Minecraft:Terrain features

This page lists terrain features that are created as part of the Minecraft:world generation.

Overworld

General terrain generation

Template:Main The surface in the Overworld is generated using 3D Perlin noise, which creates pseudo-random variation. More variation is created by three noise paramters: continentalness, erosion, and peaks and valleys. These are also tied to Minecraft:biome placement.

Some features created by this algorithm include:

Hills and lakes

Hills in the game can vary from gradual slopes to steep cliffs. They can occur anywhere in the world, including oceans, flatland, or mountains. Hills in an ocean biome can reach high enough to create islands. Similarly, terrain variation can also cause holes and pits, sometimes forming lakes. On an Minecraft:amplified world, hills in most biomes are often extended and form extreme cliffs.

Higher erosion values often result in more "windswept" hills with steep cliffs and generally lower altitudes. At lower erosion, hills are smooth or almost flat, but the terrain can reach much higher elevation.

• Hilly terrain in the windswept gravelly hills biome
  Hilly terrain in the windswept gravelly hills biome
• Smoother hills in the Minecraft:plains biome
  Smoother hills in the Minecraft:plains biome
• Flatland with some hills in snowy plains
  Flatland with some hills in snowy plains
• Underwater, hills and cliffs may also occur
  Underwater, hills and cliffs may also occur

Mountains and valleys

When the erosion value reaches lower values, peaks and valleys start to contribute more to the terrain variation. The general altitude depends on the continentalness.

Minecraft:Mountains are high elevation terrain that have jagged peaks and higher land. Mountainous terrain often includes valleys, slopes, cliffs, and peaks. Sometimes, mountains reach the terrain generation limit of Y=256, where they are cut off and form flat plateaus combined with rugged terrain.

In contrast to windswept hills, however, mountains and valleys are smoothly shaped with rolling hills. Plateaus occur at slightly higher erosion or lower continentalness, which are similar to mountains but flattened at around Y=130. More inland, both mountains, valleys, and plateaus can stretch over huge areas with much higher elevation. At the border of different terrain types, steep slopes or cliffs form.

Common terrain features created by peaks and valleys (weirdness) are mountain rings. Mountain peaks or plateaus can enclose lower valleys, although they are sometimes incomplete. When the weirdness reaches very high or low values, these valleys can reach extreme depths and form craters, sometimes reaching the bottom Minecraft:bedrock layers. When this occurs, stone walls more than a hundred blocks tall are formed to separate the water from the lava above the bedrock.

The peaks and valleys noise usually creates Minecraft:rivers between mountains or plateaus. Depending on the continentalness, these vary in width and depth. High-erosion terrain like Minecraft:swamps can also be affected, but oceans and mushroom fields are not.

• A typical jagged peaks mountain ring
  A typical jagged peaks mountain ring
• The rare occurrence of a massive "crater lake" reaching the bedrock
  The rare occurrence of a massive "crater lake" reaching the bedrock
• Mountains reaching the terain generation limit, along with smooth valleys
  Mountains reaching the terain generation limit, along with smooth valleys
• A savanna plateau
  A savanna plateau
• Many rivers in hilly terrain
  Many rivers in hilly terrain

Cliff

Template:Confuse Oceanic cliffs are steep vertical slopes that can sometimes generate when mountainous terrain borders an Minecraft:ocean. Oceans near cliffs are often deep and sometimes very small. The cliffs expose many Minecraft:caves, while the surface terrain ends abruptly.

• A frozen cliff
  A frozen cliff
• A long taiga cliff
  A long taiga cliff
• A cliff shaped like a crater
  A cliff shaped like a crater
• An island made of cliffs
  An island made of cliffs
• Oceanic cliffs in front of each other
  Oceanic cliffs in front of each other

Fjord

Template:Redirect Fjords happen when rivers cut through high-medium elevation terrain. Rivers are deeper here than usual.

• A badlands fjord.
• File:Fjord 2.png
• File:Fjord 1.png

Floating island

Floating islands are structures that float in mid-air. Floating islands are normally just small chunks of floating Minecraft:dirt and Minecraft:stone found near cliffs, but on rare occasions they can be large structures that even have springs and Minecraft:trees on them. Floating islands are most frequently found in or near Minecraft:windswept hills biomes and their variants, as well as Minecraft:windswept savannas.

Floating islands and overhangs are common when the erosion is high, but not at its maximum. This results in windswept terrain often surrounding Minecraft:swamps, with flatland terrain nearby.

• A small floating island.
  A small floating island.
• It is rarer to see large floating islands, especially those with natural features such as trees.
  It is rarer to see large floating islands, especially those with natural features such as trees.
• A floating island in a forest biome with a few trees growing on it.
  A floating island in a forest biome with a few trees growing on it.
• A tree on a snowy floating island.
  A tree on a snowy floating island.
• The windswept savanna is notable for its massive overhangs and floating islands
  The windswept savanna is notable for its massive overhangs and floating islands

Sea level

Minecraft:Air on Minecraft:altitude Y=62 and lower is replaced by Minecraft:water. This occurs mostly in river and ocean biomes – areas in the terrain generation with low continentalness or peaks and valleys – and can form massive, deep water bodies. The sea level can also create lakes in land biomes, or fill deep craters.

Below Y=-55, all air is replaced by Minecraft:lava, forming a similar "lava level". This mostly applies to caves, as the terrain rarely reaches such depths.

• The ocean is the largest example of the sea level.
  The ocean is the largest example of the sea level.
• A river, connected to some flooded land biomes
  A river, connected to some flooded land biomes
• Lakes are common in the windswept savanna biome
  Lakes are common in the windswept savanna biome
• The underground lava sea
  The underground lava sea

Surface

Template:For Based on the depth value calculated by the terrain generation, Minecraft:water exposure, the Minecraft:biome, and the Minecraft:dimension, the world is "filled" with several blocks in layers.

Terrain

All blocks that make up the terrain are placed depending on the dimension and altitude. In the Overworld, this is as follows:

• Template:BlockLink: Template:IN, one full layer at Y=-64, followed by a randomized gradient that places bedrock up to layer Y=-59. Template:IN, two full layers at Y=-64 and -63, followed by a noise that randomly places bedrock up to Y=-60, meaning that they cannot generate "floating", and the pattern is always the same regardless of Minecraft:world seed. The bedrock layers cannot be overridden by other terrain features.
• Template:BlockLink generates up to Y=0. Above, a gradient randomly places decreasing amounts of deepslate up to layer Y=8.
• Template:BlockLink generates anywhere else as terrain block.

Surface layers

The uppermost layers of the terrain are converted to a biome-dependent material. The first layer is usually Minecraft:grass blocks, the following few layers are Minecraft:dirt. In shallow water, the first and following layers are always dirt, allowing Minecraft:disks to generate. In deeper water, the first layer is gravel and the following layers are Minecraft:stone. A few biomes override this.

• Template:BiomeSprite In Minecraft:deserts, Minecraft:beaches, and warm oceans,Template:Only the first few layers are Minecraft:sand. Secondary, deeper layers are Minecraft:sandstone, reaching deeper in deserts. Except warm oceans,Template:Only this is not applied in deep water.

• Template:BiomeSprite In lukewarm oceans and warm oceans,Template:Only only the first layer in deep water is Minecraft:sand.

• Template:BiomeSprite In ice spikes, the first layer above water is Minecraft:snow blocks.

• Template:BiomeSprite In mushroom fields, the first layer above water is Minecraft:mycelium.

• Template:BiomeSprite In dripstone caves, the first layer above water is Minecraft:stone.

• Template:BiomeSprite In Minecraft:mangrove swamps, the first few layers excluding deep water are Minecraft:mud.

• Template:BiomeSprite Template:IN, in sulfur caves as well as frozen oceans below water, the first few layers are Minecraft:stone.

When gravel or sand generates floating, it gets replaced by Minecraft:stone and Minecraft:sandstone, respectively. The surface layers do not apply to caves, meaning these blocks can still generate floating, and other blocks can be exposed.

Erosion

Template:Main In older versions of Minecraft, instead of being converted to dirt or sand, the top layer is stripped away, leaving an 'erosion' (aka. 'basin') of bare Minecraft:stone. Commonly, minerals can be found in these, generally Minecraft:coal ore and Minecraft:iron ore. If generated in a Badlands biome, Minecraft:gold ore can also be seen. Erosions appear in all dimensions. Due to a bug, this no longer occurs except in frozen oceans.

• A naturally generated erosion.
  A naturally generated erosion.
• A desert erosion.
  A desert erosion.
• A taiga erosion.
  A taiga erosion.
• A snow-covered tundra erosion.
  A snow-covered tundra erosion.

Strip

Template:Redirect Strips are long stretches of blocks in certain biomes that replace the typical surface materials in these biomes. They can occur in Minecraft:stony shore biomes as strips of Minecraft:gravel, in Minecraft:stony peaks biomes as strips of Minecraft:calcite, in Minecraft:frozen peaks biomes as strips of Minecraft:packed ice, as well as in Minecraft:grove and Minecraft:snowy slopes biomes as strips of Minecraft:powder snow.

• A strip of calcite in a stony peaks biome.
  A strip of calcite in a stony peaks biome.
• A strip of gravel in a stony shore biome.
  A strip of gravel in a stony shore biome.

Hoodoo

Hoodoos are tall spike-like structures found in badlands, consisting of six colors of terracotta. While this structure is found exclusively in Minecraft:eroded badlands, all badlands biomes actually have this structure, but set to false except for eroded badlands and can occasionally pass altitude layer 100.

• Hoodoos in an eroded badlands biome.
  Hoodoos in an eroded badlands biome.
• Hoodoos in a Mesa Bryce biome in an older version of Minecraft.
  Hoodoos in a Mesa Bryce biome in an older version of Minecraft.
• Hoodoo render.
  Hoodoo render.

Iceberg

A large iceberg is a large terrain feature composed of Minecraft:packed ice and Minecraft:snow blocks. There is also a smaller feature known as a cone iceberg.

Large icebergs generate in Minecraft:frozen oceans and Minecraft:deep frozen oceans. They consist of Minecraft:packed ice, and can be topped with snow blocks. Icebergs generate in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from small islands to giant mountain-like icebergs. They can also generate with cave-like holes (these might be related to the carved recesses in cone icebergs)Template:Info needed in them, which sometimes pass through to the other side of the iceberg.

There are often blue ice features attached to them.

• The first screenshot of icebergs.
  The first screenshot of icebergs.
• A group of naturally generated icebergs.
  A group of naturally generated icebergs.
• An aerial view of a frozen ocean with icebergs.
  An aerial view of a frozen ocean with icebergs.
• An iceberg viewed from below.
  An iceberg viewed from below.
• A village close to some icebergs.
  A village close to some icebergs.
• A cave inside an iceberg.
  A cave inside an iceberg.

Noise cave

Noise caves are generated using a noise. They come in the form of cheese caves, spaghetti caves, and noodle caves. By adjusting noise frequency, hollowness (for cheese caves), and thickness (for spaghetti caves, noodle caves, and noise pillars), noise caves can vary in extremely diverse ways. When generating noise caves, the game firstly generates a random noise field, and "smudges" it using a mathematical trick called Perlin noise. These processes then result in a 3D noise image.

Unique features of noise caves are aquifers. Bodies or Minecraft:water or Minecraft:lava may for at different altitudes, separated from other bodies by thin walls or ceilings.

Larger noise caves may feature noise pillars, formations of rock connecting the ceiling with the floor based on noise, which can have varying sizes.

Some noise caves may also reach the surface, exposing stones or creating floating islands.

• A cheese cave with some aquifers
  A cheese cave with some aquifers
• Noodle cave
  Noodle cave
• Spaghetti cave
  Spaghetti cave
• Some aquifers
  Some aquifers
• Pillars in a noise cave
  Pillars in a noise cave

Carvers

Minecraft:Carver caves are narrow, winding tunnels similar to noise caves, but with a clear end and a central starting room. They can generate at any altitude and connect to the surface, other caves, or structures. Sometimes, carver caves are filled with water or lava.

Minecraft:Canyons are similar to carver caves, but shaped like a tall ravine and relatively shorter. Canyons may generate entirely underground, underwater, or exposed to the surface, and they can have different sections similar to aquifers. The walls of a canyon are steep cliffs with some edges and natural variation. They can also reach the lava level.

• Carver caves
  Carver caves
• A canyon from the inside
  A canyon from the inside
• A canyon exposed to the surface
  A canyon exposed to the surface

Ore veins

Template:Main Unlike ore features, ore veins are terrain features that carve through the world and place several blocks. There are two types: veins with copper ore, Minecraft:granite as filler material, and occasional raw copper blocks, forming in the Minecraft:stone layer, and veins with Minecraft:deepslate iron ore, Minecraft:tuff as filler, and so

me raw iron blocks, forming in the Minecraft:deepslate layer. Ore veins are massive branching networks, sometimes exposed in a cave, but they cannot replace air or water.

• An iron vein in a cave
  An iron vein in a cave
• Exposed copper vein
  Exposed copper vein

The Nether

General terrain generation

Template:Main Terrain in the Nether is generated similarly to the Overworld with 3D Perlin noise. Instead of surface-oriented paramters, the game has two pairs for the solid terrain at the ceiling and ground, and the hollow space in between. This results in cave-like terrain where most air is found in the middle between the ceiling and the ground.

Floating islands, cliffs, and overhangs are very common. Some holes may

Lava sea

Similar to the water sea level in the Overworld, a Minecraft:lava sea forms below Y=31 in Minecraft:the Nether, which happens quite often. They can stretch for hundreds of blocks in any direction, and are usually bordered by Minecraft:netherrack, or occasionally Minecraft:soul sand, Minecraft:gravel, and Minecraft:magma blocks. Minecraft:Striders can spawn in lava seas.

Unlike with Minecraft:Overworld oceans, lava seas are not handled as a biome. Template:IN, the lava sea is biome-dependent and can also be generated in the Overworld, replacing the water sea.

• The lava sea
  The lava sea
• A few Minecraft:ghasts swimming in a lava sea
  A few Minecraft:ghasts swimming in a lava sea
• Under the lava sea in Minecraft:Spectator mode
  Under the lava sea in Minecraft:Spectator mode

Surface

Template:For Based on the depth value calculated by the terrain generation, the Minecraft:biome, and the dimension, the world is "filled" with several blocks in layers.

Terrain

All blocks that make up the terrain are placed depending on the dimension and altitude. In the Nether, this is as follows:

• Template:BlockLink: Template:IN, one full layer at Y=0, followed by a randomized gradient that places bedrock up to layer Y=5. Template:IN, two full layers at Y=0 and 1, followed by a noise that randomly places bedrock up to Y=4 meaning that they cannot generate "floating", and the pattern is always the same regardless of Minecraft:world seed. The bedrock layers cannot be overridden by other terrain features.
• Template:BlockLink: Another layer of bedrock generates similarly at the Minecraft:Nether roof. This is one full layer at Y=127, followed by a gradient,Template:Only or noiseTemplate:Only that places blocks down to Y=122/Template:Only123.Template:Only
• Template:BlockLink generates anywhere else as terrain block.

Nether erosions

Template:Main In the Nether, erosions generate the same size and shape as they do in the Overworld. Unlike their Overworld counterparts, however, Nether erosions replace the ground with Minecraft:netherrack instead of stone. Nether erosions can also expose ores, mainly Minecraft:Nether quartz ore and Minecraft:Nether gold ore.

Notably, erosions generate independent of the y-coordinate; if an erosion generates in an overhang in the Nether, an identical erosion is guaranteed to generate at the exact same x and z coordinates on the ground below such an overhang.

• An erosion in a Minecraft:crimson forest, exposing Nether quartz ore blob.
  An erosion in a Minecraft:crimson forest, exposing Nether quartz ore blob.
• An erosion in a Minecraft:Nether wastes.
  An erosion in a Minecraft:Nether wastes.

Nether carvers

Minecraft:Carver caves and Minecraft:canyons generate in the Nether similarly to the Overworld. Below Y=31, they are filled with lava Template:In. Template:IN, they are filled with air and some biome features, and are separated from the lava sea by walls. They can often expose Minecraft:bedrock, but not at the ceiling.

• Nether carver caves
  Nether carver caves
• A Nether canyon
  A Nether canyon
• A carver cave connecting to the bedrock in Template:BE
  A carver cave connecting to the bedrock in Template:BE

The End

Central island

The center of the End is a large, asteroid-like island composed entirely of Minecraft:End stone, floating in the void. It features the Minecraft:exit portal in the center, surrounded by 10 Minecraft:End spikes in a circle. The island is home to the Minecraft:ender dragon, and serves as the arena where it is fought.

At a distance of 1000 blocks away, an endless expanse of additional islands begins, away from the main island. These consist of large islands, about the size of the main island, and smaller ones, which are usually thin and small.

• Central island with many endermen.
  Central island with many endermen.

Outer islands

The outer End islands are found 1000 blocks away from the central island, also made entirely of End stone. They vary in size from large islands to smaller "mini islands". Generated structures such as End cities and End ships spawn here, along with Minecraft:chorus trees and erosions. The player can be taken to the End islands through the Minecraft:End gateway.

• Outer islands with chorus trees.
  Outer islands with chorus trees.

End erosions

Template:Main Erosions generate in the End as they would in the Overworld and the Nether but they never expose any ores. End erosions may generate on both the central island and outer islands, and Minecraft:chorus trees can occasionally take root in the erosions.

• An erosion generated on an outer End island.
  An erosion generated on an outer End island.

History