Java Edition 1.18

Minecraft 1.18
Edition	Java Edition
Official name	Caves & Cliffs (Part 2)
Planned release date	Late 2021
Development versions	Experimental snapshots (7) Snapshots (8) Pre-releases (8) Release candidates (4) (View all)
See also other instances of 1.18	Bedrock Edition PlayStation 3 Edition PlayStation 4 Edition PlayStation Vita Edition

1.18, the second release of Caves & Cliffs, is an upcoming major update to Java Edition set to release in late 2021. It was first announced alongside the release of 1.17 snapshot 21w15a when Mojang stated the Caves & Cliffs update would be split in two. The version number may be subject to change.

Planned additions

World generation

Mountains

• Height dependent generation.
• Revamped, featuring some new small spruce trees on the slopes and ice and packed ice above the peaks.
• Contain goats, rabbits, snow blocks, snow layers and powder snow.
• Iron ore, emerald ore and coal ore are found in abundance.
  • Emerald ore no longer generates in veins of only one.
• Can generate up to Y = 256.
• New sub biomes.

Caves

• Completely overhauled.
• Now stretch down to Y = -59.
• The cavern now generates in 2 layers of different stone bases depending on the depth.
  • Cavern layer above Y = 0 is made up of regular stone.
  • Stone transitions to deepslate from Y = 0 to Y = -7.
  • Deepslate now completely replaces stone from Y = -8 to bedrock.
    • Certain types of ores and structures still generate in the deepslate layer, as well as tuff.
    • Dirt, diorite, granite and andesite do not generate in this layer.
• Biomes inside of caves introduced such as dripstone caves.
• Contain aquifers, bodies of water with different heights, independent of sea level (Y=63).
• Improved old caves to blend in with the new generations of caves better.
• New carver called crack carver, which appears as a fissure on the ground, like ravines but narrower and can go very deep.
• New noise caves, coming in 2 forms, cheese and spaghetti.
  • The original caves still exist, mixing with the noise caves.
  • Cheese caves have large stone towers stretching from the bottom of the cave to the top.
    • Very large, often large enough to fly with an elytra.
    • Abundant with aquifers and ores.
  • Spaghetti caves are long, thin caves that have small aquifers and are more similar to original caves.

Biomes

Deep dark biome

• New biome at the "deepest depths of the world".
• Wardens can spawn here.
• Contains sculk blocks and sculk sensors.
• Contains deepslate.
  • Likely generates within the deepslate layer between -1 Y and -64 Y.
• May contain candles.

Dripstone Caves

A dripstone caves biome.

• Contains pointed dripstone (both stalactites and stalagmites) and dripstone blocks.

Lush Caves

A lush caves biome.

• Contain moss, moss carpet, spore blossom, glow berry vines, big dripleaf, small dripleaf.
• Moss covers the ceilings and floors.
• Axolotls can spawn here.
• Clay pools generate inside.

Mountains

• Come in 5 sub-biomes:
  • Mountain Meadow
    • The lowest layer of a mountain.
    • Contain flowers and sweet berry bushes.
  • Mountain Grove
    • The second lowest layer of a mountain.
    • Covered in snow, snow blocks and powder snow, and is filled with spruce trees.
    • Rabbits spawn in this biome.
  • Snowy Slopes
    • The second highest layer of a mountain.
    • Covered in snow, snow blocks, powder snow and ice.
    • Goats spawn only in this biome.
  • Lofty Peaks
    • The highest layer of a mountain, and will only generate if the mountain is high enough.
    • Generates if the surrounding biomes are too warm for snow capped peaks.
    • Covered in snow and ice.
  • Snow Capped Peaks
    • The highest layer of a mountain, and will only generate if the mountain is high enough.
    • Generates if the surrounding biomes are too cold for lofty peaks.
    • Covered in snow, snow blocks, powder snow, ice and packed ice.

Gameplay

Dimming of light

• While in the deep dark cave biome, the ambient lighting occasionally dims temporarily, limiting the player's visibility. This serves as a warning that the warden is nearby.

Planned changes

World generation

• More extreme and smooth terrain.
• Likely change to the generation of alternate stone types, to make them appear in larger but less numerous deposits.
  • Possibly seen in a screenshot tweeted by Henrik Kniberg, in which diorite appears to generate in a long and flat horizontal strip, rather than a small unevenly shaped patch.
• Ore generation has further rebalancing and influences the surrounding stone.

  

  Prototype ore distribution used in Java Edition 21w10a

Fossils

• The fossils in the deepest part of the underground generate with Deepslate Diamond Ore instead of Coal Ore.

Strongholds

• Try to generate fully encased in stone or deepslate at low y-levels.

Unconfirmed features

World generation

Mesh caves

• Seems to be possibly a large tunnel-like cave generation.
• Not much is known about this cave variation yet, but it was confirmed on Twitter by Henrik Kniberg.
• Possibly contain "catacomb" style branching cave sections.
• May be a scrapped idea.

Structures

Underground Cabin

• Seen in the Deep Dark biome during the Minecraft Live 2020 stream.
• Consists of a chamber with a cobblestone floor and stripped log support beams, containing 3 barrels, a blast furnace, and a large chest, with cobwebs and candles in and around it.
• May possibly not be a generated structure, but instead a construction built for the purpose of the Warden showcase.

Trivia

• This is the first major update for Java Edition that is split into two updates since 1.0 in 2011.