Superflat

A default superflat world.

Superflat‌^{[Java Edition only]} or Flat‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} is a world type replacing the normal varied terrain of the Overworld, with customizable layers.

Structure

In a classic (default) Superflat world, the terrain consists of one layer of bedrock, two layers of dirt, and one layer of grass blocks. Because the entire world is a plains biome by default, villages generate relatively frequently in Java Edition, while in Bedrock Edition villages do not generate in Flat worlds.

The surface of the world is completely flat and at Y=4, except for villages and other structures if they are enabled. Since the height limit (320) is unchanged, there is almost one-third more vertical height available to build above-ground structures as compared to a normal world. Mobs still spawn normally. Because of the low altitude of the world, slimes spawn frequently.

When making a Superflat world, the player almost always spawns on the topmost layer and on some block types, within a 20x20 area.^[verify] Structures may not fully generate if the topmost layer is too low. In Bedrock Edition, the player always spawns at X/Z coordinates 0,0.

Access to other dimensions

Superflat worlds allow the player to access The Nether by building a Nether portal in the usual way or by spawning in a Nether Portal (block) using commands.

Superflat worlds also allow the player to access The End, which generates a normal dimension of floating islands, if strongholds are enabled, by spawning in an End Portal (block) using commands or by building your own End portal. In Java Edition 1.16 and after strongholds do not generate naturally in a default superflat world but in Java Edition 1.15.2 and prior they can, requiring either a world in 1.15.2 to be updated to 1.16 after world creation or a custom superflat preset to generate strongholds naturally while still receiving the features of the Nether Update.

Multiplayer

In order to create a Superflat world in a multiplayer server, the level-type flag in server.properties must be flat, instead of default. To alter the layers, biome and structures define generator-settings, which is basically the in-game preset code, but with a syntax similar to JSON, see the example below.

Once a multiplayer world is created, the server.properties fields have no effect on chunk generation. Instead, just like in singleplayer, the level.dat fields for generatorName, generatorVersion, and generatorOptions are used instead. If you want to alter a world after initial creation, these are the settings to change.

Customization

The Superflat world type button in Java Edition.

In Java Edition, the structure, and content of a Superflat world can be customized. Bedrock Edition has no interface for customizing flat worlds; it always uses the default configuration (one layer of bedrock, two layers of dirt, and a layer of grass blocks) even when the Seed Picker is used. However, custom flat worlds are supported internally, and can be used by modifying FlatWorldLayers in the world's level.dat file using an external editor. Players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch can also use the Legacy Console Edition to customize a superflat world, then transfer it to Bedrock.

Upon selecting "Superflat" in the World Type box, a new button appears underneath labeled "Customize". The customize menu starts with the "Classic Flat" preset of one layer of grass, two dirt layers, and then bedrock underneath. There are two buttons available to customize Superflat worlds, which include the "Remove Layer" button, used for removing unwanted types of layers, and the "Presets" button, used for selecting any of nine currently available presets.

If the player can understand the preset code syntax, they can create presets of their own by entering valid information into the preset code box, where these changes can be previewed and applied. (Direct Customization is not available.) Also, superflat worlds can have certain terrain features, besides villages, such as tall grass, lakes, and strongholds, which can additionally be customized using the same code box for block layers.

Presets are shareable. As a preset is selected, a box on top of the screen has a code that is highlightable and copyable. Similar to how new worlds are shared through seeds, presets can be entered into this box to recreate someone else's preset.

Presets

Preset	Layers		Biome	Structures	Notes	Preset code
Classic Flat	1x 2x 1x	Grass Block Dirt Bedrock	Plains	Villages	Default	minecraft:bedrock,2*minecraft:dirt,minecraft:grass_block;minecraft:plains;village
Tunnelers' Dream	1x 5x 230x 1x	Grass Block Dirt Stone Bedrock	Mountains	Strongholds, Mineshafts, Dungeons		minecraft:bedrock,230*minecraft:stone,5*minecraft:dirt,minecraft:grass_block;minecraft:mountains;biome_1,decoration,stronghold,mineshaft,dungeon
Water World	90x 5x 5x 5x 1x	Water Sand Dirt Stone Bedrock	Deep Ocean	Ocean Monuments, Ocean Ruins, Shipwrecks	Prior to 1.13, the player spawned at the bottom of the ocean and was unable to swim up in one go. The only way to survive was to dig down, collect mob drops and then tower up.	minecraft:bedrock,5*minecraft:stone,5*minecraft:dirt,5*minecraft:sand,90*minecraft:water;minecraft:deep_ocean;oceanmonument,biome_1
Overworld	1x 3x 59x 1x	Grass Block Dirt Stone Bedrock	Plains	Pillager Outposts, Villages, Strongholds, Mineshafts, Dungeons, Ruined Portals	Mimics the height of default world generation.	minecraft:bedrock,59*minecraft:stone,3*minecraft:dirt,minecraft:grass_block;minecraft:plains;pillager_outpost,village,biome_1,decoration,stronghold,mineshaft,lake,lava_lake,dungeon
Snowy Kingdom	1x 1x 3x 59x 1x	Snow Grass Block Dirt Stone Bedrock	Snowy Tundra	Villages, Igloos		minecraft:bedrock,59*minecraft:stone,3*minecraft:dirt,minecraft:grass_block,minecraft:snow;minecraft:snowy_tundra;village,biome_1
Bottomless Pit	1x 3x 2x	Grass Block Dirt Cobblestone	Plains	Villages	Allows easy Survival access to the Void, due to the replacement of bedrock with cobblestone.	2*minecraft:cobblestone,3*minecraft:dirt,minecraft:grass_block;minecraft:plains;village,biome_1
Desert	8x 52x 3x 1x	Sand Sandstone Stone Bedrock	Desert	Villages, Desert pyramids, Strongholds, Mineshafts, Dungeons	Sandstone and stone layer amounts are reversed from Default worlds.	minecraft:bedrock,3*minecraft:stone,52*minecraft:sandstone,8*minecraft:sand;minecraft:desert;village,biome_1,decoration,stronghold,mineshaft,dungeon
Redstone Ready	52x 3x 1x	Sandstone Stone Bedrock	Desert	None		minecraft:bedrock,3*minecraft:stone,52*minecraft:sandstone;minecraft:desert;
The Void	1x	Air	The Void	None	Spawns the player on a mostly stone platform.	minecraft:air;minecraft:the_void;decoration

Preset code format

The preset code is a string of numbers, semicolons(;), colons(:), commas(,), and asterisks(*). In BE, it must be done through FlatWorldLayers in the world's level.dat file using an external editor. Each code has three main parts, divided by semicolons. They are:

• a list of one or more block IDs (Java Edition or Bedrock Edition);
  • The block list is a comma-separated list of block IDs, ordered from layer 0 up; if the entry for a given block has an "*", the number before the "*" is the number of layers to be generated, and the number after is the block ID.
  • A block can also be repeated over multiple layers simply by repeating the block's ID, e.g. minecraft:glass,minecraft:glass,minecraft:glass,minecraft:glass would give the same result as 4*minecraft:glass.
• a valid biome ID (Java Edition or Bedrock Edition);
• (optional, not after 1.16) a list of structure generation options.
  • Structure generation options (described below) may have additional parameters, for example village(size=0 distance=9) (in 1.13+ they have no effect).
  • It is important to remember that multiple parameters are separated by spaces, rather than commas or semicolons.

Structure generation options

Structure generation option	Parameters	Description	Biome
village	size distance	Generates villages, provided they exist in that biome type. Extremely large size values and low distance values generate many villages tightly grouped together size determines the size of the village (default is 1, normal worlds have this set to 0, maximum is 65535). distance is the maximum distance between villages (minimum is 9, default is 32).	Plains, Desert, Savanna, Taiga, Snowy Tundra, Snowy Taiga
mineshaft	chance	Generates abandoned mineshafts. Note that they generate in midair if no terrain is present to cover them. chance determines how common mineshafts are (from 0.0 to 1.0, default is 0.01). Higher number, more common.	All
stronghold	distance count spread	Generates strongholds. distance determines how far strongholds are from the spawn and other strongholds (minimum is 1.0, default is 32.0). count is the number of strongholds that exist per world (default is 3). spread determines how concentrated strongholds are around the spawn (minimum is 1, default is 3). Lower number, lower concentration.	All
biome_1	distance	Generates biome-specific features. This enables igloos, jungle temples, desert pyramids, or witch huts. distance for the maximum distance between features (minimum is 9, default is 32). NOTE: desert pyramids (and potentially other structures) are not generated solely by biome_1, and "desert_pyramid" must be added to the syntax. Both "biome_1" AND "desert_pyramid" must be added to the syntax for pyramids to generate. Putting "desert_pyramid" in your syntax without "biome_1" causes issues, and attempting to /locate a desert pyramid without biome_1 enabled effectively breaks your world. This applies to 1.14+ and potentially earlier game versions. This option may also be necessary with igloos, jungle temples, ocean monuments or witch huts, requires testing.	varies
dungeon	None	Dungeons are generated, if possible.	All
decoration	None	Causes plants, ores, and similar features to be generated according to the biome type. Stone, dirt, grass, sand, or mycelium are required for most features.	All
desert_pyramid	None	Generates desert pyramids.	Desert (Hills)
lake	None	Generates water lakes, sometimes with sand and sugar cane depending on biome.	All
lava_lake	None	Generates lava lakes, with stone surrounding them. If all stone layers are removed in a preset that enables lava lakes, ores can generate in the stone around lava lakes, given the proper altitude.	All
fortress	None	Generates nether fortresses.	Nether
mansion	distance	Generates woodland mansions.	Dark Forest, Dark Forest Hills
oceanmonument	spacing separation	Generates ocean monuments in the water. spacing determines the size of the grid, in chunks, on which monuments are generated (minimum is 1, default is 32). separation determines the minimum distance, in chunks, between monuments. (minimum is 1, default is 5). WARNING: spacing must be greater than separation, otherwise the game crashes.	Deep Ocean, Deep Warm Ocean, Deep Lukewarm Ocean, Deep Cold Ocean, Deep Frozen Ocean
endcity	distance	Generates end cities.	End Highlands
pillager_outpost	None	Generates Pillager outposts.	Plains Desert, Savanna, Taiga, Snowy Taiga, Snowy Tundra
ruined_portal	None	Generates ruined portals.	All
bastion_remnant	None	Generates bastion remnants.	Nether Wastes, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Soul Sand Valley

Conditions

Note that several criteria must be satisfied before some features can appear:

• The biome ID must be correct. For example, at present villages can appear only in biome IDs plains, desert, taiga, savanna, snowy_taiga, and snowy_tundra.
• The correct structure code ('village', 'dungeon' etc.) must be present in the superflat string.
• Structures must be turned on in world settings. (This does not affect 'natural' objects such as trees, flowers, mushrooms, and giant mushrooms. Obsidian pillars in the End also count as 'natural'.)
• There must be suitable terrain for the structure to appear on or in. This applies to most features except for mineshafts and strongholds.
  • Villages are a partial exception; they do not form in mid-air, but can form provided there is at least one solid block layer.
    • Villages always spawn at least 2 blocks above the void.

For example, to have an 'End' superflat world with obsidian pillars, the biome ID must be the_end, the superflat string must contain 'decoration', and the top surface block must be End Stone. In this particular case 'Structures' does not need to be turned on in the world options.

Attempting to use an incorrectly formatted preset code causes the game to default to the Classic preset.

Preset code example

Consider the following preset code:

minecraft:mossy_cobblestone,250*minecraft:air,minecraft:obsidian,minecraft:snow;minecraft:mountains;stronghold(count=7),village(size=0 distance=9),decoration,dungeon,mineshaft

It consists of the following elements:

• minecraft:mossy_cobblestone,250*minecraft:air,minecraft:obsidian,minecraft:snow — comma-separated list of block IDs.
  • minecraft:mossy_cobblestone — one layer of mossy cobblestone on layer 0.
  • 250*minecraft:air — 250 layers of air, from layer 1 to layer 250.
  • minecraft:obsidian — one layer of obsidian, on layer 251.
  • minecraft:snow — one layer of snow, on layer 252.
• minecraft:mountains — biome ID, in this case Mountains.
• stronghold(count=7),village(size=0 distance=9),decoration,dungeon,mineshaft — a comma-separated list of structures.
  • stronghold(count=7) — this populates the world with seven strongholds at the default distance and spread.
  • village(size=0 distance=9) — because Mountains is an invalid biome for villages, this does nothing.
  • decoration — biome-specific decoration.
  • dungeon — allows dungeons to generate.
  • mineshaft — allows abandoned mineshafts to generate at the default placement frequency.

History

Java Edition pre-Classic
rd-132211					The level generation was changed from the original messy and random generator (as shown in the Cave Game "Tech Test video"), to be completely flat. This was later removed in favor of variable terrain.
Java Edition Classic
0.0.13a					A development build for this version contains flat terrain, which is different from the officially released build.
					The version labelled "0.0.13a" in the launcher is believed to be said development build due to its inclusion of flat terrain.
Java Edition
1.1		January 4, 2012			Jeb announces a "super-flat world type option" and shares a first screenshot.
		12w01a			Added Superflat world type.
1.3.1		12w18a			Prior to this version, there was no consistent spawn point unless the player had slept in a bed; the player could respawn far from the previous spawning location without anything in sight. This may have been due to the lack of ground at the usual height of about 64.
					Changes to server.properties are no longer looked at in multiplayer after the world is created. Equivalently, any data in the level.dat file overrides the values in server.properties. This means that single player worlds can now be trivially moved to multiplayer.
		12w25a			Slime spawning in Superflat is reduced.
1.4.2		12w36a			By going into the level.dat and editing the generatorOptions line, the player can create custom Superflat worlds.
		September 10, 2012			Dinnerbone mentions that he is adding presets to go with the new customization feature.
		12w37a			Added Superflat Customization GUI.
					Comes with 7 presets: Classic Flat, Tunnelers' Dream, Water World, Overworld, Snowy Kingdom, Bottomless Pit (Broken in this version), and Desert.
					In this version, the Add and Edit Layer features were not fully implemented, leaving their respective buttons grayed out.
		12w39b			The "Bottomless Pit" preset is fixed.
		October 2, 2012			Dinnerbone tweets an image of trees naturally generating in superflat worlds.
		12w40a			Generated structures (trees, ores, strongholds, etc.) can now be generated in this mode. The preset code version number is changed to "2" to reflect this.
					Added a new preset called "Redstone Ready", with 52 layers of sandstone, three stone, then one layer of bedrock, and has no generated features or structures.
					The "Add Layer" and the "Edit Layer" buttons were removed.
1.7.2		13w36a			Strongholds are no longer generated in the air.
1.8		14w08a			Now uses named block IDs to input layers instead of numeric block IDs.
					Block ID/number of layers format changed from NumberxID to Number*ID.
					Preset code version number changed to "3".
1.9		15w37a			Added a new preset called "The Void", where terrain is nonexistent except for a stone platform at the spawn.
1.13		17w47a			Support for version numbers in preset codes was dropped.
		pre5			Biomes are now written as namespaced IDs in preset codes.
1.16		20w21a			Removed structures from preset codes temporarily. The structure generation can still be modified via Custom world type or data packs.
1.17		21w06a			Superflat worlds now generate at Y=-64 due to the new height limit changes.
		21w15a			Superflat worlds now generate at Y=4 again due to the height limit changes being reverted.
1.18		21w37a			Superflat worlds now generate at Y=-64 again due to the height limit changes being reverted.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.9.0		build 1			Added flat world type.
		build 5			By going into options.txt and editing the game_flatworldlayers line, the player can create custom flat worlds.
v0.10.0		build 1			Flat worlds are no longer customizable via options.txt.
Bedrock Edition
?					By going into level.dat and editing the game_FlatWorldLayers line, the player can create custom flat worlds.
1.17.40		beta 1.17.40.21			Flat worlds behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle now generate at Y=-64 due to the new height limit changes.
1.18.0		beta 1.18.0.20			All newly created flat worlds now generate at Y=-64. Existing flat worlds still generate at Y=0.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added superflat world type. Unlike in other editions, the Nether is also flat in this world type.
TU25	CU14	1.17			Added Superflat Customization UI.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added flat world type.

Issues

Issues relating to "Superflat" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• The volume of an entire default superflat world, not including villages, bonus chests, or air, is 14.4 million km³, and the world is composed of 1.44×10¹⁶ blocks.
• Because cloud height isn't affected by the world generation, clouds appear underground in the Tunneler's Dream preset.
• If the player selects the desert preset, and remove all layers but sand, it is possible to create a massive, endless wave of falling sand. All one has to do to accomplish this computer-breaking feat is dig straight down to the bottom of the world. The sand then begins to fall from the initial digging coordinates.

Gallery

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  Slimes spawning in a superflat world.

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  An image tweeted by Jeb of a village spawned in a superflat world.

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  A village spawned in the original superflat world type.

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  A map of a superflat world.

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  Some of the original superflat preset world types.

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  Overview of the old superflat world options.

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  New world generation options let you add plants, ores, and various structures.

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  One of many things possible with the superflat generator options.

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  Mineshafts generated above the ground in Superflat.

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  A glitch that causes 2 different generations on the same world.

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  A grassland village naturally generated in a 1-block-deep bedrock superflat world.

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  A desert village under similar conditions.

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  An example of rare ores generating above ground, when all of the stone layers in The Overworld preset are removed.

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  Superflat world with the biome set as The End

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  Superflat world with the biome set as the Nether

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  Part of the usual world that was not properly deleted staying in a superflat world.

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  Tunnelers´ dream in 1.15.2

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  2 villages close to each other on superflat world

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  A example of a Redstone Ready superflat world with redstone contraptions.

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  Amethyst geode generated on desert superflat world.

See also

• World type
• A guide to surviving in a Superflat world
• Biome

References

Environment

View at: Template:Environment/content [edit]