Caves & Cliffs

Official logo for Caves & Cliffs.

Caves & Cliffs is an upcoming major themed update set to release in mid-2021 as Java Edition 1.17 and Bedrock Edition 1.17.0. It was announced in Minecraft Live 2020. It will include new cave and mountains features.

Planned additions

Please note that the names of many features are currently placeholders.

Blocks

File:Blooming Azalea Leaves.png Azalea Leaves

• Part of a new tree, marking the location of the lush cave.
• Has variants with either no blossoms, pink blossoms, or purple blossoms.

File:Azalea Roots.png Azalea Roots

• Part of the Azalea tree.
• Resembles a dirt block, but with the roots of the Azalea tree intertwined.
• Probably is the source of all the life in lush caves.
• May be a new variant of the dirt block.

File:Amethyst geode block.png Amethyst Geode

• Generates amethyst crystals on its surface, in a given time.
• Unobtainable in survival.
• Extremely rare, only generates in amethyst geode structures.

File:Amethyst crystal cross.png Amethyst Crystal

• Grows on top of amethyst geode blocks over time.
  • Can be generated upside down.
• Breaks to produce a crystal shard item.
  • These can be crafted into telescopes.

Copper Ore

• New ore that could be found underground.
• Drops itself when broken, like other metal ores.
• Spawns in new large ore veins.
• Can be used to craft a lightning rod or functions as an item part for the telescope.

File:Copper Stairs.png File:Copper Slab.png Block of Copper, Copper Stairs, Copper Slab

• File:Block of Copper Age 1.pngFile:Block of Copper Age 2.pngFile:Block of Copper Age 3.png File:Copper Stairs Age 1.pngFile:Copper Stairs Age 2.pngFile:Copper Stairs Age 3.png File:Copper Slab Age 1.pngFile:Copper Slab Age 2.pngFile:Copper Slab Age 3.png
  Develops a patina of pale green copper carbonate over multiple stages, which might be sped up by weather such as rain.
  • Based on a demo clip from Minecraft Live 2020, the time it takes to age fully is about 16 Minecraft days, although the time span is planned to take much longer.
  • Can be made to stay in a certain state.

File:Restoring clay pots.png Clay Pot

• Ceramic Shards can be incorporated into an unfired pot.
• Can be fired by lighting fire under the pot.
• Pot can fit up to 8 Ceramic Shards.

File:Painted clay pot.png Painted Clay Pot

• Created by firing a clay pot.
• Upon firing, any placed Ceramic Shards become permanently incorporated on to the clay pot.
• Also upon firing, the color of the clay pot changes from whitish-blue to brown.

File:New Vine.png File:New Vine 2.png Glow Berry Vines

• Light source.
• Grows edible glow berries.

Spore Blossom

• Can be placed on ceilings.
• Sends particles downward when opened.
• This item can be found in the lush caves.

Dripleaf Plant

• A plant that can be used for platforming.
• If the player stands on top of the plant for 2 seconds, the player falls through the plant.
• Can be placed on a grass block.

File:Baby dripleaf plants.png Small Dripleaf Plant

• Appear highly varied in models.

File:Unidentified foliage object.png Moss Block

• An opaque block that appears grassy on all sides.
• Can be found in lush caves.

File:Foliage carpet.png Moss Blanket

• Same texture as the moss block, but one pixel thick.

File:Roots bloody roots.png Hanging Azalea Roots

• Seen in the distance of a lush caves biome behind a spore blossom.
• Can also be seen hanging beneath the dirt variant that spawns below the Azalea tree, possibly just a decorative feature of this block.

File:Baby azalea tree.png File:Baby blooming azalea tree.png Azalea Sapling

• Has variants with either no blossoms, pink blossoms, or purple blossoms

Sculk Block

• Generates in the mysterious new cave biome, referred to as the "deep dark" temporarily.

File:Sculk Something.png Sculk Chute

• Generates in the deep dark caves.

File:Sculk Growth.png Sculk Growth

• Generates in the deep dark cave biome.
• Generates in a layer on top of blocks, similar to snow.
• Some have parts that are transparent, allowing the player to see the block it is on top of.

Sculk Sensor

• Generates in the deep dark cave biome.
• Can be used for wireless redstone.
• Senses block placement, footsteps, and projectiles.
• Wool can occlude its ability to sense. This can be placed between or completely around the source of the input.
• Can be used with a piston to create a wireless redstone clock.
• File:Particle of the Vibration.gif Emits particles when it hears a sound nearby.
• Are not affected by ambient weather such as rain, as well as other Sculk Sensors and the Warden.

File:Stalagmites.png Stalagmite

• Can be found on the floor of the new dripstone caves.
• Deals damage when landed on.

File:Stalactites.png Stalactite

• Can be found on the ceiling of the new dripstone caves.
• Can fall, but unlike sand or gravel, breaks apart on impact.
• Drips water, which can fill cauldrons placed under it.

File:Unknown speleothem block.png Dripstone

• Appears to be made of the same materials as stalactites and stalagmites but as a full cube.
• Found in dripstone caves.

Lightning Rod

"Lightning Rod" redirects here. For the item in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Lightning Rod.

• Crafted with copper.
• Redirects nearby lightning strikes to the top of the rod, which can prevent flammable structures from catching on fire during thunderstorms.

Powder Snow

• Similar to snow, but entities fall through it, similar to traps or the "snowier snow" announced when the Mountains won the 2019 biome vote.
• This is how regular snow layer blocks worked in old versions of Minecraft, but it was changed because it created accidental booby traps when lava ponds generated at the right height to cut out the ground but not the snow.

File:Unidentified Stalagmite Torches.png File:White candles.png Cave Candles

• A light source.
• Can have up to four in a single block, similar to sea pickles.
• Black and white texture variants.
• Emits fire particles.
• Visible in the deep dark biomes, though it may spawn in other areas of the game as well.

File:Unnamed Stone.png Unnamed Stone

• Can be found around the deep dark cave biome walls.
• Can be found in large groups.

File:UnknownWhiteStoneBlock.png Unnamed White Stone

• Similar to diorite, but with a smoother texture.
• Found underground surrounding the outsides of geode formations.

Geode Casing

• Seen during Minecraft Live during showcasing of geodes and in a Twitter post highlighting underwater geodes.
• Might spawn surrounding geodes, much like real-life geodes.

Unspecified underground light sources

• A video by Henrik Kniberg explicitly states that the temporary showcased feature of ore blocks emitting light was intended as a placeholder for underground light sources, potentially hinting at further new cave light sources.

Items

Amethyst Shard

• Drops from Amethyst Crystals.
• Used to make telescopes.

File:Axolotl Bucket JE1.png Bucket of Axolotl

• Obtained by using a water bucket on an axolotl, similar to fish.
• Had no name in the Minecraft Live 2020 demo, showing its translation string item.minecraft.axolotl_bucket.

Brush

• Used to sweep away debris from archaeological items.
• Sweeps debris off archaeological items one layer at a time. If interrupted, the block it was being used on will simply disappear, and will not yield custom block heights.
• Also comes in a blue-green variant:
  • This may imply a connection to copper, as both the variant and normal brushes have corresponding colors to the blocks shown.

File:Bundle full.png Bundle

• Can contain one cumulative stack of any variety of item types.
  • Stack sizes are sustained. For example, a bundle containing 32 blocks with a stack size of 64 could only hold an additional 8 ender pearls, as the stack size of an ender pearl is 16; the half stack of ender pearls added to the half stack of blocks is calculated as one full stack. Unstackable items like minecarts remain unstackable.
• Items are added by dragging bundle to an item.
• Tooltip shows icons of contained items.
• Items drop to inventory when right clicked.

Ceramic Shards

• Obtained with a brush at archeological sites.
• Come in different colors and different designs, each depicting a different picture, such as an ender dragon, a cow, Alex, a skeleton, a tree and a vindicator.
• Can be placed/customized on clay pots.
• Currently using placeholder art, according to Jasper Boerstra.

Glow Berries

• Can be eaten.
• Used as a light source.

File:Telescope.png Telescope

• Crafted from amethyst shards and copper.
• When held, allows the player to see far away through a small ellipse.

Spawn Eggs

• Spawn eggs for the new mobs will be added.
• The Warden is the only known mob with a spawn egg visually confirmed.

Mobs

File:Axolotl (albino).png File:Axolotl (brown).png File:Axolotl (green).png Axolotl

"Axolotl" redirects here. For the music track, see Music § Underwater music.

• Based on the critically endangered Mexican salamander with the same name in real life.
• Found in bodies of water within lush caves biomes.
• Will be the first amphibian added to Minecraft.
• Can be caught in a bucket like fish.
  • Can be tamed by capturing it in a bucket.
• Come in different colors (leucistic, yellow, green, brown, and purple/pink).
• Plays dead when damaged, receiving Regeneration. Appears to turn invisible or teleport after this, although the latter may be just a bug or a glitch.
  • This regeneration ability is likely based on how real axolotls can regrow lost limbs.
• Attacks drowned, guardians, elder guardians and fish.
• Sometimes can give Regeneration to the player who tamed it.

Glow Squid

• Originates from Minecraft Earth.
• Glows in the same way that magma cube cores, vexes, blazes and the eyes of spiders, drowned, and endermen do.
• Most likely will be living in flooded caves.
• Was decided on based on a mob vote between it, the Moobloom from Minecraft Earth, and the Iceologer from Minecraft Dungeons' Creeping Winter.

Goat

• Spawns in mountain biomes.
• Can jump very high to avoid obstacles, about 5 blocks tall.
• Attacks nearby animals by charging and knocking them a considerable distance.
• There is a baby variant, suggesting a way to breed them.

Warden

• Spawns in the new deep dark biome.
• It is the first blind mob.
• When sensing movement, it moves towards the source of the movement.
  • When attacked, it path finds towards the player.
  • Seems to follow the same rules as the sculk sensor when detecting noise.
  • Does not detect players that are sneaking.
• Incredibly strong, doing 30 × 15 damage (at most 32.25 × 16.125 damage), bringing players wearing full netherite armor to 7 health points.
• A mob designed to be extremely difficult, and fled from.
• Has at least 84 × 42 health points. Although it is estimated to have up to 100 × 50, putting it on par with the iron golem and ravager.
• At least as fast as the player's walking speed.
  • Seems to use the energy of vibrations to move faster.
• When aggravated for long enough, the warden will follow the player continuously regardless of any other distractions.
• Seems to have knockback resistance.
• Throwing or shooting any projectile, like a Snowball or an arrow near the Warden will cause the mob to head to the location of where the projectile was thrown, due to the projectile itself creating movement and noise, therefore distracting the warden.
• The Warden's chest has a glowing core that appears to brighten and dim in tandem with the ambient lighting of the deep dark cave biome.
• Will possibly attack other mobs.
• Is about 3.2 blocks tall, making it one of the tallest mobs in the game, exceeding the iron golem and enderman in height and width (the same).

A picture of the Warden and Iron Golem standing side by side

World generation

Amethyst geode

• A tiny underground cave-like feature.
• Contains geode blocks and the amethyst crystals they generate.
• Twinkle-like sounds can be heard near amethyst crystals, which is currently a placeholder when it was showcased, and not the final version.
  • It is currently unknown as to what causes the sounds.

Geodes can also be generated underwater (the brightness is increased in the picture)

Archaeological excavation

• A new underground structure where archeological items and ceramic shards can be found.

Deep dark biome

• New biome at the "deepest depths of the world".
• Wardens can spawn here.
• May contains candles.
• Contains sculk blocks, and the new Skulk Sensor Blocks, a new block that responds to vibrations.
• Contains a new Unnamed Block.

Dripstone caves

• A massive cave biome containing vast quantities of stalactites and stalagmites.

Lush caves

• Generate below azalea trees.
• Contains tall grass.
• Contain glow berries.
• Contain dripleaf plants.
• Contain spore blossoms.
• Contain moss blocks.
• Contain moss blankets.
• Contain azalea roots.
• Contain azalea saplings.
• Can spawn axolotls.

Mesh caves

• Seems to be possibly a large tunnel-like cave.
• Not much is known about this biome yet, but it was confirmed on Twitter by Henrik Kniberg.
• Possibly contain "catacomb" style branching cave sections.

General

• More extreme and smooth terrain.
• Likely change to stone generation.

Gameplay

Archaeology

• The player can find items and blocks in gravel and dirt inside the dig site structure by using the brush.
• Possible items shown in the preview footage include:
  • Ceramic shards of varying color which depict different images.
  • Diamond blocks and Emerald blocks are probably not a part of this list and serve as a placeholder.

Dimming of light

• While in the deep dark cave biome, the ambient lighting occasionally dims temporarily, limiting the player's visibility. This serves as a warning that the warden is nearby.

Vibrations

• An action can cause vibrations in the air, which can be picked up by sculk sensors and wardens
• Can be caused by walking (but bats?), block placing, block breaking, doors or trapdoors opening, chests of any kind opening, pistons activating, and projectiles such as snowballs, eggs, or arrows landing. This will not include ambient weather such as rain or snow

Planned changes

World generation

Caves

• Revamped to generate bigger and more adventurous caves.

A picture of the local water levels in use forming an underground lake or ocean shown in Minecraft Live 2020.

Local water levels

• A new underground water level generation aspect has been introduced, which allows for certain areas of a world to generate with a specified water level different from that of another area (such as sea level).
• Allows for the generation of larger underground lakes and connections to oceans.
• Allows for the generation of many underground waterfalls.
• Allows for underwater entrances.

File:Caves & Cliffs Mountains largersize.png

The preview of updated mountain generation given during Minecraft Live 2020.

Mountains

• Height dependent generation.
• Revamped, featuring some new small spruce trees on the slopes and ice or packed ice above the peaks.
• Contain snow blocks, goats, and a new form of snow called powder snow, which is said to be "snowier than snow".

Ore veins

• Will be revamped, possibly to balance the generation of copper.
• Some stone will look a little different and when that stone is mined, more of the ore will be found behind it.

Trivia

• Swedish painter John Bauer was one of the main inspirations behind the design and idea of the lush caves biome, specifically Bauer's 'Oskuldens Vandring' (Innocent's Journey) painting.
• This is the first update to add a new ore to the overworld since Java Edition 12w21a in 2012 for Java Edition 1.3.1 and Pocket Edition v0.9.0 alpha in 2014 when emerald was added.
• This is the first update to add a real-world metal into the game since Java Edition Classic 0.0.14a in 2009, which brought both iron and gold and Pocket Edition v0.3.0 alpha in 2012 which brought iron.
• Although the axolotl will be the first amphibian mob implemented into Minecraft, it was not the first announced one, since frogs were announced during the 2019 biome vote.
• Despite ores being shown to emit light during the reveal of this update, this was later confirmed to be just for demonstration purposes, to give a much clearer vision for viewers, and not for the final version.
  • It was confirmed to be a placeholder for new, biome-specific light sources.

Gallery

Minecraft Live 2020

Screenshots of the Caves and Cliffs Update from Minecraft Live 2020:

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  A view of the lush caves.

• 

  A view of the dripstone caves.

• 

  A player boating inside of a cave, showcasing a subterranean water feature.

• Amethyst Geode.png

  A view of an amethyst geode.

• 

  Lightning striking a lightning rod.

• 

  Multiple axolotls in a lush cave.

• 

  A player and multiple axolotls attacking an elder guardian, including one "playing dead."

• 

  Multiple axolotls, showcasing three colorations.

• 

  Underground lake formed by local water levels

• 

  A copper roof house with oxidized copper

Concept artwork

• 

  Concept art of the lush caves and its vegetation.

• 

  Concept art of the lush caves and its vegetation at night.

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  Concept art of the lush caves and its vegetation at day.

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  Concept art of the stalactites and stalagmites in the dripstone caves.

• 

  Concept art of some flooded caves, using the texture of the old vines.

• 

  Concept art for the Warden.

• 

  Possible early designs for the Warden.

• 

  Concept art for the Axolotl. The "Cutie in a Bucket"

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  Concept art for the Axolotl, Goat, and Warden. Known as the "Scale of Cuteness"

• 

  Concept art for the Axolotl and Warden.