An Ultimate Guide to Minecraft Biomes for Beginners

Minecraft is a game where exploration is the key. So, that’s why biomes are so important. They are distinctive geographical regions with their own unique attributes like terrain features, blocks, mobs, ambient effects, and others. However, these areas can get overwhelming, especially for beginners, so to help you, we have compiled this extensive guide to Minecraft biomes. It will help you understand and thrive in them. So with that, let’s begin!

Overworld Biomes in Minecraft

Biomes in this category generate only in the Overworld dimension. It’s a place that resembles the Earth, with dirt, grass, stone, sand, deepslate, and other materials making up most of the terrain. There are a total of53 biomesin this area alone.

To identify a biome you can use theF3 debug screen. It’s an overlay you can toggle on and off by pressing the F3 key on your keyboard. This info screen is accessible only on the Java edition of the game, so Bedrock players will need to use a mod or athird-party add-onto see the same data.

1. Plains

Mostly flat common biome covered with bright green grass blocks. You’ll encounter just a few oak trees that will help you get started. Also, cave openings, lakes, and waterfalls are easily noticeable. This is a great biome for building a massive base in, due to it being unobstructed and flat and also one of the best biomes to start the world in, as a plains village can generate in it.

2. Sunflower Plains

The sunflower plains biome is almost the same as the regular plains variant, but it’s much more uncommon and is also the only place you can find sunflowers naturally.

3. Snowy Plains

This is basically a plains biome covered with snow layers. Some spruce trees, tall grass, dandelions, and poppies can generate. Also, you may come across funny-looking villagers in a local village or even a rare structure, igloo. Don’t forget to look for the ladders leading to the basement in one of those, if it even has one.

4. Forest

A fairly common biome, which is usually one of the spawn point locations of most worlds. This biome contains a lot of oak and birch trees and also mushrooms and some flower variants. It’s a great starting point, due to the abundance of wood and food. This is one of the most frequently generated biomes in the world as well.

5.Flower Forest

This is quite an uncommon biome that is home to all sorts of flower types. Therefore, this is one of the best locations for gathering all color dyes in the game. It’s a variant of a regular forest biome but contains fewer trees of the same types. Bee nests generate much more frequently.

6.Birch Forest

Very similar to the regular forest biome, but only birch trees are generated in it. Also, you won’t find wolves in this location. However, you may come across a few bee nests with friendlybees, which you can safely take with you thanks to theMinecraft enchantmentcalled silk touch. Then, you’ll be able tomake a bee farmand get all the honey andhoneycombthat you want.

7.Old Growth Birch Forest

The old growth birch forest is essentially a birch forest withsuper tall birch trees. They can even grow to be 14 blocks tall. Also, this is a pretty rare biome to find, so don’t forget to take a screenshot of it. Furthermore, this is one of several biomes where trail ruins generate.

8.Dark Forest

This is a very unique biome with plenty of dark oak trees generating. It’s one of the places where giant mushrooms generate and also the only biome that includes woodland mansions.

The reason why it’s called a dark forest is because the area in this biome is dark enough for hostile mobs to spawn even during the day. However, it’s less likely after the spawning was changed from light level 7 to 0.

9. Taiga

Taiga biome is a common wooded biome covered with regular spruce trees. It contains unique types of plants and mobs. The forest floor is composed of grass blocks only.

10.Old Growth Pine Taiga

Old Growth Pine Taiga biome contains plenty of spruce trees (not pine) and some are giant 2×2 variants and also rather tall. This biome’s floor consists of, besides grass blocks, coarse dirt and podzol, and is covered with mossy cobblestone boulders, mushrooms and dead bushes.

11.Old Growth Spruce Taiga

This biome is very similar to the old growth pine taiga biome, but the main difference is that leaves of all giant spruce trees almost cover the trunks completely. This is an amazing place for collecting a lot of logs for crafting wooden items and blocks, likechests,crafting tables, andboats.

12.Snowy Taiga

This is a variant of the regular taiga biome and is almost completely covered with snow layers. The most notable fact about it is that it’s one of 3 biomes igloos can generate in.

13.Jungle

Jungle is a lush and vibrant green biome. It is extremely dense and hard to traverse. It consists of jungle trees, both regular and giant, and also bush-like trees with a single log surrounded by leaves. Plenty of blocks and mobs spawn exclusively here.

14.Sparse Jungle

This biome is similar to the regular jungle variants, but it’s, as the name suggests, a lot more sparse. There are still jungle trees, but they are uncommon and there are no giant variants. Thanks to this biome being mostly flat and having the beautiful bright green grass, it’s great for building your base in.

15.Bamboo Jungle

This jungle variant is also rather dense just like the regular jungle, but withbamboo instead of jungle trees and bushes. There are still occasional large jungle trees and oak trees though. The floor consists of podzol in addition to grass blocks.

Unlike other jungle biome types, you cannot find cocoa in the bamboo jungle.

16.Desert

Deserts can vary in size and are rather important. They are covered with a sand block layer that is a few blocks deep. The terrain can be both flat and include distinctive sand dunes. Also, this is a pretty difficult biome to thrive in, due to lack of food and wood. You’ll find cactus, creamy rabbits, and all sorts of structures here.

17.Savanna

Savannas are pretty flat, dry biomes with acacia trees and some oak trees covering the brownish-colored grass. You will find plenty of tall grass in this biome, which can be kind of annoying to get rid of. Also, this is one of the biomes villages generate in.

18.Savanna Plateau

Savanna plateaus are basically regular savanna biomes at high altitudes. They are pretty steep and resemble mountains. They otherwise look the same as the regular variant.

19.Windswept Savanna

Windswept savanna biomes are quite uncommon and actually chaotic, compared to the regular savanna. Terrain generates in weird shapes that can get extremely steep. They are also fairly tall, rising above the clouds. Waterfalls and lavafalls, as well as massive lakes, are all pretty common here. This is one of the craziest terrain generations present in the game.

20.Badlands

This is one of the most unique biomes in the game. Badlands are covered with multiple layers of regular and stained terracotta blocks, as well as a single block deep layer of red sand.

This biome is easily identifiable and can generate at pretty high altitudes. No passive mobs spawn here as you will find only cacti and dead bushes. Badlands usually generate next to desert biomes and allow for more gold ore generation.

21.Wooded Badlands

Similarly to the regular badlands, wooded badlands variant consists of red sand and terracotta blocks, but it also includes coarse dirt and plenty of oak trees. This is a very useful biome, especially if your spawn point is located in one of these warm biomes, as it provides you with wood supply.

22.Eroded Badlands

This is a rather rare and spectacular biome. It consists of the same blocks as the other badlands variants, but the terrain generation is different. Tall and skinny pillars of differentcolored terracottablocks rise and create a beautiful canyon-like scenery.

23.River

As you can expect, the river biome consists of water source blocks that create acurving river bed, which the biome spreads through. The river bed includes dirt, clay, sand, gravel blocks, and oak trees generate around it. Also, this biome usually separates the main biomes.

24.Frozen River

Frozen rivers generate when a river is generated between snowy biomes. It is very similar to the regular river biome, but it has a one block deep layer of ice on the surface of the water.

25.Swamp

Swamps are one of the main biomes in the game. They are easily identified by the grass color, the presence of numerous water pools covered with lily pads, and oak trees covered with vines. It’s also a biome where slimes, blue orchids, witch huts, fossils, and frogs can spawn in. Giant mushrooms generate here in the Bedrock edition.

26.Mangrove Swamp

This is aspecial variant of swamp biomes, easily identified by the various types of mangrove trees. This biome consists of plenty of water pools and the floor is made up of mostly mud blocks.

Similarly to a regular swamp biome, slimes and frogs spawn in mangrove swamps.

27.Beach

Beaches are simple biomes composed ofmostly sand blocksand others like sandstone, gravel, dirt, and clay.Sugar canegenerates on the blocks attached to water source blocks. These biomes generate when an ocean meets land biomes.

28.Stony Shore

Stony shores are covered with plenty of stone block variants and generate where a mountainous biome meets an ocean. It’s usually a pretty steep cliff side.

29.Snowy Beach

This is basically a beach biome, but it’s covered with snow layers. It generates when a snowy biome meets a frozen ocean biome.

30.Jagged Peaks

The jagged peaks biome generates at really high altitudes as mountain peaks. It’s a gorgeous biome that consists of steep and pointy peaks that are covered with snow blocks underneath which are stone blocks. You’ll often notice ores such as coal, iron, and emerald exposed in the stone.

This biome is also one of the biomes thatinfested stone generates in. It’s a fake stone block that after breaking, doesn’t drop an item entity, but releases a silverfish.

31.Frozen Peaks

The frozen peaks biome also generates aspeaks of mountains, but it’s far less jagged and steep than the previously mentioned biome. It is covered with snow blocks, packed ice, and occasionally, ice blobs.

32.Stony Peaks

Unlike the other two peaks biomes, the stony peaks are much warmer, generating near terrain of lukewarm biomes, such as savannas, forests, and jungles. Also, it is covered with mostly stone and some strips of calcite, with tons of exposed coal, iron, and emerald ores. There is no snow in this peaks biome.

33.Grove

This biome is kind of similar to the snowy taiga biome at first glance due to the presence of snow layers and spruce trees. However, it generates only beneath the mountain peaks biomes, and it contains snow blocks, dirt, and plenty of dangerous powder snow blocks instead of grass blocks.

34.Snowy Slopes

The snowy slopes biome generates beneath mountain peaks biomes and is covered with plenty of snow blocks. Also, make sure to bring leather boots to avoid freezing to death, because of lots of powder snow blocks present. Or at least do it for the advancement. Moreover, this is one of the three biomes in which igloos spawn naturally, so keep your eyes peeled.

35.Ice Spikes

This is a variation of the snowy plains biome and it’s rather rare. The ice spikes biome contains a lot of spikes or pillars, made up of packed ice blocks. The height of these may vary, reaching up to even over 50 blocks tall. Also, the floor consists of snow blocks instead of grass blocks in the regular snowy plains.

36.Meadow

Meadows are beautiful-looking biomes that are elevated, but still fairly flat. They generate near mountain biomes and are covered with turquoise-green grass and tall grass. Only a few oak or birch trees will generate and all of them will include a bee nest. Since bees naturally love this place, it’s covered with plenty of different flowers.

37.Cherry Grove

Stunning biome introduced in the1.20 update, the cherry grove is rather easy to identify. It generates at high altitudes and is covered with pink-leafed cherry trees. Its grass and water colors are warm and pleasant. The floor is covered with flowers and pink petals and the leaves are emitting nice pink particles. Yes, this biome is very pink.

38.Windswept Hills

Windswept hills biome consists of stone and grass blocks mainly and it it generates at higher elevations. You’ll find cliffs, peaks, waterfalls, valleys, overhangs, islands, etc. throughout one of these locations.

Also, this biome is pretty steep and treacherous, so make sure to check out our guide onhow to avoid fall damage, so you don’t lose your hardcore world. Trees can generate in the Java edition, but not in the Bedrock edition. At the higher altitudes near mountain biomes, it can snow in this biome, so you may occasionally find some snow layers in it.

39.Windswept Gravelly Hills

This biome is similar to the previous, but it contains mostly gravel in place of grass and stone. It’s a great place for gathering a lot of gravel, especially if you’re planning on building withconcrete blocks. Furthermore, the trees generate less frequently here.

40.Windswept Forest

When a windswept hills biome generates next to the wooded biome, then the windswept forest biome appears. It is covered with grass blocks completely, so more trees can generate on top of it.

41.Ocean

This is the most basic of all the ocean biomes in the game. It’s a biome filled with water source blocks and the floor is made up of gravel, dirt and sand which is covered with sea grass and kelp. Structures like ocean ruins and shipwrecks generate in the ocean biome and its variants.

42.Deep Ocean

As the name suggests, this is a variant of the regular ocean biome and it’s much deeper, reaching over 30 blocks deep, twice as much as the regular biome. The deep ocean bed is also mostly covered with gravel.

You’ll also encounter numerous underwater ravines in this biome, with magma blocks providing you with oxygen and also pulling you down. Since there is enough space, ocean monuments can generate here where you can fight elder guardianmobs in Minecraft, find and obtain sponges and prismarine blocks.

43.Warm Ocean

Warm ocean is a variant of the regular ocean biome and it’s recognizable due to the teal water color at the surface. Its floor is made up of sand and kelp cannot generate here. However, the most notable feature of this biome is the presence of coral blocks, fans, reefs and sea pickles.

Thank to thearcheology, warm ocean variants are especially important, because you canfind a sniffer eggin one of thesuspicious sandblocks of the underwater ruins.

44.Lukewarm Ocean

Lukewarm oceans have a lighter blue color at the surface. The ocean bed of these is made up of mostly sand, with a bit of dirt and clay. Seagrass and kelp can generate, whereas coral cannot.

45.Deep Lukewarm Ocean

This biome is very similar to the regular lukewarm ocean, but it’s twice as deep. Therefore, ocean monuments can generate here, so you can also get a super cool tidearmor trimin this biome.

46.Cold Ocean

Another variant of the simple ocean biome, with dark blue water color at the surface. The floor of this biome is made up of gravel mostly, but there are still some other blocks present like dirt, clay, and sand.

47.Deep Cold Ocean

Very similar to the regular cold ocean biome, just twice as deep. Also, besides the normal ocean structures, ocean monuments can be generated here as well.

48.Frozen Ocean

This biome is a unique variant of the ocean biome and it has an indigo-blue water color at the surface. The floor consists of gravel. The reason why it’s called a frozen ocean is because icebergs made of packed ice and occasionally blue ice generate and patches of ice form at the surface. It’s also one of the biomes where polar bears and strays (Bedrock edition) spawn.

49.Deep Frozen Ocean

Deep frozen ocean is rather similar to its regular equivalent. It also allows forocean monumentgenerations, as well as icebergs. Tough, icebergs in this biome contain a lot more blue ice than in the previous one.

50.Mushroom Fields

Mushroom fields is a rare biome that includes blocks and mobs seen nowhere else in the world. It’s the only island biome in the game, always generatingnext to deep oceans. These islands vary in shape and size, though they’re mostly flat. The surface is covered with mycelium instead of regular grass blocks.

Moreover, huge mushrooms generate here naturally and the regular small mushrooms can grow on mycelium regardless of the light level. Special cow variant spawns here, the red mooshrooms, which you can milk and get mushroom stew. One of the main features of this biome is that no hostile mobs can spawn in it, making it a great place for a base.

51.Lush Caves

Lush caves are stunning cave biomes that are filled with moss blocks, moss carpets, vines, flowering and regular azalea, clay blocks, small and big dripleaf, cave vines, spore blossoms, water pools, etc. You can easily locate this underground biome by first spotting an azalea tree on the surface. It’ll indicate there is a lush cave underneath if you mine through the rooted dirt. It’s a great biome to come across, as it’ll provide the area with light thanks to the glow berries, stopping hostile mobs from spawning.

Also, you can get plenty of clay here that you can turn into terracotta or break down into clay balls andmake bricks, which you canmake decorated potswith. Furthermore, spore blossoms emit beautiful green particles in a large area, and this is the only place you can get them at. Friendly and cuteaxolotlsspawn exclusively here, so make sure to bring a few to your base. Then, you’ll be able tobreed axolotlsand have a chance to getthe rarest of them all.

52.Dripstone Caves

This underground biome is quite spectacular, especially in a massive cave system. The dripstone caves are filled with dripstone blocks and pointer dripstone as stalagmites and stalactites and also plenty of tiny pools or wells of water. If you step on them, or if one falls on you from above, they can deal quite a bit of damage and in some cases may even kill you. So, this is not a biome to mess with.

Dripstone blocks can sometimes generate massive and wide pillars as if they’re supporting the cave ceiling. Moreover, drowned spawn in the aquifers in this biome, making it even more dangerous. Though copper ores generate in much bigger blobs than in other biomes, so it’s worth visiting for sure.

53.Deep Dark

And we’ve of course saved the scariest biome in the Overworld for the end.Deep darkis an extremely dangerous and terrifying biome that generates deep underground in the deepslate layers underneath mountainous biomes. It’s full of alien-like blocks with unusual abilities.

Breakingsculk blockswithout a silk touch tool grants XP, sculk sensors areredstone components, that can transfer the signal wirelessly, sculk catalysts can generate more sculk blocks when a mob dies near one and the shriekers can summon the almost unbeatableWarden.

Also, similarly to the mushroom fields biome, no other mob can spawn here.Ancient citesare unique and giant structures that can generate only in this biome. Also, if you stumble upon the deep dark biome, don’t explore it unless you’re ready, because you won’t have high chances ofdefeating the Wardenand surviving.

Nether Biomes in Minecraft

Biomes in this category appear in the Nether dimension. It’s basically a giant fiery cavern, with lava replacing water, creating massive lava lakes, or lava oceans and lavafalls. They are far different than the Overworld’s and there are also fewer biomes, actually onlyfive in total. So, let’s visit this scary place together.

54.Nether Wastes

Nether wastes is the calmest of all Nether biomes. It’s quite empty with the terrain consisting of mostly netherrack, gravel, and soul sand. You’ll find glowstone blobs on the ceiling and lava leaking from from all sides.

The terrain is all over the place, with some parts being flat and others creating cliffs. Massive lava lakes can generate in between walkable areas, forcing you to bridge to the other side, unless you have anelytra. Most mobs are straightforward to avoid if you know how to deal with them.

Remember, always wear one piece of gold armor and the piglins will leave you alone, never hurt azombified piglinand never look at an enderman in the eyes. Also, there are Nether ores in this dimension, like quartz and gold ores, that are very well visible in this biome, as there are no huge obstructions.

There are also ancient debris blocks scattered throughout the depths of all the Nether biomes, ready to be collected and crafted intonetherite ingots. Nether fortresses are structures necessary for the game’s progression and the bastions’ loot can come in handy as it’s pretty valuable.

55.Soul Sand Valley

Soul Sand Valley is as chaotic as Nether wastes is calm. It’s mainly composed ofsoul sand, soul soil, and basalt blocks. The mobs that spawn here are mostly ghasts and skeletons. So, several different projectiles in combination with soul sand that slow down the player’s movement speed, you can get extremely overwhelmed rather quickly here.

Not only that, but fireballs can ignite the soul fire, which deals even more damage than the regular fire. In conclusion, thanks to the greenish fog, bone blocks forming giant fossils and scary soul sand textures, this biome gives off graveyard vibes, so make sure you don’t dig your own grave by coming there.

56.Crimson Forest

Crimson forest biome consists of tree-like huge fungus you can chop down and use to craft wooden items and blocks. The floor is made up of crimson nylium blocks, which you can use to farm the giant crimson fungus in the Overworld. Furthermore, Those red trees also grow shroomlights, one of the bestlight source blocks, and also weeping vines.

However, this biome is not as relaxing as you might think. It’s populated with one of the strongest hostile mobs in the game, hoglins, and also piglins and their zombified versions. Make sure you’re geared up to adventure in this biome.

57.Warped Forest

The second calmest Nether biome, warped forests also containhuge fungusthat are, in this case, warped fungus. Those tree-like features consist of log-like stem blocks and can be used for making wooden items and blocks.

The floor iscovered with warped nylium, the blocks necessary for farming warped wood in the Overworld. There are also shroomlights and various warped blocks. The only threat in this biome is lava and endermen. However, if you don’t attack them or don’t look at them straight in the face, they won’t get aggroed, so it’s relatively safe to spend your time here.

58.Basalt Deltas

Let’s finish off Nether biomes with a bang. Basalt deltas is probably the most difficult biome in the Nether. Its terrain is fairly chaotic, made of mostly basalt and blackstone and also covered with tons of lava pools or wells. They can all be different shapes and sizes. Though, when you see the lava you know you should avoid or cover it.

What if you cannot see the danger at all? Some lava sources are hidden but still extremely dangerous. However, if you manage to notice the lava in time, your friendly neighborhood magma cubes are there to give you just a little nudge that can send you to the inevitable death. This is the biome you don’t want to visit without thepotionsof fire resistance.

End Biomes in Minecraft

If you’re new to Minecraft, then the End may seem like the final ending of the game, so you may be confused. The End is the third dimension of your Minecraft world, just like the Overworld and the Nether.

It got its name after the fact you beat the game in this dimension by defeating the game’s boss – Ender Dragon. This is a very simple dimension with only5 biomesand they’re definitely less amusing than the Nether biomes.

59.The End

Not to be mistaken with the entire dimension, but the end biome is the entire area occupying the 1000 block radius circle from the 0,0 coordinate in this dimension. It’s used to create the central End island and the massive gap between it and the rest of the terrain which is completely made of end stone in the entire dimension.

Void is underneath all the islands. It’s basically lava, but much more dangerous, because when you die in the void, the contents of your entire inventory get deleted.

So, be careful when you reach this dimension. Moreover, most of the relevant features generate in this biome, such as the 5 x 5obsidianspawn platform, bedrock portal, obsidian pillars, end crystals, end gateways, and theEnder Dragonitself.

Endermen are the only mobs that can spawn in this whole dimension, apart from the boss and the mobs that come with the structures. Bringing acarved pumpkinand awater bucketare possibly the two best ways of dealing with them.

60.Small End Islands

As the name suggests, this biome includes small circular islands made of end stone blocks. They generate in between larger outer islands. No structure can generate here, but the end gateways, the ones that return you to the central end island, do.

61.End Midlands

This biome is essentially an edge biome, covering the cliffs and the slopes near the edge of the outer end islands. End cities can generate in this biome, as well as the end gateways.

62.End Highlands

The end highlands is a biome covering the higher parts of each of the outer end islands. It allows chorus trees to generate, as well as the end cities. Also, after raiding one of these structures, and making your firstshulker boxes, you can use the nearby end gateway to return to the main end island.

63.End Barrens

If the end midlands biome was the edge biome, then end barrens is the cliff side biome. It covers the steep cliffs below the edge leading towards the void. Only end gateways can appear in this biome.

There you have it folks, every single biome this blocky game has to offer. There are also numerous biomes that the developers have removed completely from the game. Furthermore, if you want to make the most of this tutorial and explore the game’s world, you can startusing Optifine to improve the performance. Now, don’t wait around, because there’s a lot to explore. Start mining right away!

The rarest biomes include mushroom fields, ice spikes, and bamboo jungle.

There are a total of 63 biomes in the game, with 53 being in the Overworld and 5 in each of the other two dimensions.

The most unique biomes in the game are giant spruce tree biomes, jungle biomes, warm ocean biome, cave biomes, and Nether biomes (except Nether wastes).

Radojka Travar

I’m a gaming enthusiast with a strong passion for writing. My expertise lies in creating simple, to the point and clear content teaching you about various features, mechanics and community-based inventions related to Minecraft. In spare time, I love flying around in my Minecraft world and exploring stories of other pixelated games.

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