There are many biomes in Minecraft. Some are easier and harder to live in depending on the availability of food, wood, and other resources. Some biomes may have variants that can be easier or harder to live in.
The Overworld[]
The player first spawns in the Overworld where resources such as wood, food, and stone are plentiful in most biomes. However, certain biomes have other negative things in them, making them harder to survive in.
Forest[]
Forests and Birch Forests are very common biomes, likely to be where you spawn in. As a rather basic biome, living in or near one is recommended for new players. Dark Forests should be considered as a more extreme version of the normal Forest that happens to contain the coveted Woodland Mansions.
Pros:
- Many trees provide a large amount of wood
- Animals are plentiful
- Wolves spawn in the normal variant, providing an animal to tame
- Generally temperate, giving equal access to more varied biomes
- Varied flowers generate, especially in the Flower Forest variant
- Beehives spawn on trees rarely
- Trail Ruins spawn in the Old Growth Birch Forest variant
Cons:
- Trees can make it hard to traverse, especially for the normal variant
- Lack of any surface structures and repetitive generating makes it easy to get lost in
- Trees provide shade for mobs to hide under during the day
- Land requires clearing to make way for structures
- Dark forests have overall thicker trees, meaning all of the above problems are worsened by living in one
Plains[]
Plains, along with Meadows are common biomes characterized by grassy, flat terrain and plentiful Bees. It's highly recommended to live here for many reasons. The Savanna can be seen as a variant of the plains biome that has llamas and more trees at the cost of being hotter.
Pros:
- Flat terrain allows high visibility, easy navigation and easier building
- Beehives are found often, especially in Meadows
- Wide variety of Flowers, rarer ones spawning in mass in Meadows
- Animals are plentiful here
- Villages generate commonly, providing massive amounts of food and access to invaluable Villagers within
- Large spaces of land to farm easily, and is often surrounded by water, making farming and fishing easier
Cons:
- Grass may block attacks while in combat
- Nights have many mobs due to the lack of trees
- Many resources have to be imported from different regions due to the lack of variety
Taiga[]
Taigas and their Old Growth Taiga Variants provide a similar yet distinct experience from normal Forests. This is the way to go if you're looking for a different kind of play.
Pros:
- Spruce Trees aren't nearly as movement-inhibiting as the trees in Forests, along with giving unfathomable amounts of wood if placed in a 2 by 2 formation
- Sweet Berries spawn here, providing a weak, yet plentiful Food
- Villages generate in the normal variant, often generating with Iron Armor for the taking
- Grass color is unique, which is often desirable
- The Old Growth variants always generate with Lush Caves below them
- This also means Azalea trees are easy to get
- This is one of the only biomes where Foxes spawn, along with its similar snowy variant
Cons:
- Like the forest, it's still rather hard to traverse and requires flattening to use.
- Due to it being a cold biome, warmer biomes such as Deserts and Jungles are further than usual
- If you aren't careful, you might accidentally walk into a Sweet Berry Bush
- Trees are often too tall to cut without placing more blocks.
- The giant trees can be cut easily by digging a staircase up the middle and destroying the staircase on the way down, but still poses a risk of falling off and taking fatal Damage.
Jungle[]
Jungles and their variants from a glance might seem to be one of the best places to live. However, many factors add up for it to be an unpleasant experience to those who try, mostly pertaining to the foliage.
Pros:
- Many varied resources nearly are exclusively found here, such as Bamboo and Cocoa Beans.
- Tons of wood can be found everywhere here
- Jungle pyramids can be found here, providing shelter and decent loot.
- Ocelots and Parrots can be found here
- The lime grass color is highly desirable to most
- Warmer biomes such as Deserts and Badlands are closer by
Cons:
- The foliage is too dense for any constructions to be made in a timely manner
- Fires are a legitimate issue due to this, compared to most biomes where it can be ignored safely
- Traveling is hard due to the varied terrain and high foliage
- Mobs can easily be found roaming during the day
- Deep caves can be covered up by the foliage until it's too late
- Due to it being a warm biome, colder areas are disproportionally farther away.
Snowy Biomes[]
On cold extreme, the Snowy Plains and other associated biomes like the Ice Spikes might surprise some with their difficulties. Since temperature for the most part isn't a problem, this biome plays out very similar to the plains and taiga. Due to this many of the downsides will not be listed as it's the same as the aforementioned biomes.
Pros:
- One of the few places where Polar Bears spawn, providing emergency food or something simple for mob collectors
- Water can be frozen into Ice renewably here, while Snow and Powder Snow can be farmed here too
- Rivers are frozen over, making boats travel much faster on them
- Villages can spawn here, their cold version containing more wood in the buildings and some unique architecture.
- Igloos spawn, allowing players to set up villages to be
Cons:
- Since it's as cold as can be here, warm biomes are usually unreasonably far away
- The snow often requires builds to be covered in String or will constantly be snowed on
- Since water will be frozen, all open water has to be covered or it will become ice
- Animals are scarce, often requiring them to be imported or have other food sources such as from Farms
Deserts[]
Deserts and Badlands are the other temperature extreme, often being barren, flat and seemingly inhospitable. With proper skill and adequate preparation, it can lead to a thriving base for those who can tough out some of the downsides.
Pros:
- Tons of Sand and Sandstone be found everywhere, a necessary resource for Glass
- Badlands are the best place for Terracotta, a building block that has a wide variety of uses
- Red Sand can only be found naturally in Badlands, giving another reason to go there
- The same goes with Cactus for both biomes
- The flat terrain and soft ground make flattening land and building various constructions a very easy task
- Thunderstorms do not make lightning here, turning them into unscheduled nights in these biomes.
- Although, that does make getting Heads and Skeleton Horses impossible without getting them elsewhere
- Desert pyramids, Desert Wells and Villages generate here, with the last one coming with Camels
- Badlands have high amounts of Gold Ore and Mineshaft that generate on the surface
Cons:
- No trees generated except on the edges of Rivers and the tops of some Badlands Plateaus
- No animals except Rabbits spawn
- No grass is generated outside of the Rivers running through them
- The Badlands can have treacherous terrain to traverse at times
- The grass is a sickly yellow in the desert and olive green in the Badlands, both not looking the healthiest
- Incredibly far away from the cold biomes one may need
- Villages don’t have many valuable resources to survive
- Some are very big
Oceans[]
While these biomes aren't considered often, Oceans aren't bad places to live, just requiring some extra precautions before settling down.
Pros:
- Shipwrecks, Ocean Ruins, Ocean Monuments, and Buried Treasure are all structures that generate here and give great amounts of loot
- Since all structures have to be above water, drained or habitable, the terrain below doesn't matter for the most part, giving a perfectly flat expanse to build on.
- Fish spawn constantly, acting as an easily obtainable source of food
- Only Drowned can spawn to attack you, with everything else being neutral or Guardians that only spawn in one structure
- Fall damage is nowhere near as dangerous due to the fact water negates it, making building tall structures easier
- Water movement is faster than land movement, making them act as a crossroads of sorts.
- Many items such as Coral or Prismarine can only be gotten here
Cons:
- Dry land nearly always has to be built by the player excluding Frozen Oceans
- Drowned armed with Tridents pose a great threat for those not inside a structure
- Drowning poses a massive threat for those working in the area
- Aimless sailing can get somebody afflicted with Mining Fatigue, a debilitating Effect that prevents anything more than a couple blocks worth of mining to be done
- Gathering materials such as ores is difficult due to mining speed getting reduced when submerged in water
- Getting lost is easy since there is next to nothing to keep track of
Mountains[]
Even if they are painful to traverse, Mountains have many reasons to live in them. The view is often second to none and various treasures can be found within.
Pros:
- Mining the tops of mountains gives massive amounts of Iron Ingot, Coal and occasionally Emerald Ore
- This is best seen in Stony Peaks
- Powder Snow can be found easily in the snowy parts
- The view from high up is considered by many to be beautiful
- Trees from the Groves provide a good source of wood
- Cherry Groves provide beautiful flora and a unique wood type
Cons:
- The Deep Dark is often found below Mountains, inhibiting mining at the bottom of the world to the point that a mine might have to be located elsewhere
- The terrain is very dangerous, making long travel times and falling a large hazard
- Oceans may be hard to find nearby
- Flat terrain is very hard to come by near the peaks, making it very difficult to build constructions of a substantial size
Swamps[]
Swamps and its variant, the Mangrove Swamp are incredibly different biomes for survival, but both may be interesting to live in.
Pros:
- Normal swamps have trees and animals needed for survival, while the Mangrove Swamp has incredibly high amounts of trees
- Boats allow for faster transport within these biomes since the water encompasses a large portion of the biome
- Lily Pads and Blue Orchids are near exclusively found here
- The biomes are small enough to give access to things these biomes don't do well themselves
- Frogs are exclusively found here
- Slimes spawn at night, giving easy access to Slimeballs at the small cost of a relatively easy enemy spawning
Cons:
- The water necessitates a boat be kept on hand at all times
- Mangrove Swamps have foliage too dense for practically anything to be done, even worse than a Jungle in that respect
- The grass color is a deep green and may be displeasing to some
The Nether[]
The Nether is a different dimension that is altogether more hostile and dangerous for survival, with powerful mobs, difficult terrain, and an ever-present danger of lava falls and lava oceans. However, it offers many valuable items not found in the Overworld, as well as a unique and challenging survival experience.
Pros as a whole:
- The Nether possesses countless unique resources such as Blaze Powder, Ghast Tears, and Magma Cream, many of which are instrumental in activities such as brewing Potions
- With enough effort, the Nether can be transformed into a canvas for a large amount of builds
- The bizarre scenery can be seen as appealing to some, especially when constructions are added to it
Cons as a whole:
- The majority of the Nether is filled with Lava, making it extremely difficult to traverse without ender pearls
- Lava can also suddenly appear when searching for materials such as Ancient Debris, which can bring your demise if you don't react quick enough
- Hostile mobs such as Magma Cubes are abundant in the Nether, which make it possible to be decimated easily without adequate preparation
Warped Forest[]
The Warped Forest is the safest biome in the Nether, as only endermen and passive striders spawn here naturally. It is still possible to find a fortress or bastion remnant, both of which contain dangerous enemies.
Pros:
- The vegetation is an interesting blue-green, making this biome potentially appealing for building
- The high amount of endermen make this biome an ideal place to harvest ender pearls
- Warped fungi can be obtained in abundance, making avoiding hoglins and riding striders less challenging if ever necessary
- Plenty of wood can be obtained from huge fungi
Cons:
- Builds will need to be either lit or have ceilings lower than 3 blocks to prevent endermen from spawning inside
- No food can be found naturally in this biome, short of mushrooms for mushroom stew or hoglins in hoglin stable bastions for pork
- Huge fungi grow thickly in this biome and their tops do not decay when the stem is chopped down, unlike tree leaves, making clearing away the vegetation difficult
Nether Wastes[]
The Nether Wastes is one of the more barren biomes in the Nether, but is still considered relatively safe due to the open terrain and the fact that overwhelming numbers of hostile mobs do not spawn here. A wide variety of mobs spawn in this biome, including the ghast, magma cube, piglin, zombified piglin, enderman, and strider.
Pros:
- Flat open scenery makes for plentiful building opportunities
- Fewer hostile mobs spawn here, making this biome altogether safer
- Ghasts and magma cubes spawn in this biome and drop valuable potion ingredients
- Piglins spawn here and can be bartered with to obtain valuable loot
Cons:
- As with the warped forest, the only food in this biome can be obtained from mushrooms or the occasional hoglin stables
- This biome mostly consists of netherrack, making it fairly uninteresting
- Players will need to be careful about opening chests and mining nether gold ore or gold blocks, and wear at least one piece of golden armor to prevent piglin attacks
- Builds should have ceilings lower than 2 1⁄2 blocks to prevent magma cube spawns and be well-lit to prevent piglin spawns, and magma cube farms should be less than 5 x 4 x 5 blocks to prevent ghast spawns
- Iron doors are recommended for builds, as piglins can open wooden doors
- Ghasts can destroy builds made of weak materials such as dirt, wood, or netherrack, so stone buildings are recommended
Crimson Forest[]
The Crimson Forest is seen as the red counterpart to the warped forest. Piglins and hoglins spawn here in abundance along with the occasional zombified piglin, so this biome is generally regarded as one of the more dangerous biomes in the Nether.
Pros:
- Huge crimson fungi generate here, making this biome a reliable source of wood
- The vast numbers of hoglins make obtaining food fairly simple
- Plenty of piglins mean plenty of bartering opportunities for rare or valuable loot
Cons:
- As with the warped forest, the vegetation here is very thick, meaning it can be difficult to retreat if attacked or to clear away a space for building
- Piglins spawn here quite often, so anti-piglin safety measures are even more important
- This biome may be uninteresting to some due to its intense red color
- Large numbers of hoglins spawn here and are both annoying to fight and difficult to keep away without warped fungi
Soul Sand Valley[]
The Soul Sand Valley is a relatively open biome, but is regarded as dangerous. Due to the high amounts of ghasts and skeletons combined with soul sand slowing down anything that walks into it, this biome can be extremely difficult to survive in.
Pros:
- Soul sand can be found here in vast quantities, making this biome good for large nether wart farms
- The high amount of bone blocks means plenty of bone meal
- Ghast farms can be built in this biome, making it an excellent source of ghast tears
Cons:
- This biome is barren and generally devoid of food apart from mushrooms and hoglin stables
- The soul sand floor will slow players down and make it very difficult to travel or to avoid attacks without boots enchanted with soul speed
- Multiple ghasts and/or skeletons can easily overwhelm an unprepared player
Basalt Deltas[]
The Basalt Deltas are one of the most challenging biomes in the Nether due to its uneven terrain, frequent lava pools, and high numbers of magma cubes. Survival in one of these biomes is considered quite difficult and dangerous.
Pros:
- Basalt and blackstone generate frequently, making this biome a good source of unique building blocks
- Plenty of magma cubes mean magma cream for fire resistance potions
- The terrain is uniquely shaped and may be appealing for some
Cons:
- This biome is considered highly dangerous due to the numbers of magma cubes, occasional ghasts, frequent lava pools, and constant danger of falling
- Building is very difficult due to the uneven ground
- Fire resistance potions are almost a requirement due to the constant lava hazard
- No food can be found apart from mushrooms, as no bastions generate here
- The dull gray and black colors may make this biome even more unappealing