A river going through a jungle.
A river running through a badlands plateaus, with a savanna biome in the bottom right.
A warm ocean biome with a coral reef visible.
| “ |
|
„ | |
| — Jens Bergensten[1] |
Biomes are regions in a world with varying geographical features, flora, heights, temperatures, humidity ratings, and sky and foliage colors. Biomes separate every generated world into different environments, such as forests, jungles, deserts, and taigas.
Temperature
The temperature influence in the shades of green for the grass, and of blue for the water
Biomes have a temperature value that determines if it snows, rains, or does not have either. The required values are less than 0.15 for snow, 0.15 - 0.95 for rain, or at least 1 for neither. These values can be used to determine the heights that snow generates in different biomes. The temperature also drops 0.0016 (1⁄600) per meter above the default sea level (Y=64), but does not change below sea level.
For example, mountains generate snow at Y=95, due to their highland climate, as their temperature value is 0.2. However, this only affects the transition from rain to snowfall. Dry biomes do not transition to rainy ones under any circumstance. For example, Savannas do not experience rain or snow due to their heat. The "sea level" setting of a customized world does not affect this.
Biomes are split into 5 categories based on their temperature: snow-covered, cold, temperate/lush, dry/warm, and neutral. They are almost always separated to prevent biomes with huge temperature differences being placed side-by-side (such as a snowy taiga next to a desert), and to allow biomes with similar temperatures to be placed next to each other more often. (Such as forests and swamps)
Generation
While biomes are split into 5 categories, generation of biomes between 1.7 and 1.13 is somewhat different. In general, land biomes generate in 3 different clusters. Cold, dry, and green biomes. Green biomes are often large, expansive, and continuous. Cold and dry biomes generate in slightly smaller clusters, but can still extend a thousand or more blocks. Cold biomes only consists of Snowy Tundra and Snowy Taiga. Dry biomes consists of Savannah and Desert. Green biomes consists of Plains, Dark Forest, Birch Forest, Forest, Taiga, Swamp and Mountains.
Four land biomes are rarer, Mushroom Fields generate in Ocean biomes, Badlands in dry biomes, and Jungle and Giant Tree Taiga generate in green biomes. However, Giant Tree Taiga, Jungles, and Badlands tend to be very expansive due to the rarity, and as such their variants are even more rare. These three land biomes may occasionally generate standalone separate from their parent biome clusters. In addition, an "edge" biome surrounds these three biomes. Jungle Edges separate Jungles from most other land biomes aside from regular Forest or Taiga (if bordering a Swamp the Jungle edge extends up to 3 chunks), and Desert separates Badlands from the rest of the land biomes except with Modified Badlands. Taiga surrounds Giant Tree Taiga in all cases except for Snowy Taiga.
The generation of Mushroom Fields uses Mushroom Fields Shore as its "technical" river biome and beach biome, but if a Deep Ocean touches a Mushroom Field biome then the Mushroom Field Shore biome doesn't generate.
The generation of Hill biomes and Modified biomes is done together when pasted onto the main biome types. Dark Forest uses Plains as its Hill biome. Plains generate small patches of Forest or Forest Hills. Ocean biomes may have spots of Deep Ocean biomes within it, while Deep Ocean biomes generate sparse islands with Plains or Forest. In the case of Modified Hills, if a biome type doesn't have a Modified Hills biome, such as warm ocean, only the regular biome type generates. Since 1.13, Modified biomes conform to an entire biome or can border a river.
In the Badlands, the Badlands Plateau is the actual main biome generated with the regular badlands as the Hills biome, however, the Badlands biome will generate on the edges of all badlands biome.
Rivers and beaches simply overwrite the land biome entirely.
The temperature of Ocean biomes is done completely separately from the land biome generation, meaning it is possible for a frozen ocean to generate next to a badlands biome. This was done in order to not have to change land biome generation in its entirety.
For Java and Legacy Console editions, the possible shapes of biomes can only use the first 24 bits of the 64 bit world seed, and biome shapes within a world seed can repeat beginning around 229 blocks from 0,0. The algorithms used to determine biome placements fail around 233 blocks, and as such, biomes can repeat every 234 blocks.
A technical quirk with the generation of Legacy Console biomes means that the generation of Hills, Modified biomes, Rivers, and Edge biomes (beaches, jungle edges, etc) are the same location/size even with changing the biome size on legacy console. The biome size option on Legacy console only adjusts the position of biome clusters/Oceans/Jungles/Badlands etc, but not the technical quirks with it. The Java option for large biomes/biome sizes does adjust the mutated, hill, and edge biomes but not rivers.
With Bedrock edition using 32-bit seeds and a different world generation algorithm, there are very few similarities between it and the 64 bit world generation. The positions of Mutated biomes, oceans (and islands), rare biomes (Jungles, Badlands, Mushroom Fields, Giant Tree Taiga), as well as specific biomes in cold or dry biome clusters, bear some geographical relationship with the equivalent positive value seed of the 64 bit generation. The biome shapes deviate significantly. However the specific generation of green biomes (swamps, roofed forests, etc) will be completely different on Bedrock.
Biome types
There are 67[JE only] or 66[BE only] biomes in the Overworld, 1 in The Nether, 5 [JE only] or 1[BE only] biomes in The End and 2 unused[JE only] or 3 unused[BE only] biomes, bringing the total number to 75[JE only] or 71[BE only] different biomes. Biomes can be distinguished by the grass, and leaf colors (water color also differ between biomes in the biome, along with the types of blocks present (e.g. types of trees or other plants like cacti, sand coverage in deserts). Biomes are pseudo-randomly generated using the map seed.
Biomes are separated into 6 categories. The snowy are marked in purple, cold in green, temperate/lush in orange, dry/warm in red, and the end in blue. The biomes which are not labeled are either neutral or unknown. Temperatures are given at sea level.
Snowy Biomes
In these biomes, it snows at any height; all sources of water exposed to the sky are frozen over. The foliage and grass is aqua, and the water is purple.
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Snowy Tundra 12
|
Temperature: 0.0
Snow, Snowfall, Oak Trees[Java Edition only], Ice, Spruce Trees, Igloos, Strays, White and some Black & White Rabbits, Polar Bears, Occasional Tall Grass, Villages, Pillager outposts |
An expansive, flat biome with a huge amount of snow. Sugar cane will generate in this biome, but can become uprooted when chunks load as the water sources freeze to ice. There are very few natural oak and spruce trees in this biome. No animal mobs other than rabbits and polar bears are able to spawn, however it is one of the few biomes where strays appear. In Bedrock Edition, this biome doesn't spawn monsters other than strays and skeletons, but spawners can still spawn monsters and zombie sieges can still occur. Due to the biome's size and scarcity of wood and animals, initial survival becomes difficult in comparison to other biomes. This is one of only two biomes where igloos naturally generate. Villages and pillager outposts may also generate here. |
|
Ice Spikes 140
|
Temperature: 0.0
Packed Ice, Ice, Snow, Snowfall, Snow Blocks, Strays, White and some Black & White Rabbits, Polar Bears, Ice Spikes |
A rare variation of the Snowy Tundra biome that features large spikes and glaciers of packed ice. Usually the spikes are 10 to 20 blocks tall, but some long, thin spikes can reach over 50 blocks in height. Almost all grass blocks in this biome are replaced with blocks of snow but occasional grass blocks can be found in hollows and under overhangs. Tall grass is very rare. Like the regular snowy tundra, no animal mobs other than rabbits and polar bears are able to spawn and strays appear at night. |
|
Snowy Taiga 30
|
Temperature: -0.5
Snow, Snowfall, Ice, Spruce Trees, Flowers, Wolves, White and some Black & White Rabbits, Foxes, Igloos, Villages[Bedrock Edition only], Pillager outposts, Sweet berry bushes |
Much like the regular Taiga, the Snowy Taiga is a relatively flat biome with large expanses of spruce trees, ferns, and their taller variants, generate here commonly, although tall grass can still be found. It is one of the few places where wolves and foxes will naturally spawn. One may also find an igloo nestled between the trees, making it one of only two biomes where igloos naturally generate. Villages[BE only] and outposts may also generate here. Villages use the same architecture as taiga villages but the villagers wear snowy biome outfits. |
|
Snowy Taiga Mountains 158
|
Temperature: -0.5
Spruce Trees, Snow, Snowfall, Ferns, Wolves, Sweet berry bushes, Foxes, White and some Black & White Rabbits |
The Snowy Taiga Mountains are not nearly as flat as their regular counterpart. Compared to regular Taiga Mountains, the mountains found in this biome are much steeper and more erratic. This large height differences make navigating the snowy taiga mountains biome quite dangerous. Also unlike their normal variant, igloos, villages and outposts do not generate here. |
|
Frozen River 11
|
Temperature: 0.0
Ice, Water, Sand, Clay, Seagrass, Rabbit, Polar Bear, Salmon, Drowned, Stray |
A river with a layer of ice covering its surface. It only generates when a River biome enters or meets a Snowy Tundra. Salmon spawn underwater while rabbits and polar bears spawn on ice. At night, Drowned can spawn below the ice with Strays on the surface. No other monsters can spawn here, even underground, except in a spawner. |
|
Snowy Beach 26
|
Temperature: 0.05
Sand, Snow, Snowfall, Ice, Buried Treasure, Shipwreck, rabbit |
Like a regular beach, one can find plenty of sand in this biome and buried treasure can be found. However, sand is covered in a layer of snow. Snowy beaches are often found when a snowy biome borders an ocean biome. No passive mobs other than rabbit will spawn in this biome. |
|
Cold biomes
In these biomes, it begins to snow above y=90 in mountains and stone shore, above y=120 in taiga and giant spruce taiga, and above y=150 in giant tree taiga. Otherwise, it rains. Foliage is aqua, with the water being indigo.
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Mountains 3
|
Temperature: 0.2
Oak Trees[JE only], Spruce Trees, Gravel, Flowers, Emerald Ore, Infested Stone, Llamas |
A highland biome (with some mountaintops reaching y=130 or even higher[JE only]) with a few scattered oak and spruce trees.[JE only] Cliffs, peaks, valleys, waterfalls, overhangs, floating islands, caverns, and many other structures exist here, offering outstanding views. This is one of the few biomes where llamas spawn naturally. Snowfall also occurs above certain heights, thus creating "snow caps" on the top of the mountains. Falling is a significant risk, as there are many steep ledges large enough to cause severe fall damage or even death. Mountains are the only biomes where emerald ore and silverfish can be found naturally. |
|
Gravelly Mountains 131
|
Temperature: 0.2
Spruce Trees[JE only], Oak Trees[JE only], Gravel, Llama, Emerald ore, Infested stone, Snow |
The mountains in this biome are slightly higher than in their regular counterpart, many of which reach into the clouds and are covered by snow peaks. The terrain is mainly composed of gravel, with small patches of grass here and there. Due to the low amount of grass, the population of spruce and oak trees in this biome is sparse.[JE only] When generating alongside an Ocean Biome, it can generate beaches. |
|
Wooded Mountains 34
|
Temperature: 0.2
Stone, Dirt, Llama, Emerald ore, Infested stone, Spruce Trees, Oak Trees |
This biome, usually found in the middle of regular mountains biome, generates much taller mountains, most of which will be covered by snow. The slopes are quite steep, which makes scaling these mountains difficult and dangerous. The peaks feature much more grass and spruce trees than the Gravelly Mountains, usually forming a small forest at the top. |
|
Gravelly Mountains+ 162
|
Temperature: 0.2
Spruce Trees, Oak Trees, Gravel, Llama, Emerald ore, Infested stone, Grass |
This variant of the Wooded Mountains biome removes its signature spruce tree covered peaks in favor of terrain covered mostly by gravel and stone, similar to the Gravely Mountains biome. Larger, deeper valleys are carved into the relatively barren landscape - only a few isolated trees can be found here. Just like the Gravelly Mountains Biome, when generating alongside an ocean biome, beaches generate. |
|
Taiga 5
|
Temperature: 0.25
Spruce Trees, Flowers, Fern, Wolves, Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits, Villages, Pillager outposts, Foxes, Sweet berry bushes, |
A predominantly flat biome covered by a forest of spruce trees. Ferns and large ferns grow commonly on the forest floor. One may find packs of wolves here, along with small groups of foxes or rabbits. Villages may generate in this biome; naturally, the houses in these villages are built of spruce wood. Pillager outposts may also generate here. |
|
Taiga Mountains 133
|
Temperature: 0.25
Spruce Trees, Flowers, Ferns, Sheep, Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits, Sweet berry bushes, Foxes |
The Taiga Mountains biome also features large spruce forests, but these forests are overlayed onto mountainous terrain. Unlike Taiga Hills, these mountains tend to be larger and more difficult to climb. Perhaps owing to the rough nature of this biome, no villages nor outposts can be found here. |
|
Giant Tree Taiga 32
|
Temperature: 0.3
Spruce Trees, Podzol, Ferns, Wolves[JE & LCE only], Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits[JE & LCE only], Foxes, Mossy Cobblestone, Mushrooms, Dirt, Coarse Dirt, Dead Bush |
The Giant Tree Taiga is a rare biome composed of spruce trees, much like the standard Taiga biome. However, some trees are 2×2 thick and very tall, akin to large jungle trees. Mossy cobblestone boulders appear frequently, brown mushrooms are common, and podzol can be found on the forest floor. There are also patches of coarse dirt, which will not grow grass, with some dead bushes. Wolves may also spawn here, as they do in normal Taiga biomes.[JE & LCE only]. Foxes may also spawn here. |
|
Giant Spruce Taiga 160
|
Temperature: 0.25
Spruce Trees, Podzol, Ferns, Grass, Foxes, Mossy Cobblestone, Mushrooms, Dirt |
The terrain in this rare biome is almost exactly the same as in its regular counterpart. However, the most striking feature of this biome is its giant spruce trees, which are essentially a scaled-up version of regular spruce trees. One can easily differentiate this from a normal Giant Tree Taiga by observing how the leaves almost completely cover the tree trunks, whereas in normal Giant Tree Taigas, leaves only tend to cover the top. |
|
Stone Shore 25
|
Temperature: 0.2 | True to its name, this stone-covered biome often appears where mountain biomes meet the ocean. Depending on the height of the nearby land, Stone Shores may generate as medium slopes or huge cliffs, its tops tall enough to be covered by snow. No passive mobs will spawn here. Buried treasure can generate here. |
|
Temperate/Lush Biomes
In these verdant biomes, it begins snowing over the 256 block height limit. Otherwise, it rains. The foliage and grass is a vibrant light green, except for swamps and dark forests, which have dark green grass. Rivers are also exempt from this, as they have a dull green-blue hue. The water is blue in this biome.
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Plains 1
|
Temperature: 0.8
Tall Grass, Grass, Flowers, Villages, Horses, Donkeys, Pillager outposts, Oak Trees |
A relatively flat and grassy biome with rolling hills and few trees. Lakes, water holes, and villages are common. Cave openings and water or lava springs are easily identifiable due to the flat unobstructed terrain. Passive mobs spawn often in Plains biomes; this biome and its variants are also one of the only biomes where horses spawn naturally. Pillager outposts can also generate here. |
|
Sunflower Plains 129
|
Temperature: 0.8
Grass, Sunflowers, Flowers, Donkeys, Villages[BE only], Pillager Outposts[BE only], Horses, Oak Trees |
Usually found within normal plains, this biome is the only place where sunflowers naturally generate, hence the name. They grow in abundance, making yellow dye a widely available resource. Villages and outposts will not generate in this biome.[Java Edition only] There are no other notable terrain differences from the normal Plains biome. |
|
Forest 4
|
Temperature: 0.7
Oak and Birch Trees, Flowers, Wolves[JE & LCE only], Mushrooms |
A biome with a lot of oak and birch trees, occasional hills, and a fair amount of tall grass. Mushrooms and flowers can occasionally be found here. This is one of the most preferred biomes to start out in, due to the abundance of wood. However, the frequency of trees also makes it dangerous to navigate at night, due to the trees obscuring vision. Forest biomes are also one of the smallest biomes. |
|
Flower Forest 132
|
Temperature: 0.7 | This Forest variant has fewer trees, but more than makes up for it - it is almost overflowing with nearly every type of flower and tall plant in the game, several of which will only grow in this biome. Therefore, this biome is optimal for harvesting and farming dyes. Wolves won't spawn in the flower forest, although rabbits will spawn occasionally. |
|
Birch Forest 27
|
Temperature: 0.6 | A forest in which only birch trees generate. If one prefers to build with birch, they will certainly find themselves at home here. Unlike in the regular Forest, no wolves will spawn in this biome. |
|
Tall Birch Forest 155
|
Temperature: 0.7
Tall Birch Trees, Flowers |
Birch trees grow much taller than usual in this uncommon variant of the Birch Forest biome. Whereas normal birch trees grow up to 7 blocks tall, these trees usually are 11 blocks in height. This makes deforestation a much more difficult task, although it provides the player with far more resources. Additionally, terrain in this biome are much roughter and featuring more eratic terrain than birch forest hills. |
|
Dark Forest 29
|
Temperature: 0.7
Dark Oak trees, Huge Mushrooms, Mushrooms, Rose Bushes, Woodland Mansions |
This biome is composed of dark oak trees, a mostly closed roof of leaves, and occasional large mushrooms. Trees in this forest are so packed together, that at some spots it may be dark enough for hostile mobs to spawn, even during the day. On very rare occasions, a woodland mansion may spawn. Therefore, the Dark Forest is the only biome in which the woodland mansions can be found. |
|
Dark Forest Hills 157
|
Temperature: 0.7 | A variant of the Dark Forest where large hills dominate the canopy. While increased light in the forest means slightly fewer mobs, the steep cliffs lining this biome still make it dangerous to navigate on foot. |
|
Swamp 6
|
Temperature: 0.8
Swamp Huts, Oak Trees, Grass, Vines, Lily Pads, Clay, Mushrooms, Slimes, Huge Mushrooms[Bedrock Edition only], Fossils, Drowned[Legacy Console Edition only], Seagrass |
A biome characterized by a mix of flat, dry areas around sea level and shallow pools of gray-green water with floating lily pads. Clay, sand, and dirt are commonly found at the bottom of these pools. Trees are covered with dark green vines, and can be found growing out from the water. Mushrooms and sugar canes are very abundant. Witch Huts generate exclusively in swamps. Slimes will also spawn naturally at night, most commonly on full moons, and drowned can also spawn underwater here[LCE only]. Some zombies may end up underwater, which can transform them into drowned (possibly holding a trident[BE only]) making this an especially dangerous biome at night. Temperature varies within the biome, causing foliage and grass colors to vary.
In Bedrock Edition, huge mushrooms will also spawn in this biome. Visibility is also lower when the player is underwater. |
![]()
|
Swamp Hills 134
|
Temperature: 0.8
Oak Trees, Vines, Lilypads, Huge Mushrooms[Bedrock Edition only], Water, Swamp huts[Bedrock Edition only], Fossils |
This uncommon biome has areas where small hills rise in slopes of varying degrees, surrounded by flatter marshes. Beaches generate when this biome borders an ocean biome. In Java Edition Witch Huts do not generate in this biome, unlike the normal Swamp. |
|
Jungle 21
|
Temperature: 0.95
Jungle Trees, Oak Trees, Jungle Pyramids, Ferns, Melons, Flowers, Vines, Cocoa Pods, Ocelots, Parrots, Bamboos Pandas[BE & PS4 only] |
A very dense, but rather uncommon tropical biome. It features large jungle trees that can reach up to 31 blocks tall with 2×2 thick trunks. Oak trees are also common. The landscape is lush green and quite hilly, with many small lakes often nestled into deep valleys, sometimes above sea level. Leaves cover much of the forest floor—these "bush trees" have single-blocks of jungle wood for trunks, surrounded by oak leaves[JE & LCE only]/jungle leaves[BE only]. When inside a jungle, the sky will become noticeably lighter. Vines are found alongside most blocks and may cover the surface of caves. Ocelots, jungle pyramid, melons, cocoa, pandas[Bedrock and PlayStation 4 editions only] , and parrots exclusively spawn in this biome. Melons occasionally generate in small patches, similar to pumpkins, but are more common. |
|
Modified Jungle 149
|
Temperature: 0.95
Jungle Trees, Oak Trees, Ferns, Melons, Flowers, Vines, Cocoa Pods, Ocelots, Parrots, Bamboos Pandas[BE & PS4 only] |
Much more mountainous version of the normal Jungle, with foliage so thick that the ground is barely visible. A very resource-demanding biome. One may confuse this with the Jungle Hills, but the hills in the Modified Jungle biome tends to be sharper and more erratic. Due to the combined height of the terrain and of the tall jungle trees, trees in the this jungle frequently reach into and go above the clouds. Extremely dense foliage and treacherous terrain make this a very difficult biome to navigate, especially at night. |
|
Jungle Edge 23
|
Temperature: 0.95
Jungle Trees, Oak Trees, Ferns, Melons, Flowers, Vines, Cocoa Pods, Ocelots, Parrots, Bamboos Pandas[BE & PS4 only] |
This biome represents a smooth transition between jungles and other biomes. In stark contrast to the wild and overgrown vegetation of the jungle biomes, the jungle edge consists of a few small and isolated jungle trees, with patches of melons here and there. The terrain is relatively flat, with some small rises in elevation. All mobs that spawn in the Jungle, including parrots, ocelots, and pandas[Bedrock Edition only], will also spawn in the Jungle Edge. |
|
Modified Jungle Edge 151
|
Temperature: 0.95
Jungle Trees, Oak Trees, Ferns, Melons, Flowers, Vines, Cocoa Pods, Ocelots, Parrots, Bamboos Pandas[BE & PS4 only] |
The terrain in this biome is a slightly more hilly and rugged version of the normal Jungle Edge, though some large and flat sections of it are often hard to distinguish from its standard variant. Modified Jungle Edge is the rarest biome in the game, and usually only generates when Modified Jungle biomes meet Swamp Hills biomes. The result is a two-layer transition zone that includes a Modified Jungle Edge along the side of the Modified Jungle, and a thin border of normal Jungle Edge on the side of the Swamp Hills. Since Modified Jungles and Swamp Hills are both already rare biomes, in addition to the fact that Modified Jungles are less likely to spawn on the outside edges of jungle biome groups, the Modified Jungle Edge biome is an extremely rare occurrence. The strict conditions that are needed for its generation also make it a very small biome when it does occur, usually no longer than 150 blocks on its long side and with less than that for width. |
|
Bamboo Jungle 168
|
Temperature: 0.95
Jungle Trees, Oak Trees, Podzols, Vines, Ocelots, Jungle Pyramids[Java Edition only], Melons, Parrots, Bamboos, Pandas |
The terrain in this biome is covered by grass with some patches of podzol and unlike the normal Jungle, bushes still generate but do not cover the floor. Additionally, only large jungle trees can generate here along with large or balloon oak trees. The density of trees in this biome is much less compared to jungle edge, but massive amounts of bamboo shoots generate covering this biome. Jungle exclusive mobs such as ocelot, and parrot can spawn in here. Panda exclusively spawn in this biome[Java Edition only] or have a much higher spawn rate than in regular jungle[Bedrock and PlayStation 4 editions only]. Jungle pyramids can also generate.[Java Edition only] |
|
River 7
|
Temperature: 0.5 | A biome that consists of water blocks that form an elongated, curving shape similar to a real river. Unlike real rivers, however, they have no current. Rivers cut through terrain or separate the main biomes. They attempt to join up with Ocean biomes, but will sometimes loop around to the same area of ocean. Rarely, they can have no connection to an ocean, instead forming a loop. They have a dull grass green hue, much like the ocean, and trace amounts of oak trees tend to generate there as well. Rivers are also a reliable source of clay. These biomes are good for fishing, but Drowned can spawn at night. Mobs other than Salmon and Drowned cannot spawn in this biome, even underground, except in a spawner. |
|
Beach 16
|
Temperature: 0.8
Sand, Gravel, Water, Sugar Cane, Turtles, Buried Treasure, Shipwreck |
Generated where oceans meet other biomes, beaches are primarily composed of sand. Beaches penetrate the landscape, removing the original blocks and placing in sand blocks. These are also useful for fishing. Passive mobs other than turtles do not spawn on beaches. For the history of beaches, see the Beach page. |
|
Mushroom Fields 14
|
Temperature: 0.9
Mushrooms, Huge Mushrooms, Mycelium, Mooshrooms, No Hostile Mobs |
This rare biome consists of a mixture of flat landscape and steep hills and has mycelium instead of grass as its surface. However, if you place grass, it is a very bright green color, even brighter than in the Jungle. Mushroom fields are most often adjacent to an ocean and are usually found isolated from other biomes, and they are typically a few hundred blocks wide. It is one of the only biomes where huge mushrooms can generate naturally, and where mushrooms can grow in full sunlight.
No mobs other than mooshrooms spawn naturally in this biome, including the usual night-time hostile mobs. This also applies to caves, mineshafts, and other dark structures, meaning exploring underground is safe. However, mob spawners will still spawn mobs, Wandering traders along with their llamas are able to spawn, raids can still spawn Illagers, and the player will still be able to breed animals and spawn mobs using eggs. |
|
Mushroom Field Shore 15
|
Temperature: 0.9
Mushrooms, Huge Mushrooms, Mycelium, Mooshrooms, Buried Treasure, Shipwreck, No Hostile Mobs |
Mushroom Field Shores represent the transition between mushroom fields and the ocean, forming long strips between the biomes as a "beach", hence the name. However, it will not generate if the ocean biome is a Deep Ocean. This biome will also generate when a river meets a Mushroom Fields biome, similar to what Frozen Rivers do in Snowy Tundras. The terrain of this biome is much more flat and shallow than the main Mushroom Fields biome, though it contains many of the same features, such as a mycelium surface layer, huge mushrooms, and lack of hostile mobs, but a shipwrecks and buried treasure can generate here. |
|
The End Biomes
The End is considered a different dimension. The water is lilac.
The End 9
|
Temperature: 0.5
End Stone, Endermen, Obsidian, End Crystals, Ender Dragon, End gateway portal, Void |
This biome is used to generate the circle of radius 1000 centered at the 0,0 coordinates in the End. The End central island is generated at the center of this circle, and it's surrounded by a complete vacuum all the way to the edge of the biome. Most of the End features are exclusive to that island, including the ender dragon, the obsidian pillars, the End Crystals, the 5x5 spawn platform, the exit portal and the 20 central End gateways. Large amounts of endermen spawn in this biome. It does not rain or snow in this biome unlike the other low temperature biomes. The outer islands in the End can be accessed using the End gateway portal after the ender dragon has been defeated. If the biome is used for a superflat world, the sky will be practically black and an ender dragon will spawn at 0,0 coordinates in the Overworld. Only endermen will spawn at night. |
|
Small End Islands 40
|
Temperature: 0.5 | Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the empty expanse between the larger islands, populated only by the smaller, circular islands. |
|
End Midlands 41
|
Temperature: 0.5
End stone, Endermen, End gateway portals, End Cities, Shulkers |
Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the gradual slope from the hilltops of each island down to the cliffs around the edge. End cities will generate here, but chorus trees do not. |
|
End Highlands 42
|
Temperature: 0.5
End Stone, Endermen, Chorus Plants, End Cities, Shulkers, End gateway portals |
Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the hilltops of each island, and is the only biome in the End where both chorus trees and end cities will generate. |
|
End Barrens 43
|
Temperature: 0.5 | Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the outer rims of each island, with steep cliffs below the edge. Neither end cities nor chorus trees will be generated in this biome. |
|
Dry/Warm Biomes
In these biomes, it neither rains nor snows at all, but the sky will still turn overcast during inclement weather. The foliage and grass is an olive tone, except badlands biomes, which have brown grass. The water is light green. As in jungle biomes, the sky will become lighter.
| Biome Name and ID | Name Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Desert 2
|
Temperature: 2.0
Sand, Cacti, Dead Bushes, Sandstone, Sugar Cane, Desert wells, Desert Pyramids, Desert Villages, Pillager Outposts, Gold Rabbits, Fossils, Husk |
A barren and inhospitable biome consisting mostly of sand dunes, dead bushes, and cacti. Sandstone, and sometimes fossils, are found underneath the sand. The only passive mobs to spawn naturally in deserts are gold/creamy rabbits, their coloring well-camouflaged against the sand. At night, husks usually spawn in the place of normal zombies; the lack of visual obstruction makes hostile mobs highly visible. Sugar cane can be found if the desert is next to an ocean or river biome. Desert villages, desert wells, and desert pyramids are found exclusively in this biome. Pillager outposts can also generate here. This biome sometimes appears as a thin edge around badlands biomes. |
|
Desert Lakes 130
|
Temperature: 2.0
Sand, Cacti, Water, Sugar Canes, Gold Rabbits, Desert well, Fossils, Husk |
In this biome, unlike the normal Desert, patches of water can be found, and the terrain is slightly more rough. Although desert wells can be found, desert pyramids, villages, and outposts will not generate in this biome. |
|
Savanna 35
|
Temperature: 1.2
Acacia Trees, Tall Grass, Savanna Villages, Horses, Cows, Pillager Outposts, Sheep, Llamas |
A relatively flat and dry biome with a dull-brown grass color and acacia trees scattered around the biome, though oak trees may generate now and then. Tall grass covers the landscape. Villages can generate in this biome, constructed of acacia wood, with some colored terracotta. Pillager outposts can also generate here. Both horses and llamas naturally spawn here. |
|
Shattered Savanna 163
|
Temperature: 1.1 | Unlike the flat and calm terrain of the savanna biome, the chaotic terrain of this uncommon variant is covered in gigantic mountains covered in coarse dirt and some patch of stone. The mountains in the shattered savanna biome are extremely steep, jutting out at 90 degree angles, making it almost impossible to climb. Deep Ocean-like lakes also generate here. On top of that, they dwarf the mountains biome in height - they can rise far above the clouds, and even to the world height limit, without using the Amplified world type.[Java Edition only] Massive waterfalls and lavafalls are quite common here. The unforgiving terrain means villages and outposts will not generate in this biome. Surprisingly, llamas can spawn here. Rain can occur here.[BE & PS4 only] |
|
Badlands 37
|
Temperature: 2.0
Dead Bushes, Terracotta, 6 colors of Terracotta, Red Sand, Cacti, Red Sandstone[JE only], Above ground mineshafts, Gold ore |
A rare biome where large mounds of terracotta and stained terracotta will generate. Red sand will also generate here instead of regular sand, with occasional cacti and dead bushes, and this biome is usually bordered by a desert biome. No passive mobs will spawn in this biome, even if all other spawning conditions are met. Mineshafts will generate at a much higher altitude than normal - every now and then one may come across a mineshaft jutting out of the Badlands. Gold ore is also a much more frequent occurrence, since ore veins generate within badlands at a higher Y-level than the usual 32. The composition of this biome is useful when other sources of terracotta and gold are scarce. However, finding badlands biomes can be difficult due to their rarity. On the other hand, it offers great variety - there are a total of 6 variations of this biome to explore.
|
|
Eroded Badlands 165
|
Temperature: 2.0
Red Sand, Cacti, Red Sandstone[JE only], Dead Bushes, Terracotta 6 colors of Terracotta, Above ground mineshaft, Gold ore |
This rare biome generates unique terrain features that are similar to the structures in Utah's Bryce Canyon. Tall and narrow spires of colorful terracotta rise out of the floor of the canyon, which, like all other badlands variants, is covered in red sand. Deserts do not generate alongside this biome. |
|
Wooded Badlands Plateau 38
|
Temperature: 2.0
Oak trees, Dead Bushes, Dirt, Terracotta, 6 colors of Terracotta |
One might not notice the different between the normal badlands plateau and this variation, if it weren't for the layer of coarse dirt and the small forests of oak trees that generate atop these plateaus. The color of the grass and leaves is a dull green-brown hue, giving it a dried and dead appearance. These trees are a rare source of wood when living in the otherwise barren and lifeless badlands. |
|
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau 166
|
Temperature: 2.0
Oak trees, Dead Bushes, Dirt, Terracotta, 6 colors of Terracotta |
This biome features grass and oak trees on top of plateaus, much like its counterpart. However, the plateaus that generate here are generally smaller, allowing far less foliage to generate. The terrain is more erratic, and can be compared to that of the similar Modified Badlands Plateau biome, having an old and eroded appearance. Deserts do not generate alongside this biome. |
|
| Plateau(s) 36, 39
|
Temperature: Badlands Plateau : 2.0 |
Savanna plateau biomes are similar to the Hills biomes, but only generate within Savanna, while badlands plateau generate as actual biomes in Badlands biomes, and are flattened at the top, much like real-life plateaus. They come to rest at an elevation of about 20 to 30 blocks above sea level. One may discover the entrance to a mineshaft within the tall slopes of a Badlands Plateau. |
![]()
|
| Modified Plateau(s) 164, 167 |
Temperature: Modified Badlands Plateau : 2.0 |
Two rare variants of the plateau biomes, which are variants themselves. However, neither of these biomes closely resemble their counterparts.
Compared to the average Badlands Plateau, the Modified Badlands Plateau features more variable terrain and smaller plateaus, as if a larger plateau was weathered down over time. The terrain of the Shattered Savanna Plateau biome is much less tame than its normal counterpart. It features incredibly large and steep mountains that jut out of the terrain, similar to the Shattered Savanna biome, albeit slightly smaller and gentler in comparison. Rain can occur in shattered savanna plateau.[BE & PS4 only] |
![]()
|
Nether (The Nether) 8
|
Temperature: 2.0
Netherrack, Glowstone, Soul Sand, Nether Quartz, Ghasts, Blazes, Zombie Pigmen, Nether Fortresses, Wither Skeletons, Lava, Magma cubes, Gravel, Magma Blocks |
This is the biome used to generate the Nether. Within this biome spawn mobs such as ghasts, packs of zombie pigmen and the occasional magma cubes and endermen. Certain structures, such as Nether quartz, glowstone veins, and Nether fortresses will only generate in the Nether. While water cannot be placed in the Nether dimension, ice can, and water lakes (and other Overworld structures) can still generate if the Nether is used in a superflat preset. Beds will explode when used in this biome (even in the overworld) |
|
| Temperature: 2.0
Netherrack, Glowstone, Soul Sand, Stone, Water, Lava, Gravel, Nether fortresses (when generated through Buffet mode) | |||
| Temperature: 2.0
Stone, Lava, Water, Bedrock, Zombie Pigman, Ghast, Magma Cube (when generated in overworld)[Bedrock Edition only] |
Ocean Biomes
Oceans are large, open biomes made entirely of water going up to y=63, with underwater relief on the sea floor, such as small mountains and plains, usually including gravel. Oceans typically extend under 3,000 blocks in any direction; around 60% of the Overworld's surface is covered in ocean. Small islands with infrequent vegetation can be found in oceans. Passive mobs sometimes can spawn on these islands, as hostiles can. Squid spawn frequently in the water, and in Bedrock Edition, ocean biomes are biomes where squid can only be found. Underwater cave entrances can be found frequently at the bottom of the ocean. In the console versions, they surround the edges of the map.
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Warm Ocean 44
|
Temperature: 0.5 Dolphins Pufferfish, Squids, Tropical fish, Warm underwater ruins, Coral reef, Coral Blocks, Corals, Coral Fans, Sand, Sea Pickles, Seagrass, shipwrecks, Andesite[Bedrock Edition only], Granite[Bedrock Edition only], Diorite[Bedrock Edition only], Dead Coral Fans[Bedrock Edition only], Dead Coral Blocks[Bedrock Edition only], Magma Blocks |
A variant of the Ocean biome, with light green water at the surface. Like the Lukewarm Ocean, it has a floor made of sand, and like all oceans, it is populated with seagrass. Unlike other ocean biomes, Warm Oceans allow for the generation of coral reefs and sea pickles, but not kelp. |
|
Lukewarm Ocean 45
|
Temperature: 0.5 Dolphins, Pufferfish[Java Edition only], Tropical fishes[Java Edition only], Squids, Salmon[Bedrock Edition only] Cod, warm underwater ruins, Sand, Dirt, Clay, Drowned, Kelp, Seagrass, Shipwrecks, Magma blocks |
A variant of the Ocean biome, with light teal water at the surface. Its floor is made of sand with the occasional dirt or clay, and it contains kelp and seagrass. Unlike the Warm Ocean biome, cod and salmon[Bedrock Edition only] can spawn here. |
|
Deep Lukewarm Ocean 48
|
Temperature: 0.5 Dolphins, Pufferfish[Java Edition only], Tropical fishes[Java Edition only], Salmon[Bedrock Edition only] Cod, warm underwater ruins, Sand, Dirt, Clay, Drowned, Squids, Kelp, Seagrass, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwrecks, Magma Blocks |
Similar to the Lukewarm Ocean biome, but twice as deep. Because they are a Deep Ocean variant, they can generate ocean monuments, resulting in the spawning of guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges. |
|
Ocean 0
|
Temperature: 0.5
Water, Gravel, Squid, Sand, Seagrass, Kelp, Shipwreck, Cold Underwater ruins, Cod, Salmon[Bedrock Edition only], Drowned, Magma block |
The basic Ocean biome. Like its colder variants, its floor is made up of gravel. Sea grass, kelp, cod and salmon[Bedrock Edition only] can spawn here. |
|
Deep Ocean 24
|
Temperature: 0.5
Water, Gravel, Clay, Squid, Guardians, Elder Guardians, Ocean monuments, Shipwreck, Cold underwater ruins, Kelp, Seagrass, Cod, Salmon, Drowned, Magma Block |
A variant of the Ocean biome. In Deep Ocean biomes, the ocean can exceed 30 blocks in depth, making it twice as deep as the normal ocean. The ground is mainly covered with gravel. Ocean monuments generate in deep oceans, meaning guardian and elder guardian can spawn here. Underwater ravines often generate here, with the top layer of lava being replaced by magma blocks that create bubble columns. |
|
Cold Ocean 46
|
Temperature: 0.5 Dolphins, Cod, Salmon, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Kelp, Seagrass, Dirt, Sand, shipwreck, magma blocks, squids, Drowned |
A variant of the Ocean biome, with dark indigo water at the surface. Like regular Oceans and Frozen Oceans, its floor is made up of gravel, though you can find some patches of dirt. Salmon are able to spawn in Cold Ocean biomes. |
|
Deep Cold Ocean 49
|
Temperature: 0.5 Dolphins, Cod, Salmon, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Kelp, Seagrass, Dirt, Sand, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwrecks, Drowned, Squids |
Similar to the Cold Ocean biome, but twice as deep. Like other Deep Oceans, ocean monuments are able to generate here, which contain guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges. |
|
Frozen Ocean 10
|
Temperature: 0.0
Ice, Packed Ice, Blue Ice, Water, Gravel, Clay, Squid, Sand, Cod[Bedrock Edition only], Drowned, Salmon, Iceberg, Shipwreck, Cold underwater ruins, Stray, Polar Bear |
A variant of the Ocean biome with dark purple water at the surface. Like the Cold Ocean, it has a gravel seabed and squid swimming about. However, the water's surface is frequently broken up by patches of ice and large icebergs, consisting of packed ice and, occasionally, blue ice. Strays and polar bears can spawn here, but dolphins do not. |
|
Deep Frozen Ocean 50
|
Temperature: 0.5 Salmon, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Ice[Bedrock Edition only], Packed Ice, Blue Ice, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, iceberg, shipwreck, Polar Bear, Stray, cod[Bedrock Edition only], drowned, squid |
Like the Frozen Ocean biome, the only fish that can spawn here is salmon and cod[Bedrock Edition only], and the floor is made up of gravel. The Frozen Deep Ocean biome also contains ocean monuments and a deeper floor than normal Oceans, like other Deep Oceans. Unlike its shallow counterpart, the surface of the water is not frozen[Java Edition only]. Frequent floating icebergs with blue ice will generate here. Polar bears and strays can also spawn here, but dolphins do not. |
|
Neutral Biomes
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
The Void[Java Edition only] 127
|
Temperature: 0.5 | Can only be accessed through Buffet world selection or The Void superflat preset. In a Buffet world, the landscape consists only of stone, as well as water and bedrock depending on the generator type. In The Void superflat preset, the world is empty except for a single structure: a 33×33 stone platform with a single block of cobblestone in the center. No mobs (passive or hostile) can spawn without spawn eggs, spawners, or commands. |
|
| Hills 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, 31, 33, 156, 161
|
Temperature: Same as their respective base biomes. | Hills are generated within certain biomes (including some of their variants) and are referred in the F3 menu with Hills or Mountains added to their name.
This includes: Wooded Hills, Taiga Hills, Snowy Taiga Hills, Jungle Hills, Desert Hills, Tall Birch Hills, Giant Tree Taiga Hills, Giant Spruce Taiga Hills, and Snowy Mountains. Most hills are gentle rolling slopes on which the usual biome terrain generates, with some sharper cliffs here and there. Snowy Mountains are usually taller, with height comparable to mountains biomes, and has a lower chance of spawning passive mobs during world generation than other biomes (7% versus 10%). Giant Spruce Taiga Hills are a special case. in Java Edition, the game code sets the values |
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Unused Biomes
These biomes don't generate in default worlds.
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Mountain Edge 20
|
Temperature: 0.2
Grass, Dirt, Stone, Llamas, Emerald ore, Infested stone, Wolves[verify], Spruce trees, Oak trees, Snow (occasionally) |
Similar to the jungle edge biome, the Mountain Edge used to generate exclusively at the edge of Mountain biomes in order to smooth the transition between biomes. This biome has lots of trees, similar to wooded mountains. While the terrain is lower and gentler in nature, some areas may reach high enough to be covered by snow. This biome doesn't generate naturally from Java Edition 1.7.2 onward. |
|
Deep Warm Ocean 44
|
Temperature: 0.5 Dolphins, Pufferfish, Tropical fishes, Warm underwater ruins, Sand, Seagrass, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwrecks |
Similar to the Warm Ocean biome, but without coral reefs nor sea pickles, and twice as deep. Because they are a deep ocean variant, they can generate ocean monuments, resulting in the spawning of guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges. This biome has never naturally generated. |
|
Legacy Frozen Ocean[Bedrock Edition only] -116 |
Temperature: 0.0 Polar Bears, Salmon, Cod, Strays, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Seagrass, kelp, Snowy Rabbits, Ice, shipwrecks |
Similar to the Frozen Ocean biome, but without icebergs. Because they are a Frozen Ocean variant, they can spawn polar bears and strays, but not dolphins. Unlike the regular frozen ocean, Polar bear, drowned, squid, salmon, cod, Rabbits, skeletons and strays are only mobs that spawn here, kelp also generates here. This biome doesn't generate naturally from Pocket Edition Alpha 0.9.0 onward. |
|
Removed Biomes
These biomes no longer generate in current versions of the game.
| Biome Name and ID | Features | Description | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
Tundra
|
Temperature: <50% | Snowy, barren terrain with very few trees. The occasional trees do exist, though very rarely. Ice can be found over water. Snow is a common weather in tundras. It generates when the temperature is below 50% and the rainfall is less than 20%. |
|
Rain Forest
|
Temperature: >97% | Rainforests are very wet biomes with many trees, which have a 1 in 3 chance of being big, instead of 1 in 10 like all other biomes. They only generate oak trees, and have a large amount of tall grass and ferns. A biome is classified as a rainforest if the temperature is greater than 97% and the rainfall is more than 90%. This could be the biome with some of the most cliffs and hills, because the world generator reduces height variation at lower rainfalls. |
|
Seasonal Forest
|
Temperature: >97% | Seasonal Forests spawn with a temperature of 97% or greater, and a rainfall value between 45% and 90%. They are commonly found between forest and rain forests, and near plains biomes. They are identical to forests, except they have less trees and are only capable of spawning oak trees. They have a little bit of tall grass. |
|
Ice Desert
|
Temperature: 0.0 | An unused biome before Beta 1.8 that was in the code but never implemented into the temperature/rainfall table and thus did not actually generate. It was a biome of sand with snow on top of it and had snowfall and ice. |
|
Shrubland
|
Temperature: >50%, <97% | A biome with few trees and no tall grass. It is identical to the savanna biome. It is one of the smallest biomes in the game, and only spawns if the temperature is between 50% and 97%, and the rainfall value is below 35% and therefore too little to generate a forest. |
|
Biome IDs
Each type of biome has its own biome ID, shown in the following tables.
| Name | Resource location | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| The Void | the_void
|
0 |
| Plains | plains
|
1 |
| Sunflower Plains | sunflower_plains
|
2 |
| Snowy Plains | snowy_plains
|
3 |
| Ice Spikes | ice_spikes
|
4 |
| Desert | desert
|
5 |
| Swamp | swamp
|
6 |
| Mangrove Swamp | mangrove_swamp
|
7 |
| Forest | forest
|
8 |
| Flower Forest | flower_forest
|
9 |
| Birch Forest | birch_forest
|
10 |
| Dark Forest | dark_forest
|
11 |
| Old Growth Birch Forest | old_growth_birch_forest
|
12 |
| Old Growth Pine Taiga | old_growth_pine_taiga
|
13 |
| Old Growth Spruce Taiga | old_growth_spruce_taiga
|
14 |
| Taiga | taiga
|
15 |
| Snowy Taiga | snowy_taiga
|
16 |
| Savanna | savanna
|
17 |
| Savanna Plateau | savanna_plateau
|
18 |
| Windswept Hills | windswept_hills
|
19 |
| Windswept Gravelly Hills | windswept_gravelly_hills
|
20 |
| Windswept Forest | windswept_forest
|
21 |
| Windswept Savanna | windswept_savanna
|
22 |
| Jungle | jungle
|
23 |
| Sparse Jungle | sparse_jungle
|
24 |
| Bamboo Jungle | bamboo_jungle
|
25 |
| Badlands | badlands
|
26 |
| Eroded Badlands | eroded_badlands
|
27 |
| Wooded Badlands | wooded_badlands
|
28 |
| Meadow | meadow
|
29 |
| Cherry Grove | cherry_grove
|
30 |
| Grove | grove
|
31 |
| Snowy Slopes | snowy_slopes
|
32 |
| Frozen Peaks | frozen_peaks
|
33 |
| Jagged Peaks | jagged_peaks
|
34 |
| Stony Peaks | stony_peaks
|
35 |
| River | river
|
36 |
| Frozen River | frozen_river
|
37 |
| Beach | beach
|
38 |
| Snowy Beach | snowy_beach
|
39 |
| Stony Shore | stony_shore
|
40 |
| Warm Ocean | warm_ocean
|
41 |
| Lukewarm Ocean | lukewarm_ocean
|
42 |
| Deep Lukewarm Ocean | deep_lukewarm_ocean
|
43 |
| Ocean | ocean
|
44 |
| Deep Ocean | deep_ocean
|
45 |
| Cold Ocean | cold_ocean
|
46 |
| Deep Cold Ocean | deep_cold_ocean
|
47 |
| Frozen Ocean | frozen_ocean
|
48 |
| Deep Frozen Ocean | deep_frozen_ocean
|
49 |
| Mushroom Fields | mushroom_fields
|
50 |
| Dripstone Caves | dripstone_caves
|
51 |
| Lush Caves | lush_caves
|
52 |
| Deep Dark | deep_dark
|
53 |
| Nether Wastes | nether_wastes
|
54 |
| Warped Forest | warped_forest
|
55 |
| Crimson Forest | crimson_forest
|
56 |
| Soul Sand Valley | soul_sand_valley
|
57 |
| Basalt Deltas | basalt_deltas
|
58 |
| The End | the_end
|
59 |
| End Highlands | end_highlands
|
60 |
| End Midlands | end_midlands
|
61 |
| Small End Islands | small_end_islands
|
62 |
| End Barrens | end_barrens
|
63 |
| Name | Resource location | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean | ocean
|
0 |
| Legacy Frozen Ocean | legacy_frozen_ocean
|
10 |
| Deep Ocean | deep_ocean
|
24 |
| Frozen Ocean | frozen_ocean
|
46 |
| Deep Frozen Ocean | deep_frozen_ocean
|
47 |
| Cold Ocean | cold_ocean
|
44 |
| Deep Cold Ocean | deep_cold_ocean
|
45 |
| Lukewarm Ocean | lukewarm_ocean
|
42 |
| Deep Lukewarm Ocean | deep_lukewarm_ocean
|
43 |
| Warm Ocean | warm_ocean
|
40 |
| Deep Warm Ocean | deep_warm_ocean
|
41 |
| River | river
|
7 |
| Frozen River | frozen_river
|
11 |
| Beach | beach
|
16 |
| Stony Shore | stone_beach
|
25 |
| Snowy Beach | cold_beach
|
26 |
| Forest | forest
|
4 |
| Wooded Hills | forest_hills
|
18 |
| Flower Forest | flower_forest
|
132 |
| Birch Forest | birch_forest
|
27 |
| Birch Forest Hills | birch_forest_hills
|
28 |
| Old Growth Birch Forest | birch_forest_mutated
|
155 |
| Tall Birch Hills | birch_forest_hills_mutated
|
156 |
| Dark Forest | roofed_forest
|
29 |
| Dark Forest Hills | roofed_forest_mutated
|
157 |
| Jungle | jungle
|
21 |
| Jungle Hills | jungle_hills
|
22 |
| Modified Jungle | jungle_mutated
|
149 |
| Sparse Jungle | jungle_edge
|
23 |
| Modified Jungle Edge | jungle_edge_mutated
|
151 |
| Bamboo Jungle | bamboo_jungle
|
48 |
| Bamboo Jungle Hills | bamboo_jungle_hills
|
49 |
| Taiga | taiga
|
5 |
| Taiga Hills | taiga_hills
|
19 |
| Taiga Mountains | taiga_mutated
|
133 |
| Snowy Taiga | cold_taiga
|
30 |
| Snowy Taiga Hills | cold_taiga_hills
|
31 |
| Snowy Taiga Mountains | cold_taiga_mutated
|
158 |
| Old Growth Pine Taiga | mega_taiga
|
32 |
| Giant Tree Taiga Hills | mega_taiga_hills
|
33 |
| Old Growth Spruce Taiga | redwood_taiga_mutated
|
160 |
| Giant Spruce Taiga Hills | redwood_taiga_hills_mutated
|
161 |
| Mushroom Fields | mushroom_island
|
14 |
| Mushroom Field Shore | mushroom_island_shore
|
15 |
| Swamp | swampland
|
6 |
| Swamp Hills | swampland_mutated
|
134 |
| Savanna | savanna
|
35 |
| Savanna Plateau | savanna_plateau
|
36 |
| Windswept Savanna | savanna_mutated
|
163 |
| Shattered Savanna Plateau | savanna_plateau_mutated
|
164 |
| Plains | plains
|
1 |
| Sunflower Plains | sunflower_plains
|
129 |
| Desert | desert
|
2 |
| Desert Hills | desert_hills
|
17 |
| Desert Lakes | desert_mutated
|
130 |
| Snowy Plains | ice_plains
|
12 |
| Snowy Mountains | ice_mountains
|
13 |
| Ice Spikes | ice_plains_spikes
|
140 |
| Windswept Hills | extreme_hills
|
3 |
| Windswept Forest | extreme_hills_plus_trees
|
34 |
| Windswept Gravelly Hills | extreme_hills_mutated
|
131 |
| Gravelly Mountains+ | extreme_hills_plus_trees_mutated
|
162 |
| Mountain Edge | extreme_hills_edge
|
20 |
| Badlands | mesa
|
37 |
| Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau
|
39 |
| Modified Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau_mutated
|
167 |
| Wooded Badlands | mesa_plateau_stone
|
38 |
| Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau_stone_mutated
|
166 |
| Eroded Badlands | mesa_bryce
|
165 |
| Meadow | meadow
|
186 |
| Grove | grove
|
185 |
| Snowy Slopes | snowy_slopes
|
184 |
| Jagged Peaks | jagged_peaks
|
182 |
| Frozen Peaks | frozen_peaks
|
183 |
| Stony Peaks | stony_peaks
|
189 |
| Lush Caves | lush_caves
|
187 |
| Dripstone Caves | dripstone_caves
|
188 |
| Deep Dark | deep_dark
|
190 |
| Mangrove Swamp | mangrove_swamp
|
191 |
| Nether Wastes | hell
|
8 |
| Crimson Forest | crimson_forest
|
179 |
| Warped Forest | warped_forest
|
180 |
| Soul Sand Valley | soulsand_valley
|
178 |
| Basalt Deltas | basalt_deltas
|
181 |
| The End | the_end
|
9 |
| Cherry Grove | cherry_grove
|
192 |
Biome colors
Biome colors template for Java Edition 1.7.2 and above.
grass.png
foliage.png
The temperature and rainfall values of a biome are used when determining the colors of a small selection of blocks: grass, grass blocks, some leaves, vines, and other features such as water and the sky. Blocks such as mossy cobblestone, mossy stone bricks and the stems of flowers are not affected by biome coloration.[2]
A biome's rainfall value is typically a value from 0.0 to 1.0, and - as stated above - a biome's temperature starts at a given value at sea level (e.g. 2.0 for Desert or -0.5 for Snowy Taiga) and decreases by 0.00166667 for each meter above sea level.
Biome grass and foliage colors are selected from two 256×256 colormap images: grass.png and foliage.png. Both colormaps, shown to the right, can be found in assets\minecraft\textures\colormap. The grass.png colormap sets the colors for the grass block top and sides (along with other types of grass, such as tall grass, ferns, double tall grass, etc.). Meanwhile, the foliage.png colormap sets the colors for tree leaves (with the exception of spruce and birch).
Biome colormaps use a triangular gradient by default. However, only the colors in the lower-left half of the image are used, even though the upper-right side of foliage.png is colored. Furthermore, as shown in the template image to the left, only select few pixels are considered when the colormap is read by the game, and are determined by the code below.
The adjusted temperature and adjusted rainfall values (recognized as AdjTemp and AdjRainfall in the code, respectively) are used when determining which biome color to select from the colormap. Treating the bottom-right corner of the colormap as Temperature = 0.0 and Rainfall = 0.0, the adjusted temperature increases to 1.0 along the X-axis, and the adjusted rainfall increases to 1.0 along the Y-axis. The values used to retrieve the colors are computed as follows:
AdjTemp = clamp( Temperature, 0.0, 1.0 ) AdjRainfall = clamp( Rainfall, 0.0, 1.0 ) * AdjTemp
"clamp" limits the range of the temperature and rainfall to 0.0-1.0. The clamped rainfall value is then multiplied by the 0.0-1.0 adjusted temperature value, which brings its value to be inside the lower left triangle. Some biomes' ranges are shown in the template above; the multiplication makes all the line segments point towards the lower right corner.
At borders between or among biomes, the colors of the block and its eight neighbors are computed and the average is used for the final block color.
Exact temperature and rainfall values for biomes can be found in various projects, e.g. this biome code.
Hard-coded colors
Certain biome colors are hard-coded, which means they are locked into the Minecraft code and are not retrievable from any texture file. Thus, they cannot be modified without the use of external tools, such as MCPatcher/OptiFine, that support the use of custom colormaps.
Swamp color
Swamp temperature, which starts at 0.8, is not affected by altitude. Rather, a Perlin noise function is used to gradually vary the temperature of the swamp. When this temperature goes below -0.1, a lush green color is used (0x4C763C) otherwise it is set to a sickly brown (0x6A7039). In addition, the color of the water in swamps is always multiplied by a very light green tinge (0xE0FFAE).
Dark forest color
The dark forest biomes' grass color is retrieved normally, then averaged with a dark green color (0x28340A) to produce the final color.
Badlands color
The color of the sky in two different biomes.
All badlands biomes' grass and foliage have hard-coded colors, which are two tan colors (0x90814D and 0x9E814D respectively). These are not modifiable by grass.png and foliage.png, and are unaffected by temperature.
Other colors
Several other biome colors are set into the game and currently require external tools in order to be changed. This includes blocks such as birch and spruce leaves and water (which have a hard-coded overlay set onto them), and other features such as the sky and fog.
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Adventuring Time | Discover 17 biomes. | Visit any 17 biomes. Does not have to be in a single world. | 40G | Silver | ||
| Sail the 7 Seas | Visit all ocean biomes | Visit all ocean biomes except the deep warm ocean/legacy frozen ocean (as they are unused) | 40G | Gold | ||
Advancements
History
A very old image of biomes work-in-progress. "To the right of the player is a taiga, to the left is either a forest, or woods, I can’t remember. In the distance is probably tundra." ~ Notch
The biomes graph from Notch, prior to beta 1.8. Notice the chicken scratch handwriting, as Notch was working quick to try to get the biomes update out.
The old biomes graph with linear axes.
| alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.4 | Added Winter Mode. Maps now have a snowy or grassy theme randomly determined when creating the world. | ||||
| v1.2.0 | preview | Added true biomes; they were rain forest, seasonal forest, forest, shrubland, taiga, tundra, savanna, plains, swampland, desert, and frozen desert. | |||
| World saves remained unchanged, other than a change in the hue of the grass. If the player moves into ungenerated chunks, the new biomes would generate. | |||||
| beta | |||||
| 1.6 | ? | Added the Sky Dimension with its own biome. It could only be viewed through the use of modifications. | |||
| August 18, 2011 | Notch tweeted a screenshot of a revamped river biome. | ||||
| 1.8 | ? | Biomes got an overhaul, removing some biomes, such as the tundra and the taiga, and others replaced with nine fractal-based biomes that were a mix of the previous biomes and new biomes. See here for more details. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | September 2, 2011 | Notch teased a screenshot of the new desert biome.[3] | |||
| September 3, 2011 | Notch teased a screenshot of the new swamp biome.[4] | ||||
| September 15, 2011 | Notch teased a screenshot of what he called "snow biomes".[5][6] | ||||
| ? | Re-added tundra (as ice plains) and added Mushroom Islands. | ||||
| 1.1 | ? | Re-added snow in taigas, added hills and beaches. | |||
| Smoothed color transitions between biomes – swampland grass, foliage and water smoothly transition into other biomes. | |||||
| 1.2.1 | January 18, 2012 | Jens Bergensten tweeted a teaser screenshot of a new jungle biome. | |||
| January 19, 2012 | He tweeted another jungle screenshot, showcasing the bright green foliage. | ||||
| 12w03a | Added jungle biome. | ||||
| 12w07a | The Anvil file format was introduced and it allows for biomes to be stored in the world data. In contrast, the Region file format relies on the seed to dynamically calculate biome placement. This would cause biome placement in older worlds to change when the biome generation code was changed. With the current Anvil format, the biome data is stored along with the rest of the world data, meaning it will not change after the world is generated and can be edited by third-party map-editing tools. Furthermore, "edge" biomes allow for biomes to continue extend beyond the edge chunks of an old world. This allows for smooth transitions in world generation after the generation code changes in an update. | ||||
| 1.3.1 | ? | Hills in forests and deserts are taller. | |||
| 1.6.1 | 13w17a | Water lakes no longer generate in deserts. | |||
| 1.7.2 | August 2, 2013 | Jens tweeted the first image of the mesa biome. He jokingly referred to them as "disco mountains." | |||
| August 7, 2013 | Jens tweeted the first image of a mega taiga, unofficially dubbed the Redwood Forest. The name was changed following 1.7's release. | ||||
| August 9, 2013 | Jens tweeted the first image of a stone beach, which was then referred to as a "cliff" biome. | ||||
| 13w36a | Mesa, mega taiga, roofed forest, birch forest, savanna, extreme hills+, deep ocean and snowless taiga biomes were added as well as variations for many of the biomes. Biomes were also separated by temperature, and snowing was added to extreme hills. | ||||
| Biomes will attempt to avoid getting placed next to a biome that is too different from itself, temperature-wise. | |||||
| The frozen ocean and extreme hills edge biomes no longer generate naturally. | |||||
| Biome-hopping achievement "Adventuring Time" added, but it was broken until 1.8 making the goal of getting all achievements impossible in 1.7. | |||||
| 13w38b | Marsh-like areas no longer generate in swamp biomes. | ||||
| 13w39a | Red sand now generates in mesa biomes and their variants. | ||||
| 13w43a | Savannas and roofed forest biomes now generate with new logs and leaves. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w17a | The End's biome name is now "The End" instead of "Sky". | |||
| Adventuring Time is now available without commands. Before, the 38 biomes had to be visited without visiting any other biomes, which made the achievement unavailable because the End has to be visited for its prerequisite, The End?. The “no other biomes” restriction is now lifted. | |||||
| Visiting the frozen ocean and extreme hills edge biomes, which no longer generate since 13w36a, is no longer required for Adventuring Time. | |||||
| 14w26a | Marsh-like areas generate again in swamp biomes. | ||||
| 14w32a | Red sandstone now generates below red sand in mesa biomes and their variants. | ||||
| 1.9 | 15w37a | Add new biome "The Void", which is used in Superflat preset "The Void". | |||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Plains and sunflower plains now have some trees (5% of chunks). 1⁄3 large oaks, 2⁄3 normal oaks. | |||
| Ice plains, ice plains spikes and ice mountains don't spawn passive mobs other than rabbits and the new polar bears anymore. | |||||
| In mesa biomes, terracotta no longer generates more than 15 blocks deep, if the mesa is more than 15 blocks above sea level. In addition to the normal 2 veins of gold ore below Y=32, now attempts to generate 20 veins at elevations between 32 and 79. Also can generate dark oak abandoned mineshafts above ground. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w06a | The outer islands of the End biome are now divided up into four separate biomes: The End - Floating Islands, The End - Medium island, The End - High island, and The End - Barren island. | |||
| 18w08a | Added ocean variants, including warm ocean, lukewarm ocean, cold ocean, warm deep ocean, deep lukewarm ocean, deep cold ocean, and deep frozen ocean. | ||||
| Frozen ocean now generates naturally, for first time since 13w36a. | |||||
| 18w08b | Deep warm ocean biome no longer generate. | ||||
| 18w16a | Biome names are now translatable. | ||||
| Cleaned up several biome names, mainly by adding missing spaces and changing "Biome M" for "Mutated Biome". | |||||
| 18w19a | Names of several biomes are changed. The exact name changes are listed here. | ||||
| pre5 | Changed several biome IDs, mostly to comply with their names, listed here. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | Added bamboo jungles. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added biomes, these 5 biomes include: Plains, Forest, Taiga, Desert, Tundra From PC Version Alpha V1.2.0. | ||||
| 0.1.3 | Cacti now generate in deserts. | ||||
| 0.7.0 | Added Shrubland, Seasonal forest, Rainforest. | ||||
| 0.9.0 | build 1 | All biomes as of PC version 1.7.2 have been types of new biomes. These include: Jungles, mesa, roofed forests, savannas, extreme hills, mushroom islands, flower forest, mega taiga, mega spruce taiga, swampland, and deep ocean. | |||
| Frozen Ocean is no longer generated. | |||||
| 0.9.5 | Added bryce mesa, extreme hills +, and jungle M. | ||||
| 0.10.0 | build 1 | Mesa biomes have gold at every elevation and can generate mine shafts on the surface. | |||
| Water in swamps is tinted dark gray. | |||||
| Huge mushrooms generate in swamps. | |||||
| 0.11.0 | build 1 | Added birch forest M, birch forest hills M, extreme hills M, and extreme hills+ M. | |||
| build 8 | Changed the default biome. | ||||
| build 10 | Increased the amount of gravel on extreme hills M biome. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Added the Nether biome. | |||
| build 10 | Leaves coloring shaders are now only used when the color for a biome actually changes. | ||||
| 0.16.0 | ? | The biomes can now be viewed on maps based on the grass color. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | ? | Added End biome. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.0 | ? | Added snow to extreme hills. | |||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Added Warm Ocean, Lukewarm Ocean, Cold Ocean, and their deep variant, including new frozen ocean and frozen deep ocean. | |||
Old Frozen Ocean id changed to legacy_frozen_ocean to avoid conflict with new frozen ocean names. | |||||
| 1.9.0 | beta 1.9.0.0 | Added Bamboo Jungle and Bamboo Jungle Hills biome. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | Added true biomes; they were rain forest, seasonal forest, forest, shrubland, taiga, tundra, savanna, plains, swampland, desert. | ||||
| TU5 | CU1 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | Added swampland, ice plains, extreme hills and ocean biomes. | |
| Removed rain forest, seasonal forest, savanna, shrubland and taiga. | |||||
| TU7 | Re-added tundra (as ice plains) and added Mushroom Islands. | ||||
| TU9 | Re-added beaches and snow in taigas, added hills. | ||||
| Smoothed color transitions between biomes – swampland grass, foliage and water smoothly transition into other biomes. | |||||
| TU12 | Added jungle biome. | ||||
| TU14 | 1.04 | Hills in forests and deserts are taller. | |||
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Water lakes no longer generate in deserts. | ||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Added mesa, mega taiga, roofed forest, birch forest, forest, savanna, extreme hills+, deep ocean, snowless taiga and 20 technical biomes. | |
| Changed generation of marsh-like areas in swamp and extreme hills biomes. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Biome" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
- The term biome is analogous to its scientific usage: in real life, a biome is climatically and geographically defined by distinctive communities of plants, animals and soil organisms supported by similar climatic conditions. They are often referred to as ecosystems.[7][8]
- The only fictional biomes are those found in the Nether and The End, or those with huge mushrooms. All the others are entirely or almost entirely based on real-life counterparts.
- It is possible for biomes to be a single block in size.[9]
- If using a biome finder program, one may note how a wall biome changes at 233 blocks away and the biomes repeat every 234 blocks, regardless of the (pre 1.13 customized) biome size. This is not possible to see in game as even modding the game to generate terrain up to 232 blocks away, the game cannot have world generation after 232. Structures in a biome finder program fail to load properly past 232 blocks away. The shapes/outlines of biomes can repeat after 229 blocks.
Gallery
The first image of a giant tree taiga, as tweeted by Jeb.
This is the first picture provided of the badlands biome (then called mesa).
The first image of a stone beach (then called cliff) biome, provided by Jeb.
Jeb's first image of the jungle biome.
An above view of a flower forest biome.
A dark forest bordering onto a lake.
A dark forest biome . The stone variants granite, diorite and andesite can also be seen in the cliff.
A large snowy taiga biome, with a beach off to the side.
A mountainous mushroom island.
A frozen ocean biome, with fog obscuring the distance.
A river runs through a flower forest, a sunflower plains, a jungle and a jungle edge biome.
Comparison of giant tree taiga and giant spruce taiga biomes. Note how the giant spruce trees are much thicker.
A cave in a badlands biome.
- River in 1.13.png
A river biome in Java Edition 1.13, with visible seagrass in it.
A dark forest that is cut off by water.
Sunrises and Sunsets
References
- ↑ https://www.mojang.com/2013/08/minecraft-world-generator-update
- ↑ MC-128784 – "Stems of flowers and moss on mossy cobblestone/stone bricks unaffected by biome colouring" as "Invalid"
- ↑ https://twitter.com/notch/status/109713550209060864
- ↑ https://twitter.com/notch/status/110053393850040320
- ↑ https://twitter.com/notch/status/113986669312622592
- ↑ https://twitter.com/notch/status/114323919279886336
- ↑ "Biome" on Wikipedia
- ↑ "biome" on Dictionary.com
- ↑ MC-69731 – "Random 1 block biome generating?" resolved as "Won't Fix"

















































































































