Minecraft:Far Lands (Java Edition)/BigInteger distances
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Template:Italic title Template:Disclaimer The Far Lands in Template:JE are the point where terrain generation in Minecraft breaks due to overflow in its Perlin Minecraft:noise generator, beginning at X/Z ±12,550,824. As the player ventures further, processes in both how the terrain generates and the game processes break down, reducing the terrain to be almost non-existent. Some distances are the result of hard limits related to floating-point processes, while others are due to the code used to generate terrain breaking down. Because of a overflow in how sample noise offset is treated, terrain loops at X: 233 as a result of the sample offset overflow, this prevents a further deteoration of the Far Lands due to other floating point processes. As of 2026, a BigInteger mod known as "MCBig Legacy" for Minecraft:Beta 1.7.3 is the only mod known to do this, making sample offset neither a integer nor a long, as such, it does not overflow and terrain can continue infinitely without looping. This is not considered vanilla though as it is an extensive rewrite of the coordinate system, compared to simply using longs of which Template:JE already does for many aspects except terrain.
It should be noted that even with BigInteger classes, Template:JE eventually begins breaking down in the same manner as Template:BE at extreme distances. This is due to double-precision floating-point losses occurring (compared to Bedrock's single-precision floating-point precision losses which start well within vanilla boundaries) and terrain processes breaking down, which gradually strip away at the terrain and making movement increasingly difficult.
Summary
At excessively large distances measured in exponents, terrain generation itself in the Far Lands begins breaking down. This is not the result of a noise value overflow, instead, it is rather caused by separate measures that are used to calculate and generate the terrain failing at high distances. Specifically, two failures are the primary reasons for the Far Lands degrading this far out, called "decay" and lerp failure. This all is the same process that happened in old Template:BE versions in the Far Lands, but because Bedrock uses single floats, those errors occurred much earlier and practically as soon as the Far Lands start there.
The decay process occurs because a density function that the game uses for terrain reaches numbers too large for Doubles to properly handle. This causes terrain to start thinning out and degrading in shape. Eventually this causes terrain generation to stop entirely at even higher distances. Lerp failure occurs when the large number mentioned prior is used in a step for each block in a sample per axis, leading to precision loss down to almost zero. The end result is dotted appearances of terrain and instances such as the “sky grid” in the Corner Far Lands. This was fixed in Minecraft:Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2 for Minecraft:Java Edition 1.0.0 by introducing an optimization which prevents this from occurring.
Additionally, these distances can only be visible by fixing the issues that cause the Stripe Lands, as it will be extremely difficult to notice the terrain degrading at these distances because of the visual gaps due to (texture UV grids failing) becoming larger with each power of 2, and horizontal rendering on blocks also failing as well. The BigInteger mod "MC Big Legacy" has such an optional fix upon startup.
X ±Template:Abbr: First stage
On the X axis, the first noticeable stage of degradation begins at approximately X ±Template:Abbr. Here, as the density function reaches numbers too large to store in a Double format, the terrain noticeably shrinks in size, with the stripes of the Far Lands shrinking to two-block rows of terrain, and even some drop-offs in the terrain as well. At the same time, lerp failure also begins, which causes some portions of terrain to vanish every other block at the lower levels of the Far Lands, which result in comb-like structures appearing that repeat every other block.
On the Z axis, the degradation does not happen yet at this distance.
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X ±Template:Abbr: Second stage
The second stage of the degradation starts at X ±Template:Abbr. At this point, the decay causes the Far Lands to thin out even further, leaving long gaps in between that extend down to sea level. The lerp failure also progresses to generate the comb-like structures more frequently. This is the point where the degradation is very noticeable even at a first glance.
On the Z-axis, the degradation still does not happen yet.
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X/Z ±Template:Abbr: Third stage
At X/Z ±Template:Abbr, two things happen depending on what axis the player is on.
On the X axis, at this distance the third stage of the degradation begins. Here, major decay is visible and is essentially the end of what is considered the defining part of the Far Lands, with a majority of the long walls and tunnels that compose the structure of the Far Lands disappearing. Large gaps exist within the walls leaving the ocean and bedrock floor very visible in all instances. By this point, lerp failure leads to the comb-like structures becoming very common and the only distinct feature left in what remains of the Far Lands. Long single-block stripes of terrain still continue to generate, and dotted lines of blocks (spaced out every other block) also continue.
On the Z axis, the terrain finally begins to degrade at this distance, beginning with the first stage of degradation. The decay also progresses quicker on the Z axis.
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X ±Template:Abbr: Fourth stage
The fourth and final stage of degradation begins at X/Z ±Template:Abbr on the X axis. Here, the decay causes the last long walls that remained of the Far Lands to end entirely. Afterwards, only dotted blocks from the lerp failure remain. They are very spaced out, being separated by dozens to hundreds of blocks. They can also generate underneath the ocean, but terrain generation at this point is largely non-existent.
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X/Z ±Template:Abbr: The end
Terrain generation finally ceases at X/Z ±Template:Abbr, when the last dotted lines of the Far Lands stop generating. As such, this considered the true end of Minecraft's terrain generation. Beyond this point, only ocean and the bedrock layer remains as those use a different type of generator that is not prone to the same kind of overflow normal terrain is with Perlin noise. This continues out until the game cannot handle player coordinates anymore, which is around X/Z ±~1.7977×10308, at which point Java cannot read higher numbers and rolls the coordinates over to "Infinity". The game also is very prone to crashing at this point even with the BigInteger mod.
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Beyond this point, it remains the same, even up to X/Z ±~1.7977×10308 (±21024). Further distances are possible as Java’s own BigInteger class maxes out at X/Z ±~8.8081×10646456992 (2231−1). This is theoretically the absolute farthest one could possibly even reach as both BigInt and the coordinates would overflow, the latter rolling over to "Infinity" and crashing the game, making this the absolute maximum Minecraft can generate, even with extensive modding. However, this is an exceptionally gigantic number that any attempts using this method would almost certainly crash the game long before then. The highest distance reached using this method so far is X ~2.5963×10157826 (2524288) by the YouTuber hypernebule, on June 8, 2026.<ref>Going further then anyone ever has in Minecraft.. YouTube, June 8, 2026.</ref>
Gallery
Decay progress (without fix)
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First stage of decay at X ±Template:Abbr. Sides of the comb structures can be seen.
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Second stage of decay at X ±Template:Abbr. Comb structures become more visible
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Third stage of decay at X ±Template:Abbr. Thin pillars begin repeating much more commonly.
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Fourth stage of decay at X Template:Abbr. Almost nothing is visible after this point.
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The end of the Far Lands at X/Z ±Template:Abbr, giving way to endless ocean and bedrock floor in alternating stripes. As one goes further this will eventually become invisible due to precision loss causing huge spaces between rendered blocks.
References
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