Since there are many biomes in the game, you might not be fully familiar with what happens in each of them. If you are keen to learn more about the topography, let’s move on to our complete guide to Minecraft biomes. There are three main parts of Biomes in Minecraft: Overworld, Nether, and the End. So, let’s look at each of the Biomes present in these three categories.
Overworld Biomes
The Overworld is the vast land where we first spawn after entering the game. Most of the things we do in the game are in the Overworld. Since there are many biomes in the Overworld itself, let’s look at the sub-categories of the biomes for an easier understanding.
Temperate Biomes
Temperate biomes are usually the green fields where you find a lot of animals, flowers, trees, etc., with a moderate temperature. The biome also contains forests, swamps, mooshroom islands, mountains, and more.
Plains
The grassy lands with small hills and occasional oak trees are the Plains. Things are very easy to find in this biome, as you can see far into the distance. Furthermore, villages are also very common in the plains, so you might not have to roam a lot to find one. Plains is also the biome where horses, donkeys, and farm mobs spawn commonly. Additionally, you might also run into pillager outposts in this biome.
Sunflower Plains
In short, the Sunflower Plains are another variation of the Plains. The only difference is that you will find sunflowers in abundance in this biome, which is how it gets its name.
Meadow
Meadow is also another variant of the Plains biome. However, you can only find meadows in plateaus near the mountains. The ideal way to distinguish the meadow is through the tall grass patches all around, a few flowers, and lone oak or birch trees with a bee’s nest on them. The only other mobs that spawn in this biome are sheep, rabbits, and donkeys.
Beach
Like the real world, Beach consists of sand at the edge of land and meets the sea. You will find sand and gravel as the most common blocks on the Beach. The only mobs that spawn on the Beach are turtles and hostile mobs at night.
Mushroom Fields
The Mushroom Fields, commonly known as the Mooshroom Islands, is a rare biome that you can find above the deep oceans. It is very easy to differentiate due to the mycelium growth on the dirt blocks instead of regular grass. Additionally, you will find giant mushrooms growing in these biomes. Mooshrooms are the only mobs that spawn naturally in the Mushroom Fields. Even the hostile mobs do not spawn in this biome at night.
Forest
Forests are a common biome with a lot of oak and birch trees. Players usually consider this biome the best to spawn in, as you can find wood in abundance. You can also find flowers, mushrooms, and tall grass in the Forest. Speaking of mobs, you will be able to come across wolves, bees, and a few farm mobs in this biome. You will have to be wary of hostile mobs as they might find a shade to avoid the sun during the day and attack you.
Flower Forest
This variant of the Forest biome does not have as many trees as the previous one but contains almost all kinds of flowers you can find in the game. Additionally, unlike the Forest biome, you cannot find wolves here but will see rabbits now and then.
Birch Forest
Birch Forests are forests, but only with Birch trees. It is not generated as commonly as the Forest biome and does not spawn wolves either. Another variant of the Birch Forest biome you can find in the game is the Old Growth Birch Forest. These biomes are similar to the Birch Forest but taller trees. Birch usually grows seven blocks tall but will be 11 blocks tall in the Old Growth Birch Forest.
Dark Forest
The Dark Forest consists of dark oak trees with leaves making a natural roof over the land. The roof makes it dark enough for the hostile mobs to spawn during the day. You may also come across giant mushrooms in this biome. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough, you might come across the Woodland Mansion as it generates only in the Dark Forest Biome.
Swamp
Swamp biomes are easily identifiable due to the flat areas with trees covered in vines and pools of green water everywhere. You can also find a lot of lily pads in the water. Likewise, you can come across a Witch’s hut and a black cat as they only spawn in the Swamp biome. Other than that, mushrooms and sugarcanes are also something you find abundantly here. When it comes to mobs, slimes exclusively spawn in the swamp (except for slime chunks) and, more commonly, on a full moon’s night. Other than that, other hostile mobs can also spawn in this biome.
Jungle
Jungle biomes have huge Jungle trees that grow very densely. You can also find 2×2 Jungle trees that grow up to 31 blocks tall. The Jungle tree forests are so dense that most of the floor is covered by the Jungle leaves. You can also find a lot of vines covering the area. The unique feature of this biome is that you can find Ocelots, Pandas, Cocoa, Melons, and parrots only here. Additionally, the Jungle temples (Jungle Pyramids) are also generated inside the Jungle biome. The Jungle Biome has two types: Sparse Jungle and the Bamboo Jungle. Sparse Jungle has more open space, occasional oak tree growth, and flowers. As the name suggests, the bamboo jungle has a lot of bamboo growing in clusters. Furthermore, the Bamboo Jungle usually generates close to a river or a mass of water. Pandas spawn exclusively in this type of Jungle biomes.
Stony Peaks
Stony peaks are a warmer version of peak biomes where you can find different stones abundantly. Most of the blocks you can find here are Emerald ores, gravel, stone, andesite, calcite, granite, and core.
Warm Biomes
Warm biomes are generally warmer, and it does not rain or snow here. Greenery is also scarce in such biomes.
Desert
Desert biomes in Minecraft are very similar to real-life deserts. These biomes are filled with sand and sandstones. The only life you can find in the desert biomes is gold rabbits and cacti. Some other things you can see in the biomes are dead bushes, sugar canes near rivers, or pools of water. You can also find desert pyramids, Pillager outposts, desert villages, and desert wells in the desert biome. Additionally, the zombies spawn as husks here. Other than the hostile mobs, you won’t find any other mobs.
Savanna
The dull brown color of the grass helps differentiate Savanna from other biomes. You can also find Acacia trees, horses, cows, llamas, and sheep in the Savannas. The villages you find in these biomes are made out of Acacia wood with occasional colored terracotta. You can also find Savanna Plateaus generating similar to the regular Savannas. However, the only difference you can see is that these generate in higher altitudes, and villages do not generate here.
Windswept Savanna
Windswept Savanna generates Acacia and Oak trees with tall grass and Llamas all around. Some things that make this biome different are the gigantic mountains that are extremely steep. Additionally, you will not be able to find any villages or pillager outposts in the Windswept Savannas.
Badlands
Badlands is similar to desert biomes, but you can only find terracotta, red sand, and red sandstone in this biome. You will be able to find cacti and dead bushes. Another major occurrence in the badlands is finding the mineshafts at a higher altitude. A variant of badlands you can find is the Wooded Badlands. These are similar to the normal badlands, except you can find coarse dirt and oak tree forests with a dull-green color.
Eroded Badlands
Eroded Badlands is a rare variant of Badlands where you can find tall spire structures similar to Utah’s Bryce Canyon. These structures are usually made out of colorful terracotta in the game. Everything else is the same as the regular badlands.
Snowy Biomes
These biomes are covered in snow all the time. Additionally, it also snows instead of rain in these biomes.
Snowy Plains
Snowy Plains is another biome with flatlands spread across layers of snow. You will only be able to find rabbits and polar bears as the passive mob spawn in this region. This biome is full of ice and snow, but you will occasionally be able to find spruce trees growing on it. Likewise, you might also find sugar cane growing on the banks of frozen rivers. Snowy plains are the home for strays, a skeleton-like hostile creature of Minecraft.
Ice Spikes
As the name suggests, Ice Spikes have large spikes of packed ice. It is a rare biome and has a lot of glaciers. Everything else is similar to the snowy plains, except you will not find any trees or sugar canes growing on this biome.
Snowy Taiga
This biome consists of large spruce trees, tall grass, and a lot of snow. It is one of the limited cold regions where you can find foxes, wolves, and pillager outposts.
Snowy Beach
There is not much difference between snowy plains and snowy beaches. Snowy beaches are beaches that are covered in snow. Everything else is similar to the snowy plains.
Grove
The Grove biomes and snowy taiga biomes share a lot of similarities. The biome generation and the creature spawn are the same in both biomes. However, the Grove is more mountainous, and the ground is covered in snow and powdered snow instead of occasional grass in the snowy taiga biomes.
Snowy Slopes
Huge mountains covered in snow and powdered snowfall in this biome. Snowy slopes are the only biomes where igloos can generate naturally. In addition, goats can also spawn in these biomes if you are playing the newer version of Minecraft. You won’t be able to find anything other than rabbits, goats, and hostile mobs at night in the snowy slopes.
Jagged Peaks
Jagged Peaks are the taller and more rough version of the snowy slopes. The mountains in these biomes are so tall that they can even end at y=256. You will only be able to find goats and rabbits as the passive mobs here as well.
Frozen peaks
Frozen peaks are still mountainous regions in the game but are not as rough as the jagged peaks. Furthermore, you will also find the peaks of the mountains covered in snow and packed ice. Like the other snowy mountains, only goats can spawn in this biome.
Aquatic Biomes
Aquatic biomes are the bodies of water you can find in the game. They have different flora and fauna compared to the other biomes in the Overworld. A fun fact about the aquatic biomes is that the water covers 60% of the surface of the Overworld.
Rivers
The River biomes are very similar to real-world rivers. They have their narrow pathway that usually ends up in the Ocean. But sometimes, they loop around themselves or even start and end abruptly without joining into another body of water. However, the rivers in the game do not have a current as compared to the real-world rivers. You can find sand, clay, sugar cane, seagrass, salmon, squid, and gravel in the river biomes when you speak of the resources. The zombies turn as drowned in all of the aquatic biomes. Furthermore, if a river passes through a snowy biome, it turns into a different variant, the frozen river. These rivers will have a layer of ice covering the water. The only mobs you can find in these biomes are salmon and the drowned.
Ocean
The ocean biome needs no introduction. The massive body of water with floors made up of gravel has everything related to water in it. However, there are different biomes in the Ocean as well. The mobs you can find in the ocean biomes are squid, salmon, cod, and drowned. Likewise, you can also find shipwrecks and underwater ruins in the ocean biomes. A deeper variant of the Ocean is called the deep Ocean. These can be as twice as deep as the regular Ocean. There is also another variant of the Ocean called the Cold Ocean, which works similarly to the regular ocean biomes. The deep parts of the cold oceans are called the Deep Cold oceans.
Frozen Ocean
Oceans that are mostly frozen and found near the snow biomes are the frozen Ocean. The color of the water is dark indigo when you look at its surface. Additionally, you can discover icebergs, packed ice, blue ice, polar bears, and strays in these biomes. Deep Frozen ocean is a variant of the frozen Ocean where you can find large icebergs floating above with the Ocean deeper than usual. Dolphins cannot spawn in both of these biomes.
Warm Ocean
It is the part of the ocean biome where water turns light teal when you look at it from the surface. Additionally, this unique biome is a habitat for the coral reefs in the game. Apart from the coral, you will find dolphins, pufferfish, squids, tropical fish, sea pickles, and more. Another particularly unique feature of this biome is that kelp does not spawn in these parts of the Ocean, and the floor is completely covered in sand full of seagrass. There is a variant of the warm Ocean called the Lukewarm Ocean. The characteristics of this biome are similar to the warm Ocean. However, you cannot find coral in this biome, and kelp spawns here. Salmon and cod can also spawn in the lukewarm Ocean, unlike the warm ocean biome. A deeper version of the warm Ocean is called the Deep Lukewarm Ocean, much deeper than the previous biomes. You can also find ocean monuments that generate in these parts of the Ocean.
Cave Biomes
Since the Caves and Cliffs update in Minecraft, the game has huge caves with unique features that you can explore. They are so huge that they even have their biomes. The cave biomes are mainly separated by their 3D placement of the blocks, such as the dripstones, dripleaves, or glow berries.
Dripstone caves
The caves where you can find clusters of stalagmites hanging from the ceiling and pointed upwards from the ground are the dripstone caves. You can find stones, copper ores, and of course, the dripstone blocks in this biome. If there is a water source nearby, the chances are you might face a couple of drowned in there.
Lush Caves
The dimly lit caves full of vegetation are the lush caves. These rich caves are filled with moss carpets, azalea bushes, vines, spore blossoms, and glow berries. You can also find clay and dripleaves in the lush caves. Another unique thing about the lush caves is that you can find axolotls exclusively in these biomes, along with the glow squids. The azalea tree that grows above the ground naturally signifies the lush caves hidden underground.
Cold Biomes
Cold biomes are where you can find snow if you go higher than y=120 or, in some cases, y=160. The greenery in these biomes has a turquoise hue to them.
Windswept Hills
Windswept hills have a diverse terrain generation in the regions but also have a lot of steep hills and mountains, with snow on top of some. While you may find oak and spruce trees on an occasional patch of dirt, you will mainly come across gravel floors with nothing growing on them. Another variant of these biomes is called the Windswept Gravelly hills, similar to the previous one. The only difference is that you will find gravel in abundance in the Windswept Gravelly hills. The trees are also very few as you can’t find a lot of dirt patches in this biome.
Windswept Forest
These biomes generate when the Forest and windswept hills meet together. You will find grass entirely on the ground, whereas small forests are visible with oak and spruce trees.
Taiga
Taiga biomes are forests made out of spruce trees. You can also find large bushes all over the ground. When it comes to mobs, you can find packs of wolves, foxes, and rabbits. Villages also generate in this biome so that you might come across a village or two during your exploration. A variant of the taiga biome, known as Old Growth Pine Taiga, is also a forest biome. However, the trees mostly grow in 2×2 space and are taller than normal trees. Additionally, you can find patches of podzol and coarse dirt covering the ground. Another biome called Old Growth Spruce Taiga is almost exactly similar to the previous biome. The only difference is that the leaves in this biome’s trees cover nearly the whole trunk, whereas the Old Growth Pine Taiga trees have leaves mostly at the top only.
Stony Shore
Stone shores are usually where the ocean biome and the mountains meet. There is little to no sand here, and the cliffs may abruptly end where the Ocean starts. Furthermore, you cannot find any passive mobs spawning here.
The Nether
After the Nether update, Minecraft also has different biomes in the Nether to explore and find unique resources.
Nether Wastes
Nether Wastes, the largest biome of the Nether, is filled with Netherrack, gold ore, lava, quartz, and gravel. It is home to zombified piglins, ghasts, and more. You can also find glowstone and magma cubes in this biome. While exploring, you may come across a Bastion or a Nether Fortress as they generate randomly.
Soul Sand Valley
As the name suggests, the Soul sand Valley is covered with soul sand which may burn with soul fire in some places. A blue fog encompasses the Soul sand valley. Skeletons and Ghasts can spawn here, so you may have to keep an eye open. Additionally, you can also ding Nether fossils in these biomes.
Crimson Forest
The red hue-themed Forest you can find in the Nether is the Crimson forests. It is home to hoglins, and you can also find a lot of piglins in these biomes. Additionally, you can find unique materials like warped fungus, weeping vines, Shroomlights, crimson fungus, and more in the Crimson Forests.
Warped Forests
Warped forests are the dense forests in the Nether and have a cyan hue to everything. You can find Endermen and striders in these biomes. However, the Striders are only seen if there is nearby lava, which is not uncommon in the Netherlands. Additionally, you can find resources like Warped roots, Nether sprouts, and warped Nylium.
Basalt Deltas
Basalt Deltas have a gray hue and particles resembling ashes floating. It can also be considered ruins of a volcanic eruption. The materials you can find here are the towers or basalt, Blackstone, and occasional Netherrack patches. You can also find pools of lava and magma cubes jumping around.
The End
The End is another dimension in Minecraft where you travel to fight the Ender Dragon. It also has a few different biomes that you may or may not know. Additionally, all the biomes in The End, seem to be floating in a void. So if you fall, you will die and lose everything.
The End
The End is a biome in itself where you meet the Ender Dragon. All you can find here are the End stones, Obsidian, end crystals on top of the obsidian towers, bedrock, and the End gateway after defeating the Ender Dragon. The only mobs you encounter in this biome are the Endermen and the Ender Dragon. However, the Ender Dragon will not respawn automatically after you kill it once. You will need to do so yourself using End crystals.
Small End Islands
Small End Islands are the tiny Islands you can see outside the main Island in the End. These islands are usually spread in all directions. Unlike The End, you will only find End Stone and occasional Endermen.
End Midlands
The lands you travel after traveling through the End Gateway are the End Midlands. The terrain usually represents the structure of the overworld plains but is made out of the end stones. You will find End Cities here while the mobs you come across are the Endermen and Shulkers.
End Highlands
The End Highlands is similar to the End Midlands, except you can find tiny hills on the terrain. Furthermore, this is the only biome at the End where you can find Chorus trees and End cities.
End Barrens
The outermost part of the islands of the End is the End Barrens. You cannot find anything in these steep hills, and the chances of you falling to the void are very high while traversing.
