Minecraft:Cloud

File:Clouds can have different sizes and shapes..png

Clouds can have different sizes and shapes.

Clouds are graphical effects in the Overworld Minecraft:sky. While serving a solely aesthetic purpose, they can be used to determine directions because they always move westward.

Appearance

File:Fancy vs fast clouds.png

Comparison of Fancy clouds (left) and Fast clouds (right).

The appearance of clouds varies depending on the Minecraft:graphics settings used either on the specific clouds oneTemplate:Only or the general graphics mode:

Fast/Simple: Clouds are opaque instead of transparent. They do not change between day and night. Their color comes from the top of the fancy clouds. Their smallest horizontal dimensions are 8×8 blocks wide. Template:IN, fast clouds are two-dimensional. Simple clouds Template:In are also opaque, but remain 3D (three-dimensional), and are not faded with the render distance.
Fancy: Clouds are translucent, three-dimensional prisms, approximately four blocks tall and 12×12 blocks wide. The transparency can be affected by fog and the daylight cycle.
Fabulous! graphics in Java Edition also affect clouds, being the same as Fancy, but also being visible through transparent blocks and Minecraft:water. In Bedrock Edition, clouds are always visible through transparent blocks and water, even with Simple graphics.
Minecraft:Vibrant Visuals Template:Only adds more layers of lighting to clouds, making them lighter on the edges and darker in the middle. The clouds also create shadows and when a cloud blocks the sunlight, the environment darkens. Because clouds use Template:W, they are always reflected by water regardless of whether they are visible on the screen. In addition to weather and daylight tinting, clouds have unique tints based on the Minecraft:biome. Global light sources such as the sun also tint clouds with their color depending on how close the clouds are to the light source.

File:CloudsComparison.png

The same clouds during different time and weather conditions.

Template:FakeImage Clouds are tinted light gray during the day, which changes to gray or dark gray depending on the Minecraft:weather and the Minecraft:daylight cycle. During the night, fancy clouds are more transparent. Rainfall and thunderstorms darken clouds even in dry biomes, but snowfall does not have any additional effects. Template:IN, clouds gradually turn orange during sunset and sunrise at any graphics mode. Clouds color Template:Color during Minecraft:rain and Template:Color during Minecraft:thunderstorms or when a Minecraft:wither is nearby in Bedrock Edition, blended with regular cloud colors for 95%, and not applied in dry biomes with Vibrant Visuals.

The shape, dimensions, and color of clouds can be changed by modifying the clouds.png file located within assets\minecraft\textures\environment within the version's JAR file. The file's dimensions can be changed to any size.

Clouds are made from individual square pieces. The game assembles clouds by placing cloud pieces one by one.

Behavior

Clouds always float westward between layer 192 and 196. They are not interactive, and simply float through blocks and entities. Unlike in real life, clouds themselves do not produce rain or snow, meaning rain or snow continues even above the clouds.

The maximum distance in which clouds are rendered depends on the cloud distance setting Template:In (max 128 chunks), while they are always rendered to 20 chunks in Bedrock Edition, and faded with the render distance on Fancy graphics. With Vibrant Visuals, the cloud distance is controlled by a separate "Clouds" slider, which has for different options at a maximum of 128 chunks.Template:Info needed Clouds do not render with a render distance of 3 chunks or lower.

The position of the clouds is the same for every player on a Minecraft:server, due to their movement being dependent on world time.