A dark cave. This is where one will most likely hear ambience sounds.
Ambience (sometimes called cave noises) is a set of sounds that occasionally plays when the player is in close proximity to a dark cave. They were made by C418, who also composed Minecraft's music. Ambient sounds can be played in any dimension, including The Nether and The End and can be heard in both singleplayer and Multiplayer. Despite their name, they are not sounds that one would expect to hear inside of a cave, such as falling pebbles or dripping water, but rather supernatural noises frequently likened to demonic roars, vehicles, ringing bells, or instruments.
For ambient sound to play, the game requires a space of only 1x1x1 blocks positioned 10 - 20 blocks away from the player in any direction, and completely filled with a light level less than eight without any lighting from the sky (the ambience will more likely play from the direction of lower levels because of a lower light level). The space does not need to be sealed off — a sound can even play from a space that the player can actually see — nor does the player need to be underground to hear it. The sounds can also come from player-created spaces, even if that space is a box near the clouds.
The Sounds
Ambient sounds are found in the resources/newsound/ambient/cave from the .minecraft folder. They randomly play in a normal, lower or higher pitch.
- Cave 1 - Echoing steam train whistle
- Cave 2 - Angelic singing
- Cave 3 - Low pitch orchestra
- Cave 4 - Demonic roar / Wind echoing in a tunnel
- Cave 5 - Ringing
- Cave 6 - A car passing by / Other engine
- Cave 7 - A gong ringing quietly
- Cave 8 - Devilish whiff / Blaze breathing
- Cave 9 - An aeroplane flying in distance
- Cave 10 - Echoing bang & violin screech
- Cave 11 - A subway train passing by
- Cave 12 - Loud bell
- Cave 13 - Demonic grunt
History
As of snapshot 12w07a, the map format was updated to the Anvil format, which now allows ambience to be heard in Multiplayer.
Ambience was known to play only in 3x3x3 spaces or larger, but at least now they can be heard playing in 1x1x1 or larger spaces.
Bugs
- Sometimes it doesn't matter how far the player is from the space.
- As of snapshot 12w07a, building height is increased, but dynamic lighting does not work above the old 128 block limit without blocks, causing ambience to play.
Trivia
- Ambience is not an indicator of nearby ore, underground structures, mobs, etc. Following them can still lead the player to such things indirectly, since they emanate from unlit caves.
- Although these sounds can be scary to some players, there is nothing dangerous about them. They only play in deep darkness. If you do not want to hear the sounds, light the caves you find.
- Cave sound 8 might sound like a blaze but if you think about it you can tell it is different. Don't get fooled by this.