Biome

A river bisecting a jungle biome. At the top right is a forest.

A river running through a badlands biome with badlands plateaus, with a savanna biome in the bottom right.

It has been suggested that the contents of this page be split into two or more separate articles. ^Discuss

The topics presented on this page may be diverse enough to warrant distinct pages.

	“	In case you don’t know what a “biome” is, it’s a climate zone used in the game to set what kind of surface the ground has (sand? grass?), whether it should rain or snow, what trees grow there, and sometimes also what kind of animals that are allowed to spawn there.	„
		— Jens Bergensten ^[1]

Biomes are regions in a Minecraft world with varying geographical features, flora, heights, temperatures, humidity ratings, and sky and foliage colors. Biomes separate every generated world into different environments, such as forests, jungles, deserts, and taigas.

Temperature

The temperature influence in the shades of green for the grass, and of blue for the water

Biomes have a temperature value that determines if it snows, rains, or does not have either. The required values are less than 0.15 for snow, 0.15 - 0.95 for rain, or greater than 1.0 for neither. These values can be used to determine the heights that snow generates in different biomes. The temperature also drops 0.00166667(¹⁄₆₀₀) per meter above the default sea level (Y=64), but does not change below sea level.

For example, extreme hills generate snow at Y=95, due to highland climate, as the base value is 0.2, and savannas do not experience rain or snow due to their heat. The "sea level" setting of a customized world does not affect this.

Biomes are split into 5 categories based on their temperature: snow-covered, cold, medium, dry/warm, and neutral. They were separated to prevent biomes with huge temperature differences being placed side-by-side (such as snowy taiga next to a desert), and to allow biomes with similar temperatures to be placed next to each other more often. (Such as forests and swamps)

Biome types

There are 64 biomes in the Overworld, 1 in The Nether, 5 in The End and 3 unused biomes, bringing the total number to 73 different biomes. Biomes can be distinguished by the grass and leaf colors in the biome, along with the types of blocks present (e.g. types of trees or other plants like cacti, sand coverage in deserts). Biomes are pseudo-randomly generated using the map seed.

Biomes are separated into 5 categories. The snow-covered biomes are marked in blue, cold in green, medium/lush in orange and dry/warm in red. The biomes which are not labeled are either neutral or unknown. Temperatures are given at sea level.

Snowy biomes

In these biomes, it snows at any height. The foliage and grass is a dark aqua-green, and the water is mostly purple.

Biome Name and ID	Features	Description
Snowy Tundra 12	Temperature: 0.0 Snow, Snowfall, Oak Trees, Ice, Spruce Trees, Igloos, Strays, White and some Black & White Rabbits, Polar Bears, Occasional Tall Grass, Village^{[Bedrock and Legacy Console editions only]}	An expansive, flat biome with a huge amount of snow. All sources of water exposed to the sky are frozen over. Sugar cane will generate in this biome, but can become uprooted when chunks load as the water sources freeze to ice. There are very few natural oak and spruce trees in this biome. No passive mobs other than rabbits and the rare polar bears are able to spawn, however it is one of the few biomes where strays appear. Due to the biome's size, snow and ice cover, and scarcity of wood and animals, initial survival becomes difficult in comparison to other biomes. This is one of only two biomes where igloos naturally generate.
Ice Spikes 140	Temperature: 0.0 Packed Ice, Snow, Snow Blocks, Strays, White and some Black & White Rabbits, Polar Bears, Ice Spikes	A rare variation of the Snowy Tundra biome that features large spikes of packed ice, as well as packed ice 'lakes'. Usually the spikes are 10 to 20 blocks tall, but some long, thin spikes can reach over 50 blocks in height. All grass blocks in this biome are replaced with blocks of snow. Like the regular ice plains, no passive mobs other than rabbits and the rare polar bears are able to spawn and strays appear at night.
Snowy Taiga 30	Temperature: -0.5 Snow, Snowfall, Ice, Spruce Trees, Flowers, Wolves, White and some Black & White Rabbits, Igloos	Much like the regular taiga, the snowy taiga is a relatively flat biome with large expanses of spruce trees. Ferns, and their taller variants, generate here quite commonly, although regular tall grass can still be found. It is one of the few places where wolves will naturally spawn. One may also find an igloo nestled between the trees, making it one of only two biomes where igloos naturally generate.
Snowy Taiga Mountains 158	Temperature: -0.5 Spruce Trees, Snow, Snowfall, Ferns, Wolves, White and some Black & White Rabbits	The snowy taiga mountains are not nearly as flat as their regular counterpart. Compared to regular taiga mountains, the mountains found in this biome are much steeper and more erratic. This large height differences make navigating the snowy taiga mountains biome quite dangerous. Also unlike their normal variant, igloos do not generate here.
Frozen River 11	Temperature: 0.0 Ice, Water, Sand, Clay, Seagrass, Salmon mob, Drowned, Stray	A river with a layer of ice covering its surface. It only generates when a River biome enters or meets a Snowy Tundra. Salmon can spawn here and at night, drowned can spawn below ice.
Snowy Beach 26	Temperature: 0.05 Sand, Snow, Snowfall, Ice, Buried Treasure	Like a regular beach, one can find plenty of sand in this biome and buried treasure can be found. However, this sand is covered in a layer of snow. Snowy beaches are often found when a snowy biome borders an ocean biome. Snowy Beach can also connected to Frozen Ocean. No passive mobs will spawn in this biome.

Cold biomes

In these biomes, it begins to snow over a certain height, but before the 256 block height limit. Otherwise, it rains. The foliage and grass is a dark aqua-green, and the water is mostly purple and indigo.

Biome Name and ID	Features	Description
Mountains 3	Temperature: 0.2 Oak Trees, Spruce Trees, Gravel, Flowers, Emerald Ore, Monster Egg, Llamas	A highland biome (with some mountaintops reaching y=130 or even higher) with a few scattered oak and spruce trees. Cliffs, peaks, valleys, waterfalls, overhangs, floating islands, caverns, and many other structures exist, offering outstanding views. This is one of the few biomes where llamas spawn naturally. Snowfall also occurs above certain heights, thus creating "snow caps" on the top of the mountains. Falling is a significant risk, as there are many steep ledges large enough to cause severe fall damage or even death. Mountains are the only biomes where emerald ore and silverfish can be found naturally.
Gravelly Mountains 131	Temperature: 0.2 Spruce Trees, Oak Trees, Gravel, Snow	The mountains in this biome are slightly higher than in their regular counterpart, many of which reach into the clouds and are covered by snow peaks. The terrain here is composed mainly of gravel, with small patches of grass here and there. Due to the low amounts of grass, the population of spruce and oak trees in this biome is much more sparse. When generating alongside an Ocean Biome, it can generate beaches.
Wooded Mountains 34	Temperature: 0.2 Stone, Dirt, Spruce Trees, Oak Trees	This biome, usually found in the middle of regular mountains biome, generates much taller mountains, most of which will therefore be covered by snow. The slopes are quite steep, which makes scaling these mountains difficult and dangerous. The peaks feature a much higher concentration of grass and spruce trees, forming a small forest at the top.
Gravelly Mountains+ 162	Temperature: 0.2 Spruce Trees, Oak Trees, Gravel, Grass	This variant of the wooded mountains biome removes its signature spruce tree covered peaks in favor of terrain covered mostly by gravel and stone, similar to the gravely mountains biome. Larger and deeper valleys are carved into the relatively barren landscape - only a few isolated trees can be found here. Just like the Gravelly Mountains Biome, when generating alongside an ocean biome, beaches generate.
Taiga 5	Temperature: 0.25 Spruce Trees, Flowers, Fern, Wolves, Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits, Villages	A predominantly flat biome covered by a forest of spruce trees. Ferns and large ferns grow commonly on the forest floor. One may find packs of wolves here, along with small groups of rabbits. Villages may generate in this biome; naturally, the houses in these villages are built of spruce wood.
Taiga Mountains 133	Temperature: 0.25 Spruce Trees, Flowers, Ferns, Sheep, Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits	The taiga mountains biome also features large spruce forests, but these forests are overlayed onto mountainous terrain. Unlike regular taiga hills, these mountains tend to be larger and more difficult to climb. Perhaps owing to the rough nature of this biome, no villages can be found here.
Giant Tree Taiga 32	Temperature: 0.3 Spruce Trees, Podzol, Ferns, Wolves, Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits, Moss Stone, Mushrooms, Dirt, Coarse Dirt, Dead Bush	The giant tree taiga is an uncommon biome composed of spruce trees, much like the standard taiga biome. However, some trees are 2×2 thick and very tall, alike to large jungle trees. Moss stone boulders appear frequently, brown mushrooms are common and podzol can be found on the forest floor. There are also patches of coarse dirt, which will not grow grass, with some dead bushes. Wolves may also spawn here, as they do in normal taiga biomes.
Giant Spruce Taiga 160	Temperature: 0.25 Spruce Trees, Podzol, Ferns, Grass, Moss Stone, Mushrooms, Dirt	The terrain in this rare biome is almost exactly the same as in its regular counterpart. But the most striking feature of this biome is its giant spruce trees, which are essentially a scaled-up version of regular spruce trees. One can easily differentiate this from a normal giant tree taiga by observing how the leaves almost completely cover the tree trunks, whereas in normal giant tree taigas, leaves only tend to cover the top.
Stone Shore 25	Temperature: 0.2 Stone, Gravel, Water, Buried Treasure	True to its name, this stone-covered biome often appears where mountain biomes meet the ocean. Depending on the height of the nearby land, stone shores may generate as medium slopes or huge cliffs, its tops tall enough to be covered by snow. No passive mobs will generate here. Buried treasure can be generated here.

Medium/Lush biomes

In these biomes, it begins snowing over the 256 blocks height limit. Otherwise, it rains. The foliage and grass is a vibrant light green, except swamps and dark forests, which have a dark green grass. Rivers are also exempt from this, as they have a dull green-blue hue. The water is blue in this biome.

Biome Name and ID	Features	Description
Plains 1	Temperature: 0.8 Tall Grass, Grass, Flowers, Villages, Horses, Donkeys, Oak Trees	A relatively flat and grassy biome with rolling hills and few trees. Lakes, water holes, and villages are common. Cave openings and water or lava springs are easily identifiable due to the flat unobstructed terrain. Passive mobs spawn often in plains biomes; this biome and its variants are also one of the only biomes where horses spawn naturally.
Sunflower Plains 129	Temperature: 0.8 Grass, Sunflowers, Horses, Oak Trees	Usually found within normal plains, this biome is the only place where sunflowers naturally generate, hence its name. They grow in abundance, making yellow dye a widely available resource to those who live here. Villages will not generate in this biome. There are no other notable terrain differences from the normal plains biome.
Forest 4	Temperature: 0.7 Oak and Birch Trees, Flowers, Wolves, Mushrooms	A biome with a lot of oak and birch trees, occasional hills, and a fair amount of tall grass. Mushrooms and flowers can occasionally be found here. This is one of the most preferred biomes to start out in, due to the abundance of wood. However, the frequency of trees also makes it dangerous to navigate at night, due to obscured vision. Forest biomes are also one of the smallest biomes.
Flower Forest 132	Temperature: 0.7 Flowers, Trees, Brown, salt & pepper and black rabbits	This forest variation has fewer trees, but more than makes up for it - it is almost overflowing with nearly every type of flower and tall plant in the game, several of which will only grow in this biome. Therefore, this biome is optimal for harvesting and farming dyes. No wolves will spawn in the flower forest, although rabbits will spawn occasionally.
Birch Forest 27	Temperature: 0.6 Birch Trees, Flowers	A forest in which only birch trees generate. If one prefers to build with only a single wood types, and that wood type happens to be birch, they will certainly find themselves at home here. Unlike in the regular forest, no wolves will spawn in this biome.
Tall Birch Forest 155	Temperature: 0.6 Tall Birch Trees, Flowers	Birch trees grow much taller than usual in this uncommon variant of the birch forest biome. Whereas normal birch trees grow up to 7 blocks tall, these trees usually are 11 blocks in height. This makes deforestation a much more difficult task, although it provides the player with far more birch resources.
Dark Forest 29	Temperature: 0.7 Dark Oak trees, Huge Mushrooms, Mushrooms, Rose Bushes, Woodland Mansions	This biome is composed of dark oak trees, a mostly closed roof of leaves, and occasional large mushrooms. Trees in this forest are so plentiful and so close together, that at some spots it may become dark enough for hostile mobs to spawn, even during the day. On very rare occasions, a woodland mansion may spawn. Therefore, the dark forest is the only biome in which the illager mobs, woodland mansions and the totem of undying can be found.
Dark Forest Hills 157	Temperature: 0.7 Dark Oak Trees, Huge Mushrooms	A variation of the dark forest where large hills dominate and scatter the canopy. While increased light in the forest means slightly less mobs, the steep cliffs lining this biome still make it dangerous to navigate on foot. Unlike regular dark forests, no woodland mansions will spawn here.
Swamp 6	Temperature: 0.8 Witch Huts, Oak Trees, Grass, Vines, Lily Pads, Clay, Mushrooms, Slimes, Huge Mushrooms^{[Bedrock Edition only]} , Fossils, Drowned^{[Bedrock Edition only]} , Seagrass	A biome characterized by a mix of flat, dry areas around sea level and shallow pools of gray-green water with floating lily pads. Clay, sand, and dirt are commonly found at the bottom of these pools. Trees are covered with dark green vines, and can be found growing out from the water. Mushrooms and sugar canes are very abundant. Witch huts generate exclusively in swamps. Slimes will also spawn naturally at night, most commonly on full moons, and drowned also can spawn underwater (in Bedrock Edition) here making this an especially dangerous biome at night. Temperature varies randomly within the biome, not affected by altitude, causing foliage and grass colors to vary. In Bedrock Edition, huge mushrooms will also spawn in this biome. Visibility is also lower when the player is underwater.
Swamp Hills 134	Temperature: 0.8 Swamp Trees, Vines, Lilypads, Water, Witches, Fossils	This uncommon biome has areas where small hills rise in slopes of varying degrees, surrounded by flatter marshes. Beaches generate when this biome borders an ocean biome. Witch huts do not generate in this biome, unlike the normal swamp.
Jungle 21	Temperature: 0.95 Jungle Trees, Jungle Temples, Ferns, Flowers, Vines, Ocelots, Cocoa Pods, Melons, Parrots	A very dense, but rather uncommon tropical biome. It features large jungle trees that can reach up to 31 blocks tall with 2×2 thick trunks. Oak trees are also common. The landscape is lush green and quite hilly, with many small lakes often nestled into deep valleys, sometimes above sea level. Leaves cover much of the forest floor—these "bush trees" have single-blocks of jungle wood for trunks, surrounded by oak leaves. When inside a jungle, the sky will become noticeably lighter. Vines are found alongside most blocks and may cover the surface of caves. Ocelots, jungle temples, melons, cocoa plants, and parrots can be found exclusively in this biome. Melons generate in small ocasional patches, similar to pumpkins.
Modified Jungle 149	Temperature: 0.95 Jungle Trees, Jungle Temples, Ferns, Flowers, Vines, Ocelots, Cocoa Pods, Melons	Much more mountainous version of the normal jungle, with foliage so thick that the ground is barely visible. A very resource-demanding biome. One may confuse this with the jungle hills biome at first glance, but the hills in the modified jungle biome tend to be sharper and more erratic. Due to the combined height of the terrain and of the tall jungle trees, trees in the this jungle frequently reach into and go above the clouds. Extremely dense foliage and treacherous terrain make this a very difficult biome to navigate, especially at night.
Jungle Edge 23	Temperature: 0.95 Jungle Trees, Ferns, Melons, Flowers, Vines, Ocelots, Parrots	This biome represents a smooth transition between jungles and other biomes. In stark contrast to the wild and overgrown vegetation of the jungle biomes, the jungle edge consists of a few small and isolated jungle trees, with groups of melons here and there. The terrain is relatively flat, with some small rises in elevation. All mobs that spawn in the jungle, including parrots and ocelots, will also spawn in the jungle edge.
Modified Jungle Edge 151	Temperature: 0.95 Jungle Trees, Oak Trees, Grass, Flowers, Vines, Melons, Ocelots, Parrots	The rarest biome in the game. Modified Jungle Edge biomes usually only spawn when Modified Jungle biomes meet Swamp Hills biomes. The result is a two-layer transition zone that includes a Modified Jungle Edge along the side of the Modified Jungle, and a thin border of normal Jungle Edge on the side of the Swamp Hills. Thus, the Modified Jungle Edge and the normal Jungle Edge act together as a double buffer area in between the Modified Jungle and the Swamp Hills. Since Modified Jungles and Swamp Hills are both already rare biomes, in addition to the fact that Modified Jungles are less likely to spawn on the outside edges of jungle biome groups, the Modified Jungle Edge biome is an extremely rare occurrence. The strict conditions that are needed for its generation also make it a very small biome when it does occur, usually no longer than 150 blocks on its long side and with less than that for width. The terrain in this biome is a more hilly and rugged version of the normal Jungle Edge, though some large and flat sections of it are often hard to distinguish from its standard variant.
River 7	Temperature: 0.5 Water, Sand, Clay, Sugar Cane, Seagrass, Salmon mob, Drowned	A biome that consists of water blocks that form an elongated, curving shape similar to a real river. Unlike real rivers, however, they have no current. Rivers cut through terrain or separate the main biomes. They attempt to join up with ocean on the other side, but will sometimes loop around to the same area of ocean. Rarely, they can have no connection to the ocean and form a circle. They have a dull green grass hue, much like the ocean, and trace amounts of oak trees tend to generate there as well. Rivers are also a reliable source of clay. These biomes are good for fishing and salmon also spawn in here, but drowned can spawn at night.
Beach 16	Temperature: 0.8 Sand, Gravel, Water, Sugar Cane, Turtles, Buried Treasure	Generated where oceans meet other biomes, beaches are composed primarily of sand. Beaches penetrate the landscape, removing the original blocks and placing in sand blocks. These are also useful for fishing. Passive mobs other than turtles do not spawn on beaches. For the history of beaches, see the Beach page.
Mushroom Fields 14	Temperature: 0.9 Mushrooms, Huge Mushrooms, Mycelium, Mooshrooms, No Hostile Mobs	This rare biome consists of a mixture of flat landscape and steep hills and has mycelium instead of grass as its surface. However, if you do place down grass, it is a very bright green color, not unlike that of the jungle. Mushroom fields are most often adjacent to an ocean and are often found isolated from other biomes, and they are typically a few hundred blocks wide. It is one of the only biomes where huge mushrooms can generate naturally, and where mushrooms can grow in full sunlight. Technically no mobs other than mooshrooms spawn naturally in this biome, including the usual night-time hostile mobs. This also applies to caves, abandoned mine shafts, and other dark structures, meaning exploring underground is supposedly safe. However, mob spawners will still spawn mobs, and the player will also still be able to breed animals and spawn mobs using eggs.
Mushroom Field Shore 15	Temperature: 0.9 Mushrooms, Huge Mushrooms, Mycelium, Mooshrooms, No Hostile Mobs	Mushroom field shores represent the transition between mushroom fields and the ocean, forming long strips between the biomes as a sort of beach, hence the name. However, it will not generate if the ocean biome outside the mushroom fields is a deep variant. This biome also generates when a river meets a mushroom fields biome, similar to what Frozen Rivers do in Snowy Tundras. The terrain of this biome is much flatter and shallower in elevation than the main mushroom fields biome, though it contains many of the same features, such as a mycelium surface layer, huge mushrooms, and lack of hostile mobs.
The End 9	Temperature: 0.5 End Stone, Endermen, Obsidian, End Crystals, Ender Dragon, End gateway portal, Void	This biome is used to generate the circle of radius 1000 centered at the 0,0 coordinates in the End. The End central island is generated at the center of this circle. Most of the End features are in this biome, including the ender dragon, the obsidian pillars, the End Crystals, the 5x5 spawn platform, the exit portal and the 20 central End gateways. Large amounts of endermen spawn in this biome. Most of the End's structure is provided by the dimension itself rather than the biome. It does not rain or snow in this biome unlike the other low temperature biomes. The outer islands in the End can be accessed using the End gateway portal after the ender dragon has been defeated. These contain endermen, chorus plants and End cities. End cities are the only place where shulkers naturally spawn. If the biome is used for a superflat world, the sky will be practically black and an ender dragon will spawn at 0,0 coordinates in the Overworld. Only endermen will spawn at night.
Small End Islands 40	Temperature: 0.5 End stone, Endermen, End gateway portals, Void	Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the empty expanse between the larger islands, populated only by the smaller, circular islands.
End Midlands 41	Temperature: 0.5 End stone, Endermen, End gateway portals,End Cities, Shulkers	Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the gradual slope from the hilltops of each island down to the cliffs around the edge. End cities will generate here, but chorus trees do not.
End Highlands 42	Temperature: 0.5 End Stone, Endermen, Chorus Plants, End Cities, Shulkers, End gateway portals	Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the hilltops of each island, and is the only biome in the End where both chorus trees and end cities will generate.
End Barrens 43	Temperature: 0.5 End stone, Endermen, End gateway portals	Generates as part of the outer islands of the End. This biome represents the outer rims of each island, with steep cliffs below the edge. Neither end cities nor chorus trees will be generated in this biome.

Dry/Warm biomes

In these biomes, it neither rains nor snows at all, but the sky will still turn overcast during inclement weather. The foliage and grass is an olive color, except badlands biomes, which have brown grass. The water is constantly light green. As in jungle biomes, the sky will become slightly lighter.

Biome Name and ID	Name Features	Description
Desert 2	Temperature: 2.0 Sand, Cacti, Dead Bushes, Sandstone, Sugar Cane, Desert wells, Desert Temples, Desert Villages, Gold Rabbits, Fossils, Husk	A barren and inhospitable biome consisting mostly of sand dunes, dead bushes, and cacti. Sandstone, and sometimes fossils, are found underneath the sand. The only passive mobs to spawn naturally in deserts are gold/creamy rabbits, their coloring well-camouflaged against the sand. At night, husks usually spawn in the place of normal zombies; the lack of visual obstruction makes hostile mobs highly visible. Sugar cane can be found if the desert is next to an ocean or river biome. Desert villages, desert wells and desert temples are found exclusively in this biome. This biome sometimes appears as a thin edge around badlands biomes.
Desert Lakes 130	Temperature: 2.0 Sand, Cacti, Water, Sugar Canes, Gold Rabbits, Desert well, Fossils, Husk	In this biome, opposite of the normal desert, patches of water can be found, and the terrain is slightly more rough. Although desert wells can be found, desert temples and villages will not generate in this biome.
Savanna 35	Temperature: 1.2 Acacia Trees, Tall Grass, Savannah Villages, Horses, Cows, Sheep, Llamas	A relatively flat and dry biome with a dull-brown grass color and scattered acacia trees, although oak trees may generate now and then. Tall grass covers the landscape. Villages can generate in this biome, which are constructed almost entirely of acacia building materials. It is the only biome where both horses and llamas spawn naturally.
Shattered Savanna 163	Temperature: 1.1 Acacia Trees, Coarse Dirt, Tall Grass, Llama	Unlike the flat and calm terrain of the savanna biome, the chaotic terrain of this uncommon variant is wracked by gigantic mountains covered in coarse dirt. The mountains in the shattered savanna biome are extremely steep, jutting out at 90 degree angles, making it almost impossible to climb. Deep Ocean-like lakes also generate here. On top of that, they dwarf the mountains biome in height - they can rise far above the clouds, and even to the world height limit, without using the Amplified world type. Massive waterfalls and lavafalls are quite common here. The unforgiving terrain means villages will not generate in this biome. Horses cannot spawn here, but llamas can.
Badlands 37	Temperature: 2.0 Dead Bushes, Terracotta, 6 colors of Terracotta, Red Sand, Cacti, Red Sandstone, Above ground mineshafts, Gold ore	A rare biome where large mounds of terracotta and stained terracotta will generate. Red sand will also generate here instead of regular sand, with occasional cacti and dead bushes, and this biome is usually bordered by a desert biome. No passive mobs will spawn in this biome, even if all other spawning conditions are met. Mineshafts will generate at a much higher altitude than normal - now and then one may come across a mineshaft jutting out of the slope of badlands. Gold ore is also a much more frequent occurrence, since ore veins generate within badlands at a higher Y-level than the usual 32. The composition of this biome is useful when other sources of terracotta and gold are scarce. However, finding badlands biomes can be difficult due to their rarity. On the other hand, it offers great variety - there are a total of 6 variations of this biome to explore.
Eroded Badlands 165	Temperature: 2.0 Red Sand, Cacti, Red Sandstone, Dead Bushes, Terracotta 6 colors of Terracotta, Above ground mineshaft, Gold ore	This rare biome generates unique terrain features that are similar to the structures in Utah's Bryce Canyon. Tall and narrow spires of colorful terracotta rise out of the floor of the canyon, which, like all other badlands variants, is covered in red sand. Deserts do not generate alongside this biome.
Wooded Badlands Plateau 38	Temperature: 2.0 Oak trees, Dead Bushes, Dirt, Terracotta, 6 colors of Terracotta	One might not notice the subtle transition from the normal badlands plateau to this variation, were it were not for the layer of grass blocks and the small forests of oak trees that generate atop these plateaus. The color of the grass and leaves is a dull green-brown hue, giving it a dried and dead appearance. These trees are a rare source of wood when living in the otherwise barren and lifeless badlands.
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau 166	Temperature: 2.0 Oak trees, Dead Bushes, Dirt, Terracotta, 6 colors of Terracotta	This biome features grass and oak trees on top of plateaus, much like its counterpart. However, the plateaus that generate here are generally smaller, allowing far less foliage to generate. The terrain is more erratic in general, and can be compared to that of the similar modified badlands plateau biome, having an old and eroded appearance. Deserts do not generate alongside this biome.
Plateau 36, 39	Temperature: Same as their respective base biomes.	These biomes are similar to the hills biomes, but only generate within savanna and badlands biomes, and are flattened at the top, much like real-life plateaus. They come to rest at an elevation of about 20 to 30 blocks above sea level. One may discover the entrance to a mineshaft within the tall slopes of a badlands plateau.
Modified plateau 164, 167	Temperature: Same as their respective base biomes.	Two rare variants of the plateau biomes, which are variants themselves. However, neither of these biomes closely resemble their counterparts. Compared to the average badlands plateau, the modified badlands plateau features more variable terrain and smaller plateaus, as if a larger plateau was weathered down over time. The terrain of the shattered savanna plateau biome is much less tame than its normal counterpart. It features incredibly large and steep mountains that jut out of the terrain, similar to the shattered savanna biome, albeit slightly smaller and gentler in comparison.
Nether (The Nether) 8	Netherrack, Glowstone, Soul Sand, Nether Quartz, Ghasts, Blazes, Zombie Pigmen, Nether Fortresses, Wither Skeletons, Lava, Magma cubes, Gravel, Magma Blocks	This is the biome used to generate the Nether. Within this biome spawn mobs such as ghasts, packs of zombie pigmen and the occasional magma cubes and endermen. Certain structures, such as Nether quartz, glowstone veins, and Nether fortresses will only generate in the Nether. While water cannot be placed in the Nether dimension, ice can, and water lakes (and other Overworld structures) can still generate if the Nether is used in a superflat preset.

Aquatic biomes

Oceans are large, open biomes made entirely of water going up to y=63, with underwater relief on the sea floor, such as small mountains and plains, usually including gravel. Oceans typically extend under 3,000 blocks in any direction; around 60% of the Overworld's surface is covered in ocean. Small islands with infrequent vegetation can be found in oceans. Passive mobs are unable to spawn on these islands, but hostiles can. Squid spawn frequently in the water, and in Bedrock Edition, ocean biomes are one of the few biomes where squid can be found. Underwater cave entrances can be found frequently at the bottom of the ocean. In the console versions, they surround the edges of the map.

Biome Name and ID	Features	Description
Warm Ocean	Temperature: ? Dolphins Pufferfish mobs, Tropical fish mobs, Warm underwater ruins, Coral reef, Coral blocks, Corals, Coral fans, Sand, Sea Pickles, Seagrass, shipwreck, Andesite^{[Bedrock Edition only]} , Dead coral blocks^{[Bedrock Edition only]}	A variant of ocean biomes with light green water at the surface. Like the lukewarm ocean, it has a floor made of sand, and like all oceans, it is populated with seagrass. Unlike other ocean biomes, warm oceans allow for the generation of coral reefs and sea pickles, but not kelp.
Lukewarm Ocean	Temperature: ? Dolphins, Pufferfish mobs, Tropical fish mobs, Cod mobs, Warm underwater ruins, Sand, Dirt, Clay, Kelp, Seagrass, shipwreck	A variant of ocean biomes with light teal water at the surface. Its floor is made of sand with the occasional dirt or clay, and it contains kelp and seagrass. Unlike warm ocean biomes, cod can spawn here.
Deep Lukewarm Ocean	Temperature: ? Dolphins, Pufferfish mobs, Tropical fish mobs, Cod mobs, Warm underwater ruins, Sand, Dirt, Clay, Kelp, Seagrass, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwreck	Similar to lukewarm ocean biomes, but twice as deep. Because they are a deep ocean variant, they can generate ocean monuments, resulting in the spawning of guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges.
Ocean 0	Temperature: 0.5 Water, Gravel, Squid, Sand, Seagrass, Kelp, Shipwreck, Cold Underwater ruins,{ Cod mob, Drowned	The basic ocean biome. Like it's colder variants, its floor is made up of gravel. Sea grass, kelp and cod spawn here.
Deep Ocean 24	Temperature: 0.5 Water, Gravel, Clay, Squid, Guardians, Elder Guardians, Ocean monuments, Shipwreck, Cold underwater ruins, Kelp, Seagrass, Cod mob, Drowned, Magma Block	A variation of the ocean biome. In deep ocean biomes, the ocean can exceed 30 blocks in depth, making it twice as deep as the normal ocean. The ground is mainly covered with gravel. Ocean monuments generate in deep oceans, meaning guardian and elder guardian can spawn here. Underwater ravines often generate here, with the top layer of lava being replaced by magma blocks that create bubble columns.
Cold Ocean	Temperature: ? Dolphins, Cod mobs, Salmon mobs, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Kelp, Seagrass, Dirt, Sand, shipwreck	A variant of ocean biomes with dark indigo water at the surface. Like regular oceans and frozen oceans, its floor is made up of gravel, although there are scarce patches of dirt. Also, salmon are able to spawn in cold ocean biomes.
Deep Cold Ocean	Temperature: ? Dolphins, Cod mobs, Salmon mobs, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Kelp, Seagrass, Dirt, Sand, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwreck	Similar to cold ocean biomes, but twice as deep. Like other deep oceans, ocean monuments are able to generate here, which contain guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges.
Frozen Ocean 10	Temperature: 0.0 Ice, Packed Ice, Blue Ice, Water, Gravel, Clay, Squid, Sand, Drowned, Salmon mob, Iceberg, Seagrass, Kelp, Shipwreck, Cold underwater ruins, Stray, Polar Bear	A variant of ocean biomes with dark purple water at the surface. Like the cold ocean, it has a gravel seabed and squid swimming about. However, the water's surface is frequently broken up by patches of ice and large icebergs, consisting of packed ice and, occasionally, blue ice. Strays and polar bears can spawn here, but dolphins do not.
Deep Frozen Ocean	Temperature: ? Salmon mobs, Cold underwater ruins, Gravel, Kelp, Seagrass, Packed Ice, Blue Ice, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, iceberg, shipwreck, Polar Bear, Stray	Like frozen ocean biomes, the only fish type that can spawn here is salmon, and the floor is made up of gravel. Frozen deep ocean biomes also contain ocean monuments and a deeper floor than normal oceans, like other deep oceans. Unlike its shallow counterpart, the surface of the water is not frozen. Frequent floating icebergs with blue ice will generate here. Polar bears and strays can also spawn here, but dolphins do not.

Neutral and other biomes

These biomes have many variants of themselves which are also variants of other non-neutral biomes.

Biome Name and ID	Features	Description	Images
The Void 127	Temperature: 0.0 Stone, Cobblestone, Void	A completely empty biome that generates only a single structure: a 33×33 stone platform with a single block of cobblestone in the center. No mobs (passive or hostile) can spawn without spawn eggs, monster spawners or commands. Can only be accessed through The Void superflat preset.
Hills 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, 31, 33, 156, 161	Temperature: Same as their respective base biomes.	Hills are generated within certain biomes (including some of their variants) and are referred in the F3 menu with Hills or Mountains added to their name. This includes: Wooded Hills, Taiga Hills, Snowy Taiga Hills, Jungle Hills, Desert Hills, Tall Birch Hills, Giant Tree Taiga Hills, Redwood Taiga Hills M, and Snowy Mountains. Most hills are gentle rolling slopes on which the usual biome terrain generates, with some sharper cliffs here and there. Snowy Mountains are usually taller, with height comparable to mountains biomes, and has a lower chance of spawning passive mobs during world generation than other biomes (7% versus 10%). Giant Spruce Taiga Hills are a special case, however. The game code sets the values `setBaseHeight` and `setHeightVariation` in order to define a "hilly" biome, but these values are the same for the Giant Spruce Taiga Hills and its non-hill variant (Giant Spruce Taiga), meaning there is absolutely no terrain difference between the two biomes.

Unused biomes

These biomes don't generate in default worlds.

Biome Name and ID	Features	Description	Images
Mountain Edge 20	Temperature: 0.2 Grass, Dirt, Stone, Pigs, Sheep, Cows, Wolves, Spruce trees, Oak trees, Snow (occasionally)	Similar to the jungle edge biome, the mountain edge used to generate exclusively at the edge of mountain biomes (or any variant) in order to smooth the transition between biomes. While the terrain is lower and gentler in nature, some areas may reach high enough to be covered by snow. This biome doesn't naturally generate since 1.7.2.
Deep Warm Ocean	Temperature: ? Dolphins, Pufferfish mobs, Tropical fish mobs, Warm underwater ruins, Sand, Kelp, Seagrass, Ocean monuments, Guardians, Elder guardians, shipwreck	Similar to warm ocean biomes, but without coral reefs nor sea pickles, and twice as deep. Because they are a deep ocean variant, they can generate ocean monuments, resulting in the spawning of guardians, elder guardians, prismarine, and sponges. This biome did never naturally generate.

Biome IDs

Main article: Java Edition data values § Biome IDs

Each type of biome has its own biome id, shown in the following table. These biome ids are used when creating a customized superflat world. Main biomes have a numeric ID from 0 to 127, while biome variations normally have a numeric ID of 128 + <original biome number>. Mountain Edge (called Extreme Hills Edge until 1.13) no longer naturally generates. Up to 1.13, Frozen Ocean biomes did not generate anymore. The Deep Warm Ocean biome does not generate.

1.12

Dec	Hex	ID Name	Biome	Color
0	0	minecraft:ocean	Ocean	000070
1	1	minecraft:plains	Plains	8DB360
2	2	minecraft:desert	Desert	FA9418
3	3	minecraft:extreme_hills	Extreme Hills	606060
4	4	minecraft:forest	Forest	056621
5	5	minecraft:taiga	Taiga	0B6659
6	6	minecraft:swampland	Swampland	07F9B2
7	7	minecraft:river	River	0000FF
8	8	minecraft:hell	Hell	FF0000
9	9	minecraft:sky	The End	8080FF
10	A	minecraft:frozen_ocean	FrozenOcean	9090A0
11	B	minecraft:frozen_river	FrozenRiver	A0A0FF
12	C	minecraft:ice_flats	Ice Plains	FFFFFF
13	D	minecraft:ice_mountains	Ice Mountains	A0A0A0
14	E	minecraft:mushroom_island	MushroomIsland	FF00FF
15	F	minecraft:mushroom_island_shore	MushroomIslandShore	A000FF
16	10	minecraft:beaches	Beach	FADE55
17	11	minecraft:desert_hills	DesertHills	D25F12
18	12	minecraft:forest_hills	ForestHills	22551C
19	13	minecraft:taiga_hills	TaigaHills	163933
20	14	minecraft:smaller_extreme_hills	Extreme Hills Edge	72789A
21	15	minecraft:jungle	Jungle	537B09
22	16	minecraft:jungle_hills	JungleHills	2C4205
23	17	minecraft:jungle_edge	JungleEdge	628B17
24	18	minecraft:deep_ocean	Deep Ocean	000030
25	19	minecraft:stone_beach	Stone Beach	A2A284
26	1A	minecraft:cold_beach	Cold Beach	FAF0C0
27	1B	minecraft:birch_forest	Birch Forest	307444
28	1C	minecraft:birch_forest_hills	Birch Forest Hills	1F5F32
29	1D	minecraft:roofed_forest	Roofed Forest	40511A
30	1E	minecraft:taiga_cold	Cold Taiga	31554A
31	1F	minecraft:taiga_cold_hills	Cold Taiga Hills	243F36
32	20	minecraft:redwood_taiga	Mega Taiga	596651
33	21	minecraft:redwood_taiga_hills	Mega Taiga Hills	545F3E
34	22	minecraft:extreme_hills_with_trees	Extreme Hills+	507050
35	23	minecraft:savanna	Savanna	BDB25F
36	24	minecraft:savanna_rock	Savanna Plateau	A79D64
37	25	minecraft:mesa	Mesa	D94515
38	26	minecraft:mesa_rock	Mesa Plateau F	B09765
39	27	minecraft:mesa_clear_rock	Mesa Plateau	CA8C65
127	7F	minecraft:void	The Void
129	81	minecraft:mutated_plains	Sunflower Plains	B5DB88
130	82	minecraft:mutated_desert	Desert M	FFBC40
131	83	minecraft:mutated_extreme_hills	Extreme Hills M	888888
132	84	minecraft:mutated_forest	Flower Forest	6A7425
133	85	minecraft:mutated_taiga	Taiga M	596651
134	86	minecraft:mutated_swampland	Swampland M	2FFFDA
140	8C	minecraft:mutated_ice_flats	Ice Plains Spikes	B4DCDC
149	95	minecraft:mutated_jungle	Jungle M	7BA331
151	97	minecraft:mutated_jungle_edge	Jungle Edge M	8AB33F
155	9B	minecraft:mutated_birch_forest	Birch Forest M	589C6C
156	9C	minecraft:mutated_birch_forest_hills	Birch Forest Hills M	47875A
157	9D	minecraft:mutated_roofed_forest	Roofed Forest M	687942
158	9E	minecraft:mutated_taiga_cold	Cold Taiga M	597D72
160	A0	minecraft:mutated_redwood_taiga	Mega Spruce Taiga	6B5F4C
161	A1	minecraft:mutated_redwood_taiga_hills	Redwood Taiga Hills M	6D7766
162	A2	minecraft:mutated_extreme_hills_with_trees	Extreme Hills+ M	789878
163	A3	minecraft:mutated_savanna	Savanna M	E5DA87
164	A4	minecraft:mutated_savanna_rock	Savanna Plateau M	CFC58C
165	A5	minecraft:mutated_mesa	Mesa (Bryce)	FF6D3D
166	A6	minecraft:mutated_mesa	Mesa Plateau F M	D8BF8D
167	A7	minecraft:mutated_mesa_rock	Mesa Plateau M	F2B48D

1.13

Dec	Hex	ID Name	Biome
0	0	minecraft:ocean	Ocean
1	1	minecraft:plains	Plains
2	2	minecraft:desert	Desert
3	3	minecraft:mountains	Mountains
4	4	minecraft:forest	Forest
5	5	minecraft:taiga	Taiga
6	6	minecraft:swamp	Swamp
7	7	minecraft:river	River
8	8	minecraft:nether	Nether
9	9	minecraft:the_end	The End
10	A	minecraft:frozen_ocean	Frozen Ocean
11	B	minecraft:frozen_river	Frozen River
12	C	minecraft:snowy_tundra	Snowy Tundra
13	D	minecraft:snowy_mountains	Snowy Mountains
14	E	minecraft:mushroom_fields	Mushroom Fields
15	F	minecraft:mushroom_field_shore	Mushroom Field Shore
16	10	minecraft:beach	Beach
17	11	minecraft:desert_hills	Desert Hills
18	12	minecraft:wooded_hills	Wooded Hills
19	13	minecraft:taiga_hills	Taiga Hills
20	14	minecraft:mountain_edge	Mountain Edge
21	15	minecraft:jungle	Jungle
22	16	minecraft:jungle_hills	Jungle Hills
23	17	minecraft:jungle_edge	Jungle Edge
24	18	minecraft:deep_ocean	Deep Ocean
25	19	minecraft:stone_shore	Stone Shore
26	1A	minecraft:snowy_beach	Snowy Beach
27	1B	minecraft:birch_forest	Birch Forest
28	1C	minecraft:birch_forest_hills	Birch Forest Hills
29	1D	minecraft:dark_forest	Dark Forest
30	1E	minecraft:snowy_taiga	Snowy Taiga
31	1F	minecraft:snowy_taiga_hills	Snowy Taiga Hills
32	20	minecraft:giant_tree_taiga	Giant Tree Taiga
33	21	minecraft:giant_tree_taiga_hills	Giant Tree Taiga Hills
34	22	minecraft:wooded_mountains	Wooded Mountains
35	23	minecraft:savanna	Savanna
36	24	minecraft:savanna_plateau	Savanna Plateau
37	25	minecraft:badlands	Badlands
38	26	minecraft:wooded_badlands_plateau	Wooded Badlands Plateau
39	27	minecraft:badlands_plateau	Badlands Plateau
40	28	minecraft:small_end_islands	Small End Islands
41	29	minecraft:end_midlands	End Midlands
42	2A	minecraft:end_highlands	End Highlands
43	2B	minecraft:end_barrens	End Barrens
44	2C	minecraft:warm_ocean	Warm Ocean
45	2D	minecraft:lukewarm_ocean	Lukewarm Ocean
46	2E	minecraft:cold_ocean	Cold Ocean
47	2F	minecraft:deep_warm_ocean	Deep Warm Ocean
48	30	minecraft:deep_lukewarm_ocean	Deep Lukewarm Ocean
49	31	minecraft:deep_cold_ocean	Deep Cold Ocean
50	32	minecraft:deep_frozen_ocean	Deep Frozen Ocean
127	7F	minecraft:the_void	The Void
129	81	minecraft:sunflower_plains	Sunflower Plains
130	82	minecraft:desert_lakes	Desert Lakes
131	83	minecraft:gravelly_mountains	Gravelly Mountains
132	84	minecraft:flower_forest	Flower Forest
133	85	minecraft:taiga_mountains	Taiga Mountains
134	86	minecraft:swamp_hills	Swamp Hills
140	8C	minecraft:ice_spikes	Ice Spikes
149	95	minecraft:modified_jungle	Modified Jungle
151	97	minecraft:modified_jungle_edge	Modified Jungle Edge
155	9B	minecraft:tall_birch_forest	Tall Birch Forest
156	9C	minecraft:tall_birch_hills	Tall Birch Hills
157	9D	minecraft:dark_forest_hills	Dark Forest Hills
158	9E	minecraft:snowy_taiga_mountains	Snowy Taiga Mountains
160	A0	minecraft:giant_spruce_taiga	Giant Spruce Taiga
161	A1	minecraft:giant_spruce_taiga_hills	Giant Spruce Taiga Hills
162	A2	minecraft:modified_gravelly_mountains	Gravelly Mountains+
163	A3	minecraft:shattered_savanna	Shattered Savanna
164	A4	minecraft:shattered_savanna_plateau	Shattered Savanna Plateau
165	A5	minecraft:eroded_badlands	Eroded Badlands
166	A6	minecraft:modified_wooded_badlands_plateau	Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau
167	A7	minecraft:modified_badlands_plateau	Modified Badlands Plateau

Biome colors

Biome colors template for 1.7.2 and above.

grass.png

foliage.png

The temperature and rainfall values of a biome are used when determining the colors of a small selection of blocks: grass, grass blocks, some leaves, vines, and other features such as water and the sky. Blocks such as moss stone, mossy stone bricks and the stems of flowers are not affected by biome coloration.^[2]

A biome's rainfall value is typically a value from 0.0 to 1.0, and - as stated above - a biome's temperature starts at a given value at sea level (e.g. 2.0 for Desert or -0.5 for Snowy Taiga) and decreases by 0.00166667 for each meter above sea level.

Biome grass and foliage colors are selected from two 256x256 colormap images: grass.png and foliage.png. Both colormaps, shown to the right, can be found in assets\minecraft\textures\colormap. The grass.png colormap sets the colors for the grass block top and sides (along with other types of grass, such as tall grass, ferns, double tall grass, etc.). Meanwhile, the foliage.png colormap sets the colors for tree leaves (with the exception of spruce and birch).

Biome colormaps use a triangular gradient by default. However, only the colors in the lower-left half of the image are used, even though the upper-right side of foliage.png is colored. Furthermore, as shown in the template image to the left, only select few pixels are considered when the colormap is read by the game, and are determined by the code below.

The adjusted temperature and adjusted rainfall values (recognized as AdjTemp and AdjRainfall in the code, respectively) are used when determining which biome color to select from the colormap. Treating the bottom-right corner of the colormap as Temperature = 0.0 and Rainfall = 0.0, the adjusted temperature increases to 1.0 along the X-axis, and the adjusted rainfall increases to 1.0 along the Y-axis. The values used to retrieve the colors are computed as follows:

 AdjTemp = clamp( Temperature, 0.0, 1.0 )
 AdjRainfall = clamp( Rainfall, 0.0, 1.0 ) * AdjTemp

"clamp" limits the range of the temperature and rainfall to 0.0-1.0. The clamped rainfall value is then multiplied by the 0.0-1.0 adjusted temperature value, which brings its value to be inside the lower left triangle. Some biomes' ranges are shown in the template above; the multiplication makes all the line segments point towards the lower right corner.

At borders between or among biomes, the colors of the block and its eight neighbors are computed and the average is used for the final block color.

Exact temperature and rainfall values for biomes can be found in various projects, e.g. this biome code.

Hard-coded colors

Certain biome colors are hard-coded, which means they are locked into the Minecraft code and are not retrievable from any texture file. Thus, they cannot be modified without the use of external tools, such as MCPatcher/OptiFine, that support the use of custom colormaps.

Swamp color

Swamp temperature, which starts at 0.8, is not affected by altitude. Rather, a Perlin noise function is used to gradually vary the temperature of the swamp. When this temperature goes below -0.1, a lush green color is used (0x4C763C) otherwise it is set to a sickly brown (0x6A7039). In addition, the color of the water in swamps is always multiplied by a very light green tinge (0xE0FFAE).

Dark forest color

The dark forest biomes' grass color is retrieved normally, then averaged with a dark green color (0x28340A) to produce the final color.

Badlands color

The color of the sky in two different biomes.

All badlands biomes' grass and foliage have hard-coded colors, which are two tan colors (0x90814D and 0x9E814D respectively). These are not modifiable by grass.png and foliage.png, and are unaffected by temperature.

Other colors

Several other biome colors are set into the game and currently require external tools in order to be changed. This includes blocks such as birch and spruce leaves and water (which have a hard-coded overlay set onto them), and other features such as the sky and fog.

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo	Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
	Adventuring Time	Discover 17 of the 40 different biomes	Visit any 17 biomes. Does not have to be in a single world.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Wii U, Switch	40G	Silver
	Sail the 7 Seas	Visit all ocean biomes		No	No	Yes	No	40G	—

Advancements

Main article: Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Internal ID
	Adventuring Time	Discover every biome	Sweet dreams	Visit all of these 40 biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for the advancement.	`minecraft:adventure/adventuring_time`

History

See also: Biome/Before Beta 1.8

A very old image of biomes work-in-progress. "To the right of the player is a taiga, to the left is either a forest, or woods, I can’t remember. In the distance is probably tundra." ~ Notch

The biomes graph from Notch, prior to beta 1.8. Notice the chicken scratch handwriting, as Notch was working quick to try to get the biomes update out.

The old biomes graph with linear axes.

Alpha
v1.0.4				Added Winter Mode. Maps now have a snowy or grassy theme randomly determined when creating the world.
v1.2.0			?	Added true biomes; they were rain forest, seasonal forest, forest, shrubland, taiga, tundra, savanna, plains, swampland, desert, and frozen desert.
v1.2.0			?	World saves remained unchanged, other than a change in the hue of the grass. If the player moves into ungenerated chunks, the new biomes would generate.
Beta
1.6			?	Added the Sky Dimension with its own biome. It could only be viewed through the use of mods and hacks.
August 18, 2011				Notch tweeted a screenshot of a revamped river biome.
1.8			?	Biomes got an overhaul, removing some biomes, such as the tundra and the taiga, and others replaced with nine fractal-based biomes that were a mix of the previous biomes and new biomes. See here for more details.
Official release
1.0.0			September 2, 2011	Notch teased a screenshot of the new desert biome.^[3]
			September 3, 2011	Notch teased a screenshot of the new swamp biome.^[4]
			September 15, 2011	Notch teased a screenshot of what he called "snow biomes".^[5]^[6]
			?	Re-added tundra (as ice plains) and added Mushroom Islands.
1.1			?	Re-added snow in taigas, added hills and beaches.
1.1			?	Smoothed color transitions between biomes – swampland grass, foliage and water smoothly transition into other biomes.
1.2.1			January 18, 2012	Jens Bergensten tweeted a teaser screenshot of a new jungle biome.
			January 19, 2012	He tweeted another jungle screenshot, showcasing the bright green foliage.
			12w03a	Added jungle biome.
			12w07a	The Anvil file format was introduced and it allows for biomes to be stored in the world data. In contrast, the Region file format relies on the seed to dynamically calculate biome placement. This would cause biome placement in older worlds to change when the biome generation code was changed. With the current Anvil format, the biome data is stored along with the rest of the world data, meaning it will not change after the world is generated and can be edited by third-party map-editing tools. Furthermore, "edge" biomes allow for biomes to continue extend beyond the edge chunks of an old world. This allows for smooth transitions in world generation after the generation code changes in an update.
1.3.1			?	Hills in forests and deserts are taller.
1.6.1			13w17a	Water lakes no longer generate in deserts.
1.7.2			August 2, 2013	Jens tweeted the first image of the mesa biome. He jokingly referred to them as "disco mountains."
			August 7, 2013	Jens tweeted the first image of a mega taiga, unofficially dubbed the Redwood Forest. The name was changed following 1.7's release.
			August 9, 2013	Jens tweeted the first image of a stone beach, which was then referred to as a "cliff" biome.
			13w36a	Mesa, mega taiga, roofed forest, birch forest, savanna, extreme hills+, deep ocean and snowless taiga biomes were added as well as variations for many of the biomes. Biomes were also separated by temperature, and snowing was added to extreme hills.
				Biomes will attempt to avoid getting placed next to a biome that is too different from itself, temperature-wise.
				The frozen ocean and extreme hills edge biomes no longer generate naturally.
				Biome-hopping achievement "Adventuring Time" added, but it was broken until 1.8 making the goal of getting all achievements impossible in 1.7.
			13w38b	Marsh-like areas no longer generate in swamp biomes.
			13w39a	Red sand now generates in mesa biomes and their variants.
			13w43a	Savannas and roofed forest biomes now generate with new logs and leaves.
1.8			14w17a	The End's biome name is now "The End" instead of "Sky".
				Adventuring Time is now available without commands. Before, the 38 biomes had to be visited without visiting any other biomes, which made the achievement unavailable because the End has to be visited for its prerequisite, The End?. The “no other biomes” restriction is now lifted.
				Visiting the frozen ocean and extreme hills edge biomes, which no longer generate since 13w36a, is no longer required for Adventuring Time.
			14w26a	Marsh-like areas generate again in swamp biomes.
			14w32a	Red sandstone now generates below red sand in mesa biomes and their variants.
1.9			15w37a	Add new biome "The Void", which is used in Superflat preset "The Void".
1.10			16w20a	Plains and sunflower plains now have some trees (5% of chunks). ¹⁄₃ large oaks, ²⁄₃ normal oaks.
				Ice plains, ice plains spikes and ice mountains don't spawn passive mobs other than rabbits and the new polar bears anymore.
				In mesa biomes, terracotta no longer generates more than 15 blocks deep, if the mesa is more than 15 blocks above sea level. In addition to the normal 2 veins of gold ore below Y=32, now attempts to generate 20 veins at elevations between 32 and 79. Also can generate dark oak abandoned mineshafts above ground.
1.13			18w06a	The outer islands of the End biome are now divided up into four separate biomes: The End - Floating Islands, The End - Medium island, The End - High island, and The End - Barren island.
			18w08a	Added ocean variants, including warm ocean, lukewarm ocean, cold ocean, warm deep ocean, deep lukewarm ocean, deep cold ocean, and deep frozen ocean.
			18w08a	Frozen ocean now generates naturally, for first time since 13w36a.
			18w08b	Deep warm ocean biome no longer generate.
			18w16a	Biome names are now translatable.
			18w16a	Cleaned up several biome names, mainly by adding missing spaces and changing "Biome M" for "Mutated Biome".
			18w19a	Names of several biomes are changed. The exact name changes are listed here.
			pre5	Changed several biome IDs, mostly to comply with their names, listed here.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0				Added biomes, these 5 biomes include: Plains, Forest, Taiga, Desert, Tundra from PC Version Alpha 1.2.0.
0.1.3				Cacti now generate in deserts
0.9.0			build 1	All biomes as of PC version 1.7.2 have been types of new biomes. These include: Jungles, mesa, roofed forests, savannas, extreme hills, mushroom islands, flower forest, mega taiga, mega spruce taiga, swampland, and deep ocean.
0.9.0			build 1	Frozen Ocean is no longer generated.
0.9.5				Added bryce mesa, extreme hills +, and jungle M.
0.10.0			build 1	Mesa biomes have gold at every elevation and can generate mine shafts on the surface.
				Water in swamps is tinted dark gray.
				Huge mushrooms generate in swamps
0.11.0			build 1	Added birch forest M, birch forest hills M, extreme hills M, and extreme hills+ M.
			build 8	Changed the default biome.
			build 10	Increased the amount of gravel on extreme hills M biome.
0.12.1			build 1	Added the Nether biome.
0.12.1			build 10	Leaves coloring shaders are now only used when the color for a biome actually changes.
0.16.0			?	The biomes can now be viewed on maps based on the grass color.
Pocket Edition
1.0			?	Added End biome.
Bedrock Edition
1.2			?	Added snow to extreme hills.
1.2.14			build 1	Added Warm Ocean, Lukewarm Ocean, Cold Ocean, and their deep variant, including frozen deep ocean.
1.2.14			build 1	Frozen Ocean now can generate naturally again.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.00	Patch 1	Added swampland, ice plains, extreme hills and ocean biomes
TU5				Removed rain forest, seasonal forest, savanna, shrubland and taiga.
TU7				Re-added tundra (as ice plains) and added Mushroom Islands.
TU9				Re-added beaches and snow in taigas, added hills.
TU9				Smoothed color transitions between biomes – swampland grass, foliage and water smoothly transition into other biomes.
TU12				Added jungle biome
TU14		1.04		Hills in forests and deserts are taller.
TU19	CU7	1.12		Water lakes no longer generate in deserts.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Added mesa, mega taiga, roofed forest, birch forest, forest, savanna, extreme hills+, deep ocean, snowless taiga and 20 technical biomes.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Changed generation of marsh-like areas in swamp and extreme hills biomes.

Issues

Issues relating to "Biome" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

The term biome is analogous to its scientific usage: in real life, a biome is climatically and geographically defined by distinctive communities of plants, animals and soil organisms supported by similar climatic conditions. They are often referred to as ecosystems.^[7]^[8]
The only fictional biomes are those found in the Nether and The End, or those with huge mushrooms. All the others are entirely or almost entirely based on real-life counterparts.
It is possible for biomes to be a single block in size.^[9]

Gallery

Notch took this screenshot while testing a revamped river biome.
The first image of a giant tree taiga, as tweeted by Jeb.
The same image, brightened.
This is the first picture provided of the badlands biome (then called mesa).
The first image of a stone beach (then called cliff) biome, provided by Jeb.
Jeb's first image of the jungle biome.
Jeb's second jungle teaser screenshot.
A rare mesa variant called Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau.
An above view of a flower forest biome.
A dark forest bordering onto a lake.
A dark forest biome . The stone variants granite, diorite and andesite can also be seen in the cliff.
A large snowy taiga biome, with a beach off to the side.
A mountainous mushroom island.
A variant of mountains, where large swaths of gravel generate.
A frozen ocean biome, with fog obscuring the distance.
A large river separating a desert and a forest.
A badlands biome as seen from the ground.
A badlands biome with a small lake nearby. A wooded variant can be seen in the upper corner.
A small area of a jungle with desert biome coloring data.
A desert with a jungle right beside it.
A relatively large island.
A swamp generated in the middle of an ocean, causing miscolored water and lily pads without any actual swampland.
A rare occurrence of a mushroom fields biome touching the mainland.
A section of a mushroom island that is a different biome.
A rare biome transition of a colder biome touching a warmer biome.(e.g. badlands and ice spikes.)
A badlands and jungle biome generated together. Note the exposed mineshaft in the lower right.
A river runs through a flower forest, a sunflower plains, a jungle, and a jungle edge biome.
A river that splits off into two rivers.
Two mountains variants. On the left is a normal mountains biome. On the right is wooded mountains.
Jungle terrain without any trees. A modified jungle can be seen to the left.
Comparison of giant tree taiga and giant spruce taiga biomes. Note how the giant spruce trees are much thicker.
A cave in a mesa biome.
A river biome in 1.13, with visible seagrass in it.
A dark forest that is cut off by water.
A swamp and dark forest connecting.