Java Edition guides/Caves & Cliffs

Caves & Cliffs
Edition	Java Edition
Official name	Caves and Cliffs
Released versions
1.17 • 1.18
◄ Nether Update
◄ Nether Update

This guide is a simplified overview of all changes in the Caves and Cliffs update (Java Edition 1.17.x releases), and (Java Edition 1.18.x releases), which assumes at least some familiarity with the Nether Update (Java Edition 1.16.x releases).

Mobs

New

Name	Image	Habitat	Drops	Note
Axolotl		Underground water	TBA	Can be picked up in buckets. Attack all fish, squids, guardians and drowned. Will "play dead" to regenerate health.
Glow Squid		Underground water	Glow Ink Sac (1–3) 1–3 (when killed by a player or tamed wolf)	Glows in the dark.
Goat		Mountains	TBA	Jumps higher than other mobs. Can be bred with wheat. Can be milked.

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Shulker		If a shulker is hit by another shulker's projectile, it now has a chance of spawning a new shulker.
Drowned		Drowned no longer drop gold ingots, they now drop copper ingots instead.

Blocks

New

Name	Image	Obtaining	Tool Required	Uses
Amethyst Cluster		Grows on top of Budding Amethyst Blocks. Fully Grown Amethyst Clusters drop Amethyst Shards.	Pickaxe (Iron or better)	Used for gathering amethyst shards.
Block of Amethyst		Ingredients Crafting recipe Amethyst Shard Generates inside of Amethyst Geodes.	Pickaxe (Iron or better)	Used for decoration.
Budding Amethyst		Generates inside of Amethyst Geodes. Cannot be obtained.	Pickaxe (drops nothing)	Used to grow Amethyst Clusters.
Calcite		Generates in the middle layer of Amethyst Geodes.	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Smooth Basalt		Generates on the outer layer of Amethyst Geodes.	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Tuff		Generates in patches below Y=0.	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Tinted Glass		Ingredients Crafting recipe Amethyst Shard + Glass 2	Any	Glass that doesn't allow light to pass through.
Copper Ore		Found in the Overworld from Y=4 to Y=63.	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used to smelt into a copper ingot.
Copper Block		Ingredients Crafting recipe Copper Ingot	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used for decoration. Advances to the next stage of Weathering every 50-82 In game days. Can crafted or used with Honeycomb to become waxed, which will stop it from weathering. Weathering can be reverted by an axe or a lightning strike.
Cut Copper		Ingredients Crafting recipe Copper Block 4	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used for decoration. Advances to the next stage of Weathering every 50-82 In game days. Can crafted or used with Honeycomb to become waxed, which will stop it from weathering. Weathering can be reverted by an axe or a lightning strike.
Cut Copper Slabs and Stairs		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cut Copper 4 Ingredients Crafting recipe Cut Copper 4	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used for decoration. Advances to the next stage of Weathering every 50-82 In game days. Can crafted or used with Honeycomb to become waxed, which will stop it from weathering. Weathering can be reverted by an axe or a lightning strike.
Lightning Rod		Ingredients Crafting recipe Copper Ingot	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used to absorb/attract lightning, possibly to avoid fires or for use in farms.
Candle		Ingredients Crafting recipe String + Honeycomb	Any	Can be used as a light source but it needs to be lit with flint and steel. Can be dyed. Can be placed in groups of four. Can be placed on top of a cake to make a candle cake.
Powder Snow		Can be placed using a Powder Snow Bucket.	Shovel	Mobs and players will sink into it and take freezing damage. Leather armor provides immunity to freezing. Skeletons buried in powder snow will turn into strays. Can be placed by dispensers containing powder snow buckets.
Dripstone Block		Ingredients Crafting recipe Pointed Dripstone Generates in dripstone cave biomes.	Pickaxe	Is a Decorative Block
Pointed Dripstone		Generates in dripstone cave biomes.	Any	Pointed Dripstone Stalagmites deal damage to any entity that falls or jumps on top of it. Pointed Dripstone Stalactites fall when the block above it is broken, dealing damage to any entity it hits. Pointed Dripstone Stalactites drip water, or lava if a lava is above the Stalactite. These drips will slowly fill up cauldrons with either water or lava. Pointed Dripstone Stalactites dripping water will grow longer and grow stalagmites beneath them. Pointed Dripstone can be broken with Tridents.
Sculk Sensor		TBA	Hoe	Detects vibrations made from nearby entites or blocks and emits a redstone signal. Can only detect certain things, such as entites walking or flapping or blocks being placed or broken. Will not detect vibrations made behind a block of wool.
Glow Lichen		Generates in caves.	Shears	Produces light. Can be spread with bonemeal.
Azalea Bush		Generates in lush caves. Grows from bonemealed moss blocks. Drops from azalea leaves.	Any	A decorative block. Comes in normal and flowering variants. Can be grown into azalea trees.
Azalea Leaves		Generates on azalea trees.	Shears	A decorative block. Comes in normal and flowering variants.
Cave Vines		Generates in lush caves.	Any	Grows glow berries. Vines with berries on them produce light.
Big Dripleaf		Generates in lush caves. Grows on top of small dripleafs.	Axe	Can be stood upon. Will tilt if an entity stands on it for longer than 1 second, causing the entity to fall through. Will immediately tilt if hit by a projectile. A redstone signal will prevent it from tilting.
Small Dripleaf		Generates in lush caves.	Shears	Grows into big dripleafs.
Hanging Roots		Generates beneath azalea trees. Grows from bonemealed rooted dirt.	Shears	A decorative block.
Rooted Dirt		Generates beneath azalea trees.	Any	A building block.
Moss Block		Generates in lush caves. Grows from bonemealed moss blocks. Can be found in shipwreck chests.	Axe	Creates grass, moss carpets, azaleas and flowering azaleas when bonemealed. Prevents saplings placed on it from growing into trees. Converts adjacent stone and sediment based blocks into moss blocks when bonemealed.
Moss Carpet		Generates in lush caves. Grows from bonemealed moss blocks.	Any	A decorative block.
Spore Blossom		Generates in lush caves.	Any	Produces spore particles.
Deepslate		Generates below Y=0.	Pickaxe	Building block.
Infested Deepslate		Generates when a silverfish infests deepslate.	Pickaxe	Spawns a silverfish when broken.
Cobbled Deepslate		Drops from deepslate.	Pickaxe	Building block.
Polished Deepslate		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate 4	Pickaxe	Building block.
Deepslate Bricks and Cracked Deepslate Bricks		Ingredients Crafting recipe Polished Deepslate 4 Ingredients Smelting recipe Deepslate Bricks + Any fuel 0.1	Pickaxe	Building blocks.
Deepslate Tiles and Cracked Deepslate Tiles		Ingredients Crafting recipe Deepslate Bricks 4 Ingredients Smelting recipe Deepslate Tiles + Any fuel 0.1	Pickaxe	Building blocks.
Chiseled Deepslate		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate Slab	Pickaxe	Building block.
Cobbled Deepslate, Polished Deepslate, Deepslate Brick and Deepslate Tile Slab, Stairs and Wall		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate or Polished Deepslate or Deepslate Bricks or Deepslate Tiles 6666 Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate or Polished Deepslate or Deepslate Bricks or Deepslate Tiles 4444 Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate or Polished Deepslate or Deepslate Bricks or Deepslate Tiles 6666	Pickaxe	Decorative blocks.
Deepslate Ores		Generate below Y=0.	Pickaxe	Function the same as their stone equivalents, but take twice as long to mine.
Blocks of Raw Iron, Copper and Gold		Ingredients Crafting recipe Raw Iron or Raw Copper or Raw Gold	Pickaxe	Can be crafted back into raw ores.
Light		Obtainable through commands.	N/A	An invisible nonsolid waterloggable light source.

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Cake		Can now have candles placed on them.
Cauldron		Can now be filled with lava and powder snow.
Dirt Path		Can now be created from dirt, coarse dirt, podzol and mycelium. Renamed from Grass Path
All Rails		Can now be waterlogged.
All Signs		Sign text can now be made to glow using glow ink sacs. A normal ink sac can be used to remove the glowing effect.
Coal, Diamond, Emerald, Gold, Iron, Lapis Lazuli and Redstone Ore		Have been given new textures.
Blackstone, Polished Blackstone Bricks and Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks		Have been given new textures.
Mossy Cobblestone and Mossy Stone Bricks		Can now be crafted using moss blocks.

Items

New

Name	Image	Obtaining	Uses
Amethyst Shard	File:Amethyst Shard JE2.png	Obtained by breaking fully grown Amethyst Clusters.	Can be used to create Spyglasses and Tinted Glass. Four Amethyst Shards can create an Amethyst Block
Bundle		Ingredients Crafting recipe String + Rabbit Hide	Can be used to carry a stack's worth of items in one slot of the player's inventory.
Copper Ingot		Ingredients Smelting recipe Copper Ore + Any fuel 0.7 Have a chance to be dropped by drowned.	Can be used to craft Copper Blocks, Lightning Rods and Spyglasses.
Spyglass	File:Spyglass JE3 (item).png	Ingredients Crafting recipe Amethyst Shard + Copper Ingot	When used, the player's view zooms in, allowing them to see distant objects close up.
Powder Snow Bucket		Obtained by using a bucket on a snow cauldron.	Can be used to place Powder Snow.
Bucket of Axolotl	File:Bucket of Axolotl JE1.png	Obtained by using a bucket on an Axolotl.	Can be used to spawn an Axolotl.
Glow Ink Sac		Drops from glow squids.	Can be used to make sign text glow. Can be used to craft glow item frames.
Glow Berries		Grows on cave vines. Can be found in mineshaft chests.	Produces light while on the vine. Can be eaten to restore 2 () and 0.4 saturation. Can be used to plant cave vines.
Raw Iron, Copper and Gold		Ingredients Crafting recipe Block of Raw Iron or Block of Raw Copper or Block of Raw Gold 999 Drop from their respective ores.	Can be smelted into ingots.
Spawn Eggs for all new mobs		Obtained from the creative inventory.	Can be used to spawn the corresponding mob.

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Clock		Has been given a new Texture.
Compass		Has been given a new Texture.

Non-Mob Entities

New

Name	Image	Creation	Drops	Note
Glow Item Frame		Ingredients Crafting recipe Item Frame + Glow Ink Sac	Glow Item Frame (1)	An item frame that glows.

Structures

New

Name	Image	Generates	Chests	Mobs	Description
Amethyst Geode	File:Amethyst Geode.png	Underground	No	No	A round chamber consisting of an amethyst and budding amethyst inner wall, a smooth basalt outer wall, and a layer of calcite in between.
Dripstone Cluster		Dripstone Caves	No	No	A large vertical cluster of dripstone blocks.
Azalea Tree		Above Lush Caves	No	No	A small tree currently made of azalea leaves and oak logs.

Changed

Name	Image	Changed
Mineshaft		Mineshaft pieces no longer generate if they would be fully floating in the air. Corridors now generate with oak log pillars or chains for support if needed. Cobwebs no longer generate if they would not be connected to solid blocks.
Stronghold		Now generate encased in stone, preventing nearby caves from intersecting them.
Fossil		Generates with deepslate diamond ore instead of coal ore when below Y=0.

Biomes

New

Name	Image	Description	Structures
Dripstone Caves		Does not generate in normal worlds, it is only available in buffet worlds with "Single Biome" and "Dripstone caves" enabled. Contains lots of dripstone blocks and pointed dripstone on the floor and ceiling. There are large columns made of dripstone blocks extending from the ceiling to the floor of the cave. Also contains many pools of water.	Amethyst geodes Dungeons Mineshafts Strongholds
Lush Caves		Does not generate in normal worlds, it is only available in buffet worlds with "Caves” and "Lush Caves" enabled. Contains lots of moss and cave vines. Also contains many pools of water and lava.	Amethyst geodes Dungeons Mineshafts Strongholds