Desert

Desert

Type	Dry/Warm
Rarity	Common
Temperature	2.0
Structures	Desert Temples Villages Desert Wells Fossils Pillager Outposts‌[upcoming: JE 1.14 & BE 1.10]
Blocks	Sand Sandstone Cactus Dead Bush
Data value	dec: 2 hex: 2 bin: 10
Biome ID	desert

The desert is a common warm biome. It is among the first biomes added to the game. It has three variations total.

Description

Desert biomes are usually vast, quite barren, and lifeless, with the only vegetation being cacti and dead bushes. The only passive mobs that may spawn here are rabbits, villagers, and cats, cow, sheep, and pig‌^{[upcoming: JE 1.14]} with the latter five only appearing in desert villages. The terrain is flat and the surface is made entirely of sand, with sandstone generating underneath the sand to prevent it from falling into caves below. Water ponds will not generate in deserts aside from the Desert Lakes variant, though lava ponds may still generate. Deserts make up for their barrenness by featuring a relatively large number of structures, such as villages, desert temples, fossils, and desert wells. Villages and desert temples may offer refuge and valuable loot, desert wells may serve as a rare source of water, and fossils can provide large numbers of bone blocks and bone meal, or simply a neat archaeological find, while pillager outpost is only wood source in desert.

Deserts are usually found next to other warm biomes, such as savannas and badlands. Deserts may also generate as a thin border around badlands biomes should they generate freestanding.

Despite the structures, survival in deserts can still be very difficult if one does not bring their own resources, as the desert has virtually no resources of its own. Wood logs only obtained from pillager outpost, though dead bushes provide a source of sticks. Finding water sources can prove to be quite challenging, as the only desert water sources are villages, desert wells, rivers, and the uncommon Desert Lakes variant. At night, most zombies that spawn in deserts and variants are replaced by husks, variants of zombies that inflict the hunger effect and do not burn in the sun, making fighting hostile mobs more difficult as well.

Variants

Deserts have two variants, for a total of three different desert biomes.

Desert Hills

Desert Hills

Type	Dry/Warm
Rarity	Common
Temperature	2.0
Structures	Fossils
Blocks	Sand Sandstone Cactus Dead Bush
Data value	dec: 17 hex: 11 bin: 10001
Biome ID	desert_hills

Desert Hills variants feature hillier terrain, just like all other hills biomes in the game. Desert hills can reach slightly higher elevations than other hills, and are comprised mostly of sand and sandstone like the rest of the desert. No structures other than fossils may generate within the hills, making this variant overall more difficult. Players should be careful digging up sand in the hills, as it may generate unsupported and cause all other unsupported sand blocks near it to fall if dug up. Desert hills will not generate if their base desert is a thin border around a badlands biome.

Desert Lakes

Desert Lakes

Type	Dry/Warm
Rarity	Uncommon
Temperature	2.0
Structures	Fossils
Blocks	Sand Sandstone Water Cactus Dead Bush
Data value	dec: 130 hex: 82 bin: 10000010
Biome ID	desert_lakes

The uncommon Desert Lakes variant features oases of water across its landscape, making this variant a potentially valuable source of water. The terrain is slightly rougher and hiller than the base desert biome, though not as much as the desert hills. No structures other than fossils may generate here, like the desert hills.

History

Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0			?		Added true biomes, including deserts.
Java Edition Beta
1.8			?		As part of a biome overhaul, deserts have now been removed.
Java Edition
September 2, 2011					Notch teases a screenshot of the new desert biome.
1.0.0			?		Deserts have now been re-added.
1.2.1			12w04a		Added desert wells to deserts.
1.3.1			12w21a		Added desert temples to deserts.
			?		Hills in deserts are now taller.
1.6.1			13w17a		Water lakes will now no longer generate in deserts.
1.7.2			13w36a		Desert M variant has now been added, along with many other biomes.
1.10			16w20a		Added Husks, which replace most zombies in deserts.
					Added fossils, which may generate in deserts.
1.13			18w16a		Renamed DesertHills to Desert Hills.
					Renamed Desert M to Mutated Desert.
			18w19a		Renamed Mutated Desert to Desert Lakes.
			pre5		Changed the ID mutated_desert to desert_lakes.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.14			18w47a		Added pillager outposts, which can spawn in desert biomes.
			18w50a		Updated look of desert villages.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0					Added biomes, including deserts.
0.1.3					Cacti will now generate in deserts.
0.9.0			build 1		Added Desert M variant, along with many other biomes.
					Added desert villages.
0.11.0			build 1		Added desert wells to deserts.
0.13.0			build 1		Added desert temples to deserts.
					Added rabbits, which can spawn in deserts.
0.15.0			build 1		Added husks, which will replace most zombies in deserts.
Pocket Edition
1.1.3			alpha 1.1.3.0		Added fossils, which may generate in deserts.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.10			beta 1.10.0.3		Added pillager outposts, which can spawn in desert biomes.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.00	Patch 1		Added desert biomes.
TU12					Desert wells have now been added.
TU14		1.04			Added desert temples.
					Hills in deserts have now been made taller.
TU19	CU7	1.12			Water lakes will now no longer generate in deserts.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Added Desert M variant along with many other biomes.
TU43	CU33	1.36	Patch 13		Added fossils, which may generate in deserts.

Gallery

• 

  A desert village, with a partially buried desert temple.

• 

  A desert well.

• 

  Sunrise in a desert.

See also

• Badlands
• Savanna