Java Edition 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1

Minecraft 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1
Edition	Java Edition
Type	Snapshot
Release date	July 13, 2021
Snapshot for	1.18
Downloads	Client (.json) Server
Obfuscation maps	Client Server
Protocol version	0x40000029
Data version	2825

1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1 is the first experimental snapshot for Java Edition 1.18, released on July 13, 2021, which introduces new terrain generation and enables features from the preview data pack.

Additions

World generation

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.
• Dripstone Caves and Lush Caves now generate naturally underground.
• Contain aquifers, bodies of water with different heights, independent of sea level (Y=63).
  • Aquifers below Y=0 sometimes generate with lava instead of water.
• 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 3 forms, cheese, spaghetti and noodle.
  • The original caves still exist with their generation slightly tweaked to better blend in with 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.
  • Noodle caves are thinner, squigglier and more claustrophobic variants of spaghetti caves.

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 the Snowy Slopes 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.

Ore veins

• Large, rare, snake-like ore formations.
• Copper ore veins mixed with granite generate above Y=0.
• Iron ore veins mixed with tuff generate below Y=0.

Changes

Mobs

General

• Hostile mobs will only spawn in complete darkness.

Axolotls

• Now only spawn in lush caves.

Goats

• Now only spawn in some of the new mountain biomes.

World generation

Lush Caves and Dripstone Caves

• Now generate naturally underground and inside mountains.

Deep Warm Ocean

• Now generates naturally.

File:1.18 Experimental Snapshot approximate ore distribution.jpg

The new ore generation for 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1.

Ore distribution

• New ore distribution has been implemented, see the chart.
  • Changed the maximum height of small iron ore blobs from 64 to 72.
  • Reduced copper spawning a bit, to compensate for large ore veins.
  • Slightly reduced the amount of normal-sized iron blobs, to compensate for large ore veins and the increased range of smaller blobs.

General

• Natural variation in terrain shape and elevation, independently from biomes.
  • For example, forests and deserts could form up on a hill without needing a special biome just for that.

General

Height limit

• Has been increased to 384 blocks, expanding 64 blocks up and 64 blocks down, with 320 being the limit upward and -64 being the limit downward.

World types

• Removed the Large Biomes and Amplified world types.

Trivia

• A .json for a version called 1_15_combat-6 was mistakenly uploaded instead of this snapshot at first.
  • Combat Test 6 was actually based upon Java Edition 1.16.2 Pre-release 3.
• This is the first time that the light level requirements for common hostile mob spawning get changed for a really long time, as the "light level 7 and below" requirement has persisted since the game's early stages.
• This is the first development version using the term "Experimental Snapshot", which starts the update development before the initial snapshots will begin, sometime in September.

Video

Video made by slicedlime: