | Sand |
| Flowers | Dirt and light |
| Mushrooms | Dry land and darkness |
| Clay | Sand |
| Obsidian | Lava source and water |
| Cobblestone | Lava and water, dungeons and jungle temples |
| Moss stone | Dungeons, jungle temples, and mega taiga forests |
The Nether[]
A similar graph, showing the distribution of blocks unique to the Nether:
| Landscape feature | Complete layer range | Most common layers | Implement needed to obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherrack | Layers 1-126 | Layers 4-123 | Wooden pickaxe or better |
| Soul sand | Layers 14-81 | Layers 58-64 | None |
| Glowstone | Layers 2-120 | Layers 98-106 | None |
| Nether brick | Layers 19-86 | Layers 48-66 | Wooden pickaxe or better |
| Nether quartz ore | Layers 7-117 | Layers 9-115 | Wooden pickaxe or better |
Video[]
History[]
| Classic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | The altitude of the map was 64 blocks total. Players could build 32 blocks up or down from sea level. | |||
| Alpha | ||||
| ? | Solid blocks can be placed from layer 0 to layer 127. | |||
| Beta | ||||
| 1.6 | Solid blocks can no longer be placed on layer 127. However, beds, signs, torches and other non-solid blocks can be placed on layer 127. | |||
| Entities are no longer invisible when above the build limit; instead, they turned black. | ||||
| July 19, 2011 | Notch, on his Twitter feed before the Adventure Update, posted a picture showing his experimentation with height limits and terrain generation up to 512, featuring a mountain much higher than normal mountains. | |||
| 1.8 | The player's view distance decreases in lower altitudes. | |||
| Entities are no longer black when above the build limit. | ||||
| Previously, the sea level was at layer 63. Now, it is at layer 62. Players who have maps created before this update will find one-block-high "waterfalls" at the edges of the terrain previously generated when moving into new, post-Beta 1.8 terrain. | ||||
| Official release | ||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w07a | The height limit was doubled from 127 to 255, though structures did not yet generate above this layer. | ||
| The change in height was introduced along with the switch from the Region file format to the new Anvil file format. | ||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Amplified world type added (attempts to use the full 255 height). | ||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The height limit message will now appear on top of the hotbar, the place that the message "Press **** to dismount" will also appear when you're riding a mob. | ||
| Pocket Edition | ||||
| 1.0 | build 1 | The height limit was doubled from 127 to 255. | ||
Issues[]
Issues relating to “Altitude” are maintained on the issue tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- The highest possible altitude the player can legitimately climb to is Y=256, although explosions and elytra launchers can blast the player far beyond this limit.
- In The Nether, mushrooms can generate at Y=128, above the bedrock.
