Minecraft:Cave
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A cave (also known as a cavern) is a common Minecraft:terrain feature that generates in the Minecraft:Overworld and Minecraft:the Nether. Caves are usually found underground. They are open spaces of various sizes and shapes that often intersect with each other or with different Minecraft:generated structures, creating vast cave systems. They feature an abundance of Minecraft:ores, as well as hostile mobs that spawn in the darkness.
Generation
Caves are a part of Minecraft's terrain consisting of randomly generated cavities of Minecraft:air, Minecraft:water or Minecraft:lava, creating a hollow area and exposing other blocks generated with the terrain (such as Minecraft:stones and ores).
Caves generate at any Minecraft:altitude up to Y-level 256, and may span from the surface all the way to Y-level -59. Because of low Minecraft:light levels, hostile Minecraft:mobs and certain animals like Minecraft:bats and Minecraft:glow squids (only in water) often spawn in caves.
Caves come in two distinct types; noise caves and carver caves. Noise caves are generated along with the base terrain, while carver caves are added later on as generated features.
Noise caves
Noise caves are generated using a noise. They come in the form of cheese caves, spaghetti caves, and noodle caves.<ref name="21w06a">Template:Snap</ref> 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. Noise pillars also generate inside cave blobs.
Noise caves are a part of the base terrain generation, and so do not intersect generated structures or mineral deposits. They are typically decorated with biome-specific features and decoration such as grass, sand, snow, or trees at higher y-levels, or dripstone pillars or clay deltas at lower y-levels. This is important, as cave noise is dually used to generate important Overworld terrain features such as overhangs or floating islands on the surface.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob3VwY4JyzE</ref>
Cheese cave
Cheese caves are pocket areas of the underground that come in various sizes. Cheese caves offer large and open spaces, being the largest cave type in the game. They frequently generate noise pillars and expose many Minecraft:ores. When generating, the black part of noise image becomes stone or deepslate, and white part becomes air, making it resemble cheese with many holes.
Spaghetti cave
Spaghetti caves are long, narrow, winding caves and are a bit similar to small or medium carver caves, but longer. When generating, the edge of black and white part of noise image becomes air, making it look like long and wide spaghetti.
Noodle cave
Noodle caves are a thinner and squigglier variant of spaghetti caves. They consist of tunnels usually 1 to 5 blocks in width. When generating, the edge of black and white part of noise image becomes air, making it look like long and thin noodles.
Noise pillar
Noise pillars look like large dripstones or speleothems, but consist usually of stone. They can be found in any type of noise cave, making caves more realistic.
Aquifer
Aquifers are liquid systems used to generate bodies of liquids in a world. Almost all liquids in a world (including those in carvers, noise caves, rivers, and oceans) are generated by aquifers. Aquifers may create underground liquid bodies that look like lakes, as well as water or lava waterfalls. Note that Minecraft:lava lakes are also generated underground, but are not aquifers.
Aquifers below Y=0 may sometimes generate with Minecraft:lava instead of water, with aquifers from y=-55 to -63 always consisting of lava.
If two liquid bodies of different levels or types are too close, some blocks may be generated between them to separate them. These may resemble "rimstone dams" in caves.
Carver caves
Carver caves' structure typically consists of a series of irregular tunnels branching off and winding in other directions, which may cut through to the surface, creating natural entrances to the cave.
A carver cave may have a main room (aka circular void) connecting 1 to 4 trunks, each trunk with zero or two branches. It may also have no main room, only one trunk and zero or two branches on it, that is, an I-shaped or T-shaped cave. There is a one-in-four probability of generating a cave with the main room, and another three-quarters probability of generating an I-shaped or T-shaped cave.
The main room is an ellipsoidal void of various size. It sometimes may be too small to be found, making the cave looks I-shaped or T-shaped. But as long as the cave is not I-shaped or T-shaped, it must have a main room.
For each trunk or branch, it is usually thin at both ends and thick in the middle. However, the thickness does not vary so evenly. It sometimes flickers thick and thin as it advances. Sometimes it becomes so thin that there are some interruptions. Multiple interruptions make it look like a series of continuous bubbles. The length from the root of the trunk to the top of a branch varies from 85 to 112 blocks. The trunk and branches are curved, and they are often intertwined with each other to make complex caves. Multiple caves sometimes merge with each other making them more messy and spacious.
The ceiling of the main room, trunks, and branches is usually round, while the floor is usually flat.
In contrast with noise caves' gradual and natural openings, carver caves frequently cut straight through surface blocks and generated features, either destroying them or inhibiting their generation. Minecraft:Sand often falls into caves generated near the surface of a Minecraft:desert or Minecraft:beach; craters in the sand can alert the player to caves below the surface. Caves cannot cut through Minecraft:red sand nor Minecraft:snow blocks, despite these generating as a surface block in several biomes.<ref>Template:Cite bug</ref> They frequently intersect and expose other natural structures such as other caves, Minecraft:monster rooms, carver Minecraft:canyons, and Minecraft:mineshafts.
Overworld carver cave
The carver cave generation in the Overworld starts from Y=-56 to Y=180. The probability of cave generation is higher at Y=-56 to Y=47.
Their main rooms vary from roughly 1 to 14 blocks in height, and from roughly 5 to 15 blocks in diameter. The horizon thickness of trunks varies from roughly 2 to 38, while the vertical thickness of trunks varies from roughly 1 to 36. The horizon thickness of branches varies from roughly 2 to 7, while the vertical thickness of trunks varies from roughly 1 to 7.
A cave may connect to the surface of the terrain, creating natural entrances to the cave. They sometimes connect to the sea. Caves and Minecraft:mineshafts also regularly contain at least minor Minecraft:water or Minecraft:lava flows as well as caves being made up of a number of aquifers of water and lava.
Some biome decoration might appear as well. For example, in Minecraft:jungle biomes, Minecraft:vines generate in carver caves near the surface, while Minecraft:sculk and related blocks may appear in the Minecraft:deep dark.
Nether carver cave
The carver cave generation in the Nether starts from Y=0 to Y=126.
Their main rooms vary from roughly 2 to 8 blocks in height, and from roughly 5 to 15 blocks in diameter. Compared to caves in the Overworld, the vertical thickness of the caves in the Nether is higher. The horizontal thickness of trunks varies from roughly 3 to 15, while the vertical thickness of trunks varies from roughly 12 to 64. The horizontal thickness of branches varies from roughly 3 to 5, while the vertical thickness of trunks varies from roughly 12 to 22.
Gallery
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Several carver caves.
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Cave with main room and a trunk.
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Cave with main room and two trunks.
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An I-shaped cave.
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A T-shaped cave.
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Cave with bubbles.
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A T-shaped cave with a wide trunk.
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A small cave with a Minecraft:zombie inside.
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A medium cave with a Minecraft:skeleton.
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A sizable cave connected to several others.
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A big cave with many types of ores and monsters.
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An above-ground circular void.
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An example of a cave connected with the sea.
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A Nether carver exposing Minecraft:bedrock
Underwater carver caves
Underwater caves are completely flooded caves that may have Minecraft:underwater magma.
Being completely underwater, only the magma blocks provide any air for entities to breathe, since they generate Minecraft:bubble columns. They sometimes have Minecraft:seagrass, but Minecraft:kelp cannot generate due to being exposed to the sky, unlike sea-access caves.
Structures and features
Monster room
Template:Main Monster rooms, formerly called dungeons, are structure-like Minecraft:features that appear in the underground that contain Minecraft:monster spawners. They are small rooms made of cobblestone and mossy cobblestone and contain a monster spawner that produces either zombies, skeletons, or spiders and up to 2 Minecraft:chests. Finding a monster room without a chest is unlikely but possible.
Ancient city
Template:Main An ancient city is a palatial structure found in the deep dark, harboring chests containing items that cannot be found anywhere else or that help a player avoid a warden. An ancient city features a large palace that stretches throughout a deep dark biome. The palace is made up of long corridors with gray wool floors to prevent vibrations as well as some smaller ruins off to the side of the main corridors, which contain between one or two loot chests. The city center features a frame resembling a warden's head, where there are reinforced deepslate blocks, which is an unobtainable material in Survival mode. Other unique blocks such as soul lanterns and candles as well as different forms of deepslate can be found here.
Mineshaft
Template:Main A mineshaft is a generated structure found underground or underwater, having 3×3 mazes of tunnels with cave spiders and ores exposed on the walls or floor regularly.
Lava lake
Lava lakes may generate underground with an air pocket, which makes them look like small caves with lava aquifers.
Amethyst geode
Template:Main An amethyst geode is a Minecraft:feature found in the underground of the Minecraft:Overworld. Amethyst geodes contain Minecraft:smooth basalt, Minecraft:calcite, and are the only source, apart from Ancient City and Trial Chambers chests, of amethyst items and blocks.
Cave biomes
There are some Minecraft:biomes generated only in caves in the Overworld.
Dripstone caves
Template:Main A dripstone cave is an underground biome often found far away from oceans, in areas with high Minecraft:continentalness values. It features a landscape covered by speleothems, taking the form of patches of Minecraft:pointed dripstone and large Minecraft:dripstone block pillars. Small sources of water can be found on the floor. Minecraft:Drowned can spawn here in aquifers.
Lush caves
Template:Main A lush cave is an underground biome that is usually found below biomes with high Minecraft:humidity values, such as Minecraft:dark forests and Minecraft:old growth taigas. It is filled with unique flora, Minecraft:cave vines covering the roof, and Minecraft:clay pools of Minecraft:water on the bottom. This biome can be found underground below Minecraft:azalea trees. Minecraft:Axolotls and Minecraft:tropical fish can spawn here.
Deep dark
Template:Main The deep dark mainly generates deep underground in the deepslate layer, usually in mountainous areas with low erosion values, and never below an ocean. The floor in this biome often has patches of Minecraft:sculk blocks surrounded by Minecraft:sculk veins, which include sculk-related blocks such as Minecraft:sculk shriekers, Minecraft:sculk sensors, and Minecraft:sculk catalysts. No mobs spawn naturally in this biome, but if a player triggers the sculk shriekers a certain amount of times, the Minecraft:warden, a powerful hostile mob, may appear, giving the player the Minecraft:Darkness effect. This biome may contain one or more Minecraft:ancient cities.
Sulfur caves
Template:Main Template:In development The sulfur caves are cave Minecraft:biomes consisting of Minecraft:sulfur and Minecraft:cinnabar blocks, where Minecraft:sulfur cubes spawn and Minecraft:sulfur pools generate. It was revealed at Minecraft:Minecraft Live – March 2026.
History
Java Edition
Bedrock Edition
Legacy Console Edition
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
Issues
Gallery
Carvers
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A cave in early Classic.
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A cave in Classic 0.30.
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A wormhole entrance.
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A Minecraft:dead bush in a Minecraft:badlands cave.
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A cave entrance found in a Minecraft:Birch Forest biome.
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A cave with all seven types of Overworld ore.
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An entrance generated in a badlands biome.
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A cave generated near the surface of a jungle biome, causing vines to grow on its wall.
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Various ores.
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A water cave, with water flowing inside.
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The inside of a cave near the surface of badlands.
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A cave that generated underneath an ocean.
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Unusually repetitive cave generation seen in Minecraft:Spectator mode.
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A deep cave entrance.
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Natural sandstone blocking sand from entering a cave system.
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Dark cave entrance.
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Mobs that spawned in a unlit cave.
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Cave entrance in a Minecraft:desert biome.
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A circular cave entrance generated in snowy plains biome.
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Huge cave generated inside a hillside.
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Pitch-black cave.
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In the desert, players have to be careful about mining in the ceiling, as this can cause a cave-in and easily kill the player.
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Another example of a mega cave with a Minecraft:mineshaft.
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Cave entrance in a desert.
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Carvers didn't generate below Y=0 in early caves & cliffs snapshots.
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Cave entrance in a badlands biome.
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Cave entrance in a desert biome.
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A cave full of monsters in Bedrock Edition.
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A cave in 1.17.
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A cave entrance with dripstone.
Noise caves
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A world full of cheese caves.
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Alpha's characteristic terrain quirks were generated just like modern cheese caves, though limited to higher y-axes.
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The start of a spaghetti cave.
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A spaghetti cave winding through the underground.
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An X-ray view of a spaghetti cave.
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Stone speleothems in a cave.
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A noise cave with varying sizes of speleothems.
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A noise cave with thick, clustered pillars.
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A more open cave with narrower pillars.
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Tall pillars in a cave.
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A noise cave below Y=0.
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A deepslate pillar in a noise cave.
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Multiple ores, found in the new big cave.
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A large cave underground, with ferns growing in it.
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A large cave.
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Another cave.
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Ores in a cave.
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Ores in a cave.
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A huge cave full of lava from Caves & Cliffs development.
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An even huger cave full of lava from Cave & Cliffs development.
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A waterfall in a cave.
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A big cave with a hanging mineshaft.
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A cave exit.
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A dark cave full of monsters.
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A dark cave with monsters.
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A dark cave with lava.
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A lava lake in java and bedrock.
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Lots of monsters in a cave.
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A tall cave full of lava.
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A large cave entrance.
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A cave that opens to a mountainside.
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A player in a mountain cave.
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Big lavafalls in a big cave.
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A big cave.
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Aquifers
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An entrance to an aquifer from land.
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An aquifer boundary, creating an underground lake.
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An aquifer meets an ocean.
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Magma blocks on the floor of an aquifer, creating bubble columns.
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A tiny aquifer, made up of six water sources.
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A large aquifer with narrow pillars.
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The differing water levels of several aquifers.
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An aquifer below Y=0.
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A water and a lava aquifer that generated next to each other. Note the lush caves in the back.
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Partially-flooded canyon cave.
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A flooded cave.
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A dark flooded cave.
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A cross section showing caves and aquifers.
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A lava aquifer and water aquifer.
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A water aquifer and lava aquifer. There is a mine in the background.
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The result of aquifers being too big.
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Aquifers in development.
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Aquifers in development.
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Aquifers in development.
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Aquifers in development.
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An underwater cave.
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An underwater cave.
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An underwater cave.
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Boating in a cave.
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A cave with water and pillars.
Hollows
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A hollow formed by the terrain generator.
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A larger hollow with a lake inside.
Cracks
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Crack carvers from the caves & cliffs snapshots.
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Light shining through cracks in a cave ceiling.
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A cave lit by light from cracks.
Biomes
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The lush caves and dripstone caves meet.
Other
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Artwork of Steve in a Cave.
Trivia
- Before they were added to Minecraft, large underground lakes were already present in Minecraft:Minicraft.
See also
- Minecraft:Ambience, sounds that can be heard around and within dark caves.
- A guide to exploring caves
References
Template:Navbox terrain features
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