A very old image of biomes work-in-progress, you can clearly see that biome grass colors have not been implemented at this point. "To the right of the player is a Taiga (mostly over the ocean), 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.
The graph above recreated.
According to Wikipedia, biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems.
In Minecraft, from the Halloween Update onwards, this means different areas with different heights, temperatures, humidity ratings and foliage colors are created.
Before the Halloween update, when a map was generated it got a theme of either Snowy or Grassy. After this update, a single world includes all themes in a logical fashion determined by the biomes graph.
A demonstration can be viewed here.
Pre-Update Saves
Worlds generated prior to the update remained unchanged save for alterration of the grass color. This "biome" is called Shrubland. However, any new chunks generated (by the player moving outside of the pre-biome world's generated bounds) do generate biomes, just as The Nether is generated when you first enter it using a portal.
Biome Types
A .png from the minecraft files that determines the color of the grass at certain temperatures and rainfalls.
A .png from the minecraft files that determines the color of the leaf blocks at certain temperatures and rainfalls.
A .png from the minecraft files that determines the color of the water at certain temperatures and rainfalls. (This was found in the source and not yet implemented into the game.)
Biome types may be easily distinguished by the differentiating grass and leaf colors in conjunction with the kind of blocks present, i.e. cacti in desert, etc. Biomes are randomly created during the generation of the world and they are affected by the seeds.
There are 13 biome types in 1.7; 10 in the overworld, 1 in the nether, and 2 unused ones that are in the code but aren't encountered in normal play.
A fourteenth, unnamed biome, which will include the upcoming huge mushrooms, will be added to the overworld in 1.8, along with a true swampland biome, mountain biome and ocean biome. Post 1.8, biomes will often be separated by a river. Notch has stated that a new rainforest biome (or changes to the current one), as well as volcanoes (either as a biome or natural feature) are a possibility.
| Biome | Characteristics | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Rain Forest | A biome with many trees and lakes. Some trees may also have leaves extending to the ground, covering the entire trunk. Has a 33% chance to create branched trees, compared to the usual 10%. Rain forests have lots of tall grass as well as ferns (living shrubs) that are found almost exclusively in rain forests. |
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| Swampland | A biome with many small pools. Stalks of Sugar Cane are commonly found. in Beta 1.8, Vines grow on all trees in this biome, trees can be found growing out of 1 block deep water. | File:Swamp biome.jpg |
| Seasonal Forest | Seasonal forests are wetter than forests and are usually found between forests and rain forests. Ferns can be found in seasonal forests but they are very rare. |
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| Forest | A biome with many trees and a fair amount of tall grass. Wolves are also found on this biome more commonly than others. |
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| Mushroom Forest | Supposedly, Notch is adding a biome in the full 1.8 update featuring many Huge Mushrooms. | (Picture unavailable; content not yet released) |
| Mountain | A highly mountainous biome with dull grey-blue grass, due to be added in the 1.8 Adventure Update. Prior to this biome being added, mountains were found in all land Biomes. As of 1.8, mountains are very rare outside this Biome. | (Picture unavailable; content not yet released) |
| Savanna | A biome with mostly flat terrain, almost no trees, and dull colored grass. |
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| Shrubland | A biome with some trees and dull colored grass. Usually found on the fringe between forest and savanna. |
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| Taiga | A snowy biome composed of mostly mountainous terrain and very few tall grass. Ice can be found here. Spruce and pine trees can be found in this region. Wolves are also found on this biome more commonly than others. Snow is a common weather in taiga biomes, though in 1.8 pre-release Taiga biomes can generate without ice and/or snow (bug?). |
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| Desert | A biome consisting mostly of sand, dead shrubs and cacti. Trees do not generate in deserts unless the player brings in dirt. No rain occurs in this biome. |
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| Plains | A very flat biome with a very large amount of tall grass (more than any other biome). The occasional tree does exist, though very rarely. |
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| Tundra | Snowy, barren terrain with very few trees. The occasional tree does exist, though very rarely. Ice can be found over water. Snow is a common weather in tundras. |
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Biome Screen-shots
The above screenshots were made by editing code in Minecraft's java files, creating worlds made up of only one Biome. This was done consecutively with each Biome type and their screen-shots are collated here. The original topic is on the Minecraft forum, here.
Difficulty
Starting in a biome with almost no trees, like desert or plains, can prove much more difficult than starting in a biome like a Rain Forest because the player won't have as many trees to create a pick or shelter. Even though one can travel to another biome at the very start of the game if the biome is unpleasant, the player would be wasting precious time that could otherwise be spent preparing for nightfall.
Remaining Work
Remaining work on biomes include variable elevations in certain biomes (flat elevation in desert biomes, etc.) in addition to improving the border between arctic and tropical biomes.
Trivia
A screenshot of the Ocean biome in Minecraft 1.8 Prerelease 2
- Notch is going to add new biomes in 1.8, one featuring Huge mushrooms.[1] Others include a Swamp Biome[2], a Mountain Biome (called "Extreme Hills" in the code), an Ocean biome, and a Plains Biome.
- Biomes will also be expanded in size in the 1.8 update.









