Biomes

A biome is a region in a world with distinct geographical features, flora, temperatures, humidities, and sky, water, fog, grass and foliage colors. Biomes separate every generated world into different environments, such as forests, deserts and taigas.

The biome of a location is determined during world generation rather than current environment. Even if the player completely changes all the blocks in a large area to imitate the terrain of other biomes, the biomes in this area are not be affected. The command `/fillbiome` can change the biome in an area.

### Plants

Biome grass and foliage colors are selected from two 256×256 colormap images: grass.png and foliage.png under `assets/minecraft/textures/colormap`‌. The grass.png colormap sets the colors for grass block, ferns in flower pots, grass, tall grass, sugar canes, stems of pink petals. Meanwhile, the foliage.png colormap sets the colors for vines and tree leaves of oak, jungle, acacia, dark oak, and mangrove. Only the colors in the lower-left halfs of both images are used, even though the upper-right side of foliage.png is colored.

The adjusted temperature and adjusted downfall values (recognized as AdjTemp and AdjDownfall in the following, respectively) are used when determining the biome color to select from the colormap. They are computed as follows:

`AdjTemp = clamp( Temperature, 0.0, 1.0 )`

`AdjDownfall = clamp( Downfall, 0.0, 1.0 ) * AdjTemp`.

"clamp" limits the range of the temperature and downfall to 0.0—1.0. The clamped downfall value is then multiplied by the adjusted temperature value, bringing its value to be inside the lower left triangle. Treating the bottom-right corner of the colormap as `AdjTemp = 0.0` and `AdjDownfall = 0.0`, the adjusted temperature increases to 1.0 along the X-axis, and the adjusted downfall increases to 1.0 along the Y-axis.

#### Special plant tints

In the following cases, the plants are not tinted exactly according to the colormap. Several of them are specified in biome Jsons in vanilla data pack.

#### Swamps

In Swamp and Mangrove Swamp, the color for grass blocks, ferns in flower pots, grass, sugar canes, and the stems of pink petals is based on a noise on XZ plane. When the value of this noise is less than -0.1, it uses the color #4c763c. Otherwise using #6a7039. The color for vines and leaves of oaks, jungles, acacias, dark oaks and mangroves is #6a7039 in Swamp and #8db127 in Mangrove Swamp, which are not affected by the colormap.

#### Dark Forest

In Dark Forest, the color for grass blocks, ferns in flower pots, grass, sugar canes, and the stems of pink petals is the result of the bitwise AND between the color in the colormap and #fefefe, and then averaging with #28340a. In vanilla, that is #507a32.

#### Badlands

In Badland, Wooded Badland, and Erosion Badland, the color for grass blocks, ferns in flower pots, grass, sugar canes, and the stems of pink petals is #90814d. The color for vines and leaves of oaks, jungles, acacias, dark oaks and mangroves is #9e814d. Both are not affected by the colormap.

#### Cherry Grove

The color for plants in the Cherry Grove is always #b6db61, which is not affected by the colormap.

#### Other leaves

The color for spruce leaves is #619961 and the color for birch leaves is #80a755. Both are not affected by the biome.

### Environment

The color of the sky in Overworld changes according to the basic temperature value of the biome. The basic temperature is first modified as `T = clamp( Temperature / 3 , -1.0, 1.0 )`. Then the triple  is the sky color.

In addition, the colors of water, underwater fog and fog in a biome are defined in the vanilla data pack.

See the List of biome climates for these colors.

### Transition

When plants or water are at the borders between or among biomes, the color is affected by the biome of the surrounding blocks at the same Y-level. The range of the block involved in the calculation is determined by the biome blend radius in options. Takes the plant color or water color of the biomes within a square centered on this block and with the side length being the biome blend radius, and calculates their average value to get the final color for this block.

The sky color and the fog color use the color processed by Gaussian blur from colors of the biomes at each block in the range of 5×5×5 centered on the block the camera is in.

## Climate

A biome has three climate attributes: temperature, downfall, and precipitation.

### Temperature

Each biome has a base temperature value (see the List of biome climates), but the actual temperature value at each location in the biome is also affected by the height of the location. Locations with Y<=80 use the base temperature as actual temperature. At Y=81, the actual temperature value randomly fluctuates up and down by -0.00875 — +0.01125 from the basic temperature based on a noise on the XZ plane, and at Y>=81 the actual temperature decreases by 0.00125 (1⁄800) every block up.

In Frozen Ocean and Deep Frozen Ocean, it is also affected by another noise on XZ plane. In some regions according to the noise, the basic temperature value is always regarded as 0.2. The actual temperature values for these regions are also calculated on this basis. This is detectable in Frozen Ocean, as its basic temperature is low enough to freeze or snow, so that only these regions do not freeze or snow at sea level.

In arid biomes, the sky takes on a richer, turquoise color.

In snowy biomes, the sky is a pale, periwinkle color.

### Downfall

The downfall value is a number between 0.0 and 1.0 (see the List of biome climates). When the downfall value is greater than 0.85, the biome is marked as humid, which is related only to the random extinction of fire. This value doesn't affect the weather.

### Precipitation

The precipitation value can be "true" or "false". If the precipitation of the biome is false, no rain or snow occur. Otherwise, a location is rainable when its temperature value is greater than 0.15, and snowable otherwise.

So, if the basic temperature is not greater than 0.15, it's snowable at any Y level. And if greater than 0.15, it can snow above a certain Y level, which are listed below:

Windswept Gravelly Hills
Windswept Forest
Stony Shore
Some regions of Frozen Ocean and Deep Frozen Ocean
 Old Growth Spruce Taiga
Taiga
 Old Growth Pine Taiga
Meadow‌
Cherry Grove‌
 Others

### Snow accumulation

The maximum snow accumulation layer can be set by `snowAccumulationHeight` game rules. The value is a array of 2 numbers, representing the minimum and maximum snow heights, with 0.0 being no snow and 1.0 being the full height of one block.

## Generation

### Overworld

Overworld biome generation is based on 6 parameters: **Temperature**, **Humidity** (aka. Vegetation), **Continentalness** (aka. Continents), **Erosion**, **Weirdness** (aka. Ridges) and **Depth**, which are calculated with 6 density functions. They respectively correspond to T, V, C, E, W and D in the "NoiseRouter" line of debug screen‌. Except "depth", the other 5 parameters are based on only horizontal coordinates.

Thinking of them as a six-dimensional space, in the space a lot of intervals are defined for biomes, as described in the tables below. If the six parameters at a location fall into an interval, the corresponding biome is generated. If the six parameters at a location do not fall into a defined biome interval in these tables, it uses the closest biome interval to the 6D parameter point, in order to form a transition between biomes.

#### Temperature

The temperature parameter is a noise parameter used only for biome generation. The range of temperature is from -2.222 to ±2.222 (±20⁄9). But biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

Temperature values from -1 to +1 are divided into 5 levels. The corresponding ranges from level 0 to level 4 are: -1~-0.45, -0.45~-0.15, -0.15~0.2, 0.2~0.55, 0.55~1. The level at a horizontal location can be found in the T in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Temperature values less than -1 are displayed as `0`; higher than +1 are displayed as `?`.

Note that the temperature parameter is not the temperature of a biome, but they roughly correspond each other, e.g. if a location's temperature parameter is level 0, the base temperature of the biome there is usually low enough or the terrain is high enough, that the surface is covered in snow and ice.

The temperature of the biome contributes to the player's overall temperature, and can lead them to either overheating or freezing.

In snowy biomes, you will begin to take freezing damage if you stay in water for more than 5 seconds.

#### Humidity

The humidity parameter is a noise parameter used only for biome generation. The range of humidity is from -1.693 to ±1.693 (±320⁄189). But biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

Humidity values from -1 to +1 are also divided into 5 levels. The corresponding ranges from level 0 to level 4 are: -1~-0.35, -0.35~-0.1, -0.1~0.1, 0.1~0.3, 0.3~1. The level at a horizontal location can be found in H in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Values less than -1 are displayed as `0`; higher than +1 are displayed as `?`.

#### Continentalness

The continentalness parameter is used to decide between ocean/beach/land biomes. It affects the terrain height during terrain generation. The larger the continentalness, the higher the average terrain height. And the continentality is extremely low, the terrain height also becomes higher, in order to generate mushroom fields in the center of the ocean.

The range of continentalness is from -3.658 to ±3.658 (±267⁄73). Biome intervals are defined only from -1.2 to +1.0.

If the continentalness of a location is between -1.2~-1.05, the **mushroom fields** biome is generated; when it is between -1.05~-0.455, **deep ocean** biomes are generated; when at -0.455~-0.19, **ocean** biomes are generated; when -0.19~1.0, **inland biomes** are generated. For **inland biomes**, continentalness values are further subdivided into 4 types: **coast** (-0.19~-0.11), **near-inland** (-0.11~0.03), **mid-inland** (0.03~0.3) and **far-inland** (0.3~1.0). The level at a horizontal location can be found in C in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Values less than -1.2 are displayed as `Mushroom fields`; higher than +1.0 are displayed as `Far inland`.

#### Erosion

During terrain generation, the lower the erosion parameter a location has, the higher the terrain height there is.

The range of erosion is from -2.419 to ±2.419 (75⁄31). Biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

Erosion values from -1 to +1 are divided into 7 levels. The corresponding intervals from level 0 to level 6 are: -1~-0.78, -0.78~-0.375, -0.375~-0.2225, -0.2225~0.05, 0.05~0.45, 0.45~0.55, 0.55~1. The level at a horizontal location can be found at E in the "Biome builder" line of the debug screen. Values less than -1 are displayed as `0`; higher than +1 are displayed as `?`.

#### Weirdness

The weirdness parameter affects whether to generate a weirder biome or not. If the weirdness value is greater than 0, the generated biome becomes weirder. For examples, using variant of the Jungle biome — Bamboo Jungle; not using beach biomes when on the coast.

The range of weirdness is from -2.857 to ±2.857 (±20⁄7). But biome intervals are defined only from -1.0 to +1.0.

A **PV** ("peaks and valleys", aka. "ridges folded") value is calculated through the formula , which is also shown at PV in the NoiseRouter line of the debug screen.

When the weirdness value is between -1.0 and.1.0, the PV values are divided into 5 levels:

* If the PV is -1.0~-0.85, the PV level is "**Valleys**";
* If -0.85~-0.6, "**Low Slice**";
* If -0.6~0.2, "**Mid Slice**";
* If 0.2~0.7, "**High Slice**";
* If 0.7~1, "**Peaks**".

Not that the PV value is defined no matter what the weirdness is, but these 5 PV levels are defined only when weirdness is between -1.0 and 1.0. The level at a horizontal location can be found in PV in the "Biome builder" line on the debug screen. Though the five PV levels are defined only when weirdness is between -1.0 and 1.0, the PV level is always displayed even when weirdness is out of ±1.0, and PV values less than -1.0 are displayed as `Valleys`. So, when weirdness is not between -1.0~1.0, the PV level in the "Biome builder" line often doesn't match the biome here.

Both weirdness and PV affect the overall height of the terrain during terrain generation, especially the PV value has a more significant impact on the height of the terrain. Since the weirdness value controls both whether the biome is a weird variant and whether the valley is generated, a biome and its variants often not appear on the same bank of a river.

#### Depth

Unlike other five parameters, depth is not based on noises. Depth corresponds approximately to the terrain height. It is roughly 0 when at surface, and increases by 1⁄128 (0.0078125) for every 1 block down. The depth parameter affects whether a surface biome or a cave biome is placed.

### The Nether

The Nether uses three parameters to generate biomes: temperature, humidity, and offset. Unlike the Overworld, the Nether biome specifies biomes with points, while the Overworld uses 6D intervals.

The offset parameter isn't from density function. It is always 0 at any location in a world. This means that the parameter point of a location is always in the temperature-humidity-plane. The closer the offset (of a biome point) is to 0, the closer the point is to the T-H-plane, and the greater the advantage it has during biome generation.

 Crimson Forest
 Nether Wastes
 Soul Sand Valley
 Warped Forest

### The End

The End uses only one density function value: erosion. If the horizontal distance from the chunk origin of a chunk to the world origin is less than 1024, the locations in the chunk is The End. Otherwise, the biome is determined by erosion.

 End Highlands
 End Midlands
 Small End Islands

## List of biomes

### Biome types

There are 64 different biome types: 53‌ for Overworld, 5 for the Nether, and 5 for the End, plus one used only for a superflat preset.

On this page, for convenience of description and reading, the biomes in Overworld are divided into 8 categories, which are not official. While in each category, biomes may be further divided into some sub-categories. Biomes in a sub-categories are placed in one page, such as Plains and Sunflower Plains, and are described as variants on this wiki.

### Overworld

#### Offland biomes

These biomes are used for the generation of oceans and mushroom fields. They 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. Squid and fish spawn frequently in the water.

These biomes are further divided into three categories: Oceans, Deep Oceans, and Mushroom Fields.

#### Highland biomes

Highland biomes are biomes with high Y-level, rugged terrain, and snow-covered peaks appear above the snow line.

These biomes are further divided into two categories: Mountains and Windswept Hills.

 **Windswept Forest** | This biome is found when the windswept hills are located next to forested biomes. It doesn't generate stone patches so the floor is entirely covered by grass, and there are more spruce and oak trees in this biome, forming small forests with a lower tree density than the taiga biome.

#### Woodland biomes

Woodland biomes are rich in plants, with trees, flowers and grasses constituting the flora on the surface. It is one of the ideal birthplaces where plenty of wood resources are available, but the dense vegetation makes it dangerous to move around the forest at night because the trees block the view. Cows and sheep do not spawn in woodland biomes.

These biomes are further divided into 7 categories: Forests, Taiga, Old Growth Taigas, Snowy Taiga, Birch Forests, Dark Forest, and Jungles.

#### Wetland biomes

Wetland biomes contains rivers, swamps and beaches. They have a large amount of water resources. Rivers separate other biomes; beaches generate as a transition between the ocean and land.

#### Flatland biomes

These biomes have a flat terrain and a wide view. Trees spawn less here, while lakes are more common here.

These biomes are further divided into two categories: Plains and Snowy Plains.

 **Ice Spikes** | A rare variation of the Snowy Plains biome that features large spikes and glaciers of packed ice. Usually, the spikes are 10 to 20 blocks tall, but some long, thin spikes can reach over 50 blocks in height. The floor in this biome is entirely covered in snow blocks instead of grass, and ice paths made of packed ice can generate on it. Like the regular snowy plains, no animal mobs other than rabbits and polar bears are able to spawn and strays appear at night.

#### Arid-land biomes

In these biomes, it neither rains nor snows at all, but the sky still turns overcast during inclement weather. The surface is covered with sparse vegetation.

These biomes are further divided into three categories: Deserts, Savannas, and Badlands.

 **Eroded Badlands** | This rare variant 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.

#### Cave biomes

These biomes generates inside caves in overworld. They're mostly found underground but can sometimes leak out of cave entrances.

 Swamp Cave
 Sandstone Cave

### The Nether

The Nether is considered a different dimension. It is a hellish place; all biomes in this dimension are dry and it is not possible to place water in these biomes, though ice can still be placed. Additionally, packed ice and blue ice never melt in the nether, as with the other non-freezing biomes.

 **Crimson Forest** | The Crimson Forest is a “red” crimson-themed biome, with warped and crimson fungus as well as huge crimson fungus scattered around the environment.
There are huge fungus structures that contain weeping vines hanging off them and may also have a few blocks of shroomlight. The floor of the biome is covered in crimson nylium, with crimson roots growing. Occasional patches of netherrack and red nether wart blocks are found scattered throughout the biome. In the ceiling, apart from glowstone clusters, there are sparse nether wart block stalactites with vines growing.
 **Warped Forest** | The huge fungus structures may have a few blocks of shroomlight scattered around them. The floor of the biome is covered in warped nylium, with warped roots and nether sprouts growing. Occasional patches of raw netherrack and warped wart blocks can be found scattered throughout the biome.
 **Basalt Deltas** | A gray biome, the basalt deltas are said to be the remnant of ancient volcanic eruptions. The ground consists of basalt and blackstone blocks, with small patches of netherrack and pools of lava. The shape of the terrain is chaotic and uneven, making it somewhat difficult to traverse and build on. Unlike the other biomes in the Nether, bastion remnants do not generate in basalt deltas. When this biome borders a lava ocean, clusters of basalt form near the coast.
Magma cubes have a high spawn rate in this biome, making the basalt deltas the best place to farm magma cream. This biome also contains a much higher abundance of blackstone compared to other Nether biomes.

### The End

The End is considered a different dimension.

 **End Barrens** | 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 generate in this biome.

## See Also

* Structures
* Weather