Badlands
The Badlands biome, originally called Mesa, is a rare warm biome, featuring mounds of terracotta, coming in various colors. There are six different variants of the Badlands biome.
Contents
Description[edit]
Badlands biomes feature large mounds of terracotta, in layers of various colors. These mounds rise up from a layer of red sand, and are about 10-15 blocks thick, giving way to typical stone variants below that. Cacti and dead bushes generate frequently across the landscape, similarly to deserts.
Mineshafts generate at much higher elevations in these biomes, often exposed to fresh air. Their supporting planks and fences are made of dark oak rather than oak. Additionally, gold ore generates up to elevation Y=79 (rather than the normal Y=32), and at much higher rates than the rest of the world, making Badlands tunnels excellent sources of gold.
While all Badlands biomes are rich in unique building materials and gold ore, there are no passive mobs. On the other hand, trees, grass, and water are rare, so food cultivation can be difficult. Trees and grass appear only atop Wooded Badlands Plateaus. Lakes generate infrequently, limiting water sources and making farming potentially troublesome, as with living in a Desert.
Being a dry biome, it never rains, meaning lightning strikes are impossible. The exceptions are the rivers that cut through the Mesa, where it can still rain and cast lightning. The usual darkening of the sky and hostile mob spawning that accompany thunderstorms still occur during inclement weather.
If any variant of the Badlands biome besides Eroded Badlands touches land, it is separated by a thin desert border. No border generates if the regular Badlands touches ocean. However, if a eroded badlands borders a ocean, then a beach biome can generate.
Terracotta generation[edit]
The colors of specific terracotta strata (bands, layers) in these biomes are the same throughout all Badlands biomes for any particular world. Stratum colors are determined using only the first 48 bits of the 64-bit world seed on Java and Legacy Console editions. The strata repeat every 64 blocks on the Y-axis, and the elevation of a particular stratum can vary through a biome by as much as 4 blocks. Stratum elevations vary with respect to the X-axis only, neglecting the Z-axis. This means, for example, a layer of white terracotta might generate between the lines (X=200, Y=71) and (X=400, Y=72), being the same for all changes in Z. One may note chunk patterns when strata jump one Y-level at a particular X value. Often, the very top layer of stained terracotta is replaced with regular terracotta, most evidenced on plateau tops. Additionally, the topmost layer of terracotta below Y level 63 is always orange in color.
In Bedrock Edition, seeds have 32 bits, so strata are completely different compared to Java and Legacy Console edition, even if using the same equivalent seed number. Terracotta strata are still the same throughout all Badlands biomes in a given world/seed. The elevation of a particular stratum is randomly varied but no more than a few y-layers.
Variants[edit]
There are five variations from the regular Badlands biome, for a total of six distinct biomes.
Badlands[edit]
| Type |
Dry/Warm |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Rare |
| Temperature |
2.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks | |
| Sky color |
|
| Grass color |
|
| Foliage color |
|
| Water color |
<span style="display:inline-block; background-color:#3F76E4[Java Edition only] |
| Underwater fog color |
<span style="display:inline-block; background-color:#050533[Java Edition only] |
| Underwater fog distance |
(not specified) |
| Water surface transparency |
(not specified) |
| Data value |
dec: 37 hex: 25 bin: 100101 |
| Biome ID |
The ordinary Badlands biome appears to be a drainage basin, with red sand as a topsoil layer and large mounds of terracotta in various colors. The sand and terracotta give way to stone and ores a few layers down. Cacti and dead bushes dot the sands, and there are occasional ponds here and there.
Badlands Plateau[edit]
| Type |
Dry/Warm |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Rare |
| Temperature |
2.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks | |
| Data value |
dec: 39 hex: 27 bin: 100111 |
| Biome ID |
The Badlands Plateau features large flat-topped hills composed of stratified colors of terracotta. Plateaus have steep edges that rise to within 20-30 blocks above sea level, where they quickly flatten. The top of these plateaus typically have scattered dead bushes. Occasional ponds can appear on plateau tops. The sides of the plateau can occasionally reveal caverns and abandoned mineshafts. River biomes that pass through Badlands Plateau biomes cut steep grooves, giving the appearance of narrow canyons. These can pose a fall damage hazard if the player is not careful. Ravines also frequently spawn in Badlands Plateau biomes, which cause the same as above.
Modified Badlands Plateau[edit]
| Type |
Dry/Warm |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Very rare |
| Temperature |
2.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks | |
| Data value |
dec: 167 hex: A7 bin: 10100111 |
| Biome ID |
The Modified Badlands Plateau features smaller plateaus and somewhat harsher terrain than the Badlands Plateau, mimicking large plateaus that have weathered more over time. Eroded Badlands replace the usual thin Desert border this biome variant would share with other biomes. The Modified Badlands Plateau is the second rarest biome in Minecraft, after Modified Jungle Edge.
Wooded Badlands Plateau[edit]
| Type |
Dry/Warm |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Rare |
| Temperature |
2.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks |
Red Sand |
| Data value |
dec: 38 hex: 26 bin: 100110 |
| Biome ID |
The Wooded Badlands Plateau generates similarly to the regular Badlands Plateau, but features small groves of trees on its top. The uppermost layers of terrain have large patches of grass and coarse dirt, with oak trees growing on them. Here, the grass and oak leaves take on a dull greenish-brown color, giving it a droughted appearance; additionally, all naturally generated trees are small variants. This variant is a rare source of wood in the otherwise barren Badlands. The forest begins generating above elevations of roughly Y=82.
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau[edit]
| Type |
Dry/Warm |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Very rare |
| Temperature |
2.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks |
Red Sand[Java Edition only] |
| Data value |
dec: 166 hex: A6 bin: 10100110 |
| Biome ID |
Similar to the Modified Badlands Plateau, the Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau has a weathered appearance and features smaller plateaus with more erratic terrain, allowing for significantly fewer oak trees to grow at the highest layers. Eroded Badlands replace the usual thin Desert border this biome variant would share with other biomes.
Eroded Badlands[edit]
| Type |
Dry/Warm |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Very rare |
| Temperature |
2.0 |
| Structures |
Exposed Mineshafts |
| Blocks | |
| Data value |
dec: 165 hex: A5 bin: 10100101 |
| Biome ID |
The Eroded Badlands features unique formations of terracotta hoodoos, narrow spires that rise up from the red sand floor of the biome's drainage basins. In Bedrock Edition, passive mobs can spawn here. This biome is intended to resemble the famous Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA, which features hoodoos across its landscape.
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
| Biome | Namespaced ID |
|---|---|
| Badlands | badlands
|
| Badlands Plateau | badlands_plateau
|
| Modified Badlands Plateau | modified_badlands_plateau
|
| Wooded Badlands Plateau | wooded_badlands_plateau
|
| Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau | modified_wooded_badlands_plateau
|
| Eroded Badlands | eroded_badlands
|
| Biome | Namespaced ID |
|---|---|
| Badlands | mesa
|
| Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau
|
| Modified Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau_mutated
|
| Wooded Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau_stone
|
| Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau | mesa_plateau_stone_mutated
|
| Eroded Badlands | mesa_bryce
|
History[edit]
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2, 2013 | Jens tweeted the first image of the mesa biome. He jokingly referred to them as "disco mountains". | ||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Mesa biome added, along with its variants, many other biomes, and the temperature system. | |||
| 13w39a | Red sand now generates in mesa biomes and their variants. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w32a | Red sandstone now generates below red sand in mesa biomes and their variants. | |||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Abandoned mineshafts can now generate on the surface in mesa biomes, using dark oak planks and fences rather than oak. | |||
| In mesa biomes, hardened clay no longer generate more than 15 blocks deep, if the mesa is more than 15 blocks above sea level. | |||||
| The normal 2 veins of gold ore below Y=32 in mesas now attempt to generate 20 veins at elevations between 32 and 79. | |||||
| Mesas can now generate dark oak abandoned mineshafts above ground. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w16a | Renamed Mesa Plateau F to Mesa Forest Plateau. | |||
| Renamed Mesa Plateau F M to Mutated Mesa Forest Plateau. | |||||
| Renamed Mesa Plateau M to Mutated Mesa Plateau. | |||||
| 18w19a | Renamed Mesa to Badlands. | ||||
| Renamed Mesa Forest Plateau to Wooded Badlands Plateau. | |||||
| Renamed Mesa Plateau to Badlands Plateau. | |||||
| Renamed Mesa (bryce) to Eroded Badlands. | |||||
| Renamed Mutated Mesa Forest Plateau to Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau. | |||||
| Renamed Mutated Mesa Plateau to Modified Badlands Plateau. | |||||
| pre5 | Changed the ID mesa to badlands. | ||||
Changed the ID mesa_rock to wooded_badlands_plateau. | |||||
Changed the ID mesa_clear_rock to badlands_plateau. | |||||
Changed the ID mutated_mesa to eroded_badlands. | |||||
Changed the ID mutated_mesa_rock to modified_wooded_badlands_plateau. | |||||
Changed the ID mutated_mesa_clear_rock to modified_badlands_plateau. | |||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.9.0 | build 1 | Mesa biomes added, along with many other biomes. | |||
| 0.9.5 | Added Mesa (Bryce). | ||||
| 0.10.0 | build 1 | Mesa biomes now have gold ore at every elevation. | |||
| Mesas can now generate abandoned mineshafts on the surface. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Mesa Plateau biomes now generate more like those in the Java Edition. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Added mesa biomes, along with many other biomes. | |
| TU43 | CU33 | 1.36 | Patch 13 | Abandoned mineshafts can now generate on the surface in mesa biomes, using dark oak planks and fences rather than oak. | |
Gallery[edit]
The first picture provided of the Badlands biome (then called mesa), tweeted by Jens.
Another image of the Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau.
Ground-view of a Badlands biome.
Badlands with a lake.
A very rare occurrence of Eroded Badlands and ice spikes touching.
A Badlands and Jungle biome generated together, with an exposed mineshaft.
A village that generated almost entirely within Badlands and Eroded Badlands.
A Badlands cavern.
Trivia[edit]
- Regular mineshafts may still generate deep underground in Badlands biomes, and can even intersect the unique Badlands mineshafts, should they generate close enough to one.
See also[edit]
