Terrain features
This article is about terrain features. For generated structures in the world, see Generated structures. For plants and plant-like structures, see Plants.This page lists generated terrain features that are created in a Minecraft world.
Overworld[edit]
Terrain[edit]
Biomes dictate the shape and height of the world. At this stage, the ground is made mostly of stone and stone variants, with water filling in most empty spaces below layer 63, with the exception for structures.
Mountain[edit]
"Mountain" redirects here. For the biome, see Mountains.
Mountains are hills with extreme slopes and cliffs. Mountains can sometimes have caves through them. On an amplified world, mountains are extremely common in all biomes except ocean and swamp biomes.
A picture of a mountains biome.
A large overhang occasionally found in mountain biomes.
A mountain overhang with a floating island.
Floating "island"[edit]
Floating "islands" are structures that float in midair that are not connected to the ground, the sea, hills or cliffs. Floating "islands" are normally just random pieces of floating dirt and stone found near cliffs, but on rare occasions, they can be large, floating structures that even have springs and trees on them. Floating Islands are most frequently found in mountains biomes (and its variants), along with the "hills", "mountains", and "modified" variants of most biomes, especially shattered savannas.
A small floating "island".
It is rare to see a naturally occurring, large, floating "island".
A cluster of large floating "islands".
A small but tall floating "island", with water flowing down from it.
Hollows[edit]
Hollows are the opposite of floating islands. They look like caves, but they have nothing to do with cave generation (although they may intersect with them). When there are many overhangs, they close together and create a hollow. They have exactly the same floor as the terrain above, depending on the biome that they are located in, unlike caves. Hollows have no specific floor. Grass blocks can generate inside too and survive without light. When they generate under the sea level, they are filled with water. They are extremely rare in the default world but can be found far more commonly in certain customized worlds.
A hollow in a customized world.
Another hollow connected to a cave.
Hill[edit]
Hills are randomly generated pieces of land on the map. Like stairs, hills are always traversable to their lowest point by virtue of the algorithm that generates them; there is almost always a place on each level from where the next level can be accessed, meaning that the player can climb a hill one level at a time until they reach the top. Cases, where this is not true, are rare.
A randomly-generated hill with some tall grass and trees.
Surface[edit]
Surface layer[edit]
The uppermost layers of the terrain are converted to a biome-dependent material: usually grass blocks and dirt, or sand in deserts and beaches. Podzol is found in giant tree taiga, mycelium in mushroom field biomes, and red sand is found in the badlands biome. Sandstone is generated under the sand.
Basin[edit]
Occasionally, instead of being converted to dirt or sand, the top layer is stripped away, leaving a 'basin' of bare stone. They bear some resemblance to a geological 'shield' (an area of tectonically stable rock that has been exposed to prolonged erosion due to its very old age; it is distinct from the geological term "basin"). They seem to be more common in forests or plains and are occasionally seen filled with water. Commonly, minerals can be found in these, generally coal ore and iron ore. If generated in a Badlands biome, gold ore can also be seen.
A naturally generated basin landform.
A desert basin.
Bryce Pillar[edit]
Bryce pillars are tall spike-like structures found in badlands, consisting of 6 colors of terracotta. While this structure is found exclusively in eroded badlands, all badlands biomes actually have this structure, but set to false except for eroded badlands. This structure juts out from sea level and can occasionally pass altitude layer 100.
Bryce pillars in an eroded mesa biome.
Bryce pillars in a mesa Bryce biome in an older version of Minecraft.
Liquid bodies[edit]
Lake[edit]
Large lake[edit]
Since water generates on the surface of the world below y=63, land it covers can turn into large lakes. Large lakes generate pockets of dirt, sand, gravel, and clay on the lake floor. When large lakes generate near the shore they can turn into small bays.
A large lake in a flower forest.
A regular lake next to a large lake.
Coral reef[edit]
Large structures[edit]
Cave[edit]
Caves are large voids found underground in the overworld and nether.
Ravine[edit]
Small structures[edit]
Bee Nest[edit]
Bee nests generate on a small amount of oak and birch trees in various biomes. They generate containing three bees.
Disk[edit]
Disks are small circular patches of dirt, sand, and gravel found underwater.
Mineral vein[edit]
Spring[edit]
Vegetation patch[edit]
Mossy cobblestone boulder[edit]
These structures are meant to represent boulders, made entirely of mossy cobblestone. The arrangement of these structures varies greatly. They can be found dotted around areas of the giant tree taiga biome. Mossy cobblestone boulders are quite rare, due to the giant tree taiga biome's rarity.
The first image of the giant tree taiga featuring mossy cobblestone boulders[1].
A mossy cobblestone boulder generated in a ravine.
Many mossy cobblestone boulders in the water.
Ice spike[edit]
Ice spikes are tall spires made of packed ice that can be found only in the Ice Spikes variant of snowy tundra biomes. There are two variants of ice spikes: one is short and thick, and the other is tall and thin.
An area largely covered by ice spikes. Both types of ice spikes are visible.
A small group containing only short spikes.
Iceberg[edit]
Icebergs are structures that generate in frozen oceans and their deep variants. They consist primarily of packed ice with a little bit of ice and blue ice, and can be topped with snow. They are the only place where blue ice can be found naturally besides snowy taiga villages. Icebergs generate in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from small "islands" to giant mountain-like ice structures. They can also generate with "cave-like" holes in them, which sometimes reach to the other side of the iceberg.
First screenshot of an iceberg.
A naturally generated iceberg.
An aerial view of a frozen ocean with icebergs.
A snowy iceberg generated with blue ice.
An iceberg viewed from below.
The top view of a small iceberg, with other icebergs in the background.
The Nether[edit]
Lava sea[edit]
Lava seas are found at and below level 30 in the Nether. They make a large portion of the Nether and are extremely common. They can stretch for hundreds of meters in any direction, and are usually bordered by netherrack (or more rarely soul sand and/or magma blocks).
A few ghasts swimming in a lava sea.
Glowstone clusters[edit]
Glowstone clusters are typically veins of glowstone that can be among the hardest natural materials to harvest that don't require digging. They form in coral-like structures on the underside of hanging Netherrack, so they are often found on the ceilings of the Nether, where they provide light along with the ever-present lava.
A naturally occurring vein of glowstone.
Basalt pillars[edit]
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This section contains content on features that may be included in the next update. These features have appeared in development versions, but the full update containing these features has not been released yet.
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Basalt pillars are tall terrain features made up of basalt that are found in the Nether. They have their starting points in the ceiling of an area, then have a pillar of between one and three blocks wide in both the X and Z axes going all the way down to the ground, where a flat clump of basalt can be found around a 3×3 area from the center of the pillar, as if a vertical lava flow had solidified.
A small basalt pillar.
A large and a small basalt pillar that generated on the edges of a Warped Forest and a Crimson Forest, respectively
Mineral veins[edit]
Springs[edit]
Hidden lava[edit]
The End[edit]
Central island[edit]
The center of the End is a large, asteroid-like island composed entirely of end stone, floating in the void. At a distance of 1000 blocks away, an endless expanse of more islands begins, away from the main island. These consist of large islands, about the size of the main island, and smaller ones, which are usually thin and small.
Central island with a lone enderman.
Outer island[edit]
The outer end islands are found 1000 blocks away from the central island. They vary in size from large islands to smaller "mini islands". Generated structures such as End cities and End ships spawn here, along with chorus trees. The player can be taken to the end islands through the End gateway.
Outer islands with chorus trees.
Obsidian pillar[edit]
Obsidian platform[edit]
Exit portal[edit]
End gateway[edit]
Technical details[edit]
Features are generated for a given chunk after the terrain has been formed. The chunk format includes a tag called TerrainPopulated that indicates whether features whose point of origin is in that chunk have been generated. If it is false or missing, they generate again. Feature generation is based on what is already in the chunk, so (for example) flagging a chunk that has already been populated for repopulation approximately doubles the amount of ore in it.
When features are generated, they can spill over into neighboring chunks that have been previously generated. Thus, a tree at the edge of the generated world (and probably visible only via external tools) may be overwritten by a lake before the player reaches it. It is also theoretically possible for two worlds generated with the same seed, from the same version of Minecraft, to differ slightly depending on the players' travel routes, because the chunk generation order may determine which of two conflicting features overwrite or suppress the other.
History[edit]
| Java Edition pre-Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave game tech test | Development on "Cave Game" started; caverns added. | ||||
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
| 0.0.12a | Added ocean around map. | ||||
| 0.0.14a | Added trees. At this point they were simply stumps covered with a thin leaf layer. | ||||
| 0.0.15a (Multiplayer Test 1) | Trees have a new shape. | ||||
| August 25, 2009 | Video uploaded showing changed cavern generation; longer and narrower caverns, and bigger caves the deeper you travel. | ||||
| Surface lava lakes shown to be possible but unlikely, despite existing as early as 0.0.12a_03. | |||||
| Java Edition Infdev | |||||
| 20100320 | Re-added trees. | ||||
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
| v1.0.1 | Caves can now be far bigger and more expansive. | ||||
| v1.2.0 | preview | Added the Nether and all Nether-related generated structures, except for nether fortresses and magma veins. | |||
| v1.2.6 | Added small lakes and rare lava pools, both on the surface and randomly in caves. | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Added huge mushrooms. | |||
| Added river biomes and vast oceans. | |||||
| Sand and gravel beaches removed due to the changes in the terrain generation algorithm. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4 | Added the End and End-related main island generated structures, including the End island, the obsidian platform, the obsidian towers and the exit portal. | |||
| 1.1 | 12w01a | Sand beaches have made a return, but the way they look and generate are not the same as before. | |||
| 1.2.1 | 12w07a | The generation of beaches has been greatly improved. | |||
| 1.6.1 | 13w17a | Water oases no longer generate in deserts. | |||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Gravel beaches have been returned to the terrain. | |||
| Mountains now generate as part of the "M" biome variants. | |||||
| The desert oases appear in the desert M biome. | |||||
| Moss stone boulders were added. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w31a | Added the outer islands of the End. | |||
| Added chorus trees. | |||||
| Added the end gateway portal. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w08a | Caves and ravines can now generate underwater. | |||
| Frozen Ocean have made a return, but without customized, they look and generate, but are not the same unused. | |||||
| 18w10d | Added coral reefs. | ||||
| 18w15a | Added icebergs. | ||||
| Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
| 1.16 | 20w06a | Added basalt pillars. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added beaches, oceans, frozen oceans, cliffs, mountains, basins, mineral vein and trees. | ||||
| 0.7.0 | Added gravel beaches. | ||||
| 0.9.0 | build 1 | Added caves, lava pools, rivers, huge mushrooms, moss stone boulders, ice patches, and ice spikes. | |||
| Frozen oceans no longer generate. | |||||
| Removed gravel beaches. | |||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Added the Nether, along with lava oceans, glowstone clusters, soul sand beaches, hidden lava, gravel beaches, and nether quartz veins. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Added the End and End-related generated structures, including the End islands, the obsidian platform, the obsidian towers, the end fountain, end cities, end gateways and chorus trees. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | Added ravines. | |||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Added icebergs. | |||
| Added coral reefs. | |||||
| Ravines can now generate underwater. | |||||
| Frozen oceans have made a return, but the way they look and generate are not the same as before. | |||||
| beta 1.2.20.1 | Caves can now generate underwater. | ||||
| Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | Added basalt pillars. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU5 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added ravines. |
| Sand and gravel beaches removed due to the changes in the terrain generation algorithm. | |||||
| TU9 | Added the End along with End-related structures such as the End island, the obsidian platform, the obsidian towers, and the end fountain. | ||||
| Sand beaches have made a return, but the way they look and generate is not the same as before. | |||||
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Water oases no longer generate in deserts. | ||
| TU69 | 1.76 | Patch 38 | Added coral reefs and underwater caves and ravines. | ||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 1.7.10 | Added chorus plants. | ||||
Videos[edit]
References[edit]
