Minecraft biomes 66 · Java Edition 26.3

How the game decides where biomes go

Since version 1.18, the Overworld chooses its biomes from six noise values that change smoothly across the world. Two describe the climate: temperature and humidity, called vegetation in the game files. Three shape the land. Continentalness decides whether a spot is ocean, coast or deep inland. Erosion decides whether the terrain stays flat or rises into mountains. Weirdness draws peaks and valleys, and it also decides when the rarer variant of a biome replaces the common one. The sixth value, depth, tells how far below the surface a point lies.

Each biome covers a range of these values, and the game picks the one that fits best at every spot. That is why climates usually change gradually, why rivers follow valleys and why biomes are three-dimensional: the biome under your feet can differ from the one far below.

Each biome also has its own temperature value, shown on its page. That one does not place the biome: it decides whether it rains or snows and helps color the grass and leaves.

Underground, Nether and End

Depth lets cave biomes stack under the surface. Below almost any landscape you can enter Lush Caves, Dripstone Caves, Sulfur Caves or, deepest of all, the Deep Dark, the only biome where an Ancient City can generate.

The Nether uses the same noise system with its own settings and five biomes, from the Nether Wastes to the Basalt Deltas. The End works differently: a dedicated biome source makes the central island The End, then splits the outer islands into highlands, midlands, barrens and small islands. Only the End Highlands and the midlands can hold an End City.

How to find a biome

With cheats on, type /locate biome minecraft: followed by the biome's ID: the game returns the coordinates of the nearest one, and clicking them fills in a teleport command. In Java Edition, the debug screen (F3) shows the biome you are standing in. Every biome page on this site also has a seed map, so you can plan the trip before you leave.

Some biomes take more searching. Mushroom Fields are islands, usually far out in the ocean. Ice Spikes and Sunflower Plains are rare variants that only replace snowy plains and plains under the right weirdness.

Biomes worth knowing

• Plains: flat, open and one of the two biomes with plains villages, an easy place to start.
• Badlands: layered terracotta and extra gold ore, even near the surface.
• Jungle: giant trees, cocoa beans, parrots and the Jungle Pyramid.
• Cherry Grove: pink cherry trees on mountain slopes, a favorite for builds.
• Pale Garden: a gray, silent forest where the Creaking comes out at night.
• Warm Ocean: shallow water full of coral, the only biome where bone meal grows coral underwater.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026