Minecraft:Weather

File:Weather.png

The four main weather types, including clear weather, rainfall, Minecraft:thunderstorm, and Minecraft:snowfall

Weather in Template:MC consists of occasional precipitation and storms that are temporary but global.

Behavior

File:WeatherSkyComparison.png

A comparison of sky light levels during different types of weather. Template:IN, both rainy and stormy weather are grayscale.

The type of weather that occurs depends on several variable factors, including the temperature of the current biome, and the Minecraft:altitude in which it occurs.

Players who have cheats enabled can change the current weather if they wish, using the Template:Cmd command. Template:IN, Template:Cmd also switches to inclement weather, or vice versa, and Template:Cmd can be used to determine the current weather.

Weather changing with time can be toggled on or off using the "Weather cycle" game settingTemplate:Only or Template:Cd/Template:Cd Minecraft:game rule. When disabled, the weather stays the same indefinitely, unless altered using the Template:Cmd command.

Java Edition mechanics

Template:IN, weather is controlled by two internal flags that cycle on and off, one flag for rain and one flag for thunder. When the rain flag is on and the thunder flag is off, the weather is rainy (or snowy or overcast, depending on the temperature). When the rain flag is on and the thunder flag is on, the weather is a thunderstorm. When the rain flag is off, the weather is clear, regardless of the thunder flag.

Each flag has an associated timer. When the timer reaches zero, the flag is toggled and the timer chooses a new random value. The rain flag will stay on for 12000 to 24000 Minecraft:ticks (10 to 20 minutes, inclusive) and off for 12000 to 180000 ticks (10 minutes to 2.5 hours, inclusive). The thunder flag will stay on for 3600 to 15600 ticks (3 to 13 minutes, inclusive) and off for 12000 to 180000 ticks (10 minutes to 2.5 hours, inclusive). The thunder flag only affects the world while the rain flag is on, so it's possible for the thunder flag to cycle on and off while the rain flag stays off, resulting in a longer wait between thunderstorms, or to only partially overlap with a period of rain, resulting in a shorter thunderstorm.

There is also a clear weather timer that is only affected by the Template:Cmd command and stays at zero during normal gameplay. While this timer is active, the rain and thunder flags are both kept off and their timers are locked at 1 game tick. This means that when the command-enforced clear weather ends and the timers resume, both flags will immediately flip on and both timers will reset, resulting in a thunderstorm.

Effects

Clear weather is the first weather in a newly created world. During clear weather, the Minecraft:daylight cycle affects the light level and related effects; no specific effects happen. All celestial bodies are visible as well as regular fog. Minecraft:Sleeping in a bed resets the weather to clear, but not the weather timers.

Inclement weather reduces the sky Minecraft:light level, depending on the severity of the storm. Because of this, Minecraft:villagers return to their homes until the storm passes.

The Minecraft:sky itself darkens and gray Minecraft:fog increases, to the point where celestial bodies (including the Minecraft:sun, Minecraft:moon, and stars) are no longer visible, except in dry biomes in Bedrock Edition. The clouds darken depending on the severity of the weather; note that the clouds themselves do not precipitate. Although the sun is not visible during rain, the glow associated with sunrise and sunset is still visible.

Rain

Rain occurs only in blocks with a temperature higher than 0.15 and not in certain dry biomes (Minecraft:deserts, Minecraft:savannas, and Minecraft:badlands). Rainstorms reduce the light level to 12 in full daylight.

Rain extinguishes Minecraft:fires (including flaming arrows). However, it does not extinguish fires on Minecraft:netherrack, and it does not solidify Minecraft:lava. Minecraft:Mobs that are on fire are extinguished on contact with rain; this prevents Minecraft:skeletons and Minecraft:zombies from burning during the day. Conversely, Minecraft:endermen and Minecraft:snow golems may die due to their weakness to water. Endermen teleport randomly until they find a dry place. Minecraft:Blazes and Minecraft:striders that are brought into the Minecraft:Overworld take damage and eventually die from being in contact with rain.

File:Rainy Hills.png

A view of hills during rain

Other interesting effects caused by rain:

• Fish are more abundant during rain.
• Minecraft:Wolves shake themselves dry if they are not moving. Template:Only
• Minecraft:Farmland becomes hydrated if it isn't already.
• Rain fills up Minecraft:cauldrons with Minecraft:water, albeit slowly.

Rain Minecraft:particles make noise when they hit a block, and this noise can be heard at any point within 16 blocks. These particles can be disabled by setting Particles to "Minimal" in the Minecraft:Video Settings menu.Template:Only

Snow

File:Snowing BE.jpg

An example of snow falling

Snowfall occurs only in biomes with a base temperature less than 0.15, or above a sufficient altitude. Like rainstorms, snowfall reduces the light level to 12 in full daylight. Template:IN, Minecraft:leaves gradually take on a frosted appearance once snowfall begins in snowy biomes.

As it snows, Minecraft:snow layers regenerate over all non-transparent blocks. Snow layers will accumulate and grow over time in Bedrock Edition, or Template:In when modifying the Template:Va game rule. Snow does not cover transparent blocks.

Effects from rainfall related to the properties of water do not apply with snowfall, for example entities lit on fire do not extinguish. Cauldrons exposed to snowfall slowly fill with powder snow.

Thunderstorm

File:LightningStrike.gif

width=199x199

Thunderstorms may occur in any biome and are combined with rain, snowfall, or clear weather depending on the temperature. They reduce the internal sky light level. At noon the internal sky light level at surface is only 10. However, in mob spawning system, the light level from the sky is treated as if it were 0, allowing hostile mobs to spawn at any time of the day.

Lightning

Minecraft:Lightning occurs frequently during thunderstorms, if there is rain. It strikes randomly, creating Minecraft:fires where it strikes, igniting any nearby flammable materials, but the rain usually puts the fire out before it can spread. Lightning can strike only blocks that are exposed to the rain. Lightning does not occur naturally in biomes that are too hot or dry to have rain or so cold that it snows instead of rains, but can still be summoned with a channeling trident.

Lightning deals Template:Hp damage to entities on normal difficulty, not including the damage done by the fire it causes. It turns creepers into Minecraft:charged creepers, Minecraft:villagers into Minecraft:witches, Minecraft:pigs into Minecraft:zombified piglins, and Minecraft:mooshrooms into their brown variants.

Lightning may randomly spawn a "skeleton trap" skeletal horse, with a chance of 3.75–7.5% on Easy, 7.5–20% on Normal, and 11.25–33.75% on Hard, depending on the Minecraft:regional difficulty.

Thunder is a sound that occurs every time lightning strikes. It can be heard by the player up to 160,000 blocks away from the position of the lightning strike. Thunder is heard instantly, regardless the player's distance from the lightning strike itself.

Lightning may be manually summoned with the Template:Cmd command. While it is summoned as an entity, it cannot be referred to by Minecraft:commands or selectors.

If the player throws a trident enchanted with Minecraft:channeling during a thunderstorm, it summons a lightning bolt at the thrown area.

End flash

File:Vibrant Visuals End flash.gif

An End flash with Vibrant Visuals

An end flash is a weather-like event that occurs in the End. Block lighting becomes purple tinted during the flash, which is more noticeable on lower brightness settings, and a sound effect plays. There is a 30 second delay between flashes, and each flash lasts between 5 and 19 seconds. End flashes are only visual, and thus do not affect gameplay. Template:IN, End flashes only occur when Minecraft:Vibrant Visuals is enabled,Template:Until and are treated as global directional light sources, creating shadows and purple volumetric fog.

Videos

Template:Yt

History

File:Rain.png

Rain pouring down in Minecraft:Java Edition Classic

Trivia

• Rain and snow still falls above the clouds. Notch's explanation is that the gray above the clouds during a storm is “another layer of clouds” and the origin of the rain.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
• Rain and snow are both considered the same weather effect by the game. This explains why there is no Template:Cmd command.
• Lightning does not have an image file associated with it. Thus, it is coded directly into the game engine, allowing for dynamic, realistic lightning.
• Minecraft:Helen Zbihlyj created a design document for a scientifically accurate rework of Minecraft:Minecraft's weather system.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

Gallery

Screenshots

• Rain in the forest biome
  Rain in the forest biome
• Snowfall in a Minecraft:grove
  Snowfall in a Minecraft:grove
• Lightning during a thunderstorm
  Lightning during a thunderstorm
• Weather darkens the sky to the extent of the sun being hidden from view
  Weather darkens the sky to the extent of the sun being hidden from view
• A combination of a thunderstorm and snowfall, notice the darker clouds.
  A combination of a thunderstorm and snowfall, notice the darker clouds.
• A timelapse of leaves becoming frosted at the start of snowfall in Minecraft:Bedrock Edition
  A timelapse of leaves becoming frosted at the start of snowfall in Minecraft:Bedrock Edition
• The boundary between rain and dry weather in a Minecraft:desert in Minecraft:Java Edition
  The boundary between rain and dry weather in a Minecraft:desert in Minecraft:Java Edition
• The transition between rain and clear weather in Bedrock Edition
  The transition between rain and clear weather in Bedrock Edition
• The boundary between rain and snow in Java Edition
  The boundary between rain and snow in Java Edition
• The transition between snowfall and rainfall in Bedrock Edition
  The transition between snowfall and rainfall in Bedrock Edition
• All weather transitions seen at once at the border of a stony shore and a Minecraft:desert
  All weather transitions seen at once at the border of a stony shore and a Minecraft:desert
• An End flash in Java Edition
  An End flash in Java Edition
• An image of snow and rain from Notch's twitter
  An image of snow and rain from Notch's twitter