Minecraft Wiki

The Minecraft Wiki has moved from Fandom; see the linked discussion page for details.

READ MORE

Minecraft Wiki
Advertisement
Flatland

A Superflat world.

Superflat (sometimes called Flatlands) is a world type replacing the normal varied terrain of the Overworld with a thin flat layer of dirt.

On a classic superflat world, the terrain consists of one layer of bedrock, two layers of dirt, and one layer of grass; the surface of the world is completely flat and at height y = 4, with the exception of NPC villages and terrain features, if they are enabled. Since the height limit (256) is unchanged, there is then slightly less than one-third more vertical height available to build above-ground structures as compared to a normal world. Mobs spawn as normal, including Slimes; however, there is no "Void Fog" as would ordinarily be caused by being close to the bottom, even for areas that are completely shielded from sunlight, whether in Survival or Creative mode.

Because of there being chests in villages, and villages frequently spawning near the spawn point, it is possible to use Superflat as a survival challenge map. However, the high amount of slimes makes this extremely difficult to an inexperienced player, if playing on any other than peaceful difficulty.

The Nether and the End both generate normally. In order to create a Superflat world in SMP, the level-type flag in server.properties must be "FLAT", instead of "DEFAULT".

Customization

In official release of 1.4.2, customization options were added to the world creation screen. Upon selecting "Superflat" in the World Type box, a new button appears underneath labeled "Customize". The customize menu starts out with the "Classic Flat" preset of one layer of grass, two dirt layers, and then bedrock underneath. As of 12w40a there are two buttons available to customize Superflats, which include the "Remove Layer" button, used for removing unwanted types of layers, and the "Presets" button, used for selecting any of eight currently available presets. If you can understand the preset code syntax you can still create presets of your own by entering the correct block IDs into the 'preset code box', where these changes can be previewed and applied. In addition, as of 12w40a and later, superflat worlds can have certain terrain features, besides villages, such as long grass, lakes, and strongholds, which can additionally be customized using the same code box for block layers. These changes also made tweaks to previous world codes, to include the new generation features.

Presets

Preset Layers Biome Structures Notes Preset code
File:Grid Grass.png Classic Flat 1x
2x
1x
Grass
Dirt
Bedrock
Plains Villages Default 2;7,2x3,2;1;village
File:Grid Stone.png Tunnelers' Dream 1x
5x
230x
1x
Grass
Dirt
Stone
Bedrock
Extreme Hills Strongholds
Dungeons
Abandoned Mineshafts
2;7,230x1,5x3,2;3;stronghold,biome_1,
decoration,dungeon,mineshaft
File:Grid Water.png Water World 90x
5x
5x
5x
1x
Water
Sand
Dirt
Stone
Bedrock
Plains Villages 2;7,5x1,5x3,5x12,90x9;1;biome_1,village
File:Grid Dead Bush.png Overworld 1x
3x
59x
1x
Grass
Dirt
Stone
Bedrock
Plains Strongholds
Villages
Dungeons
Abandoned Mineshafts
Mimics the height of default world generation. 2;7,59x1,3x3,2;1;stronghold,biome_1,village,
decoration,dungeon,lake,mineshaft,lava_lake
File:Grid Snow.png Snowy Kingdom 1x
1x
3x
59x
1x
Snow
Grass
Dirt
Stone
Bedrock
Ice Plains Villages 2;7,59x1,3x3,2,78;12;biome_1,village
File:Grid Feather.png Bottomless Pit 1x
3x
2x
Grass
Dirt
Cobblestone
Plains Villages 2;2x4,3x3,2;1;biome_1,village
Grid Sand Desert 8x
52x
3x
1x
Sand
Sandstone
Stone
Bedrock
Desert Strongholds
Villages
Dungeons
Abandoned Mineshafts
2;7,3x1,52x24,8x12;2;stronghold,biome_1,
village,decoration,dungeon,mineshaft
File:Grid Redstone Dust.png Redstone Ready 52x
3x
1x
Sandstone
Stone
Bedrock
Desert Desert villages 2;7,3x1,52x24;2

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

Preset code format

At a future point there is expected to be some way of choosing block types merely by selecting them from a menu. For now, you must type in a correctly-formatted preset code.

The code is a string of numbers, semicolons, colons, commas, and lowercase "x"s. Each code has four main parts, divided by semicolons. These are:

  • a version number (used to allow preset codes to be shared even if the code format changes),
  • a list of one or more block IDs,
  • a biome ID
  • a list of structure generation options (may be completely empty)

The format: Version;blockIdxAmountofLayers,blockIdxAmountofLayers,blockIdxAmountofLayers;BiomeId;ExtraLabels

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 "x", the number before the "x" is the number of layers to be generated, and the number after is the block ID. A block ID can be followed by a colon to specify a damage value.

Structure generation options (described below) may have additional parameters, for example "village(size=0 distance=0)".

Structure generation option Parameters Description Biome
village size and distance Means villages may be generated, provided they exist in that biome type.
size for the size of the village (0 = default, 1 = superflat default)
distance for the distance between villages.
Plains and Desert
mineshaft chance Means mineshafts can be generated, even in midair.
chance parameter from 0.0 to 1.0 determines how common mineshafts are.
None
stronghold count Means strongholds can appear.
count determines how many exist per world.
None
biome_1 No parameters Activates biome-specific features, such as desert temples in deserts, jungle temples in jungles and so on. At present no terrain type has more than one custom feature, hence only "biome_1" is used, but in future, biome_2, 3 and so forth may come into use. None
dungeon No parameters Means dungeons can be generated. None
decoration No parameters causes trees, tall grass, flowers, pumpkins, and other features to be generated according to the biome type, assuming the topmost block layer is suitable. (Normally dirt, grass or sand would be required). Layers of stone (block ID 1) will be populated with gravel, dirt and ores according to depth. None
lake No parameters Means water lakes will be created, possibly with sand and sugar canes depending on biome. None
lava_lake No parameters Means lava lakes will appear. None

Preset code example

Consider the preset code 2;48,250x0,49,78:2;8;stronghold(count=7),biome_1,village(size=0 distance=0),decoration,dungeon,mineshaft

It consists of the following elements:

  • 2 — version number.
  • 48,250x0,49,78:2 — comma-separated list of block IDs.
    • 48 — one layer of Mossy Cobblestone on layer 0.
    • 250x0 — 250 layers of air, from layer 1 to layer 250.
    • 49 — one layer of obsidian, on layer 251.
    • 78:2 — one layer of thicker-than-usual snow, on layer 252.
  • 8biome ID, in this case Nether.
  • stronghold(count=7),biome_1,village(size=0 distance=0),decoration,dungeon,mineshaft — a comma-separated list of structures.
    • stronghold(count=7) — this will populate the world with seven strongholds. In this preset, these will appear in mid-air.
    • biome_1 — the biome-specific feature for the Nether is, presumably, the Nether Fortress. TBC.
    • village(size=0 distance=0) — as there is no such thing as a nether village, this will do nothing.
    • decoration — Nether-specific decoration.
    • dungeon — activates dungeons.
    • mineshaft — activates mineshafts at the default placement frequency. These will appear in mid-air as the preset contains 250 layers of air.

A block can also be repeated over multiple layers simply by repeating the block's ID, e.g. 20,20,20,20 would give the same result as 4x20.

The Player will spawn on the topmost solid layer, and will spawn under water or lava if there are layers of those above the topmost solid layer.

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

  • The biome number must be correct. For example, at present villages can only appear in biome numbers 1 and 2, plains and desert.
  • The correct structure code ('village', 'dungeon' etc.) must be present in the superflat string.
  • Structures must be turned on in the world settings. (This does not affect 'natural' objects such as trees, flowers, mushrooms, 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 will not form in mid-air, but will form provided there is at least one solid block layer.

For example, to have an 'End' superflat world with obsidian pillars, the biome number must be 9, 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.

History

r
12w01aAdded Superflat world type.
12w25aSlime spawning in Superflat is reduced.
1.3.1Prior to 1.3.1, 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.
12w36aBy going into the level.dat and editing the generatorOptions line, the player can create custom Superflat worlds.
12w37aAdded 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.
12w39bThe "Bottomless Pit" preset is fixed.
12w40aRegular structures (trees, ores, strongholds, etc.) can now be generated in this mode. The preset code version number is changed to "2" to reflect this. A new preset, "Redstone Ready", is available, 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]

Resources that can be found in a classic Superflat world

The resources below can always be found, regardless of the "Generate Structures" option.

Icon Id Name
Grass 2 Grass
Dirt 3 Dirt
Bedrock 7 Bedrock

The resources below can only be found if the "Generate Structures" option is enabled. These do not include trading with villagers.

Icon Id Name
Cobblestone 4 Cobblestone
File:Wooden Plank.png 5 Wooden Planks
Water 9 Water
Lava 11 Lava
Gravel 13 Gravel
File:Wood.png 17 Wood
Black Wool 35 Wool
File:Double Stone Slab.png 43 Double Stone Slabs
Stone Slab 44 Stone Slabs
Bookshelf 47 Bookshelf
Torch 50 Torch
File:Wooden Stairs.png 53 Wooden Stairs
Chest 54 Chest
Crafting Table 58 Crafting Table
File:Crops.png 59 Wheat Seeds
Farmland 60 Farmland
Furnace 61 Furnace
File:Wooden Door.png 64 Wooden Door
File:Ladders.png 65 Ladder
Cobblestone Stairs 67 Cobblestone Stairs
File:Wooden Pressure Plate.png 72 Wooden Pressure Plate
File:Fence.png 85 Fence
Iron Bars 101 Iron Bars
Glass Pane 102 Glass Pane
Carrot 391 Carrot
Potato 392 Potato

Village chests may contain these items:

Icon Id Name
Sapling 6 Sapling
Obsidian 49 Obsidian
257 Iron Pickaxe
260 Red Apple
File:Diamond (Gem).png 264 Diamond
File:Ironitm.png 265 Iron Ingot
File:Golditm.png 266 Gold Ingot
267 Iron Sword
297 Bread
306 Iron Helmet
307 Iron Chestplate
308 Iron Leggings
309 Iron Boots

Bugs

  • Superflat worlds may contain chunk errors that will generate default worlds. This usually occurs if there is old "default" world data still in memory.
  • If you overwrite a Superflat world with a default world of the same name, some chunks (and sometimes massive areas) may remain Superflat, though the grass color will change with the biome.
  • Water World spawns you on top of the dirt layer, making Survival practically impossible in a new world. Workarounds are either spawning in Creative and flying up, or editing the save files after world creation to move spawn.
  • When customizing a flatland world, if you add any block with an ID greater than 127 (such as Emerald Ore) as a layer, the game will not generate the world and will freeze the game. This bug no longer occurs as of 12w38a.
  • If the world is set to generate a layer of cactus the world will crash due to cacti not being able to be placed adjacent to other blocks.
  • If the world is set to generate a layer of levers, they will spawn upside-down. The game will crash if there is no solid block above the levers that they can connect to, when a lever is toggled or broken. If the world is re-opened all the levers along that lever's Z axis are broken, but no other levers.
  • When a chest shows in the Superflat customization screen that displays the layers, it will appear as an icon that is a merge between a closed and an open chest. If Minecraft tries to generate a layer of chests, the game will freeze and eventually crash. If you re-open the world and try to open a chest, the mouse icon will appear, but the GUI might not appear. If it does then it will show as a glitched chest with multiple menus.[http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac184/ZL123/GlitchedChest_zps3573159a.png
  • Sometimes you will get a default world, but the "default world" is not default.Instead,you find the flat part,but a bug is the wall does not alow ocean part does not flow over the wall while underground water and lava flow onto the flat world.
  • If you set the depth of the map low and allow mine shafts to spawn, they can spawn in the air, this can also occur with strongholds and dungeons.
  • If a world with a layer of beds is generated, then the player will be able to use any of the beds. However destroying any of the beds will cause the game to crash.
  • If you make a world with alternating water and lava layers the wourld will run for a short while but then will crash due to the code stating it should place stone and obsidian in the same block (if you place a glass layer on top you can watch the miss rendering i personalty suggest you try it before it is fixed it looks epic)
  • When a custom superflat world is created in Survival Mode, the player can get stuck in the first layer and must destroy it before they can move.

Trivia

  • The volume of an entire Classic Flat world, not including villages, bonus chests, or air, is 3.6 million km3, and the world is composed of 3,600,000,000,000,000 blocks.
  • NPC Villages spawn more frequently in Classic Flat worlds than in normal worlds, because the entire world generates as a Plains biome.
  • Before 12w25a, Slimes spawned in huge numbers in Superflat worlds. This was because slimes spawn below layer 40, and in Superflat the entire world surface is only four blocks away from the bedrock layer.
  • In creative, digging through bedrock in the right place allows the moon and sun to be observed at noon and midnight respectively.
  • You can create a void world using the preset code 1;0;1, which simply creates a layer of air. However, you would not be able to build on it without a solid block present. To achieve this effect (and have blocks still placeable) you can instead make the world one layer of sand or gravel (code 1;12;1 or 1;13;1). When you place a block the ground will fall away, yet you will have one block to place others on.
  • Additionally it may be possible to use locked chests as a means for creating a sky world, this is because they have a decay code letting them de-spawn randomly, however this may create a lot of lag (significantly less than sand/gravel). At least it will be possible to place quite a few blocks before they all decay (use preset 1;95 )
  • If the biome is 9 (end), and you teleport to x=0 z=0, the ender dragon will be there, even though it's still the overworld. This has been tested with and without the top block being endstone. This may not be a glitch since the code determines the dragon to spawn by biome.
  • In the Xbox 360 edition, the nether generates superflat as well.

Gallery

References

Advertisement